Going back to Europe?

A typical street in a medieval city of Ystad in southernmost Sweden (photo by Magnus)

I think this might be the year to go back home, to Europe - for good.

To Sweden, Poland and Spain.

Why? One of the reasons would be nostalgia: I am a citizen of Sweden, I was born and raised in Poland. So if I have - again - taken a residence in the southernmost province of Sweden, Scania (Skane), I could enjoy it's picturesque charms,


its well preserved medieval towns, like Ystad or Simrishamn (photo above)
cheerfully coexisting with avant garde modern architecture, like this "Turning Torso" building in Malmo,

its quaint villages and bucolic landscapes,
its soft, sandy beaches with colorful beach huts, its proximity to "wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen"
Oresund bridge connecting Sweden with Denmark

(about one hour by car or train) , while being only 7 hours away (by ferry) from my first home country - Poland.

Old town square in my hometown of Poznan, Poland. This picture could have been taken from the windows of my old office in the research institute, Institute of Western Affairs, where I once worked.

And why Spain? Well, both Sweden and Poland are in the northern part of Europe and "suffer" long, cold winters, so in winter, i would do, what many retired Scandinavians do: move to southern Spain for a few months.

No, not to Costa del Sol, which is now overrun with - mostly - Brits, but to a more than 2000 years old pueblo blanco (white village) on the Granada's coast: Almunecar, or to neighboring Nerja or Salobrena.

A view of Almunecar

Those Spanish small towns and villages are winter havens for northern Europeans, who already constitute about 25% of their permanent population, while many more northern Europeans spend winters there renting flats or townhouses overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Another reason, this one negative, is that I have grown disenchanted with America, which - especially tea party and republican America - seems to be now going full throttle into a wrong direction: toward more inequality, more uncaring about its citizens, who are allowed to be pawns of greedy insurance companies, "big pharma" etc. etc.

Tea partiers and republicans seam so eager to dismantle even the very, very modest (in comparison to Europe) social safety networks... that it makes me want to puke - and not stay in this country any longer.

Yes, I shall miss certain comforts of America, and - most of all - I shall miss a proximity to my daughter, who lives and works here. It won't be easy for me with advancing age to board a plane to USA to visit her, and it won't be easy for her to have to board a plane to visit me, as vacations in America are also far shorter than they are in Europe, but I hope that, perhaps, we could meet during her business trips to Europe, or... she, too, shall grow disenchanted with America and decide to go home to Europe.

Golden years on the Golden Isles of Georgia

My retirement merry-go-round, i.e. "living the world" retirement type ended - I resolved - two weeks ago, when I moved to the Golden Isles of Georgia, to live my golden years in a more stationary fashion, thus the retirement-merry-go-round blog comes now to an end.

June and July were filled with travelling all around the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, (I promise to record those travels in this blog soon, under appropriate dates) before I settled on the Golden Isles, with their sandy beaches, fantastic nature preserves and the famous marshes of Glynn.

I shall continue my encore (= retirement, part time ) career of non-profit consulting offering hands on organizational and fund development to non-profits both locally and - for short term assignments - internationally, to aid them during the recession, and after it - especially rural and remotely located organizations, since these usually receive far fewer grants than other nonprofits, often due to lack of professional resources and far fewer public support due to their remoteness.

As for the rest, I plan to enjoy the beaches, forests and marshes, and the neighboring historical city of Savannah and the nearest large city of Jacksonville, Florida - both at a distance of 70 miles. I plan to visit my daughter in Atlanta often, visiting friends there and taking it the cultural offerings I so enjoyed there: opera, ballet, theaters, museums, my book clubs... enjoy what's left of my life!

I have enjoyed this blogging adventure for the last two years and all virtual - and personal - friendships I developed through it.

Till we meet again! :-)

Spa day

Today is a pampering day. Manicure, pedicure, body scrub, massage, facial, hair cutting and styling. I like a pampering day with my daughter - otherwise I consider it too boring... but it is a part of living in the big city routine, so it has to be endured more often here than on a tropical island.

