As An Expat in Santa Marta, Colombia, Work 4 Months a YearExpat living in Santa Marta is an ideal combination earning an income then multiplying that income by living in a low cost beautiful tropical country. In my opinion, life is better, with more sun, better weather, warmer water, bigger mountains, more birds, a better network of social connections, fantastic Colombian people, combined with the fact that there are expenses that you don't have to pay for that translates into fewer working days and more time doing what you want. I think it is best to view life not as how much money you make but how much work is necessary to live a happy life. Santa Marta is a beautiful place to live, coming from Canada the culture is not a great step, it's more like Canada was in the 1950's and 1960's than Canada is now, Christian and Roman Catholic. People who take the expat route only have to make a few friends then everything changes, now this is your home. These photos are from a townhouse complex that is a 5 minute walk from Buenavista Mall, the largest mall in Santa Marta. This is a new complex, with cable, internet if you like, a one bedroom was recently rented for less than $300.00 a month, there is no heat to pay for and the utilities, natural gas for cooking and electricity costs less than $100.00 a month. The weather averages 28 C throughout the year and there is a place within a 10 minute walk where you can buy a chicken diner for $2.00 and if you would like a beer to go with it it's a little over $3.00.For retirement you just can't do better than that, recreation is fantastic and you can swim all year in beautiful surroundings. Forget about mall walking 6 months a year, the sun and the heat will keep you in happy spirits and outside all year and your friends will envy you.
There is a study that just came out recently that showed that people who had good experiences in life were happier than people who had more money. My time in Santa Marta have given me the best experiences in my life. In the good old days miners used to work in a company town and had to buy everything from the company store, with no competition the prices were pretty high. If you wanted to get ahead you had to leave the company town, well that goes for a country too, it's better to live as an expat. As an expat you can shop on the world market. I have used Canada as I am from there but this could be many of the other high cost countries. The same goes for free enterprise, when you go to a big box store there is a great choice of products, too many sometimes under highly competitive brand names, most of the competitive products however probably come from the same factory in China, built to a certain specification, we should be buying from the factory in China and eliminating every one else. Expat living is possible but generating income is the challenge, if you have a 9 to 5 job with weekends off it can be difficult to leave your country, a source of income is necessary, whether you can teach or can work for long periods of time then take extended periods of time off, online income is a good way or any way that can generate your living expenses month after month. Just make a plan and work towards your new expat life, stay focused and the day will come when you will have a better life. Santa Marta expatriate living, $1500.00 US a month will pay your bills, $2000.00 a month will give a pretty good quality life with free time to socialize, enjoy the beach, explore the region or the rest of the country. Living as an expat is more for saving your body and your sanity than it is for becoming wealthy, that for every dollar that you don't need to live on, you save that dollar and also the taxable percentage and the cost of earning it, that's a pretty good rate of return. Canadian example House Price in Canada $330,000.00 Average Canadian mortgage costs $2,322 per month.and this is with record low interest rates, and doesn't include upkeep. A Santa Marta mortgage would cost less than 500.00 a month. Information found at http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=f4afa1ea-4411-4f57-aace-6bdb08d6a719&k=4428 In 2005 the average Canadian earned $41,401 if you add $2000.00 for the probable wage gains over the past 4 years we are now at 43,401 times 2 for a two income family then divide by two to pay for taxes, 50%of what you make, so $43,401.00 minus 27,864 for your average mortgage payments equals $17,537.00 for everything else. Average House Insurance $181.50 per month. Typical rates are $55/mo. per $100,000 financed, or as high as $1,500/yr. for a typical $200,000 loanSo for the average house with a value of $330,000.00 in Canada that would be 181.50 a month times 12 equals $2172.00. $17,537.00 - $2172.00 = $15,365.00 For the poor Canadian you have to add an average heating bill of $1800.00 or 150.00 dollars a month, and you still have to wear a sweater in the house. $15,365-$1800.00=$13,565 The average new passenger car in Canada cost $25,304 in 2007, while the average truck was $38,582, according to a report released by industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers, then add 12% sales tax= 28,340 for a car to 43,212, for the working person at 50% tax rate you have to earn77, 164 for the car and 86,424.00 for the truck. You need a good car because the cities were built so big and spread out. Car Loan would cost for $28,340 about 480.00 a month for 6 years$480.00 times 12= $5760$13,565.00-$5760.00=$7805.00 Insurance Annual Auto Fraser Institute StudyHighest Rate British Colombia $1400.00 a year.Second Highest Ontario $1350.00Lowest Prince Edward Island $825.00 a year. $7805.00-$825.00=$6980.00 Average property taxes in 1998 were highest in Central Canada ($2,230 in Ontario and $2,030 in Quebec) and lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador ($640. The average vehicle in Canada costs $1,200 to $1,400 to fuel every year (2005). In Santa Marta you are not working so you do not have to commute but you need to buy your airfare to Canada to do your contract work for 4 months then enjoy the rest of the year as an expat. Food costs would average conservatively $200.00 per person2 people $400.00 times 12 =$4800.00 $1520.00 plus entertainment, clothing, miscellaneous. At this point you owe money. Better get a part time job. Santa Marta is like Vancouver, Canada in many ways, actually like Vancouver used to be before it became a big city, both have mountains, ocean, beaches downtown, The great thing about Santa Marta that I really like is that because it's on the Caribbean at 11 degrees latitude and 750 miles from the equator you can swim all year, the beaches are beautiful and with an average temperature of 28 degrees all year long it's pretty nice, especially for a person who comes from one of the coldest countries in the world. This is what makes me especially glad to be an expat, beautiful tropical weather all year. In Santa Marta, most people do not own a vehicle, bus transportation will take you anywhere you want to go in the city for 75 cents or a taxi for 2 to 5 dollars. Entertainment Canada Restaurant $10 - $25 per person Santa Marta $2 - $10 per person Beer In a pub Canada Vancouver $5.53 Colombia http://www.pintprice.com/region.php?/Colombia/CAD.htm Groceries Now the newspapers in Canada talk about the retirement wave, politicians and important executives are being flown in to the nations capital to find solutions (of course, for at least $1000.00-$2000.00 a day plus expenses), and in the end what will happen, "nothing". The solution for the average retiree will be "figure it out yourself". You can bet I'll be okay though, by moving to Santa Marta I just multiplied my income by 3. The costs are of course only part of the reason for packing up and moving, weather, the regions beauty, the extra free time, it all adds up to a better life.
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