Living In Other Countries After The U.S. Collapses

The last time we had El Nino in 1997 - 1999 or so (lasts a few years), all leaves fell off the trees and there were massive fires in Indonesia that spread smoke over here. That was during the Asian Financial Crisis. I wonder if El Nino could cause a problem all over Asia which I think has massive hydropower? This may kill the economic growth here in Mindanao which had been running at probably 15% per year. And it might cause massive inflation here if they increase power rates in order to augment the much cheaper hydropower with diesel. Mindanao is booming and electricity is big part of it. I went around to one of the malls today, and it was dark inside with the aircon turned down low. The workers looked unhappy. It is an amazing turn of events, as I hadn't even known what was going on. I noticed 1 hour brownouts the past several days.

http://carlosconde.com/2010/02/20/philippines-%E2%80%98bracing-for-the-worst%E2%80%99-in-drought/
http://www.mb.com.ph/node/246836/14000-hectare
http://davaotoday.com/2010/03/09/power-execs-warn-of-longer-brown-outs/
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/246911/davao-firms-help-ease-power-crisismilitary
http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7748&Itemid=50

Manila will soon be affected too:

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/246978/magat-starts-countdown-shutdown

HOWEVER we have a presidential and congressional election in May and I wonder if some people are not using this for political ends.

Also everything is different in Philippines:

https://goldwetrust.forumotion.com/health-f5/humor-and-or-wit-t26-15.htm#2800

We can speak on Skype if you wish.

If you decide to live in Philippines, have you thought about where you will live?

One thing you have to keep in mind is the very high population density and thus most housing will have you wearing ear plugs inside your own house. One solution is an upscale condo (older and lower ones will present many problems, including noise, plumbing that doesn't work, faulty airconditioning, etc), which will cost $30 - 40,000 just for a studio size. And with paper thin walls, you still have no noise assurance if you get neighbor who parties loud (as most filipinos do). This high population density is a problem is predominant through most of Asia. Also you will exhaust yourself trying to get what would be simple things done in USA. For example, you will find it impossible to use a yellow pages and call around for information on anything. You have to travel to the location and speak in person, and then often the "manager is not around". The average worker here knows nothing typically. It has improved some since the 1990s, but you can still lose a lot of time and energy. I can not tell you how much my experience and knowledge of the place is worth, because it will vary for each person's needs/wants, but it is significant in most cases.

If you live in the lowland and unless you normally handle the summer heat of southern border of USA, you will be air-conditioning bound.

If you want to live at a very low level in a "chicken cot" 400 sq.ft. floor area on 800 sg. ft lot (bathroom that barely works, no tub, no view of anything but your neighbors house 10 ft from your window, noise any hour of day/night from neighbor's dog, karaoke, TV, radio, etc), then I can recommend where I live near beach about 5 miles south of downtown davao, for about $100 - $150 per month. In Cebu, you will pay at least $200, and much more difficult to find a house in a reasonable location (unreasonable means squatters all around you, not road up to your house gate, etc). More or less, any where except Davao, you are going pay about $300+ per month to get something just barely reasonable, and it will most likely be a condo.

For very decent house or apartment that will have good working bathroom, not noisy with karaoke all hours of nite, etc.. and I mean quality you are accustomed to, then you are going to pay $400+ any where in Philippines. Foreigners I have know who have money, typically pay nearer to $500+ per month for a western style housing.

If you search in the small cities, you might find something for less, but very unlikely you will find something of decent construction. Typical filipino construction, means for example they are not concerned with small gaps in walls where mosquitoes and ants get to feast on you in bed at night or with incorrect plumbing, cheap toilet that never stops leaking, etc.

I have searched far and wide all over the Philippines for different options. I have lived or visited most every city in Philippines. I am sure I have missed a few places, and places that have changed since I was last there, but overall I have a good feeling for what is.

In terms of the least expensive place not visited by yearly typhoons (hurricanes), where I can have a quality house in a cold climate where I don't need airconditioning, and where I have access to a major city within 60 miles (1.5 hour drive), and where I can live on a large land area (so have peace and quiet, I can always go to my city house for noise and action) near the major highway, then I know of only 1 such location in entire Philippines 60 miles from Davao. This location is where I am currently building a house. Baguio (4 hours from Manila) does not qualify, because Manila is too far, Baguio quickly becomes boring, and the typhoon season is even more intense than in Manila. Baguio is very overcrowded, and pollution/traffic is starting to become a problem, as well nearly impossible to find a place where you can be sure a filipino won't put a crowing chicken near your bedroom window to disrupt your sleep nightly.

