Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just to clarify most of these individuals were not suffering from PTSD, substance abuse, or mental health issues. They were veterans who were members of our Geriatric Clinic, which is for veteran 65 and older. Most were been family men, who had had steady jobs all their lives, were married, and found that their benefits could not support their lifestyle.
They simply retired overseas, as many retirees do, to save money. When I say they were estranged from the family, I meant because they did not keep up much contact with them, due to limitations of their finances. Most of them were unable financially to return as often as they had anticipated. Others kept in touch via emails and phone calls, but found that it did not make up for the regular face-to-face contact, and participation in regular family activities. Many of them had hoped to be able to return home several times a year but weren’t able to do so. Their families were busy raising children and working, and did not have the finances or the time to travel regularly. Again very common to all retirees not only veterans.
You said they hadn’t had contact with them for “decades”. That is not a normal retirement scenario. You said “estranged”, which means they are not on speaking terms. That implies much more than not having visited. It implies conflict. You said they didn’t research costs or plan or budget. All these things are easily avoidable and I don’t think typical. I think most families who make such a move plan it to the hilt. If your vets were literally there for decades, it sounds like they retired when relatively young instead of saving more first. Deciding to move overseas at 50 is not the same as retiring overseas. Most aren’t going to quit working that you fix they don’t have enough to last.
You said they hadn’t had contact with them for “decades”. That is not a normal retirement scenario. You said “estranged”, which means they are not on speaking terms. That implies much more than not having visited. It implies conflict. You said they didn’t research costs or plan or budget. All these things are easily avoidable and I don’t think typical. I think most families who make such a move plan it to the hilt. If your vets were literally there for decades, it sounds like they retired when relatively young instead of saving more first. Deciding to move overseas at 50 is not the same as retiring overseas. Most aren’t going to quit working that you fix they don’t have enough to last.
Again I think you’re assuming a bit. Most of these guys were in their 70s and 80s when they were trying to return to the United States. Meaning they had retired in their 60s. Hence they have been there for decades, at least 20 years. Nowhere in my post did I say they did not research costs or plan a budget. Please read my post again. I said they had moved to live their dream and cut expenses. And yes I did say estranged, maybe I should have explained the word better or used a different word. They were in touch with their families throughout that time but as I said earlier could not afford to visit as they had hoped. They missed out on years of face-to-face contact because neither they nor their children or grandchildren could afford to visit regularly. Telephone calls and letters did not suffice.
From many places in the U.S., Mexico is no farther than living in another state here. If you live in NJ and have a relative in California, it's just as far as Mexico. So I don't see what living abroad specifically has to do with maintaining family ties. I'm sure many older people who move to South Carolina have to move back to be closer to family when their health declines to that point too, so again I don't see that as specific to living abroad. In fact for those who have no family, home health is much cheaper in Mexico than here. My grandmother lived her last year in a nursing home because we couldn't afford close to $100,000 a year for 24 hour live in help.
Chicago and México City are equidistant from Houston. You could live in a Rio Grande border town on the Mexico side (from El Paso to Brownsville) and just cross the river to shop in a major city for healthcare and other necessities and consumer goods that are not (widely or cheaply) available in Mexico. Even the Texan side is much cheaper than the major Texas metro areas.
One of my "side gigs" twenty years ago was reviewing travel and travel related books. One of the books that I remember was "Retiring to Mexico on $800 per month." The author discussed how it could be done if someone lived away from the coast and was willing to live a relatively spartan lifestyle.In other words, you would need to live in a small apartment, in an interior city, and live a simple lifestyle.
With YouTube and other social media, you see people publishing their budgets on video or post stating how cheaply they can live.
For example, one guy on YouTube posted that he was living in Cebu, Philippines for US$1000 and how much cheaper it was in Chicago. Of course, he downsized from a nice 2 BR/2 BA in Chicago to a 100 sq ft room which he shares with his wife and daughter. There is no hot water, often no running water and no refrigerator.