:-((( the pool at my gym is temporarily closed

Yesterday, during my water aerobics class I found out that the sunny Olympic size swimming pool at my gym, the highlight of my near daily gym visits - is going to be closed for 11 days due to some reconstruction work. :-(((

One of the pleasures of my post-Puerto Rico life are daily (except weekends) visits to the gym.

I take hourly water aerobics classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday I take weight lifting, stretching and toning classes designed for people my age and/or work on weight machines and elliptical trainers.

Try to find anything even remotely resembling it in Puerto Rico... I could not -and missed gym all the time I lived there!

But after each "dry" workout I enjoy relaxing in a hot tub and swimming in the pool. So, when the pool is closed, I won't go to the gym, even though all the "dry"classes and equipment are available. Without a pool as a reward it would not be even half that much fun. :-(((

So today, instead for going to the gym I went walking in Piedmont Park, while Disa was jogging there, and we ended our al fresco work out passes strolling among the flowers and the sculptures in Atlanta Botanical Garden (there is a Moore exhibition going on in there right now, but I'll blog about it later - today my camera had no working batteries).

Too bad that the water in the condo's outdoor swimming pool is still a tad too cold for a swim. :-((

What to do with a car when leaving Puerto Rico?

The simplest answer would be to sell it, wouldn't it?

But what if it is the beginning of spring, when both the surfers and the snowbirds leave the island, many of them also planning to sell their cars?

What if it is the middle (I am being optimistic here) of a worldwide economic crisis, a severe credit crunch, AND the biggest glut of cars - new cars, used cars - imaginable?

What if I have been duped into overimproving the car mechanically (practically new everything, high performance, heat resistance etc., low mileage), so it drives like a brand new car, while the outside shows signs of the car being driven in Puerto Rico: a few scratches, a small dent, where someone must have bumped into me on a parking lot... and fled ?

How many thousands of dollars am I likely to lose if I sell this car in Puerto Rico?

And how many if I do not sell it?

What can I do with this car other than sell it?

I do not need it in the US, because I do have another car there. A tad older, true, and with more than twice the mileage, but always driven on US highways, performing well, all services performed on time and without a hint of a problem. I plan to keep my US car - in the US.

But what if I decide to move back to Europe at least for part of the year?

Due to the peculiarities of my country's pension legislation, when I live inside European Union, my European pension income more than doubles. Something to take into account when I am getting older and might soon not want - or be able to - work at all, right?

Since I have owned my PR car for over a year, I am entitled to import it to Europe duty free - so shipping (around $2000) would be my only expense plus adjusting the car to European regulations: asymetric instead of symetric beams, etc.

Of course, I would have to factor in the higher cost of living in Europe and the nonfinancial aspects: both positive, like living in a multicultural, multilingual surroundings, with a plethora of high culture at my fingertips, both old and new; easier access to less processed food, hormone free, antibiotics free... but also an emotional cost of being across the ocean from my only daughter, my practically only remaining close relative...

But if I spent winters in Florida and summers in Sweden, or France (I would prefer Italy, since I know it much better than France, and love it, but in Italy I would be taxed to death, due to the peculiarity of Swedish-Italian tax treaty), it might work, beautifully even... for a while, at least, since the question is: how many more years will I be able to effortlessly hop on a plane and fly over Atlantic twice a year... with cats? And how expensive might it become?

I do not really have time right now, in the moving rush, to factor all these aspects into a meaningful equation, so I guess I'll just have to leave the car here somewhere for a few months or so, until I make the decision what would be the least expensive way to get rid of a car in Puerto Rico. Sigh...

Medicare advantage in Puerto Rico

Yes, at my last birthday a month ago I reached official retirement age and became entitled to Medicare.
Thus, I had to do my due diligence and research both Medicare advantage and Medigap policies in Puerto Rico ( since I am still here) and in the USA and compare them.

I am happy I finally can say something really positive about Puerto Rico: the benefits of the best medicare advantage here are far greater than benefits offered by the best in the USA.

So for retirees on a limited income, especially ones that either require hospitalization or serious dental work, it would be financially beneficial to live in Puerto Rico and enroll in one of the best medicare advantage plans here. They could save thousands of dollars per year... at the cost of dealing with local bureaucracy and with Spanish as a prevalent language, but yes, some things are so far better here ... though these benefits are likely to end once PR becomes a regular state ... if it becomes a regular state.

