The 18 Best Places to Retire Overseas
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/On-Retirement/2012/03/19/the-18-best-places- to-retire-overseas

Best Places to Retire: Scoring Criteria
Add & Weight Your Own Specifics:

(1) Cost of Living (Budget Constraints)
(2) Real Estate (Value/Return on Investment to Self & Beneficiaries)
(3) Safety & Stability
(4) Stimulating Physically Poetic Environments;Scenery; "Raw" Adventure & Nature Eco-Tourism & Low Pollution
(5) Community Cohesion/Values/Culture-Involvement-Pride
(6) Investment Climate & Security/Relatively Low Inflation Rate
(7) Climate (Compatible Beach & Mountainside Lifestyle)
(8) A Farming & Fishing Ethos
(9) Health Care (Proximity to Hospitals/Doctors/Nursing Care for Elders)
(10) Entertainment/Sporting Activities
(11) Infrastructure (Roads/Access to Potable Water etc)
(12) Special Benefits

www.caribpro.com/Caribbean_Property_Magazine/index.php?pageid=809

Community Tourism On Jamaica’s Southwest Coast
www.escapeartist.com/efam/51/Jamaica_Travel.html

Zed...you may wish to add to your list of "Retirement Havens" criteria:

(13) Opportunities to foster the Preservation & Sensitivity of relatively pristine environments, including its trees/plants/soils honouring their organic Nature in the landscape through xeriscaping & other appropriate means.

(14) A "community architecture" arising out of a harmony with Nature...with features expressing naturalness, surprise and wonder, rather than "shock & awe".

(15) A Spiritual Homecoming...however that might be individually conceived or planned!


Look to this day,
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today, well lived,
Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.
Sanskrit Proverb

It certainly doesn't hurt Retirement Prospects & a sense of Inner Peace, Contentment & Pride to be aware that Treasure Beach was voted the Best Community in Jamaica for 2012, judged on the following criteria:

The National Best Communities Competition and Programme (NBCCP) was launched in 2006 to encourage the development of sustainable communities through their involvement in a variety of activities that promote local governance, self-help and self-reliance.
Of the 783 communities in Jamaica, 248, comprising 1456 districts, took part in the 2011-2012 competition.

Cash awards are also given to selected communities in each parish, based on their work in the following areas
• Culture and Heritage
• Youth development
• Community spirit and Self-reliance
• Most beautiful
• Most improved Agricultural Practices
• Best kept facilities
• Best kept educational institution
• Best visitor's experience.


Gleaner Link:
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120901/news/news6.html

Any Ideas for Living Within A Retirement Budget in Treasure Beach...Especially by Taming the Electrical/Water Bill & Tax Stresses:

Some comparisons from other communities where ex-pats and members of a native-born diaspora have come home to nurture their deep ficus roots:

The opportunity to halve our cost of living and still enjoy better weather, healthier food, lower-cost-but-quality medical care, and a truly relaxed, "off the treadmill" pace of life was one we couldn't pass up....And we can say from first-hand experience that you really can live better for less in some breathtakingly beautiful and interesting places...don't ask us to provide a spreadsheet that tracks, down to the last red cent, what we've saved during our time living overseas. We don't have one. That's why, as bonafide penny-pinching expat cheapskates, we're dismal failures... and proud of it...we've found a lifestyle where we can relax and have the peace of mind of one... even on a meager budget.

Link: Penny Pincher's Guide To A Millionaire Lifestyle
www.huffingtonpost.com/suzan-haskins-and-dan-prescher/best-places-to-retire-the- penny-pinchers-guide-to-a-millionaire-lifestyle_b_2339741.html?view=print&comm_r ef=false