There is an alternative cold mountain location nearer to Davao (about 30 miles and 45 minutes) called "Eden", but it is difficult to find a large land area (with road access), so you will be protected from karaoke invasion, at a reasonable price. There are high priced subdivisions in this area, if you want to spend $100,000+ then these subdivisions are probably best location for you. I do not prefer this area because of the extra expense, and mainly because I want to run long-distances at the cold mountain and the location I have chosen is the only mountain valley I know of in Philippines with good access that has a flat 10 kilometer section. Whereas, in Eden I feel there is nothing I can do there other than stay inside my house. But it mainly about costs. The subdivision is way overpriced for what I would get, and to obtain a large land area with road access and overlooking all of Davao in Eden, would be big effort (months of issues with titles, disputes, etc) and significant costs (probably no less than $50,000 for 3 acres). Given my house is transportable, I can always have the option to move it to Eden if later I decide that is what I want. There is very little flat land areas in Eden, but the advantage is you are very accessible to city of Davao, and if you spend enough you can be overlooking the entire Davao gulf including lights of city at night, Samal island, etc. Very nice! But you need to spend some big money to do it correctly. Eden and my other chosen location are about same elevation, 2000 - 3000 ft.

Davao has numerous advantages over Cebu and Manila, in that it is the food/fruit/tuna producer of the country, and it has one of the nicest islands (Samal) which is not overcrowded and featurelessly flat like Mactan Island in Cebu. Davao has more malls than Cebu, yet has many times more land area. You have many more places to drive and explore from Davao than from Cebu. And my main reason for choosing Davao is besides the lower cost of everything, there are many fewer foreigners here. I find the more foreigners (e.g. Cebu and Manila), the more bars, drugs, and crime. So far, no drugs nor crime in Davao, because we've had Mayor Duturte for decades and he shoots the criminals with driveby shootings after 3 warnings. Unlike Cebu, which is infested with rival mayors for each sub-city and widespread corruption and crime. However, the advantage of Cebu is you can travel south to ferry hop to Negros in your car or motorcycle and explore Negros which has nice baywalk with restaurants at Dumaguette (eventually Dipolog will be as nice in North Mindanao a 4 hour ferry ride from Dumaguette). Valencia City is a low elevation (1000 ft) and very nice small town with nice homes 45 minutes from Dumaguette. Some foreigners have built $100,000+ homes there. Also Cebu island gives you proximity to Leyte and Samar even by boat with your vehicle from north cebu. But we have a lot of places to travel to by land from Davao without any ferry necessary.

I am currently building a house. You can truely "be alone" in this location 60 miles from Davao (but less so now that I am the 3rd foreigner to build a house in this same plot of land, about 8 acres).

The house I am constructing is transportable (in case ever I wanted to relocate or sell the house) meaning it can be disassembled and placed on a truck. It is nearly entire made of steel and concrete. I used special painstaking engineering to make it strong, lightweight, and sound/heat insulating (e.g. trusses and styrofoam aggregate). It is 2 storey design with 800 sq.ft. at each floor (1600 sq.ft if finish the ground floor at minimal cost). Currently I am not enclosing or finishing the ground floor. My upper floor will have a front and rear terrace of 8', so this leaves me 480 sq.ft interior which I will have 320 sq.ft living room+kitchen/dining at front of house, and remainder at rear of house for bathroom (with tub for warm baths on cold nights!) and bedroom opening to private rear terrance. The front terrace overlooks the main highway from a distance, and the rear terrace have a nice view of a huge mountain and farm. My neighbors are growing fresh romaine lettuce and broccoli and strawberries and any other cold climate vegetable one desires. So the food bill decreases as these western vegetables are very expensive in lowland (due to fuel costs and low economies-of-scale).

There is a lot of engineering, supervision, hassles and work in this pre-fab house. But it is nice. I can alter the design if someone wants more or less floor area. It is important to have 2 storey so no one can easily look inside your windows (natives can climb fences) and to get up above the ants crawling level, and generally nicer view and more breeze.