My year in Puerto Rico

Last Sunday was my anniversary of living in Puerto Rico.

I decided to leave the island as soon as my professional obligations permit, most likely during spring, as I absolutely can't imagine spending another rainy/hurricane season here.

I could live here during a few winter months... but there are probably more comfortable places in the Caribbean to spend winters, which I haven't yet discovered, so I am not likely to return to PR.

Right now my overall impression of Puerto Rico as a place for me is : a hell with some elements of paradise....., but given sufficient time outside the island my memory might change to a paradise with elements of hell... I usually remember adventures warmly, even if they have been hellish at the time ;-)

What was paradisic in Puerto Rico for me:

• Climate ... but in winter only... I love being able to wear light summer clothes all winter long, swim in the warm, calm, beautiful Caribbean sea,
• Nature ... its beauty and its unexpected diversity, considering that it is such a small island. Granted, Puerto Rico does not - by far - have the natural diversity of fauna or flora of , say, Costa Rica, but it is both beautiful and diversified nevertheless. And Puerto Rico has some really breathtaking beaches.
  
• People... though as friends, coworkers and neighbors only: they are warm, helpful, cheerful... Puerto Ricans as citizens are not my kind of people: I dislike traditionalism, conservatism, unwillingness to stand up to authorities and demand fair treatment by them... and, most definitively, I dislike what happens to many Puerto Ricans when they get behind the wheel .... it is like dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde... ;-)
  
• San Juan Viejo... it is utterly charming despite its commercialism. I moved to Puerto Rico after visiting the Old San Juan only and imagined the whole island to be as charming... A big mistake... the rest of the island is an architectural disaster, completely devoid of any elements of charm.

What was hellish for me in PR:

• Housing. Definitively THE main contributor to my perception of Puerto Rico as hell. I have NEVER had to move so many times in such a short period of time. Only twice during my year in PR I moved because of the job change, while four times I moved because of the hidden flaws in the dwellings I rented: noise in the first dwelling, dangerous electric shower in the second, lack of water in the casita when the stream dried out, and having been trapped there once due to idiotic construction of inoperable windows, overheating due to nonexistent insulation in walls and ceiling in my current condo. I would have moved again in a heartbeat again from my new condo, despite its breathtaking view of the sea and of magnificent sunsets, were it not for the high deposit I paid... the hope that the problem won't be so pronounced in winter... and lack of more suitable alternatives near my work. I thank heavens, though, that I have resisted signing the rental contract for one year: my expensive, so called luxury condo ... is overheating so badly that - except for the (huge, I admit) balcony and its sea breeze - the rest of the condo is practically uninhabitable in the afternoons and evenings - where I want to spend some time there. And the bathroom without a window and without ac makes even morning grooming an exercise in futility: one gets sweaty within a minute of leaving the shower!
  So I have decided to NEVER AGAIN rent a place without central a/c in a hot climate. And there are NO dwellings with central a/c for rent in PR - as far as I know!
• Climate between May and November: it is awfully hot and humid! Yet, I am used to hot and humid. I have lived on a barrier island in Texas, where it gets a lot hotter, and I was very comfortable there. I have also lived in Florida in summer, and was comfortable also. But in all tropical and semi tropical places where I lived I had a central a/c at home, or - like in Costa Rica - lived so high up in the mountains, that a/c was not needed, and I was not forced to suffer heat and humidity both outside and inside! And the heat and humidity (without a/c) in PR creates a mold problem I have never had to deal with before PR (except for a short period in Costa Rica, but I left CR in mid June)... and never want to deal with after PR! And I haven't even mention the hurricanes, yet, the occasional lack of water and electricity during the hurricane season. No, PR in summer IS HELL! Both for people and electronics.
  
• Roads are almost as bad as in most of Latin America, which is far poorer than PR and not a part of USA. So there is not a lot of excuse for PR authorities to have neglected them so badly. They are hell on cars.
• Inequality, overblown and inefficient bureaucracy etc, - did you know that PR, despite it being a free associated state of the USA ranks as FOURTH MOST UNEQUAL country in the Americas???
  