Another posts that he is living for $1200. However, when he posts, there are major categories that he is not budgeting including his various trips including trips home and the like. The $1200 might be achievable some months but there always seems to be some exceptions that blow the projection out of the water.
Sure, i do know a few people who live under $1000 a month in Mexico. One friend helped a family build a home and was given a room for the rest of his life. This allowed him to eat with the family, pay no rent, and the like. But that is not a usual situation.
I would suggest that you take all of these articles with a grain of salt because it might not be quite as cheap as it seems for the lifestyle that YOU want to live.
One can find a drastic decrease in cost-of-living from Chicago within the state of Illinois. No great achievement. Not something I want to do, but people are living on $1000 per month in small town southern IL. How the standard of living compares to the Philippines, I'm not sure. Having served in the Navy for 22 years, I've heard many stories. Except for the access to young women, none of the stories were positive. When you have a river given the slang name for human excrement, my perception isn't good. But this is heresy, and dated back a couple of decades. Maybe it's a wonderful place, I don't know.
Generally, when you have a country where a good portion of the natives want to leave, and come to the U.S, you have a country I wouldn't want to relocate to.
You definitely read way too much into my post. You assumed that the veterans that I was discussing had PTSD, mental health issues, or substance abuse. No you’re wrong, they had neither abandoned their families when their kids were young, nor did they cut out family ties. They did what many retirees do which is move to a lower COL area, or overseas to save money, only to find that trips home or an affordable.
If you read my post, I made no mention of issues with these veterans, other than financial. I have no idea how you assumed that they were people with mental health or substance abuse, not all veterans suffer from these. You assumed wrongly. While I did indeed treat many individuals with those problems, this is not the population I was referring to in this post.
I’m sure that anyone who moves far away from family, whether here in the United States, or overseas, would experience similar problems with family if they are not able to keep close contact with them, particularly face to face contact on a fairly consistent basis.
The public at large, has developed several stereotypical beliefs concerning veterans. Most have a definite mindset that falls into one of several categories. In this case, the poster believes veterans abuse drugs and have mental health issues. It doesn't matter whether the topic is living overseas, or something else, those are the poster's thoughts when "veterans" are mentioned.
The public at large, has developed several stereotypical beliefs concerning veterans. Most have a definite mindset that falls into one of several categories. In this case, the poster believes veterans abuse drugs and have mental health issues. It doesn't matter whether the topic is living overseas, or something else, those are the poster's thoughts when "veterans" are mentioned.
I too work with a lot of veterans (nursing home) and am engaged to one. The poster stated the vets she worked with pretty much messed up their lives, spent all their money and let decades go by without maintaining relationships even with their own children who say it’s too little too late when they try to repair the estrangement. THAT is what I made my remarks based on, not simply the fact they were veterans. But there is a lot of undiagnosed problems especially in Vietnam era vets but a lot of others too. PTSD, and yes alcohol and drugs due to the other issues.
When I hear about people cutting contact with their families and kids and going through their money, yes, I’m going to assume some issues there. Because that is not typical or normal regardless where people move they usually stay in close contact with their kids and grandkids. By and large working with vets as a group you will find more of these issues than the general public. It’s certainly not an insult to vets (if anything the shame is on us as a country) and of course it’s not all or even most vets. But look at the tale she told and it’s certainly not typical retire overseas tales. Most people are not going to let their relationships with kids and grandkids devolve to the point they can’t repair them just cause they move to Mexico.
That’s BS and I’m sorry about that. I’m guessing your wife didn’t just decide to retire here though and few Americans are going to retire in whatever country your wife is from so not sure it’s relevant to the topic.
Actually estimates vary but there are most likely approximately 300000 Americans living in the Philippines.
Actually estimates vary but there are most likely approximately 300000 Americans living in the Philippines.
Wow I’d never have guessed you were talking about the Philippines! I thought they only targeted middle eastern countries with travel bans. I work with a lot of people from the Philippines and they go over at least once a year for 3-4 weeks, but they never talk about their relatives not being able to do the same. Very sad state we are in.
They all appear to be quite close to their families despite the distance.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