Any way, I can build this house for you and provide the land for free, at a cost of $10,000. You will own the house. We can probably structure it as a lease contract (with another side contract that you own the house), so you can use the $10,000 that you must post with immigration to obtain the permanent residence retirement visa. Actually my materials cost on that house will be nearer to $5,000, but there are enormous hassles in building a house. I doubt the $3000 or so "profit" would even compensate my time, but I am willing to give it a shot, because I am trying to get my teenage offspring started in a pre-fab construction business. Any way, this is higher quality construction and a typical western pine+gypsum house, meaning lower maintenance and longer longevity, besides it is pre-fab and you can move it. But you won't notice it is pre-fab. It will have nice and solid appearance. You should be able to easily sell the house at what you paid and increasing with inflation, because it is very difficult to find that quality of house in Philippines for less than $20,000. I suspect my offspring will get a lot of business from foreigners, once we can figure out what size and style is most popular. A buyer will have the option of enclosing the ground floor at minimal cost to make 1600 sq.ft, which is a nice size house and mansion in Asia.

Also I am now making investigations about obtaining 5 acres on a secluded private hill and white sand, turquoise water beach for foreigners who want to have a house overlooking the ocean with peace & quite (nearly impossible to find this in Philippines, usually only small beach lots with karaoke invasion surrounds you). I intend to have mountain and beach house, but you need both. Sometimes you get tired of the cold weather (60 - 65 degrees at night, 75 - 85 at day) and vice versa.

From www.jsmineset.com:

"There is a probability that Tanzania is one of the safest areas on the planet over the next two decades of world change."

"Tanzania permits dual citizenship."

http://jsmineset.com/2010/04/08/opportunities-for-investment-in-tanzania/

Also, Sinclair thinks South Africa would be a good place to live for the next 20+ years.

Shelby wrote:http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/109317/appeal-of-overseas-retirement-grows-for-many?mod=fidelity-livingretirement

Interesting.

Thanks, Shelby.

Many photos:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/7606679/Iceland-volcano-the-latest-spectacular-pictures-of-the-volcanic-eruption.html?image=9

Forget Africa, it's the most difficult land to own a property without problems or be confronted with racism. It's a place full low IQ's, it's too dangerous to conversate rational with someone who would kill you or is not clever enough to have a non-racial discussion... And also they are too lazy to work hard if needed...

I saw Congo, South-Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Egypt, Morocco, Tunesia,... Always having problems or troubles there. It's impossible to find a peaceful solution with indoctrinated low-IQ's... FORGET it to invest there, problems garantueed...


I LOVE South-America and the mentality of the local people!

Uruguay is the best land of the world to live there. Also for the climate and friendly intellectual debates. It's a wonderful green desert (plenty farms, clean waterresources, good hospitals, big harbor of Katoennatie, etc...), but it's not a place for tourism (only Montevideo, Colonia (VERY BEAUTIFUL old harbor) and Punta del Este). Only a place to be for your retirement...

But also is Thailand fantastic, says my uncle. But don't ask me about Thailand, I didn't visit it, but would like to do it after hearing the positive comments of my uncle... And Thailand is near China for trade...

Someone emailed me privately about Paraguay last month. I had originally thought of trying to obtain citizenship in one of those South American countries. But have you actually lived there? I've heard south americans are pretty violent and brutal, e.g. Colombia (where someone had a huge bolo knife outside my taxi), but maybe that is just Central America? The European mix in Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina makes it different in better way? I heard there are lot of unemployed young trouble makers in Argentina?

Yeah I wrote about the low IQ barter crowd just a few minutes ago:

https://goldwetrust.forumotion.com/precious-metals-f6/how-will-we-physically-trade-gold-silver-at-5000-500-t61-120.htm#3207

No, I don't live there, but I'm researching to get passport in Uruguay and buy property there. I travelled two times to Uruguay, I've maded many good contacts there. Very professional and clever people. Your juridical rights as homeowner are very high and good protected. I'm really satisfied about this land. It's my number ONE...


This is informative book (I've bought one and it's well documented):

http://sovereignsociety.com/bookstore/

Buy "The passport book", you would find your information about passports, visa,...


This is a good site:

http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Latin-America/Uruguay


Yes, I also heard about Paraguay and Colombia, and I don't advice to travel there. Too risky, I think...

Yes, there are many unemployed, but high skilled youngs. I believe in the future of South-America and his growing population. It could turn into a superpower if the monetary regime is expansed and the high inflation is killed.


Go buy a ticket to Uruguay for a week or two. You would like it, nothing much to see, but very interesting to live there. Travel with the bus around Uruguay, you will be surprised. So green farms... It will be a good experience and it could change your mind/vision about Uruguay. :-)

Greece is looks like a violent place to live there, but have had no problems or somewhat with the anarchists. It's the same there in South-America. Nothing to have fear about it. Other stories are mostly bullshit or negative propaganda of other states against them.