Martinique ..... or Corsica?

Calvi, Corsica

It looks like it might soon become a lot easier to find your optimal expat retirement destination.

Yesterday I was testing an advisory tool - sorry, this one for Swedish nationals only - on the best country - to retire to, slanted heavily - since it is a Swedish tool - towards limiting the total tax burden, but taking into account health care, climate, culture and a few other factors.

I plugged in all requested - albeit general - parameters.... and was pointed to France as an optimal choice - by far.

Hmm, I thought, I really need that abundance of - yummy but so full of saturated fat - cheeses, which, living in France, I would not be able to resist, since stinky cheeses - accompanied by well aged wines - are one of my major culinary weaknesses.

Next I made a comparison with a few other EU countries, which are favorite European expat destinations, like Spain, Italy and Cyprus, but both tax and quality of health care factors weighted so heavily, that France won hands on in any of those comparisons.

Intrigued, I made - now outside the tool, as it does not include USA as a likely retirement destination for Europeans - a comparison between a retirement in Puerto Rico and one of the French islands in the Caribbean for a "typical" EU national who worked in the US long enough to be entitled to Medicare and Social Security, but retained his/her EU nationality.
Gustavia, St Bart

Even in pricey St Bart, which - being once a Swedish colony could be a "natural" choice for Swedes - such a hypothetical retiree would save money and gain access to better French health care.

And if the said retiree chose France proper, he/she would also improve dramatically his/her quality of life, through access to more diverse cultural opportunities, better food , etc.

An additional factor would be legal system based on Napoleonic code, which I consider superior to both British and US legal system... but I am biased, I studied law in continental Europe.

Martinique

So, if one likes islands - Corsica or Martinique?.... that might be !the question! ;-)

On the other hand, current issue of "Islands" magazine, lists three islands in, say extended Caribbean, on its list of 10 best islands in the world to live on: Beguia in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Eleuthera in Bahamas and Ambergis Caye in Belize. All of them English language dominant. None of them French. Perhaps a better choice for Americans?

Palawan, Philippines

P.S. But "Islands" magazines first, most spectacular and by far most budget friendly choice is Palawan in the Philippines, where a "typical 3 bdr, 2 ba house" rents for $400 a month!

Of closing and opening doors

(photo by Carina)

Yesterday I read an interesting article in the New York Times .

Of people's angst to close any doors: even if any of the closed doors could be reopened any time without any penalty whatsoever, participants in the study kept jumping to doors that were closing, desite the fact that this behavior incurred a penalty.

Moral: try to review your strategy on keeping your options open and if it does not serve you quite as you imagined it would, perhaps rethink it. And for heavens sake close a few doors if you feel a draft!

Now, as every (?) advisor I do not always follow advice, even my own - not always follow the logic of it, behaving somewhat irrationally, like any (?) human being.

So, before I even closed ONE door (one assignment) completely, I already got involved in evaluating getting involved in THREE new ones!

One of them starting (the on site evaluation phase) next week and one already this weekend.

I thought I was tired ( and I still am).

I thought I wanted more leisure: beach, snorkeling, gardening, jungle excursions, Spanish conversations, gallery hopping ... (and I still do).

But, it seems, I still am - most of all - an incorrigible workoholic ( which, nota bene, supposedly is a strictly masculine trait ...oh, really???).

If I weren't, would an adventure into work - new work - always seem more exciting than an adventure into any kind of leisure??? What do I - subconsciously - have against leisure? May be more exercises into shadow writing would help me be more of a beach bum?

Perhaps it's a bit too drafty here at the moment ;-) Perhaps I should try to refrain from opening new doors indiscriminately ;-)

Last week at this assignment

Two weeks ago I felt sick like a dog (a definitively temporary condition) and - after reading a blog of a couple of "nonworking" new Puerto Ricans - I felt bone tired ( probably a bit less temporary condition) of the working part of my retirement, so I decided to end the working part as soon as possible without harming the organization I work for.
I figured out a way and here I am - my last week of working... for a while.

I am finishing reports, writing a task list and a timeline for whoever will try to fullfil any of my duties.

