Best warm country for early semi-retirement?

[IR35FanClub]

its still worth considering, OP wants somewhere within 5 hours travel, he wants sailing and he already has a business presumably not one he want to move, he is not looking to work there so why worry about wage comparison, (although you do see contracts in Istanbul and Ankara) its the lifestyle he is after, there is a huge amount of money flowing in from the Russians, and they want to get into europe, whilst the north is still a bit backwards the coastal areas are very european, houses may be over priced on the coastal areas because thats where people want be but further afield there quite reasonable and nobody pays the asking price, they expect you to haggle the price on everything

Yep. IF the UK had a better weather I'd stay here as it's a good place to be if you you are permanently jobless ;-).

Cheap land and low cost of labour are important factors, I'd also consider setting up a proerty business where I end up. I do think Africa is possibly the next China, but you have to be careful about which government you go with and if they are ex-pat friendly. I've not done my reasearch on other countries yet - as I had intended to move to Kenya - however a split in relationships has meant I have a new GF from the other side of Africa. Still friends with the old one though and doing some property development out there. I bought 11.5 acres of land for £13k and with houses going on it I'm expecting a ROI of about 100% over two years. Un****ing believeable. As in I don't even believe my own numbers, so am having to do it to prove it to myself! LOL.

Kenya is great as their new constitution has bought in things like recognising property rights, human rights. Things are still a bit pants if you don't have money, and the slums bring a tear to my eye everytime I pass them, but there's a lot of money flowing in and things are "developing". I laughed on the way out of Nairobi when going through the industrial suburbs there was a town promoting itself as "The Birmingham of Kenya". I thought I might tell them that's not going to attract anyone.

[Sysman]

Namibia, Botswana, Uganda, possibly Zambia and if you speak some Portuguese, Angola. Get yourself a pilots license in South Africa for 20k or so and fly tourists and rich locals around the place. You won't get rich, your income will fluctuate but the weather will be good and it'll be more fun than filling in the 'document version control' section on the standard template ISO conforming Project Budget Request form or talking about synergies with fat, wobbly chinned middle managers for the rest of your life.

Yes, I met a couple from Namibia a few years ago and they really recommended it. I'd prefer get a boat pilot's license myself, which rules places like Zambia out. Zambia suffers from high humidity just before the rainy season starts, and November is known as "suicide month" because of that.

What I really liked about a lot of Africa was that folks have a no nonsense attitude and get stuff done. I wouldn't touch Nigeria with a barge pole though.

[Sysman]

Kenya is great as their new constitution has bought in things like recognising property rights, human rights. Things are still a bit pants if you don't have money, and the slums bring a tear to my eye everytime I pass them, but there's a lot of money flowing in and things are "developing". I laughed on the way out of Nairobi when going through the industrial suburbs there was a town promoting itself as "The Birmingham of Kenya". I thought I might tell them that's not going to attract anyone.

It is stable though? A Kenyan lass I know went back there to see family a few years ago and found herself in the middle of a riot, her luggage was nicked from her feet and she counted herself lucky to be able to grab a taxi to get the hell out of the area.

[Mich the Tester]

It is stable though? A Kenyan...

Never a certainty in Africa, but Kenya seems pretty stable. Nairobi used to be called 'Nairobbery'; make your own mind up about that.

[nomadd]

Never a certainty in Africa, but Kenya seems pretty stable. Nairobi used to be called 'Nairobbery'; make your own mind up about that.

Nairobi averages about ten vehicle hijackings per day, while Kenyan authorities have limited capacity to deter or investigate such acts. Matatus (public transportation) tend to be targeted since they carry up to 14 passengers. Criminals who commit these crimes will not hesitate to shoot a victim who is the least bit uncooperative or who may appear to hesitate before complying with their assailant.

Handy travel tips for "stable" Kenya and "less stable" Nairobi, there.

[IR35FanClub]

It is stable though? A Kenyan lass I know went back there to see family a few years ago and found herself in the middle of a riot, her luggage was nicked from her feet and she counted herself lucky to be able to grab a taxi to get the hell out of the area.

