If You Do Just One Thing Before You Retire…Do This

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Read more about retiring overseas in International Living Postcards—Sunday Edition

If you're in your 40s, 50s, or 60s and thinking of retiring abroad, you can take one smart step right now: learn to type. You'll use the better typing skills to manage your life online.

I retired in Argentina in 1984. In those days we had to do business the old-fashioned way. We sent checks, tax returns, and account applications through the mail, always a dice throw in the Third World.

Overseas phone calls cost $5 a minute, and to make the call, most of us had to go to downtown Buenos Aires and wait in line at the phone company for hours, even days. ATM cards were gaining acceptance abroad, but we still had to carry a lot of cash, with the risk of loss or theft.

Sometimes I got frustrated by the extra costs and hassle we incurred because we lived overseas. For example, one time a check to the IRS got lost in the mail. We had expensive overseas phone calls, courier charges, bank charges, and interest before we got it straightened out.

Vicki and I got to calling these additional costs we incurred as a result of living abroad "overseas extras." In those days, overseas extras amounted to quite a bit of money. But they came with the territory; we had no choice but to pay them.

But with e-mail, online banking, online tax returns, and ticketless air travel, our overseas extras plummeted. Of course, I had to spend some time to become Internet savvy.

You may be able to handle the Internet. If so, great. Then again, I know many expats who still fly back to the U.S. to do their tax returns. Others do banking and credit card transactions by mail.

Before you retire abroad, improve your Internet skills as much as you can. As a first step, learn to type. Then get used to online banking, credit card management, and online tax returns while you're still in the U.S. Even if your bank down the street loves you and gives you coffee and cookies, do your transactions online. Even if you have a good travel agent, buy at least some tickets online. Especially important: learn to shop online at places like eBay and Amazon.

Since I retired in 1984, the Internet has been the single best thing that happened to us. (Deregulated air travel was a close second, the Reagan tax reform a third.) People can now reach us by e-mail, and we can do routine business online. But to take advantage of the Internet you need to improve your skills. Learn to type. Do the transactions now, before you move abroad. Let your mind wander, use the Internet for everything you can. You'll enjoy big dividends down the line.

Paul Terhorst
Roving “Retire Early” Editor, International Living