Last week I had a separation angst, I must admit. Despite being tired, I became increasingly worried knowing that a large part of the plans I made for the organisation would not be executed after my departure, because there is nobody here with either the expertise, experience or even time to to execute them, no matter how detailed task list and timelines I write. But I have originally comitted only to three months here and have remained now for over four. I guess we all like to be needed, sometimes. I do, too, but not to a degree that the knowledge of being needed wold turn me into a slave.

But, since I decided to stay on the island of Puerto Rico - whether working or not - at least for a while longer, I offered as a compromise that I might be available part time ad hoc in a crisis.

That offer satisfied my conscience, but whether it will serve the organization, remains to be seen.
Still ... parting is such a SWEET sorrow...

Ok, break is over - let's go back to reports, task lists and timelines.

Come next monday and all I will have to decide will be whether to take a Spanish lesson first, then go swimming and snorkeling, or may be dig some in the garden, then go to the beach to do some yoga.... you know, a normal, non-working retirees daily dilemmas ;-)

Poor retirement

I enjoy reading the keywords that lead people to my blog. Obviously, since my blog has a word "retirement" in it and is about my retirement living, a lot of key words are about retirement.

Most of them are different versions of "Puerto Rico retirement" ( cost of living, cars, acommodations, etc) but some are amusing and/or provoking an answer, which I have no idea how and to whom to deliver

"Don't you wish retirement came with an instruction manual? " was one of them. If I were to answer, I'd say:

"Jeez, I don't know. I'd hate to live MY retirement according to somebody elses instruction manual.

If "International Living" wrote that manual, it would instruct me to - even before retiring - take a 7 or 9 days trip to place unknown but being currently touted by them, and immediately, without a slightest hesitation, purchase property there, because then I could spend my retirement days looking past my gardener busily pruning something in my garden... or such other nonsense.

It would not pay any attention to the fact, that I might want to explore hundreds other places and NEVER buy any real estate... or that I might prefer to do the pruning myself : more fun and healthier than just passively staring at a gardener.

If a very family or "I want to live all my life in one place only and in the same social circle" oriented person or organization were to write such a manual, they'd probably stress an importance of being close to family, possibly old friends, of deriving joy from playing with - and taking care of - grandkids. And I have no grandkids, make new friends easily while keeping in a - light - touch with old ones. I can see myself yawning ear to ear just trying to read that type of a retirement manual, and if I were to live it, I'd probably shot myself.

If I were to write such a manual I might extoll virtues of a retirement merry-go-round : of travel, of exploration, of work - just for the fun of it."

No, no, wait a moment. I would not. I can extoll it in my blog, but I would never do it in a manual, which should fit many different personalities, a plethora of needs. And heavens know how suitable - even for me - are some aspects of my retirement.

There was another of those asking for answer keywords: "what should I say to a friend, who is about to retire?" That one made me laugh, but it also made me alarmed that the author of a keyword might, after visiting my blog, recommend a merry-go-round type of retirement to someone who is not suited for it. It almost made me want to warn the author: "Now, please, don't try to push any retirement lifestyle on him/her, unless you are sure you know what they would like. Retirement should be fun - and can be, ANYWAY it is lived, as long as it is not filled with -unwanted - loneliness, passivity and depression. "

And today, when I was feeling a slight pity for myself, having spent the entire weekend working, despite a gorgeous weather, fabulous surrounding and my body desiring to be on the beach or anywhere outside the office, a new retirement related keyword hit me: "poor retirement".

Just in time: today is an - obscure to me - holiday in Puerto Rico: Natalicio de Eugenio Maria De Hostos and I can't observe it by going to the beach, I can't even find time to research what it is all about, because, for the the fifth day in a row I am slaving in my office, all day long.

Why? Because somebody screw up and to "unscrew it" required an immediate action. Yes, working for fun has its disadvantages, too. The world, also the world of non-profits is full of both dimwits and egomaniacs.

Perhaps having from time to time to deal - voluntarily, for the sake of social profit - with that kind of nonsense might qualify my retirement as "poor". But I'll still say: let's toast the poor retirement! Cheers!

