Cost of Living by Country

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Don't stop there. Pakistan is even cheaper than Afghanistan. And perhaps it gets you a bit further away from the Taliban.

Here ya go....I was in Quetta in 1963, and the population now is around 15 times what it was then.....still cheap though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgiOUipg028

[Chuckanut]

COL often depends on where in the country one lives. Comparing London to Lone Tree, ND might produce a cheaper COL in the USA. Still the huge difference in the cost of medical care has to be a major factor in how the USA compares to other countries.

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut COL often depends on where in the country one lives. Comparing London to Lone Tree, ND might produce a cheaper COL in the USA. Still the huge difference in the cost of medical care has to be a major factor in how the USA compares to other countries.

For sure, all the figures in the surveys have to be averages as the range within countries is huge. Our daughter has lived in Santa Monica and now LA for the last 6 years, after living in Austin, Texas for the previous 13 years.

Her and her partner’s plans over the next 5 to 10 years is to rack up as much money as they can and retire to Adelaide, which is where he grew up. While they love the weather in Southern California they don’t like the COL which is fine while they are earning gobs of money but not for somewhere they want to retire to.

[Cayman]

Hungary is very affordable when compared to many countries.

Italy was considerably less expensive than the U.S. (Spent 2+ months in Italy this summer).

Striking differences in the quality of food available in basic grocery stores throughout Italy --- plentiful, flavorful, organic selection and much, much LOWER cost than here in the US.

[kgtest]

imolderu did you see the data that just came out with the headline "Total international debt by country"

Surprising that the US is like 30% of the entire world's debt. But then if you consider how many countries don't even have modern banking, maybe not.

[Fermion]

That is because the US economy crushes the economy of the rest of the world.

The GDP of just California alone, at about 3 trillion is higher than that of the entire United Kingdom.

If you do debt vs GDP, the USA isn't even in the top 10

But it is a concern. We don't want to get to Japan levels.

[gerntz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freedom56 We know many people in Switzerland that are entering retirement age and can't afford to retire.

In the few days I've spent there, I was amazed at the high prices. Pizza for two & bottle of local wine = $60. $30-35 in USA.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 Here ya go....I was in Quetta in 1963, and the population now is around 15 times what it was then.....still cheap though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgiOUipg028

"Interesting" place, but it looks crowded.

I just saw a video of "Bald and Bankrupt" in Kalmykia, a Russian Republic. It's not crowded. Russia is shown to have fairly low COL, just a tad above Vietnam, but Russia is a big country. Kalmykia's COL ought to be a bit lower.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound "Interesting" place, but it looks crowded.

Quite the history though:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...ontier/305296/

[NW-Bound]

I have had the book The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan's Lawless Frontier for a few years, and have not finished it. Too much for me. I am getting old and need serenity. I want to forget about violence for a while. I don't even want to visit crowded Asian cities.

You have traveled quite a bit in your youth. Nowaways, travelers, not plain tourists, who go into less popular places and know how to tell their stories make a good living on Youtube. I would not be able to do that even when I was young.

The world is still a pretty big place. People who think it is small are those who flew from one metropolitan area to another, and what do they know. Forget about traveling on foot or bicycle, as you don't cover that much and life is short. Just go by car, take some country or back roads, and people will appreciate how large the world is.

[Fermion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound The world is still a pretty big place. People who think it is small are those who flew from one metropolitan area to another, and what do they know. Forget about traveling on foot or bicycle, as you don't cover that much and life is short. Just go by car, take some country or back roads, and people will appreciate how large the world is.

Indeed. Even just the USA is vast. I don't like to fly so we road trip a decent amount. This recent trip from WA state to Florida took us three weeks at a decent pace.

Imagine if we include Canada in our travels!

[ShokWaveRider]

What is nice about the UK, is it is driving distance to a large part of the world as a whole. Not that one would do so to a lot of places.

[Go-NoGo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider What is nice about the UK, is it is driving distance to a large part of the world as a whole. Not that one would do so to a lot of places.

You can drive to a "large part of the world" from the UK? How does that work ?

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Go-NoGo You can drive to a "large part of the world" from the UK? How does that work ?

Drive your car onto the train in Folkestone, go through the Eurotunnel, get off in Calais?

[ShokWaveRider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Go-NoGo You can drive to a "large part of the world" from the UK? How does that work ?

Hmmmmm…. One word "Chunnel" Check the Map. You could drive to Europe, Africa, India, if you had the desire. Not saying you would. One is more likely to want to visit Europe from the UK.

With the USA, North and South America is it. And I am sure more people want to go to Europe that Guatemala.

[Rianne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cayman Italy was considerably less expensive than the U.S. (Spent 2+ months in Italy this summer). Striking differences in the quality of food available in basic grocery stores throughout Italy --- plentiful, flavorful, organic selection and much, much LOWER cost than here in the US.

Houses in Italy selling for $1. They need much remodeling, but who cares?https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/i...tes/index.html

[martyp]

I've retired in Bangkok, Thailand for the past 3 years. I am from the San Francisco Bay Area which is comparable to New York City. I would say the index is accurate for Thailand.

[Koolau]

We've often discussed the concept of regional COL. Comparing apples to apples (literally but more figuratively) is quite difficult.

Housing is very difficult to compare. Even within the USA, you may find a 2800 SF tri-level on a quarter acre for $150K located in the midwest or an 1100 SF condo for $600K in Honolulu. That's my personal experience. The variables are almost infinite.

Low costs for health care may include inexpensive "wellness" but significant waits for "procedures" and tests. So what is the value comparison? If you're basically healthy, you can save a bundle OUS. If you need knee replacement or an MRI, you do the math if you live where health care is "free." As always, YMMV.

[dixonge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LRDave Columbia jumps out to me as the best of the bottom 30. Columbia is considered pretty safe and tourist friendly these days.

I agree! Mexico at 108 is very confirming of our choice, but we definitely want to spend more time in South America. Our friend Valentina is Columbian. Still not sure why she is here in Mexico, exactly, but that is two Columbians we know, so we'll have people to visit hopefully.

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu I suppose those who travel internationally wil not be surprised by this, but it was all a surprise to me. Given a list of the countries by name only, could you separate the top half from the bottom half? https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...by_country.jsp We've decided to not move to the Cayman Islands.

Here is their 2020 update by city:

Americas