My parents and grand-parents have lived in Congo and South-Africa. They leaved it and would never come back. So many problems and bad experiences.

I lived for 2 months in Turkey, had good and sometimes bad experiences. But would never invest there for one simply reason: Earthquakes. Also Chile is dangerous place for earthquakes.


And guess where Noam Chomsky is living. I find him a very brilliant man (and is my favorite author), I readed most of his books. Mind-blowing.

Someone who works as an embalmer, says that it is quite regular occurrence for them to sex the bodies of the dead, if they are deemed quite attractive. And not just once, but 3 ejaculations to make it satisfying. I am dead serious.

Jim Cramer said on CNBC that he just bought property in Mexico and that the prices are very reasonable. If I heard it right, he bought three houses in San Miguel de Allende.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article20327.html#comment93188

Shelby wrote:Nadeem, indeed if ISA allows backdating the way you describe, then many of us middle class should be try to get UK citizenship!

I think the ISA allowance only applied to when you purchased the investment. You are saying that if I invested 100k, then I can in future years of annual allowances backdate the ISA to year I made the original investment? Are you sure? That sounds like a very huge difference from the way an IRA works in USA.

But I suspect that the future allowances apply to the current value, not to the backdated value at time of original purchase? So in that case, the numbers would look much closer to my calculation, especially with extreme levels of inflation likely ahead.

I am very interested to read your next reply, because I if I am not correct on my last point, then indeed I want to start telling everyone to try to get UK citizenship. I think I may be eligible for ancestry claim. Does Ireland have the same ISA?

Shelby wrote:ISA details

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/isa/
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/isa-factsheet.pdf

"You can only put money into an ISA if you are resident and ordinarily resident in the UK for tax purposes."

What is the performance of the "Retail Prices Index" relative to gold since 2001? That is a critical question, because it appears that there is no backdating in an ISA as you implied. Instead, you would essentially be reclassifying a prior investment into an ISA at its _CURRENT_ (not backdated) value. If the "Retail Prices Index" is underperforming gold, then the calculations will look more similar to the dire one I provided in my prior comments.

Also only 3k annually can go into "cash ISA", and you can't put physical gold and silver into stocks and shares ISA. Perhaps you can put into PHYS (surely you can put the GLD and SLV which are alleged to not have metal in them), but I am not convinced that any of these metal ETFs will perform the same as the metal does, when the important juncture comes that the whole fiat system goes into cardiac arrest. The PHYS could in theory be confiscated easily by the government as it is held by the Canadian Royal Mint.

Also there is no guarantee that you won't be prevented from putting certain types of investments in an ISA in the future, or that the ISA may not be revoked, so counting future years' allowances is not certain, given the UK will go into fiscal cardiac arrest along with the USA and others.

==============

ADD: ah I was correct from start that ISA is not effective at tax avoidance for us of average or more net worth:

Shelby wrote:RPI is a lie

RPI calculator:

http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/

Says that £1 invested in 2001 is worth £1.23 as of 2009, a +23% rise. But in that same time frame, gold is up +300%.

So your theory about using future years ISA allowances does not work mathematically.

I was essentially correct with my prior calculation. And taxes will continue to rise as well.

ISA is not a tax haven that can help anyone.

This is near Manila on main island of Luzon and at high enough elevation that you don't need airconditioning and on the way to beautiful beaches in the south Luzon:

http://makatirooms.com/Wind.pdf
http://makatirooms.com/tagaytay.php

That is $150 per month for 3 years at 0% interest, then a big balance to pay.

Video of a white man trying it:

http://www.restodonada.com/2010/07/luva-de-formigas-brasileiras-rituais-2.html

Another part:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGIZ-zUvotM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WQ6rFKhyn0
(I love what is said at the end of this, so true..."no pain, no gain baby", I can still hear my football coach in the swelting heat of summer training in the swamp)

The Satere-Mawe people of Brazil use intentional bullet ant stings as part of their initiation rites to become a warrior.

a boy slips the glove onto his hand. The goal of this initiation rite is to keep the glove on for a full ten minutes. When finished, the boy's hand and part of his arm are temporarily paralyzed because of the ant venom, and he may shake uncontrollably for days.

boys must go through the ordeal a total of 20 times over the course of several months or even years.

Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.

