The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had an excellent article the other day about low cost of living countries outside the US. The author, Avery Newmark, is the Things to Do Content Producer for Access Atlanta.
https://www.ajc.com/things-to-do/travel/5-countries-outside-the-us-with-a-lower-cost-of-living/JDT5XSULXBHMTDVDM22JDPN3QM/
These are all great choices but Colombia should have been included on the list and probably listed as No 1.
Cost of Living - This is generally the No 1 consideration for Retirees and Remote Workers as they are usually living on a tight budget. Retirees and Remote Workers look for a lot of bang for the buck.
¨When it comes to bang for your buck, its hard to beat friendly, polite Colombia where the lifestyle is sophisticated yet the cost of living is remarkably low.¨ Jennifer Stevens, Executive Director International Living.
But let's look at the facts. Numbeo.com is the world's largest cost of living data base. They survey people who are actually living in these cities for specific costs of food, housing, transportation, etc. They use this data to create a Cost of Living Index (COLI) which you can use to make ¨apples and apples¨ comparisons. Here's how they rank the 5 countries listed by Avery plus Colombia and the US for reference. The lower the COLI, the lower the cost of living.
Colombia 30.6
Costa Rica 53.6
Spain 48.4
Portugal. 46.6
Thailand. 36.0
Vietnam 30.8
USA. 72.9
So, how do we use the COLI ?
For example, if you go to the grocery store in Colombia and spend $30.60, those exact same groceries would cost you $53.60 in Costa Rica or $72.90 in the USA. The cost of living in Costa Rica is double the cost in Colombia. The USA is 2.5 times.
Numbeo has another cool feature. You can compare where you are living now to where you are thinking about living and of course compare multiple cities.
For example, we compared Atlanta to Medellin, Colombia.
You would need around $2,375 ($9,282,961 Col) in Medellin to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with $6,800 in Atlanta, GA (assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Cost of Living Plus Rent Index to compare the cost of living and assume net earnings (after income tax).
So let's say you are relying on your monthly Social Security for all or most of your income and you are getting $2,375 per month which is about average. It's tough to live in Atlanta or anywhere else in the US on just $2,375 per month but you can live BIG in Colombia.
| Indices Difference |  |
|---|---|
| Consumer Prices in Medellin are 60.0% lower than in Atlanta, GA (without rent) | |
| Consumer Prices Including Rent in Medellin are 65.1% lower than in Atlanta, GA | |
| Rent Prices in Medellin are 74.7% lower than in Atlanta, GA | |
| Restaurant Prices in Medellin are 70.3% lower than in Atlanta, GA | |
| Groceries Prices in Medellin are 61.6% lower than in Atlanta, GA | |
| Local Purchasing Power in Medellin is 80.0% lower than in Atlanta, GA | |
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