Argentina Versus Colombia to Retire

[oddDistribution]

I know there are a lot of subjective factors here, but I'm trying to research what would be a better fit for me to retire early to. Also, I'm not aware of a resource like this webpage for Colombia. Does anyone know one?

I want to live in a large city with cultural things to do and a variety of restaurant, etc.

I plan to spend around 3k USD per month for one person, but with dating and the possibility of meeting someone there. This would be funded from investments.

I've been to both countries and several others in SA. These two were my favorite along with Brazil.

Are there any advantages/disadvantages that really stand out to people?

 

[Caribbean Cool]

How old are you?

 

[Caribbean Cool]

Getting residency in Colombia is a mess now. You can get SOME info here.... https://www.expatexchange.com/colombia/liveincolombia.html. And you can use FACEBOOK for info on Colombia. Both countries are changing...and changing fast. Colombia is a country of many cities.....some would say Argentina is a country of one city. Colombia has beaches....and a big city. And...for dating.....forget Argentina unless you speak really really good Spanish. And the women in Colombia will be MUCH more interested in you than in Argentina. I could go on and on since I have one foot in each country. Your $3000 will cover you very well, perhaps better in Argentina but it is a lot for one person in both countries. And, YOUTUBE covers Colombia very well. Start with Medellin.

 

[oddDistribution]

How old are you?

Early 40s

 

[Caribbean Cool]

One thing for sure....wherever you go from now on.....it will change in the coming years. Plan on it. It will be like a handful of sand at the beach slipping between your fingers. Accept it and adjust to it.

 

[oddDistribution]

Getting residency in Colombia is a mess now. You can get SOME info here.... https://www.expatexchange.com/colombia/liveincolombia.html. And you can use FACEBOOK for info on Colombia. Both countries are changing...and changing fast. Colombia is a country of many cities.....some would say Argentina is a country of one city. Colombia has beaches....and a big city. And...for dating.....forget Argentina unless you speak really really good Spanish. And the women in Colombia will be MUCH more interested in you than in Argentina. I could go on and on since I have one foot in each country. Your $3000 will cover you very well, perhaps better in Argentina but it is a lot for one person in both countries. And, YOUTUBE covers Colombia very well. Start with Medellin.

Thanks this is helpful.

I'm meeting with a Colombian immigration lawyer to discuss options for residency.

I've been to Medellin and it was nice. The weather is perfect of course. I want to check out Bogata though. I feel like it's not as popular for expats which could be a good thing. It seems like Medellin has gotten expensive. It's still very affordable compared with the US though.

I've heard that before about dating in Argentina. I didn't date when I was there because it was for a short time. It's a little surprising to me because I messaged some women on a dating site that lived in Argentina and I got pretty good responses. I haven't actually lived there though, so I wouldn't know. Why do you think women are more interested in Colombia?

 

[oddDistribution]

One thing for sure....wherever you go from now on.....it will change in the coming years. Plan on it. It will be like a handful of sand at the beach slipping between your fingers. Accept it and adjust to it.

That makes sense. I'm going to try to be flexible.

 

[FrankPintor]

As CC says, Colombia is a country of many (very different) cities.

About Bogota, I lived there for 2 years, and found it to be fairly unpleasant - terrible weather (cold, wet, windy), too high for comfort, and even being situated on an altiplano where logically all the rainwater must flow away, they manage to have knee-high flooding in the streets. Traffic is awful (no metro system), and there's relatively little to see. Colombians from other cities simply refer to Bogota as "the fridge" or "la nevera" - cold damp and dark.

At least living there motivated me to see other parts of Colombia, it was almost a mental-health necessity to get out of there:

I've been to Medellin many times, I was impressed with it at first, but as time went on and Colombia became more affluent, it started to have major air contamination and traffic problems. Nice enough weather, too far from any beaches, I didn't like the expat vibe, centered on El Poblado and Parque Lleras, all gringos chasing paisas. It is a major business centre, though, and has a decent municipal railway.

Cali is nice for a weekend, but there's nothing much to keep you there.

I much preferred the coast, especially Cartagena, the walled city, and the island archipelagos off the coast. It's extremely touristed, both internal and international. It's also got a very hard-sell vibe on the beaches, but that's avoided by going to more remote beaches or the islands. There are lots of property investment opportunities there, now mostly outside Bocagrande, which is full, and tourism is year-round. Some of the smaller cities are also quite nice, like Santa Marta, but much quieter. Barranquilla is just too hot and humid to consider living in.

 

[ashton]

Thanks this is helpful.

I'm meeting with a Colombian immigration lawyer to discuss options for residency.

I've been to Medellin and it was nice. The weather is perfect of course. I want to check out Bogata though. I feel like it's not as popular for expats which could be a good thing. It seems like Medellin has gotten expensive. It's still very affordable compared with the US though.

I've heard that before about dating in Argentina. I didn't date when I was there because it was for a short time. It's a little surprising to me because I messaged some women on a dating site that lived in Argentina and I got pretty good responses. I haven't actually lived there though, so I wouldn't know. Why do you think women are more interested in Colombia?

I've spent significant time in both. Will compare Bs As vs Bogota since that's what you mentioned.

Price: Bs As is significantly cheaper. Like 2x cheaper. Cocktail in Bogota might be 12-15 USD vs 5-6 USD in Bs As. Meal in Bs As might be $10-12 which would be $20 in Bogota. Rent in Bs As might be $5-700/mo vs $1.2-2k in Bogota (if you want to live in a nice area, see more on this below). Colombia has gotten significantly more expensive in the last 1-2 years.

Immigration / Taxes: Argentina way easier to stay long term. Colombia has gotten difficult. You'll be a tax resident in both (to include global income and assets) if you spend significant time in either (like over half the year) as I think you brought this up in another thread. Whether or not you choose to comply with this is to your own risk tolerance...

Dating: Subjective and going to depend on factors such as your age, race, age preference in dating. Also going to greatly depend on which city you choose. Someone above wrote you need Spanish in Argentina for dating. That's false. You're WAY more likely to meet a porteña that speaks in english than any city in Colombia.

Safety: Buenos Aires (Argentina in general) imo is one of the safest countries and big cities in LATAM. Bogota (& Colombia) is... not lol. Even within the "rich bubbles" people get murdered and robberies happen all the time. Most people that spend significant time in Colombia eventually are going to have a story to tell you.

Caribbean Cool is correct that both places are subject to change a lot. Colombia is developing rapidly and Argentina is... well... Argentina.

Both countries love public holidays and will shut everything down every other Monday or Friday

 

[sts7049]

if you're looking for a wife, i would be hard pressed to think of a better place than colombia to look