Almost over

Uff, finally the move is almost over. Stuff moved, odds and ends taken care off ...though, to tell the truth, I was increadibly inefficient this time around and left more odds and ends than ever, so taking care of those took en entire Sunday of the friendly (and free!) crew of Daughter and Ex son-in-law, who flew over for the weekend to supervise the movers on Saturday and help with leftovers. Glad he did.

The "kids" must have been tired last night because at dinner they started dreaming up a scheme to have me grounded. Ex son-in-law suggested that in order to avoid me moving ever again with stuff, he and Daughter will form a corporation (since they are no longer married) and that corporation will buy a lake house for me, no further than 2 hours from Atlanta, with a view.
Since I haven't bought one in 15 years, when I sold the last one, I was not likely to buy one myself - they reasoned. Hmm, I thought, if I bought a house those 15 years ago, I would have been a lot poorer in experiences, in adventures, even though I might be richer in money - on paper - due to a possible appreciation. Forgo adventures for some financial gain? Not me.

It is true that I feel more than usually apprehensive moving this time - I haven't yet explored even a fraction of what Gainesville, Lake Lanier and north Georgia's mountains have to offer.
Yet, had I kept the apartment, I would have ended paying about $1400 a month for an empty apartment, to which I might or might not return in half a year or so. No matter how tireing a move was, its costs are negligible: not even half of a one months rent. So I know that getting rid of most of my stuff and putting the remainder in storage was by far the better choice, since it leaves me freedom to come back or not to come back and does not tie up resourses in unneeded lodging.

But the "kids" apparently had fun with "their corporate house for mom" scenario, because they kept coming up with additional requirements for a perfect location for that house. Besides the view and proximity to Atlanta (Daughter lives there and it also has a large international airport making it easy for Ex son in law to fly in from wherever he happens to be at the moment), the house needed to be no further than about 10 miles from Borders or Barnes & Noble (God knows why: I have now 20 miles to the Mall of Georgia, which has Barnes& Noble and I drove there gladly, at least twice a month, when it rained, completely ignoring all the other stores, to happily browse in all those tempting new books and picking up 4-5 of them each visit), close to a well equipped gym with an olympic size swimming pool ( my appartment complex has a gym and two swimming pools, but both are outdoor pools, so in cold weather I would have to drive 8 miles to the brand new, well equipped YMCA on Gainesville's east side) and located close to a mecca for intellectually minded retirees - so I wouldn't get bored. (Gainesville has an interesting lifetime learning institution at Brenau University, BULLI, attended by well educated, interesting people and fun edutainment programs and I am sure going to miss that in Puerto Rico).

And if I wanted to go somewhere to work or explore, for a few months, fine, they would take care of the house, just do not move the main abode. No more moving with stuff, declared Daughter and her ex.

Hmm. Supervising cleaning crew today I was pondering these proposed house requirements.
Somehow a reasonable proximity to a grocery store or health care did not come up, but I guess a grocery store could be found somewhere close to either a bookstore or a gym or that hypothetical place for activities for intellectually minded retirees ( if such a place exists anywhere). I was laughing a lot to myself today, but also thought that I am getting to be a bit too much of a bother for Daughter and her Ex, because they always come help with every move, without my asking.

So, OK, from now on - no moving with stuff. I wrote it - I'll have to own up to it.
It won't get me grounded as yet, since I got "kids" to promise they will wait at least till my birthday year 2009 or 2010 until they start looking for that corporate house for mom. So my freedom of movement is not going to be curtailed as yet - I can move myself, I just committed to leaving the stuff behind. Which, I guess, is a smart thing to do. ;-)

Relocating to Puerto Rico - the why and the how

Photo of Puerto Rico's West coast courtesy of The Blog of Joy

When I was working working - not retirement working, like now - and was taking a new assignment away from home, I did not make my own living arrangements in a new, most often totally unknown, or at least fairly unknown, place. It was done by a relocation department, to which I would submit my desired specifications and they would try to follow them as closely as they could.