Madagascar:



Foreigners can 100% own a business in Madagascar:

http://www.afribiz.info/?p=8474

shelby
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Texas, Washington State, Philippines, ... ?
Posts: 10,882
Rep Power: 0


Live in Bulgaria?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wish I had $1.2 million to buy this 1.2 ha land with 600 meters beach line in "California" climate on the Black Sea near Turkey (3 acres with 2000 ft of beach line). Bulgaria recently admitted to the European Union (after 5 years of chaos following fall of communism in the country), so real estate is still cheap but skyrocketing:



http://properties.discover-bulgaria....sp?OfferID=638
http://www.wunderground.com/NORMS/Di...655&Units=both
http://en.allmetsat.com/climate/turkey.php?code=15655
http://www.propertyworld.com/sub_pag...elp/editID/723
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgas

I can rent a nice 3 bedroom, 2000 sq.ft. apt there for $150 per month:

http://properties.discover-bulgaria....p?OfferID=4039

Also for a single 42 old man like me, it has beautiful race (I am not commenting about their attitudes, attire, poses, and deception of makeup & Photoshop edting, just the physical race of what I can see, since I have never been there):

http://www.sladurana.com/tools/cgi/p...D=28987&more=7
http://www.sladurana.com/tools/cgi/p...=48924&more=10
http://www.sladurana.com/tools/cgi/p...D=46310&more=5
http://www.sladurana.com/free_dating/23078.html
http://www.sladurana.com/free_dating/49047.html
http://www.sladurana.com/tools/cgi/p...D=51586&more=4
http://www.sladurana.com/tools/cgi/pic3.php?ID=24830
http://www.sladurana.com/tools/cgi/pic3.php?ID=51237
http://www.sladurana.com/tools/cgi/p...D=50543&more=2
http://www.sladurana.com/tools/cgi/pic3.php?ID=22153
http://www.sladurana.com/www/Detailed/463.html


I was shocked to learn about this place yesterday a european friend ("Weslaw") came by my house to get me to search Bulgaria for him. He explained to me about the country as what I wrote above. I am just passing it along for those of you considering a plan B location.

Has any one been there? And comments? Christian values?

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Last edited by shelby : 11-03-2007 at 09:00 AM

http://www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/lifestyle/most-drugged-out-countries?cm_ven=outbrain&psv=outbrainselectedarticle&obref=obnetwork

And that doesn't even include legal medications, where I read that 30% of the elementary school kids from kids monitored by child services agencies are on some form of psychotic meds.

5 Places to Retire for Under $500 Per Month
by Kathleen Peddicord
Friday, April 15, 2011
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Housing is likely to be one of your biggest retirement expenses. One way to approach your search for the ideal overseas retirement haven is to focus on retire-overseas choices where housing is cheap.

It's important to note that, for these bargain rents, you won't be getting a palatial or luxurious abode. I'm limiting my picks to places where you could rent something modest and cozy but reasonably outfitted from a North American's perspective. Here are five places where you could rent for as little as $500 per month.

More from USNews.com:

• How to Save for Retirement on a Low Income

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• Find Your Best Place to Retire
Leon, Nicaragua. Nicaragua has suffered serious bad press as a result of its troubled past and current president. Those unfortunate realities aside, this beautiful land of lakes and volcanoes has a great deal to offer the would-be retiree, including a new program of special benefits for resident retirees. There is also a growing and welcoming community of expats from around the world, top-notch health care in Managua thanks to the international-standard Vivan Pellas Hospital Metropolitano, and bargain-priced rentals.

Leon is the second of this country's two colonial cities, and generally less developed and recognized than its sister city, Granada. In many ways, Leon is preferable. It's a university town with museums and theater that sits less than a half-hour from the coast. Because it's been largely ignored until recently, it's also a more affordable place to rent than higher-profile Granada. You could rent a two- or three-bedroom colonial house here for as little as $500 or $600 per month.

Medellin, Colombia. The downside to Leon is the climate. Mornings and evenings can be pleasant, but midday temperatures are often brutal. If that bothers you, consider the mountain city of Medellin instead. This pretty city built almost entirely of red brick boasts a spring-like climate year-round. Like Leon, Medellin is an emerging retirement haven, meaning the existing expat community is small but growing and the costs of living and of renting are temptingly low. One friend is renting a small studio in a non-central neighborhood for the equivalent of $210 per month. You can rent a two-bedroom apartment in a new building at a central address for $700 or $800 per month.

