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Credit card payments evolve beyond the mobile wallet

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Barletta looking at long odds against Casey in US Senate race

<p>The world is full of tropical paradises and other exotic places where a couple can live comfortably on $2,000 a month or less. Plus, good health care abroad can cost a fraction of what it does in the U.S.</p><p>If living more cheaply is the only reason you&#8217;d retire to another country, though, you&#8217;re likely to be unhappy.</p><p>Expatriate Dan Prescher says he&#8217;s seen such &#8220;economic refugees&#8221; suffer when they discover how different daily life can be in other places.</p><p>&#8220;No matter what else the United States is, it is probably the most convenient country on the planet,&#8221; says Prescher, a senior editor at International Living who currently lives in Ecuador. &#8220;You can get almost anything you want, almost any time you want with a phone call or the click of a mouse. The rest of the world is just not like that.&#8221;</p><p>Another long-time expat, Kathleen Peddicord, says people who successfully retire abroad leave their expectations at the border and &#8220;learn what questions not to ask.&#8221; Questions like, &#8220;Why is the sales clerk answering her phone in the middle of checking out a customer?&#8221; or &#8220;How can it take four months to install a new kitchen countertop?&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Real control freaks struggle,&#8221; says Peddicord, publisher of Live and Invest Overseas, who lives in Paris. &#8220;I speak from firsthand experience.&#8221;</p><p>People who do well living abroad tend to have some things in common, Peddicord and Prescher say. Those include:</p><p><strong>&#8226; They have a sense of adventure &#8212; and humor.</strong> The best candidates are open-minded, unafraid of change and ready to embrace the new and unexpected, Peddicord says. Plus, &#8220;You need to be able to laugh it off when the repairman stands you up for the fourth time in a row,&#8221; Peddicord says.</p><p><strong>&#8226; Their spouses are on board.</strong> Often one member of a couple is more enthusiastic than the other, and it may take a vacation in the proposed location to win over the uncertain spouse. But Prescher warns that dragging a truly reluctant spouse abroad is likely to backfire.</p><p>&#8220;You see one spouse just suffering through it hoping that in a year or two it will be out of the other spouse&#8217;s system, and they can go back home and live the way they want to,&#8221; Prescher says.</p><p><strong>&#8226; They have a re-entry plan.</strong> Many expat retirees intend to return to the U.S. someday, and even those who expect to live abroad indefinitely can change their minds.</p><p>&#8220;At some point, they&#8217;re going to be 80 years old and they might not want to be away from their family and friends anymore,&#8221; Prescher says.</p><p>A re-entry plan could mean renting the family home instead of selling it, or setting aside enough money to fund a return. Prescher and Peddicord also recommend signing up for Medicare at 65, even though that government health care program can only be used in the U.S. The reason: The part of Medicare that pays for doctor&#8217;s visits and other costs, Part B, has a hefty penalty for not signing up when you&#8217;re eligible. Monthly Part B premium increase 10 percent for each year someone could have had Medicare Part B but did not.</p><p><strong>&#8226; They have a purpose.</strong> We all need a reason to get out of bed in the morning. It can be challenging to find that purpose when you&#8217;re struggling with language and cultural differences, Peddicord says.</p><p>After 20 years of living abroad, however, she&#8217;s convinced having purpose is key to a positive experience in a new place. Every unhappy retiree she&#8217;s known failed to find motivation and devolved into what she calls &#8220;the complaining expat.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;You find these folks holding court on barstools across the world,&#8221; she says.</p><p>The happy ones may take up a long-deferred hobby, learn a new language or start a business, but many expat retirees find their purpose by volunteering.</p><p>&#8220;I know dozens of expat-retirees in different places who are volunteering as teachers, in orphanages, in single-mother facilities,&#8221; Peddicord says. &#8220;This can be the best way to become a real part of your new community.&#8221; </p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_02abc7cfa1954972b2593a59af1ef2a3-02abc7cfa1954972b2593a59af1ef2a3-0.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">FILE - This April 2017 file photo provided by NerdWallet shows Liz Weston, a columnist for personal finance website NerdWallet.com. (NerdWallet via AP, File)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_02abc7cfa1954972b2593a59af1ef2a3-02abc7cfa1954972b2593a59af1ef2a3-0.jpg</photo0><caption0>FILE - This April 2017 file photo provided by NerdWallet shows Liz Weston, a columnist for personal finance website NerdWallet.com. (NerdWallet via AP, File)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Liz Weston</p><p>Guest Columnist</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Liz Weston is a columnist at NerdWallet, a certified financial planner and author of &#8220;Your Credit Score.&#8221; Email: lwestonnerdwallet.com. Twitter: lizweston. </p></shirttailMeta></div>

Retiring to ocean breezes and cheap rent. What’s the catch