- Retiring abroad used to be a fringe idea, but it’s a much more accessible way for people to retire early.
- Lee Harrison sold his house in Vermont and moved to Cuenca, Ecuador because it was affordable and an adventurous place to live.
- Experts offer tips on how to make moving abroad as a retiree less intimidating.
Lee Harrison never thought he’d retire at the age of 49 – 13 years earlier than when he had planned. He definitely didn’t expect that he’d be retired in Ecuador of all places. But at 70, he’s happier than ever with his decision, he said.
“My father worked until he was 62, which I thought was great and my idea of early retirement at the time,” he told USA TODAY.
In his late 40s, Harrison was working in New York as a writer, and his wife, Julie, was a project manager at an energy company. While he didn’t have a lot of savings, he worked at a company that offered an early retirement package with a pension when you hit 50, he said.
On a visit to his in-laws in Arizona, Harrison was browsing in a bookstore and came across a book about moving to Costa Rica, where the cost of living is lower than in the U.S. and the weather is ideal.
A lightbulb went off. What if the couple retired overseas and was able to live out an adventure?
After evaluating multiple countries, including Spain, Costa Rica and Mexico, they settled on Ecuador.
“It could be that I retire at 49 and stay happily retired for the rest of my life, which would be the case so far,” he said. “Or if…