[Changes That Will Improve Your Odds of Retiring]

Las Tablas, Panama. My top recommendation for a beachfront retirement where the cost of renting is low enough to accommodate almost anyone's budget is Las Tablas, a city on the Pacific coast of Panama's Azuero Peninsula. Panama has first-class and affordable medical care and facilities, a pensionado program of special benefits for foreign retirees, and well-established expat communities. The city also has a developed infrastructure, many user-friendly options for establishing foreign residency, and can be a tax-haven for those wishing to minimize their taxes.

Not all of Panama qualifies as bargain-priced. As this country has become increasingly favored by retirees and investors, the costs of both living and of real estate have been rising, particularly in discovered areas such as Panama City. But Panama offers a number of appealing lifestyle possibilities beyond its capital city, including Las Tablas. The downside to Las Tablas is its distance from Panama City. It's about a four-hour drive away. However, the cost of living can be half that of Panama City and you can rent a small house within walking distance of the beach for $300 or $400 per month.

Chiang Mai, Thailand. I know of a single American man who lives in Chiang Mai on $200 a month, with half that going for rent. He gets around on a bicycle and eats at low-cost noodle stalls or for free when a temple offers lunch. He makes a sport of spending as little as possible. I also know a Thai American woman who bought an apartment in a small town 15 kilometers from Chiang Mai. She manages on $600 a month from Social Security and, as she is Thai and over 60, she enjoys free government health care. It wouldn't cost you very much more to live and rent in Chiang Mai. House and apartment rentals in Chiang Mai can vary dramatically, from perhaps $150 per month for a small home and garden in the country to $400 or $500 monthly for a larger, newer place in town.

[5 Ways to Torpedo Your Retirement]

Languedoc-Roussillon, France. If you're willing to look beyond Paris, the southwest of this country can be highly affordable. Cessenon-sur-Orb, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southwestern France, is colorful, eclectic, and very open to retirees. The village dates from prehistoric times, but the feel is medieval, with the church dominating the center and the tower of Le Donjon looking down from above.

Here in this quintessentially French country corner, you'll find many expats of several nationalities. They've sought out this unsung region because it offers everything you need for a comfortable life, yet boasts a small, charming, typically French village atmosphere, with centuries of history and lots to do and see. As a result, this town is growing and attracting both more French people and expats. Perhaps the most appealing part is that the cost of renting in this picture-postcard corner of France can be modest, certainly relative to Continental Europe in general. A monthly rental of 400 to 600 euro is realistic.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter. Her book, "How to Retire Overseas -- Everything You Need to Know to Live Well Abroad for Less," was recently released by Penguin Books.

___

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May 19, 2011

TGR: You operate out of Chile. Please tell us about that country and the investment climate for mined commodities there.

CM: Chile is generally a pleasant place to live. Politically, it is stable and liberal. Housing and land is cheap compared to countries like Canada and the U.S. The income tax rate is low, though taxes are collected in other ways like a high vehicle road tax and high taxes on gasoline and other purchase taxes. The food is abundant and cheap, especially in the south of the country, and wine also is cheap and excellent. There are limitless beaches and mountains because, of course, the country is sandwiched between the mountains and the sea. There are good air and bus services up and down the country but hardly any railroads. Internet coverage is good now, too.

TGR: What about the Chilean economy, especially as it pertains to mining?

CM: Chile is actually a far more fiscally prudent country than the U.S. It does not have careening deficits, and the workforce is obliged to contribute to a private pension scheme that has in fact grown in value far more than government schemes in countries like the U.S. That means the Chilean government is not on the hook for massive pension obligations, as many other governments around the world are. Those governments will probably renege on these obligations, at least in part, by a combination of inflation and fiddling the inflation statistics.

Chile is very mining friendly and has a sophisticated infrastructure to support mining companies conducting operations. In addition, environmental factors are not such a concern here as most of the mining operations and prospects are located in northern Chile. The north is a rather sparsely populated desert but with towns dotted around to provide amenities, logistical support and a skilled workforce. It is still not widely appreciated that there is a line of hills or low mountains between the Andes and the coast that harbor massive as-yet-undiscovered copper-gold deposits that will be relatively easy to mine.

TGR: Thank you for talking with us today, Clive. This has been very informative.

Clive Maund has been president of http://www.clivemaund.com, a successful resource sector website, since its inception in 2003 early in the sector bull market. He has 30 years' experience in technical analysis and has worked for banks, commodity brokers and stockbrokers in the City of London and holds a diploma in technical analysis from the UK Society of Technical Analysts. Clive now lives in southern Chile.