|
Cuenca—The World’s Top Retirement Haven in 2009 In the place that wins this year’s Top Retirement Haven, you can’t ignore the doorways. In fact, if you have a camera with you, you’ll find yourself taking pictures of them. This one is arched. That one square. The wood is always ancient—like the cobbled streets you walk along. But it’s carefully tended—sanded and stained, or painted red or blue or teal. Look up, and you see waves of terracotta tile roofs. And rising from them, renaissance cathedral domes—each a soft blue and white, carving a crisp arch in the cobalt sky. Cuenca, Ecuador is a place of old world beauty, where you can enjoy the open welcome of an artists’ community, the comforts of modern conveniences, and the wallet-pleasing prices that deliver a private retreat for as little as $300 a month. For a decade now, Ecuador has been one of our favorite locations for overseas retirement. In fact, it won the top honor in 1999 and has been among our preferred locales ever since. This year, it’s back at number 1—followed by Mexico, Panama, Uruguay, and Italy. In years past, we’ve always discussed our top picks in terms of what each nation has to offer. But this year we’ve taken a slightly different approach. We asked our roving editors—folks who actually live in each of our top five countries and travel them extensively—to choose one destination within each nation. Pick, we said, the one place you’d tell readers to begin their search for the good life overseas. Whether you imagine yourself in a colonial-era town... a sandy beachside getaway... or a cosmopolitan city, you’ll find in our list of the 2009 World’s Top Retirement Havens, something to please you. 1. Ecuador: Cuenca
And most importantly, Cuenca is one of most beautiful and best-preserved colonial cities you’ll find…and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cobblestoned streets and architecture are much as they’ve been for hundreds of years. You can rent a beautiful condo here for $300 a month or buy a large apartment for $43,000. (See page 7 of your issue for more properties for sale in this thriving city.) And the cost of living is low. A couple can live well here on less than $1,500 a month. See the sidebar on this page for a breakdown of monthly costs. The city sits in the fertile Paucarbamba Valley, where four small rivers converge. One, theTomebamba, runs through the center of town, dividing the historic section to the north and the newer suburbs to the south.Cuenca is a center for some of Ecuador’s finestcrafts. The area is known for jewelry making, weaving, leather goods, furniture, ceramics, Panama hat making, and more. If health care is a concern, you won’t need to worry if you retire here. One reader who lives in Cuenca recently wrote to use to tell us about her experience. A friend visiting from Florida came down with a bad case of flu. They went to an English-speaking doctor and waited only 15 minutes before being seen. The visit cost just $25 and the medication $8. And that evening, the doctor called to check if she was ok. Now that’s a service you won’t find back in the U.S. A Sample Monthly Budget for a Couple Living in Cuenca: Housing (rental of a luxury two-bedroom apartment):
$500 Total per month: $1,415; Total per year: $16,980. For more information on retiring to Cuenca, or elsewhere in Ecuador: Try A New Life in Cuenca, Ecuador for $300 a Month The Hidden Paradise Where A Couple Can Live Well On Less Than $600 a Month! International Living's FREE Resources on Ecuador Living Abroad in Ecuador, Where $1
Bills Go a Long Way ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here's some grocery store (Super Maxi) prices as of 9-6-09: regular ground beef- $1.18/lb ($2.61/kg) chicken legs- $1.35/lb ($2.97/kg) Braun 7 cereal bread- $1.75/lb ($2.12/loaf of 1.2 lbs) Kraft Real Mayo- $2.41/10 oz. Del Monte Ketchup- $2.09/14 oz. whole wheat flour- $.90/lb ($1.00/.5 kg) white sugar- $.31/lb ($.68/1 kg) white rice- $.82/lb ($1.93/2 kg) lentils- $.86/lb ($.95/.5 kg) Royal Gala apples- $.95/lb ($2.09/kg) bananas- $.34/lb ($.75/kg) tomatos- $.41/lb ($.90/kg) celery bunch- $.87/large Purina Cat Chow- $2.91/lb ($3.20/.5 kg) |
Cuenca enjoys beautiful weather, with an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables available all year. It’s a city of almost half a million people—the third largest in Ecuador—so you have everything you need for comfortable, all-year living. There’s a new, modern shopping mall on the edge of town, theater, orchestra, and lots of good restaurants and cafés. The expat community is thriving and content.