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Last activity 18 June 2017 by OsageArcher

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Mic9197

I have a small pension of  $1400 a month is that enough to live on down there

OsageArcher

Yes, it's enough to live on.  In most places in Colombia your income which is a bit over 4 million Colombian pesos per month, puts you in the middle class - nothing that luxurious but enough for an enjoyable lifestyle.  The way the tax laws are now, you would be in the 19% marginal tax bracket.  Anything over about $1215 USD/month to almost $1500 USD/month is taxed at that 19% rate so your total yearly income tax as a tax resident would be roughly $420 USD.  You can read more about taxes here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Colombia

In Buenaventura which has many poor people $4M COP/month is a good income.  Buenaventura is hot and humid if you like that.

In Bogotá $4M COP/month won't go nearly as far but it's still middle class.

Colombia has a wide variety of climates that vary with altitude.  The higher you go the cooler it is.  On the coasts and to the east where the Amazon jungle begins, and anywhere the altitude is low, will be hot and usually humid too.  Rainfall in most places where most people live is moderate and rain seldom lasts more than several hours if that long, once again depending on exactly where.  Some places when it does rain it rains in buckets!  And where the terrain is steep and mountainous, mudslides and landslides are pretty common.

As a rough guide you can figure 1 USD = 3000 COP (it's actually now about 1 USD = 2975 COP).  Look at these websites to get an idea of prices for consumer goods and some foods:

http://www.la14.com/Tiendala14/Default.aspxhttp://www.exito.com/

Here's a cost comparison between Pereira, Colombia and Denver, CO based on an income of $4.1M COP/month (close to $1400 USD/month) in Pereira.  You'd need almost $5K USD/month in Denver to have a somewhat equivalent lifestyle (keeping in mind that middle-class in Denver is quite different than middle-class in Colombia, just due to cultural differences and availability of amenities we often take for granted):

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/c … nver%2C+CO

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