November 29, 2012 - Fast Day

November 29, 2012 (Thursday)
(Post 665, Day 335 of 2012, 699 days since starting this blog)

Daily Comment

Yesterday, I talked about the evaluation criteria I'm adopting for evaluating my retirement expatriation options. Here, again is the list:

1. Ease of living/lifestyle (weighting: 100)
2. Climate (weighting:  85)
3. Cost of living (weighting: 75)
4. Access to good health care (weighting: 70)
5. Ease of emigration (weighting: 60)
6. Access to the US (weighting: 50)

Yesterday I also explained the top half items. Before I get to the rest, I thought it would be a good idea to tell you the latest incarnation of the top 5 Retirement destinations list:

1. Thailand
2. Ecuador
3. Uruguay
4. Mexico
5. Costa Rica or Panama

Now, items 4-6:

4. Access to good health care:
Good health care means a number of things to me. Obviously, it means modern, 1st-World facilities, with up-to-date equipment. It also means doctors with current, leading edge skills (and access to the previously mentioned facilities and equipment). And both the doctors and the facilities need to be no more than a quick taxi-ride away. Lastly, there's a cost-of-living aspect: It has to be affordable, with insurance available. Luckily, every place I'm considering bests the US in all of these aspects, including convenience, insurance and costs. Access to high-quality affordable health care is one of the things that moves me to expatriate after retirement.


5. Ease of emigration:
How welcoming is the country? How easy is it to stay there? My top pick (at the moment) is currently dead last in this category. There are several aspects of this, including how easy/difficult/expensive it is to establish residency, whether there are special retiree programs, perks and benefits for the retiree, how much the Visa to stay limits or un-limits me. Some countries have excellent retiree programs that make moving and staying not only easy, but more financially practical: Ecuador, Mexico, Belize, Panama (the best of them all, at least for Americans) all have special retirement programs that have excellent benefits, including discounts on almost everything, from phones to flights.

6. Access to the US:
This is the new item on the list. Lately, I've been thinking more about how easy/difficult going back and forth between my retirement life and the US has assumed more importance, for several reasons. The first is, I want visiting (both ways, me to my family and friends in the US, my F & F visiting me in my little Paradise) to be as easy as possible. And, frankly, as cheap. This item is absolutely, no-question-about-it, owned by Mexico, currently number 4 on my list (currently ranked by my feelings about the place as being the top choice in the top ranking item, Ease of Living/Lifestyle). Also, the ability to bring goods in and out of the country (I'm thinking bass equipment), as opposed to buying those things locally or doing without.

There you have it. What have I missed? What do you think of my ranking and weighting?

  

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Food and Diet Section

Year 2012 daily weight from December 31, 2011

 Today's Weight:        206.8 lbs 

Yesterday's Weight:    207.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:     - 0.4 lbs

Diet Comment

Last night's late snack is sprobably responsible for my taking ounces instead of pounds off. Today's fail, marking an early end of my fast (15 hours) does not bode well for tomorrow.

Food Log

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
Skipped. 

Snack
Pizza and a small salad. Later, baby carrots and home-made mayonnaise.

Dinner
Skipped. In lieu of dinner, I had a bunch of chocolate candy bars while I was waiting to play at Mac's. 

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  20 oz,  Water:  102+ oz. 

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