About Jay4

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Male

Currently Lives:

United States

Citizen Of:

United States

Past Expat Posts:

Chile

Canada

Some Forum Posts:

Argentina: Why not Argentina?:

I lived in a southern South American country for over a year and I spent quite a bit of time in Argentina and Uruguay, so I am familiar with that part of the continent. I still have multiple friends in that part of the world that I keep in close contact with. I will tell you where I lived after I make my case. Yes, Ecuador may be a cheap place to retire, but do more research. Being happy and retiring is not all about living cheaply. You have to love where you are living, the geography, the climate, the system, and the people and culture. I have a very good friend that lived in Ecuador for nearly two years with his wife, she is from Quito. He enjoyed his time there and he speaks often about the standard of living that they enjoyed while in Ecuador. He always had positive things to say about the people in general. Keep in mind that while that sounds really great, it is all relative. It depends on how adaptable you are to living standards and different cultures. Yes, you can rent a great place for $500-600 US a month and dine out cheaply, but there is more to it than just the cost of living. Ecuador is way behind the ball when it comes to current development. Politics - if you are concerned about the political stability of Ecuador, then I would be very wary of Argentina. Look at the transparency reports that are out there and all of the other socio-economic information of the S. American countries. What country is at the top and who is at the bottom? Argentinians are a proud people, bordering on arrogant, and they tolerate corruption and I never felt comfortable doing business with many of them. I'm not just talking about the politicians either. I'm talking about many of the people that I had dealings with in general, whether it was servicing my car, negotiating a price, trying to set up a rental contract, etc. Why did I have these interactions? I retired to that part of the world for a brief period, less than two years and I thought about splitting my time between one country and Argentina. After spending time in Argentina, I quickly decided against that and the other country was the clear option. If you aren't planning on being in a big city, you don't plan on doing any business with the locals, and you keep your bank accounts in the U.S., then Argentina is a great place, especially near the Andes. If you want the best place to retire, then look at Chile, second is probably Uruguay. I lived in Santiago and loved it in every way - people, climate, geography, business, political stability, economic stability, etc. The cost of living is higher, but if you get outside of Santiago, then you will find it comparable to Argentina. There are English TV channels in Chile and Direct TV can set you up with the same deal as in the U.S. The Chileno's are a great people, fairly conservative, honest, Christian, friendly, and respectful. They are not corrupt in general, although there are always those people, the political system is democratic and not corrupt, the police are not corrupt, the country is transparent and stable, and the economy is solid. They have billions of dollars in surplus. Think about those things when making a decision. I only spent a few weeks here and there in Uruguay and although it is not as developed as Chile, or Argentina for that matter, it is a relatively cheap place to live with great people and culture. Shoot me a private message if you want to speak more about this topic. All the best in your retirement.

Chile: moving to chile:

I lived in Chile for nearly two years and you will not find property/acreage for anything close to that price. You can find those per acre prices for very large parcels (hundreds to thousands of acres/hectares), but not for small, lot size parcels. If you search in some of the far off places, I'm sure you can find something very cheap. It's hotter as you go north. There is the Atacama desert way up north if want really dry and hot;). Enjoy the country, check out Patagonia and spend time in Santiago for sure.

Argentina: How is the CIF duty calculated?:

Can anyone tell me how the CIF is calculated, specifically, how is the value of the car calculated? Is it based on the value stated on the shipping documents, does Argentina have a way of valuing the car or is taken from an outside source such as NADA or Blue Book? Thanks, Jay

Date Joined:

6/12/2009

Total Posts:

4

Posts/Day:

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