Excerpt from What’s Driving Americans to Retire Abroad? Money — or Lack of It:
Andrew Bender, a travel and food writer who pens the Seat 1A blog for Forbes magazine, cautions that while many countries may offer an ostensibly lower cost of living, there could be other hidden expenses that add up. This is particularly true of emerging market countries, where local items are relatively inexpensive but imported items may not be.
“If you’re living in other parts of the world and have to travel back to your old hometown regularly, that’s a cost. Airfares serving remote destinations tend not to be cheap, and when you arrive stateside, everyday costs — hotels, just for starters — are bound to be a lot more expensive than in your new home.”
Read the full story in Knowledge@Wharton, the online magazine of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.