In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Solving Some Problems of Retirement

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Billy and Akaisha on the beach, Naples, Florida

We read a piece in Market Watch about the state of retirees today and the problems they won’t tell us about. If Market Watch is correct, and we have no reason to doubt it, then we would like to share some of our solutions to these listed difficulties.

Retirees are broke

“According to the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, roughly 15% of people over age 65 live in poverty. Also, nearly half are considered ‘near Poor,’ meaning that they live with incomes that are less than twice the poverty threshold. ($31,460)”

The US Department of Health and Human Services says $15,730 is income for a couple to be considered poverty level.

While there are some locations in the States where cost of living is less than the average, we understand that living in the States at the poverty level is difficult. However, in locations such as Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala, Thailand and Vietnam we know singles who are living on their social security and even less per month. Couples can easily live on less than $24,000 annually and have a comfortable life. Our average yearly spending for nearly 4 decades is around $30,000, so it can be done.

We suggest if your retirement is under funded that you begin to look at moving overseas for an alternative place to enjoy your retirement years. Often there is better weather and lifestyle than in many states in the U.S. and a lower cost of living as well.

Retirement is more stressful than it looks

Apparently, retirement is stressful, and is rated as the 10^th most stressful of major life events. This is higher than a significant change in the health or behavior of a family member which comes in at number eleven. Studies show that it is fear of “running out of money to live comfortably” that is the biggest concern of retirees, while other retirees get stressed out by the lack of structure to their days.

If money is the number one stressor then this is the perfect reason to track your expenses and manage your daily Cost per Day. If you track where your money is going, then there are no surprises at the end of the month. And if you manage your Cost per Day, then there will be no surprises at the end of the year. This puts you in control of your finances and is a big stress killer.

If lack of structure stresses you out, before you retire, make a list of all the things you want to do, places you want to visit, things you want to learn. Check out hobby clubs you could join, and research websites like MeetUp  or higher learning sites like UDACITY and Udemy .

Do this while you are still working so that on day number one of retirement you are not facing a blank calendar and will have things to look forward to doing. Get involved in your retirement.

Retirees spend too much time by themselves

According to a study published in 2012 in the Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied roughly one in 10 people aged 65 and older report that they are severely lonely.

Some retirees don’t know what to do with all this newly found time on their hands. If you have a tendency towards being lonely, or miss your connections from your working life, we suggest finding an organization to volunteer where your expertise is appreciated. Nothing enriches our lives like volunteering. Take a class from your local university, join a club, get involved in your church or synagogue or adopt a pet. Cook a meal for a widowed neighbor and bring it over to them. Reach out to those less fortunate and make a friend. We are never too old to broaden our circle of people we know.

We’re in denial about our health problems and health care costs are huge

Retirement years span the days from when we leave the working world to when we leave this life all together. Our health challenges cover everything from finding quality health care and a doctor we like to possibly needing assisted living or affordable convalescent care. Not to mention reasonable costs of drugs.

It is our experience that there is affordable and accessible health care in foreign countries such as Mexico, Guatemala and Thailand, for instance. With the Baby Boomers retiring at 10,000 a day, foreign countries know that there is a business opportunity providing quality independent living, aging in place and 24 hour care for this generation. There is no need to be limited to paying $7,000 per month for this care when, for example, you can receive worthy continuing care in Mexico for $2,000 a month. Since Medicare doesn’t cover longer term skilled nursing care, or nursing home care, having this option available to you is beneficial.

Prices for prescriptions are generally less than in the states and $35 for an office visit to a doctor is also reachable.

Living in multigenerational homes is becoming more attractive

Having several generations live under the same roof is common place in many countries. It’s becoming more popular in the U.S. now too. The number of Americans in multigenerational households doubled between 1980 and 2012, reaching an all-time high of 57 million people, according to the Pew Research Center.

But for those who still prefer independent living with a little bit of help doing laundry, going shopping or cleaning the house, these services are very affordable and accessible in many foreign countries. With wages being lower in countries such as Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, the Philippines and Thailand, having someone do this day-to-day help is easy. Transportation costs are also cheaper, with mass transit costing under a dollar to get to most locations and taxis running less than $5 to get to the next town.

Getting to our days of retirement can seem to be a challenge, but once we arrive, all difficulties are not necessarily resolved. Having these listed suggestions can be helpful as alternatives and we hope you have found them to be useful.

What's Your Number? - How much money do you need to retire?

About the Authors

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. They wrote the popular books, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website bookstore or on Amazon.com.

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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