On 21st-century Retirement…Part-time in Paradise…Second Chances…and Making Some Money

International Living Postcards-- Sunday Edition

Sunday, Oct. 29, 2006
Paris, France

International Living operates on a simple premise: The world is alive with opportunity for both fun and profit.

We take a different world view than most. When we look around, we focus our observations of a place not on trouble…but on potential. We think first and foremost about what we (and you) could do there…wherever "there" happens to be.

Perhaps you could enjoy a whole lotta' sunshine. Perhaps you could live well on little. Maybe you could organize your tax affairs to better advantage. Start a business…build your dream house on the beach. Perhaps you could learn a new language…take salsa lessons…volunteer at a local orphanage…

The trouble with this open-minded approach to the world is that it can lead to opportunity overload. When everywhere you look you see new and more options for living better, cheaper, safer, with better weather, more interesting neighbors, the chance maybe to make a lot of money…pretty soon your list of options is long. In our case, after looking at the world from this perspective for more than 27 years, the list of possibilities is nearly overwhelming…certainly intimidating if considered all at once.

We, therefore, spend a lot of time looking for ways to package and deliver ideas and opportunities to you. How best, we wonder often, to help you consider all the options all over the world?

The Four Pillars. In the world according to IL, we've realized, there are four kinds of ideas.

First, there are opportunities to "Retire Overseas." This is our grande-dame of promises. We've been making it for 27 years…though, today, it means almost nothing like what it meant more than two-and-a-half decades ago when we first started making it. Two things have changed in the intervening years. First, we're no longer considered nuts for talking about retirement options outside the States. Nowadays, the notion is almost mainstream. Everyone from USA Today to The New York Times and Condé Nast Traveler urges you to look farther afield when considering retirement options.

Second, and more important, our readers (that is, you) are no longer interested in "retiring"…not overseas or anyplace else. At least not in any conventional sense. They (you) are interested, certainly, in what the world has to offer beyond U.S. shores…but no longer, typically, are you looking for a place to count down your days with the help of a good book, a hammock, or a golf club.

You, dear reader, as far as we can tell, have no interest in slowing down. You're ready to set some new corner of the world on fire. You're pursuing a 21st-century idea of "retirement," with many healthy years ahead of you to make the most of it.

Or…maybe you're not. Maybe you're not looking to live overseas full-time or in retirement. Maybe you're interested in a part-time life in Paradise…perhaps it's a "Second Home in the Sun" you seek. This, therefore, is our Pillar #2--options for part-time living in the world's sunniest locales.

Or…perhaps your agenda as you look around the world with us for opportunity is to start anew…to, perhaps, reinvent your life. Maybe you've spent years and decades doing what you had to do--raising a family, running a business, making a living--and now you're keen to do what you want to do…what you've always dreamt of doing. We call this pillar, Pillar #3, "Reinvent Yourself in Paradise." Pillar #3 is all about second chances, new beginnings, and rebirth.

Or…maybe you're not as interested in opportunities for new experiences as you are in chances and places to make some money…to (as we call Pillar #4) "Profit Offshore." No shortage of possibilities on this list, either.

Indeed, all four lists grow longer daily. Therefore, our primary challenge as we trot the world on your behalf is to filter and prioritize. For every new opportunity we introduce to you…dozens are cast aside as not as great.

The best opportunities the world over right now? Identifying and outlining these was the agenda of our first-ever Ultimate Event, staged for a record crowd at the Playa Bonita Beach Resort outside Panama City last week. More than 50 experts, expats, editors, colleagues, and friends addressed more than 250 readers on everything from the world's top overseas retirement havens to offshore business ideas…from emerging and under-valued real estate markets to ideas for employment, education, second passports, and new residencies…from global communication strategies to tips for opening a foreign bank account and getting financing in a foreign country to, even, making your debut as a foreign correspondent (travel writer, that is).

We detailed, in short, the best opportunities of all kinds in all corners of the earth this October 2006.

Big promise. To deliver, we relied on our Four Pillars. We organized the ideas we considered around these four big agendas.

Why do you care what we did last week in Panama…especially if you weren't able to join us for the fun?

Aha, dear reader…because the fun continues still. Maybe you couldn't make it to Panama for the Ultimate Event, we understand…so, starting tomorrow and continuing through the week, we'll bring the Ultimate Event to you.

No, we haven't figured a way to enjoy virtual rum cocktails with you at sunset by the pool, as we did on at least two occasions last week with readers in attendance at the conference…but we have arranged, with the help of Carter Clews, on-the-scene conference reporter, to share with you the highlights of four information-packed days. Carter's reports, like the conference itself, are organized around the Four Pillars. Tomorrow, Pillar #1: Retire Overseas.

The best places worldwide right now to live better on (maybe much, much) less?

Read Carter's behind-the-curtain dispatch in your in-box Monday a.m.

Ideas and opportunities for a Second Home in the Sun…to Reinvent Yourself in Paradise…and how to Reap Profits Offshore will follow.

Enjoy…maybe with a rum cocktail of your own. We recommend Flor de Caña, Nicaragua's finest.

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living

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