Want to Expat? Don’t (part 2) Economizing, unseen costs, guilt, and a few other factors

As mentioned in part 1 of this series, becoming an expat is damn hard work, for a lot of reasons. Many folks who are bitten by the Peripateticus Expaticus bug don’t do nearly enough research prior to shoving off for another country. The derivation of the word ‘expat’ is from the Latin ‘Ex’=from, and Patria=land or country. But the word also has an archaic meaning, to ‘expatiate,’ that is, to move or wander about intellectually, and imaginatively. So by definition, we expats are wanderers both physically and mentally.
Still, we tend not to do enough mental travel prior to departing for a new place to live. There are many considerations that will not present themselves until any expat is ensconced in their new country, so that alone limits the research possibilities. Here are a few of those things: Economic tradeoffs, unseen costs, and the guilt that may accompany leaving friends and family behind.

Economic tradeoffs: Expat living can be cheaper, but… One attraction in the expat life is the potential for a substantially lower cost of living. Depending on the locale, monthly expenditures can be 20, 30, 40 percent lower, or even more compared to costs in the home country. But think about it: Are you never going back?
Don’t forget to factor in travel expenses you’ll incur for routine — or emergency — travel to spend time with family. Your plans may not include much of that, but the math must be done in any case. Travel isn’t cheap, and if it’s necessary to go back very often, it can blow a hole in your budget.
The majority of people looking to expat are on a fixed income. But the fractional costs of living at the place you choose, as opposed to costs in the U.S — (relatively) low rent, nominal charge for health care, much cheaper food and entertainment — all those can be offset by the travel budget required to return. Also, ignoring pleas from family and friends to come visit can become an exercise in guilt.

So what about guilt? Regardless of how good or how poor one’s relationship with family and friends, leaving them behind will cause anxiety.
Departure means leaving kids, grandkids, other family and friends, creating limited opportunities to interact with them. Let’s face it, despite the technological marvel of Skype, FaceTime, and similar VoIP offerings, there’s no substitute for in person, across the breakfast table interaction.
People often console themselves with the standard airline therapy model, saying such things as ‘we’re only a few hours away,’ or ‘we’ll be there before you know it,’ or ‘it’s no more time than when we lived in the states.’
However, here’s a detail to consider: The airline therapy model is based on advertised airline statements and scheduling. It doesn’t include time to and from an airport, time in the terminal, time traveling by car/bus/taxi/Uber. Nor does it include time for flight delays and/or cancellations. A good rule of thumb might be to add an hour for every segment mentioned above, or even an extra day for a cancelled flight.
The final time tally listed could, or should, factor into your choice of expat location. Maybe you need a place that offers direct flights? A major airport close by? With regular, direct service? In other words, maybe that exotic, far off, beachside castaway locale doesn’t make sense, economic or otherwise. This is especially important when considering an emergency return, after that frantic midnight text or WhatsApp that a grandchild is hurt, an aging parent takes a bad turn, or a son or daughter is hospitalized etc.

Guilt has many faces. Early retirement sounds exhilarating, exciting, a fantasy come true. But leaving a career behind, especially a fulfilling one, can leave us at loose ends. It seems as if the Boomers among us need to be ‘doing something,’ creating a product, being useful, instead of having a check magically appear in the account each month. If you’re retiring early, for whatever reason, emancipation from the daily grind may come with some unanticipated guilt.
That brand of guilt may have a lot to do with being ‘Boomers,’ as I mentioned, or just an odd sense of dislocation and lack of purpose. If that’s the case, something cited in part 1 of this series could apply: Maybe you should stay put and keep working?

Who’s rich? Here’s another item that may be unanticipated: Guilt over all that money. Sound crazy? Maybe. But if you’re only an average wage earner at home, and you’ve acquired a moderate nest egg and retirement income, you’ll likely be among the top 1% as an expat.
If you choose one of the popular expat locales such as Latin America, South America, South Asia etc., as soon as you step off the plane you’ll be rich. Sensing the wealth disparity in relation to people in your adopted country can be unsettling. Newfound wealth is a strange, and to most of us a very new, almost bewildering sensation. It can be exhilarating, and that presents its own challenges. (I’ll address the wealth disparity issue in a future post.)

Summarizing: The unknowns of becoming an expat further emphasize one of the cardinal rules, that is, to live somewhere several months before making a commitment. There are a lot of considerations, many of which cannot be appreciated or discerned until then. Take into account the travel costs that will appear out of the blue, especially if there’s a family emergency. Don’t be surprised if a nagging sense of guilt accompanies your idyllic retirement plan. And expect things to be different, because they will be.

Byron & Mariah Edgington are expats living in Medellin Colombia. Contact them through medellinretirement.com. Read time: 5 minutes