And real is where he starts. I love the fact that the first thing Mike does in this book is to try to talk you out of it – by pointing out some of the other countries in the region that people retire to, and then continues to point out the downsides of Bali – yes this is a real book written by a real person, who is NOT contracted to Bali’s tourism department to put a positive spin on the ugly side of Bali (lack of decent roads and sewerage infrastructure  and corruption being some of the biggies).

Many expats seem to only want to hang-out with other expats – you do wonder why they bothered moving. Mike points out that the Balinese are very welcoming to foreigners who are staying long-term- and if you make an effort it may well be easier to be accepted by the locals than in many other countries.

Mike’s 100-point moving list – is a must-read – even if you are not moving to Bali – if you are moving anywhere overseas – you need to have it!

The book runs to over 110 pages – and covers all the main issues for anyone considering moving to Bali either for retirement or to start a business. Main topics covered include:

• Why Bali?
• Preparation and Planning
• Adapting to the Culture
• Banking and Finance
• Health and Health Insurance
• Driving and Buying a Car
• Housing and Buying Property
• Employing Staff
• Where to Live in Bali
• Visas

US and the rest of the world  Readers:     UK Readers: 

The interesting thing is that some parts of the world this is common practice, in other parts moving overseas is very rare.

The British are probably champions at moving overseas for retirement. The reasons aren’t hard to figure out: the notoriously bad British weather and the cultural history of moving overseas as part of ruling the world with the British Empire. These days the British tradtiionally like southern Europe – where the living is cheaper and the EU removes the issue with visas.

Canadians and Americans, particularly from the colder areas,  have tended to migrate south for better weather with Panama and Costa Rica particularly popular overseas retirement destinations.

New Zealanders have traditionally not moved overseas for retirement. Maybe its the universal pension which is only payable if the retiree lives in NZ for 6 months of the year. Or maybe its just the expense of moving from that remote country – particularly before the airfare wars of recent years. Or maybe the New Zealanders just think that the trade of for lifestyle and cost is fair enough in their home.

The Australians too have tended not to move overseas in retirement. Residents of the cooler southern states have been fueling Queensland’s population boom for years. Also Australian’s invented the sea change where downsizing from large expensive captial cities to small, less expensive town usually on a warm coast.

Things maybe  starting to change for Australians though. Most Australians are now funded by their own superannuation savings. And those savings have been heavily reduced in the last few years.

In addition the  boom of coastal real estate and the drop of some city values means that downsizing with a sea-change is not as easy or as lucartive as it was 5 or 8 years ago.

So what are the options for Australians looking to retire overseass – and why haven’t they realised that there is an obvious answer sitting on their doorstep? Well stay tuned for the next post …