IT1
4/5/2017 07:16 EST
Over 30 years ago I lived in Bogota and Cali while teaching. Lived with locals, usually in the high end areas, with room and board. Raced bicycles back then in COL. Now thinking of returning and my past times are swim, bike, run and the gym. Also rest, pray and read but that does not require much. Fluent in Spanish. Retired and have enough for the pension visa. DWM. Where to go in COL and your thoughts. Thank you.
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Elexpatriado
4/5/2017 11:07 EST
Most important thing by far in considering Colombia is to give serious consideration to possible tax consequences if you chose to stay more than 183 days in a year.
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Kee
4/5/2017 14:13 EST
If you want to run, bike, swim and workout in Armenia it's doable if you are brave enough to bike on the highways and have a membership for Bolo Club (unless you don't mind swimming in a small pool in some complex).
There's not much problem with the running part but gym memberships are one of the things that are more expensive in Colombia.
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regnatarajan
4/5/2017 14:51 EST
Biking here (motorized or leg powered) is near-suicide anywhere in Colombia. All your other pastimes can be achieved almost anywhere.
Swimming for me is best in gated communities but the public pool in my town is great, too. Just crowded. If you prefer olympic-sized public pools where you can do laps, I'd suggest you check out the exact pool you'd be frequenting before choosing a town because some can be quite dirty. I'd say the same if you were moving to the US or Canada.
Gyms are everywhere.
I'm not a runner but I'd guess air quality is a big issue for those who are, and towns under 60k in population would probably be best. If there's a park that isn't directly beside busy roads (to avoid diesel fumes), that would be another consideration. I'm actually toying with taking up running in my town. We'll see how that goes.
Welcome back to Colombia!
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IT1
4/5/2017 16:01 EST
Elexpatriado,
Thought I saw that pension and Social Security was not taxed there on a forum answer. In the US, I currently live in a state where neither is taxed. Am I mistaken?
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IT1
4/5/2017 16:06 EST
regnatarajan,
Even 30 years ago cycling was a challenge in COL. We normally rode together in a group or had a car following us. In the US it is no piece of cake either. Often limit myself to 3 mile loops in residential areas to minimize traffic. Also do those indoor spin classes, if they have those in COL now.
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Andresen
4/5/2017 18:39 EST
Re: gym membership. I just joined Smartfit. 90,000 COP registration fee, 90,000 a year maintenance fee, and 50,000 a month. You decide if that is expensive.
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regnatarajan
4/5/2017 21:21 EST
They have spinning classes five nights a week about 50 meters from my door. I can't imagine they'd be too hard to find in most towns. I also see a lot of dancing classes in my town if you're into that. My gf and I have been toying with trying one of those.
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Elexpatriado
4/6/2017 00:14 EST
IT1-Dont listen to people on Forums about taxes .And dont talk to local Colombian accountants. Talk to Price Waterhouse or Depoite Touche Colombian tax speciaitst. They e are theonly ones that have the real truth, as written in law.
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regnatarajan
4/6/2017 00:45 EST
My own opinion is that Price Waterhouse and/or Deloitte are huge overkill for the simple question the OP has asked, specifically whether US based pension and Social Security are taxed in Colombia. Any competent Colombian accountant will be able to answer that question with a good knowledge of the applicable local law for vastly less than these large firms.
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Elexpatriado
4/6/2017 10:13 EST
According to the PWC site, Pensions are treated same as employment income in Colombia.
http://taxsummaries.pwc.com/ID/Colombia-Individual-Taxes-on-personal-income
This is assuming the OP has absolutely no other assets or income besides his pension, no stocks. bonds, house, rental income yadda , yadda.
But still, pension income is taxed.
But still this is info. from a forum. Dnt take my word. I am not an accountant.OP should use his own judgement as to what he wants to do.
Just think about what you are potentially getting into financially before relocating permanently to Colombia, espescially before you invest anything in Colombia or get emotionally involved with a woman.
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