The driving force of your expatriation in Ecuador

Top Reasons Why Expats Choose to Live in Ecuador

10.  The weather is relatively mild in the Andean cities of Ecuador.  The only snow visible is on distant volcano peaks.

9.  Compared to some South America countries, Ecuador is a peaceful place to live.   It compares well with Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil in this respect.

8.  Not only is the cost of living lower than, say, in the States or Canada, Ecuador uses as its currency the U.S. dollar, but is not subject to the same inflationary pressures since it cannot print dollars.

7.  Gringos are welcome in many cities and towns, especially Cuenca and Vilcabamba, where English is spoken widely in the Expat enclaves and communities.

6.  Ecuador has tremendous biodiversity .. and offers travelers a choice of ocean, mountains and jungle areas.

5.  Under the current rules, an Expat adult of any age may apply for residency with a regular income of just $400 or more per month.

4.  Health care is available at low cost.  Many doctors are well-trained and speak English.

3.  High-quality Internet and cell phone services are available in Ecuador's cities.

2.  Services that are more expensive Up North are available in Ecuador for less.  In Quito, one can get an hour-long massage for about $25, a haircut for a couple of dollars and a thorough house cleaning for $25 to $30.

And the number one-reason Expats are drawn to Ecuador...

1.  It's close to many North American cities, with direct flights to such hubs as Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale.

For me the primary motivator was that I am married to an Ecuadorian. That narrows down the countries of choice considerably!

But other factors made me want to live here too: cost of living is much lower, quality of life is a better (IMHO), medical care is significantly cheaper than in the US. And I think the culture is better & less divisive than back where I came from. All of these were additional factors into my decision.

Damon.

Our main reason for wanting to retire to Ecuador is medical care. We would have enough funds to live in the US. But we would go broke if either one of us had any major medical conditions.

The lower cost of living is icing on the cake.

There was one main factor, broken into four parts: Cheapest living.

See, I had essentially quit my job (dissolved a corporation) over a dispute with my state government (I was majority owner and president of the corporation).  I needed to find a new place to live since I promised never to pay another cent in taxes to that state's government.  In order to avoid that sort of situation occurring in the future, I wanted to avoid working or doing business wherever I moved.  That left me needing to find a place I could live without working (essentially retire at 38) while still being able to support my daughter.  Five years on and it's still going good.

The parts were:
------ Climate ------
I used to live where heating and cooling cost $3000-5000/year; here my daily temperature usually ranges from 19-27°C (66-80°F) so I need neither heating nor cooling and pay nothing.

------ Taxes ------
I used to pay $2000+ per year in property tax for a house I bought for $50k; here I pay $50 per year for a house I bought for $130k. (FYI - property prices were about the same here and there).

------ Cost of living ------
Me and my daughter were already living on $100-200 in groceries per month; that hasn't changed.  Internet and electric both used to be about $40/month; those costs haven't changed.

------ Insects ------
I lived where it snowed 6 months a year and so there were no roaches or centipedes or other terrifying creepy-crawlies - worst we had were mosquitos in the spring and ticks in the summer. I was considering Hawaii for retirement until I heard about the number and size of insects there.  Here there are more mosquitos and ticks than I'd like (there are a few) and I do see an occasional scorpion (non-life-threatening), but no roaches or centipedes.  The no-see-ums here are a pain but, all told, it could be worse.
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In summation, I went from spending $600-1000 per month to survive to, on average, spending about $225 per month now.  As a bonus, I never have to shovel snow.  The mud during rainy season though....

@antialiased: You know, it was only this week that I found out there's a thing called "freezing rain" in the US, and I'm happy we don't have to deal with it here in Ecuador. Our sidewalks are dangerous enough without ice.

Reasons for coming to Cuenca in 2012: I lost my full time job on April 1, 2011, (thought it was an April Fool's joke - it was not).  Five months later we lost our home and all our possessions in a 2011 flood. When the Ayatollah Obama was reannointed in 2012.....that was it. Have lived here since 2012 except for two years spent in the Eastern European country of Moldova.

@RobinJoel Because we are leaving the door open to any and all possibilities. If we decide to be nomads - we rent out our upscale condo in Manta that would supplement our retirement funds. We also leave the door open that we love it in Manta and decide to stay. Travelled all of my life..... as a captain in the Merchant Marines sand or an industrial engineer.

@RobinJoel I forgot to answer one of your questions - we are not bringing any furniture with us. We are furnishing a brand new condo with furniture we buy in Ecuador.