Considering BA as an early retirement option

[Rich One]

No better place to live in LATAM , than Argentina..!! A hundred reasons but first and foremost,is it's people . Europeans at sudaca values-.
If and only IF you have a good income in dollars, Euros..!

For weather and cuñture, language , etc Would only consider Southern Portugal, Mallorca, Corfu, Samos, Sicily, Calabria, Cyprus..!

 

[jeff1234]

No better place to live in LATAM , than Argentina..!! A hundred reasons but first and foremost,is it's people . Europeans at sudaca values-.
If and only IF you have a good income in dollars, Euros..!

For weather and cuñture, language , etc Would only consider Southern Portugal, Mallorca, Corfu, Samos, Sicily, Calabria, Cyprus..!

For weather and culture, whats your list when you consider healthcare, taxes and cost of living?

 

[toongeorges]

As for those with such emphatically negative opinions of BA... why are you still there??

Being here does not mean being here all the time. I like visiting Buenos Aires for a couple of months per year (I originally came here as a tango tourist), though I am not considering becoming a resident.

At one time, when Macri was president and it appeared Argentina would open up and get rid of its populist anti-capitalist self-destructing behaviour, I got a girlfriend here and I considered I could live in Argentina. We travelled between Europe and Argentina.

Less than 1 year ago, the inept populists were reelected, they introduced the wealth tax of 2,25÷ and they brought the cepo back. I decided then I do not want to live here and in no way am I ever going to transfer 5÷ of my money to Argentina. I did not dump my girlfriend because a new government was elected, I came to visit her from the end of January to the end of March and she would later join me in Europe. Then Covid-19 stuck and there has been a never ending quarantaine so far with closed borders. I may have been able to take a repatriation flight home, but my girlfriend could not follow, so I am stuck here until the borders open. The plan then is for us to leave the country, because also for her taxes here are unbearable (I made a post about this earlier). We would keep visiting the country up to half a year each year with a tourist visa to visit her family. The rest of the time we'll be in Uruguay or Europe.

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

Being here does not mean being here all the time. I like visiting Buenos Aires for a couple of months per year (I originally came here as a tango tourist), though I am not considering becoming a resident.

At one time, when Macri was president and it appeared Argentina would open up and get rid of its populist anti-capitalist self-destructing behaviour, I got a girlfriend here and I considered I could live in Argentina. We travelled between Europe and Argentina.

Less than 1 year ago, the inept populists were reelected, they introduced the wealth tax of 2,25÷ and they brought the cepo back. I decided then I do not want to live here and in no way am I ever going to transfer 5÷ of my money to Argentina. I did not dump my girlfriend because a new government was elected, I came to visit her from the end of January to the end of March and she would later join me in Europe. Then Covid-19 stuck and there has been a never ending quarantaine so far with closed borders. I may have been able to take a repatriation flight home, but my girlfriend could not follow, so I am stuck here until the borders open. The plan then is for us to leave the country, because also for her taxes here are unbearable (I made a post about this earlier). We would keep visiting the country up to half a year each year with a tourist visa to visit her family. The rest of the time we'll be in Uruguay or Europe.

I love your plan and point of view.

And I don't blame you for not wanting to contribute to a broken system to the tune of 2.25% per year.

And thanks for satisfying my curiosity - You are still with your partner! Seriously though ... I and quite a few others are predicting a massive flight of Argentines once international borders re open. This should be bigger than the exodus post 2001.

 

[toongeorges]

I and quite a few others are predicting a massive flight of Argentines once international borders re open. This should be bigger than the exodus post 2001.

My guess is that the crisis in Argentina will be worse than in 2001.

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

My guess is that the crisis in Argentina will be worse than in 2001.

I completely agree with you. This event is unprecedented the world over. But in a shaky place like Argentina was before COVID 19, the aftermath will be a SUPER QUILOMBO for sure. I am going as far as to state that Argentines are going to be experiencing a lost generation and I am not saying that lightly. BUT - I will be utterly amazed if that is not the MINIMUM REALITY of the COVID 19 fallout.

Places like EE UU will be on their guard for absconders from places like Argentina ... this will be a new game. If you are a nobody and you wish to bail out, it will be done via the K1 - FIANCEE VISA ROUTE! (I am dead serious about that! - Argentines ... the poorer ones ... are going to start finding US citizens irresistibly attractive - so beware!)

