If you’ve recovered sufficiently from the Christmas and New Year hangovers and you’re dreading getting back to the 9 – 5 grind and enduring your way through yet another year in a near-bankrupt nation, you hate the thought of taxes being hiked and everything else being slashed, and you want to know where to live abroad in 2013 to enjoy a better standard of living, we have the answers to your location dilemmas.
After all, it can be very hard to know where to look, and a lot of people fall into the trap of simply plumping for a country where they had a happy holiday. Whilst this might mean you make the right choice for you and your family’s future, it may also mean you rock up in a resort, out of season, and discover that there is a lot more to making expatriate life work than simply buying a one-way ticket out of the UK.
In terms of where to choose, it will be a personally dictated choice driven by many critical factors from employment to education perhaps, but if you’re looking for a good combination of a decent climate and a nation where economically things are going from good to better, part one of our look at where to live abroad in 2013 is going to focus on a handful of our favourite nations in South America.
From the beautiful beaches of Brazil to the stunning Andean backdrop of Peru, there are many different nation choices for you to examine in South America…here’s our overview of our current 5 favourites: -
Brazil - as one of the leading economic lights in the region, Brazil offers everything to the expatriate seeking a better quality of life. It’s a much more affordable country than the UK, or indeed many nations in Europe or North America for example, yet it has investment opportunities aplenty.
The weather, particularly in the north-east of the nation, is near perfect, and financially speaking it is a leading light globally.
Brazil is home to beautiful people and beautiful scenery, it has enjoyed massive investment in infrastructure and development thanks to its growing economy and the focus being placed on the attraction of tourism, and anyone who chooses to relocate to Brazil can benefit from all of this positivity.
The standard of living available for an affordable price in Brazil is very high, and the emergence of Brazil as a tourism hub has had a natural knock on effect in terms of the numbers of expatriates choosing to call it their new home abroad. This brings the benefit of having others in-country who can befriend you from a shared position of being a new face in a new land.
Ecuador - a striking alternative to the vibrancy of Brazil is the relative peace of Ecuador. Compared to the likes of Brazil or Argentina, Ecuador is tiny. But it manages to pack such diversity into its relatively compact size – diversity in terms of geography, climate, people and opportunities.
It’s an increasingly popular nation with expats who want to get away from it all, and with those who want to retire somewhere unspoiled, and yet where essentials like healthcare are offered and available at a relatively high standard.
Peru - as one of the lesser well-known nation’s in the region, Peru is of appeal to expats who want to pioneer and strike out to live in countries that have been untouched and unspoiled by the influences of strong tourism for example.
Influenced by both the equator and the Andes, Peru has a very diverse climate, it is steeped in historic and cultural richness, and it presents would-be expats with a totally free backdrop, on which they can paint their own path for the future.
The people are curious yet welcoming, their values are community and family orientated. Therefore the way of life in Peru can really suit those expats who want to get back to basics and live a relatively simple existence in a truly beautiful part of the world.
Uruguay - the second smallest nation in the South American region is Uruguay, and it has a near perfect climate unhampered by the likes of earthquakes or hurricanes.
It’s small size means that no matter where you live in Uruguay, you’re never more than a short drive from either beaches or mountains, and the landscape is always beautiful.
With a small yet strong and emerging tourism appeal, Uruguay is benefitting from investments in the likes of real estate and infrastructure. These developments have a positive impact on the quality of life that can be enjoyed locally by expats.
An additional benefit of choosing to live in Uruguay is that your foreign sourced income can be enjoyed tax-free – naturally this can make even a modest pension income go far further.
Chile - our final favourite choice in South America is Chile. Despite being only about 175km wide at its broadest point, Chile is 4,300km long and as a result it offers up perhaps the most diverse range of climatic types and natural landscapes of any single nation in the world!
For that reason alone many choose to visit and explore Chile, but for those who want to benefit more, a new life in Chile is an excellent choice. Firstly the pace of life is slower, secondly the cost of living is less and thirdly, it’s a relatively crime free, safe nation which is making strong positive economic advancements.
All of this adds up to a true land of opportunity for expats who want to leave the old life behind and start a better life abroad.