When I retired and was relocating for the fun of it, I submitted to myself my own specifications concerning part of the world, climate, fun of living (natural beauty, cultural richness, political climate, presence - or absence - of other expats, etc) cost of living, access to health care, relative safety, immigration friendliness and any other factors I considered important. Then I did my own research trying to follow my own specifications - what was not always easy, because I could be a demanding customer ;-)

Working retirement, or retirement working to me is a combination of an interesting work and a fun place to live in while doing it. Since, typical for a former workaholic, I get fairly quickly bored with periods of all fun and no work, I switch between a leisure retirement and working retirement, and, looking for a new assignment, choose first where I would want to be, then research who is there, whom I might want to work with and - if I find interesting potential clients/employers, I send them an " I might be available at a price you might be able to afford" letter, with a list of my - verifiable - credentials (stressing results I have achieved for similar organizations) and a suggestion how those credentials could be applied to them and with what potential results.

It might seem cocky, even arrogant, I know, but I am retired, I want to work for fun not for money, and thus can afford to be cocky... and so far this approach brings me desired results.

And when I make a choice of an assignment and 'sign on the dotted line', then the working retirement relocation process begins.

Its logistics differ somewhat from the logistics of a corporate relocation.

First, in a working retirement relocation, you yourself are the relocation department - however inexperienced and/or unskilled you are at it. The organization might help you to some extent in looking for a suitable lodging and otherwise navigating living arrangement, but they have neither the resources, nor the experience of a corporate relocation department - and - usually - neither do you. So a probability of making a mistake is larger, sometimes exponentially larger.

Second, in a regular relocation, the corporation that relocates you usually assumes all the costs: of packing, shipping, settling in a new place etc., etc. They also often offer a cost of living adjustment. And if the assignment is supposed to last for a shorter period than a year, they'd let you keep your current tax home - and your current home (for which you pay from your salary, as usual), offering you a temporary lodging, transportation and compensation for extra expenses overseas in a form of - nontaxable, if kept within certain parameters - per diems. ( On the other hand, you usually take the corporate assignment for either money or glory - or both - not so much for the fun of it.)

None of that is usually (though there are exceptions) available for working retirement assignments and you need to figure out how much ordinary - taxable - compensation - will be enough to cover your extra expenses (or at least some of it) in exchange for the fun of working on a challenging assignment in a tempting, exotic place.

OK, so I did my math, specified my usual: 'I'd like a place with a view, preferably of water, surrounded by nature as far as possible' adding here a location appropriate wish: 'close to a nice, sandy beach'.

For Puerto Rico, which lacks even the most rudimentary forms of public transportation, in order to allow me to figure out whether to ship my car or lease or buy a car there (see post: Stay away... or pay) an additional requirement for the initial lodging was 'in a walking distance - of employment - or you pick me up and drop me of every day I need to work from your office'.

And now - with the help from my new employer - I found it. An apartment ( no idea how large or how nice, but judging by its relative price level in comparison to other lodgings there, it should be nice) in a large villa, divided into three one bedroom apartments. All three were available, since the tourist season has not started yet, so I took the largest ( the price differential was not much: down in $50 increments from the largest to the smallest). It has a limited ocean view - between the two houses across the street, about 50 yards from the nearest beach.

The apartment - I was told - has all basic furniture and equipment: a bed, a sofa, a table with chairs, refrigerator, stove, even some cooking and dining essentials. It also has a wireless internet and fans. It does not have air conditiong, which might not be a problem during dry winter season, but would either require me to move come May (if not sooner) and - it does not allow pets :-(( . However, the owner assured me that, for a longtime lease after an initial three months period I signed for, he will be willing to consider both adding an ac and allowing my cats.

Oh, well, so the cats need to stay for a while under the guardianship of my daughter, and I'll have to try 'going native' living without an ac for a while, but I have a place to live, while I will be figuring out whether I like my new employer and the job, for how long they might need me, if I like Puerto Rico (tropics, Caribbean) to want to live there even on a leisure retirement.

OK, so the basics are - theoretically - in place. I will be arriving in Puerto Rico in less than three weeks - and - once there - will keep you informed how the assumptions met the reality. It's got to be fun, don't you think?

Stay away.... or PAY !

There are countries ( like Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Malaysia, Singapore - to name just a few) that welcome immigrants, particularly those, who, like retirees or investors, will bring their money with them, without competing for the jobs with the locals. Those countries try to lure those desirable immigrants by allowing them a host of privileges, of which most common is a right to bring their possessions like cars, furnishing and other household items duty free.