 

[Renzi]

Places like EE UU will be on their guard for absconders from places like Argentina ... this will be a new game. If you are a nobody and you wish to bail out, it will be done via the K1 - FIANCEE VISA ROUTE! (I am dead serious about that! - Argentines ... the poorer ones ... are going to start finding US citizens irresistibly attractive - so beware!)

Any Argentines who think a better life awaits them in the USA will be in for a rude awakening. If the 2008 recession will be anything to go by, they'll be competing with Americans with Master's degrees for minimum wage jobs collecting shopping carts at Target. In that respect, Canadians or Aussies would be far more attractive (and include better health care).

US Millenials were already a lost generation before COVID, with the lowest homeownership and most debt (and most tattoos, coincidentally) out of all previous generations.

 

[Redpossum]

Why are you still there? You still have your passport and there is no shortage of other countries that will welcome you (although 4 more years of el Presidente Pendejo ought to take care of that). I ask because there might be something for me to learn. Thank you.

Veracruz. south Thailand, seychelles, katmandu... all very small world and too removed. I'm looking for a more urban lifestyle (former NY'er from Manhattan) in early retirement. I don't want to spend all of my days lounging by the beach. I'm not sure culturally speaking any of those places (sans Veracruz) come remotely close to the vibrant nature of latin culture (and I'm an Asian-american). Thailand...Chang Mai is a distant 'maybe'. Culturally bland and leaves very little for day to day city life. I'll be visiting again during my retirement... but don't see that as a permanent option under any circumstance.

Argentina is like that incredibly hot girlfriend that cheats on you and gives you crabs. You know you should leave her, but somehow you just can't. Because you still love her, in spite of her faults, and you have so much invested in the relationship that you cannot bring yourself to throw it all away.

I know you said you have visited here, but have you ever lived here? If you had, you wouldn't be asking. When I first started posting on these forums, I didn't know jack squat about Argentina, but I was convinced that I had a good handle on the subject. And I was utterly, pathetically, absolutely wrong.

Argentina is to other countries, to the rest of the world, what non-Euclidian geometry is to mathematics. The rules are just different. You must live here a few years to even begin to understand, because there are no words sufficient.

In my opinion, you must study the history of Argentina to even begin to understand Argentine politics today, because (in my opinion) the core issue today is the same as it was during the 75 years of on-again, off-again civil war with which this nation began. Learn a little bit about the system of "retenciones" before you tell me I'm full of it.

I will never voluntarily leave Argentina. I love this country with all my heart and soul. So much so that I get all choked up trying to talk about it. I hope to retire here, live the rest of my life here, die and be buried here, (though hopefully not any time soon). But that doesn't make me blind.

Let me conclude by saying that everything I have written above is hopelessly inadequate. I have utterly failed to express what I want to say, because there are no words. Argentina defies description.

 

[Dougie]

As far as big metropolitan cities, there is no better one than Buenos Aires in Latin America IMO.

PROS: Culture, big green parks, beautiful architecture, lively energy at all hours, very good healthcare, good schools, public transportation, bars/restaurants, nice climate, very walkable city.

However, the negatives can wear on you after a while, as you see on this board. Small things which are very simple in other countries can turn kafkaesque here.

- Sending/receiving packages, limited very expensive imports (computer dies you'll need to go to Uruguay), anything related to money, someone smells gas in your building and the buildings gas is cut for 9 months while they investigate it, protestors blocking highways and streets every week, trucker strikes, transportation strikes, sanitization goes on strike in January and smelly garbage piles up in the street, flooded streets, power outages in the summer for 48 hours, little recourse if you're a victim of a crime. There are various little or big annoyances that you'll have to deal with when living here.

A lot of people come to visit, love it then move here and become disappointed and frustrated when dealing with situations like the ones above. Some people may be "stuck" here for various reasons and others are just trying to warn future expats of the whole picture when living in Argentina.

 

[jeff1234]

A friend just asked a government official about Bienes Personales as regards to expats. He was told that Argentina will not tax anyone who pays taxes in another country. They consider that double taxation even though one tax might be Income Tax in the US and the other tax a wealth tax here.
Has anyone else discussed this with anyone in our government?