How Much House You Can Afford in Retirement in Different Countries
Will your reserve fund of hard-earned savings and your investment portfolio support your lifestyle when you stop working? With overspending and inflation, many people in America have found they can’t afford to retire and need to cut their expenses.
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“Every day we go to the store, a restaurant, or shop online; we see consistent price increases,” said real estate investor Benjamin Nijila Fields.
“Even in the media, companies like Chipotle are under fire for doubling prices and barely giving any portions,” Fields said.
Fields said he doesn’t see this trend of inflation changing anytime soon and he’s noticed more people migrating to affordable places outside the U.S. where “real estate, food and everything in between is cheaper.”
While the U.S. government doesn’t formally count how many Americans move abroad, it is estimated to be around 9 million people, said Fields.
“We have international migration stock data from the World Bank that reported 50,000 Americans living in Africa and 800,000 living in Europe; Americans also like the UAE and Qatar.”
Fields said retirees can find affordable places with a better quality of life by moving abroad. “Plus, the weather is better and the architecture is usually more scenic [in many of these destinations].”
“[In 2008], people saw their retirement accounts wiped out, and young people obviously don’t look forward to the dead pensions,” he said.
Field said navigating finances while living abroad as an expat is very easy. “Social security, retirement money, and pensions will [be deposited] into your American account as usual. It is easy to use a premium or even mid-range travel credit card abroad and [transfer money out of] your accounts without any issues.”
Most importantly, the largest expense is usually housing and housing costs are much cheaper in many countries outside the United States.
Here’s what you can expect to pay for housing every month in different countries, according to city data from World Atlas.
City Monthly Rent
Manila $190
Jakarta $260
Sofia $310
Riga $360
Bucharest $370
Bogota $380
Kiev $390
Nairobi $480
Bangkok $500
Cairo $500
Ljubljana $540
Prague $550
Vilnius $550
Bombay $550
Kuala Lumpur $560
Bratislava $580
Montreal $590
Rio de Janeiro $590
Warsaw $630
Budapest $640
New Delhi $640
Lyon $670
Tallinn $690
Nicosia $690
Berlin $690
Johannesburg $690
Buenos Aires $710
Santiago de Chile $710
Barcelona $740
Lisbon $760
Athens $770
Mexico City $770
Lima $800
Vienna $800
Stockholm $880
Manama (Bahrain) $890
Madrid $900
São Paulo $910
Istanbul $970
Moscow $1,020
Shanghai $1,090
Toronto $1,120
Seoul $1,140
Tel Aviv $1,160
Frankfurt $1,220
Amsterdam $1,220
Auckland $1,250
Rome $1,280
Milan $1,340
Brussels $1,340
Munich $1,370
Dubai $1,380
Beijing $1,390
Helsinki $1,440
Paris $1,610
Geneva $1,610
Copenhagen $1,650
Tokyo $1,730
Dublin $1,760
Zurich $1,770
Sydney $1,780
Taipeh $1,840
Oslo $1,940
Miami $1,970
Los Angeles $1,990
Doha $2,050
Luxembourg $2,130
Chicago $2,210
London $2,360
Hong Kong $2,590
New York $3,890
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Much House You Can Afford in Retirement in Different Countries