Depending on the outcome of next week’s presidential election, some Americans are suggesting — seriously or not — that if the wrong candidate wins, they intend to leave the country. Perhaps current events are a tipping point for making a long-considered move to take advantage of the many benefits of living and retiring overseas. Other people are looking for a place to go to leave the rest of today’s crazy world far behind.
[See: 10 Affordable Places to Retire Overseas in 2016.]
A truly out-of-the-way overseas haven is a lower profile country with a certain level of inaccessibility. You might want to look for a country that isn’t trying to make a name for itself on the world stage and attracts few tourists. Uruguay can be just the place for privacy and independence in today’s world.
Uruguay is almost 10 hours south of Miami by air. It has an attractive financial services infrastructure and offers a first world environment with well-maintained roads and drinkable water throughout the country. The people are warm, friendly, non-violent and well-educated. The health care system is good, and it’s possible to qualify for free health care. Residency is easy to obtain and can mean a path to second citizenship in as little as three years.
Most importantly, Uruguay is neither an aggressor nor anyone’s object of aggression. There’s little motivation for domestic spying or global terrorism. The best options for privacy are in Uruguay’s interior, in places such as Tacuarembó, Rivera, Artigas, Melo, and Treinta y Tres.
Treinta y Tres is perhaps the best choice overall for under-the-radar living. Arriving in this ranching town of 26,000, you have the distinct feeling that you’re completely removed from the rest of the world, and in many ways you are. You arrive in Treinta y Tres by driving up the coastal highway from Montevideo and then turning inland and continuing for about three hours.
Treinta y Tres (Thirty-Three in English) got its name from the Treinta y Tres Orientales, a group of 33 revolutionaries led by Juan Antonio Lavalleja, who led the fight for independence from post-Portuguese Brazil. It was this battle that ultimately resulted in Uruguay’s independence.
[See: 10 Retirement Hot Spots in the U.S.]
This historic spot is about four hours from the international airport in Montevideo and generally removed from life in the rest of the country. You won’t find the rich cultural scene, nightlife or fine dining that is available elsewhere in Uruguay.
Treinta y Tres is a small town where everyone knows each other and where you could settle in and become part of the very friendly and welcoming community. Like all towns in Uruguay, Treinta y Tres boasts wide, shady, tree-lined streets. In addition, it hides the country’s nicest town plaza. The centerpiece of the square is a monument bearing the names of the famous 33 revolutionaries.
This is a peaceful, clean and quiet outpost. The town plaza is the social center, where families enjoy the company of their neighbors while their children splash in the fountain and men sit together over chess boards to solve the world’s political problems.
This isn’t a place to come for fine dining or white-glove service, but there are plenty of places to have a good meal. Treinta y Tres has all the requisite necessities for comfortable living, including supermarkets, bakeries, butcher shops, laundry facilities and hardware stores. And, best of all, it’s all walkable.
Treinta y Tres is not a tourist destination, nor is it an expat town. Its property market is quiet relative to the hot and active markets of Punta del Este, Uruguay’s premier beach town, and the capital city, Montevideo.
[See: 10 Places to Retire on a Social Security Budget.]
This would not be a place to buy a home with the expectation of renting it out when you’re not using it yourself. Most of the inventory for sale is houses. However, it is possible to buy a small two-bedroom apartment for as little as $75,000, and you could buy a three-bedroom house just a few blocks off the central square for as little as $120,000.
Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group.
More from U.S. News
6 Social Security Changes Coming in 2017
10 Retirement Lifestyles Worth Trying
12 Great Things About Retirement
Uruguay is an Escape-It-All Overseas Retirement Haven originally appeared on usnews.com