Not Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is rarely a retirement destination for Americans, other than Nyoricans (= New York Puertoricans) although it could for most Americans be a “living overseas light” destination, a primer in the pleasures and perils of living in another climate, another culture, yet with many aspects of life similar to those in the USA.

For starters US citizens do not need to jump though legal hoops to gain residency - Puerto Rico is a US territory and - at least in theory - every US citizen - or resident - is entitled to living - and even working - in Puerto Rico.

Yes, there is a high unemployment in Puerto Rico and the income levels are much lower than in the USA:- according to official statistic the unemployment rate is over 12%, while median wage in Puerto Rico is only about 1/3 of the median wage in the lowest median-wage state in the USA - Mississippi. And the cost of living in Puerto Rico is higher than anywhere else in the Caribbean or Latin America, with San Juan supposedly the most expensive city in the Caribbean - but - legally - there are no restrictions on a US immigrants’ right to live and work there.
There are, however, economic restrictions: Puerto Rico tried hard to restrict the influx of immigrants - any kind of immigrants - by imposing excise duties on any and all goods brought to the island by practically anybody.

This is no longer the case, at least for Americans, except for cars.

Even its tourist board, while welcoming vacationers, is doing its best to discourage potential immigrants: on its discussion board, experts on Puerto Rico try hard to actively discourage anybody whose questions suggest a willingness to become a Puerto Rican resident.

They point to island’s overcrowding ( which, statistically, is undoubtedly true: Puerto Rico has a population density much higher than most other places in the world), on its low income levels ( also, judging by statistics - true), lack of public transportation, which is at least one of the causes of the horrific amount of cars on the island, judging both by its size and by a cars per capita ratio.

Somehow you don’t find them discussing positives, like a much better access to affordable health care - far, far more affordable and far more accessible than in the US proper.

Positives like the island's bilingual status, which, at least in theory, should allow you to conduct at least government business in English - though I have as yet no information on how well does it actually work in practice.

Positives like similarity of laws and jurisprudence, which - although tinged with Spanish traditions - appears to be pretty Americanised. No, I am not a - blind - fan of American legal system or its jurisprudence - far from it. I simply think that to an average US citizen similarity of jurisprudence is a plus, a fact that makes assimilation easier.

Positives like an abundance of American stores with goods a US citizen is familiar with. Etc. Etc.

Add to it a rich culture, a - save for transportation - well developed infrastructure, an abundance of natural diversity: beaches galore, mountains galore, and all kinds of forests, from dry forest (Guanica) to rain forest (El Yunque); interesting food, pleasant climate through most of the year, etc.

Finally, consider proximity to the United States and ease of reaching it thanks to a well developed network of flights.

But…. if you decide to not stay away …. be prepared to pay at least exaggerated shipping fees for everything you bring there. And if you decide to bring a car - which you can hardly live without on a relatively large island with no transportation - you’ll pay through the nose.

The newer and more fancy car, the more you’ll pay in excise taxes: nominally up to 40% of your car’s value ….but with shipping costs added to the value, to make the tax even higher.

It may not be a sufficient deterrent to someone who knows Puerto Rico, knows that he/she likes living there and plans on staying there a long time. But for someone who is moving there on a temporary basis - who, like me, was offered a job, a contract or an assignment there with a possibility to end it after 6 months, a year, two years, but with an option to stay there as long as one likes, it becomes a guessing game, an exercise in figuring out how to balance cost and comfort.

Is it worth while bringing my car over if I decide to stay there only six months? Or will I be better off buying - or renting/leasing a car there, even though cars cost considerably more over there? What if I stay a year, or two, or indefinitely? The calculation will change in each and every case, so you have to factor different scenarios, assign probabilities, etc.

Still, life seldom follows the logical patterns and the probabilities assigned by our mind are vulnerable to the havoc our irrational emotions - or even fleeting moods of estrangement and loneliness - might at any time wreck on them. Why, or why can’t we be more lice Vulcans (= from Star Trek)???

Or Puerto Rico more immigrant friendly?