Don't get there around election times. Seriously - stay well away. One is due next year. Me and the ex were looking at setting up a B&B and I was looking at tourist figures on their ONS site and noticed that every 4 years tourist rates dropped by 1/2. Digging around some news articles traced it to post election violence. We decided that starting a tourist based business this year was bad timing so focused on building houses to sell to locals - well away from the areas with land disputes.

Baiscally some of the tribal leaders promise all (getting land back), don't get elected and then their followers go on a rampage sa they blame it on corruption. Speficic area like south mombasa and parts of the central area are bad. It's what made me purchase where there's a dominant tribe so no land disputes. Down at the coast near mombase there's a lot of resentment that the government sold off what was effectively communal land to foreigners and "uplanders" basically - other tribesmen. Following another failed election attempt, the usual method is to go door to door, greet people in the local tribal dialect, and if you don't speak it you get macheted. It sounds really bad, but it's probably no worse than living in some parts of the UK! They don't tend to attack foreigners as they provide jobs to the locals, rather than their own tribesmen. But it is possible to get caught up in riot as your friend found out.

It was funny when I was there last year - the Kenyans were asking me if it was safe in the UK - as all the riots were kicking off over here! LOL.

As they say - do your research before investing somewhere you don't understand.

BBC News - Kenya's Raila Odinga warns of ethnic election violence

[fullyautomatix]

How ironic that in a thread about retirement SAS has not posted anything !

So has SAS retired or not ? Is it just a CUK myth ?

[Mich the Tester]

If you want the good things that Kenya offers but with a rather more peaceful society, you might look into Tanzania. The helpdesk industry is growing there as locals tend to be very pleasant to deal with and service minded; much more so than in India. Their English is also rather more understandable. Obviously, it's still Africa, so you've got corruption and the soul destroying poverty is on show for all to see. And there are lots of very determined Indian businesspeople competing for custom. But the way people there deal with their very hard lives can be inspiring; humour, smiles and a no-nonsense attitude to life.

Put it this way; Africa isn't for the weak willed and squeamish; it's tough and there's a steep learning curve, although as a westerner your life can be much easier than locals as you take capital and skills with you that give you a business advantage. You really need to get to know some connected locals quite well before you go.

Just please don't become one of those expat bastards who treats locals as his slaves; there are still too many of those characters in Africa and it sickens me.

[Sysman]

If you want the good things that Kenya offers but with a rather more peaceful society, you might look into Tanzania.

Not a bad idea.

Just please don't become one of those expat bastards who treats locals as his slaves; there are still too many of those characters in Africa and it sickens me.

That's what pissed me off with many (not all) Indians in Africa. They would really treat the locals badly.

The locals do get the occasional chance to fight back, as I found when dealing with a customs officer about the import of a seriously expensive computer board, on which there was 100% import duty. An Indian chappie who had been asked to make an inventory of the contents of several large suitcases went into "pester mode".

The customs officer winked at me and told me take the computer board and disappear, no duty collected. He was clearly going to have some fun

[Mich the Tester]

Not a bad idea.



That's what pissed me off with many (not all) Indians in Africa. They would really treat the locals badly.

The locals do get the occasional chance to fight back, as I found when dealing with a customs officer about the import of a seriously expensive computer board, on which there was 100% import duty. An Indian chappie who had been asked to make an inventory of the contents of several large suitcases went into "pester mode".

The customs officer winked at me and told me take the computer board and disappear, no duty collected. He was clearly going to have some fun

As long as you aren't Indian they're nice guys at customs in Dar es Salaam; the passport control guy on the way in was struggling with his computer so I offered to help him; he said wait, fetched his boss who then asked 'can you help?' I just did a ctrl-alt-del and killed the application, restarted , showed them what I'd done and all was OK. Boss man said 'since the Indians came and fiddled with it it breaks down all day'. So no problems getting in! On the way out the passport guy saw my place of birth, asked where it is and I answered Nigeria; he said, with that huge smile from ear to ear that so many people have in Tanzania 'so you are African!', then just chatted about what I liked about Tanzania and so on for a few minutes. Wonderfully laid back culture. Things is, in Europe people just can't imagine scenes like that because we're all being taken over by jobsworths and busybodies and people are told to live in fear all the time.

Taxi drivers are a laugh as well; just ask them about Indians; a driver showed me around Dar, pointed to a beach and said 'the rich Indians all go there because it's free!' Says it all really.