Moving Down Under

The next two places I researched while looking to leave the country, are Australia and New Zealand. I put them together in my mind as they are geographically close to one another. I believed, therefore, the weather would be similar, but perhaps with a few differences depending upon location. Before going into too much detail on my search, I wanted to make sure it was even allowable for an American to retire there.

Australia has few requirements for an American retiree to settle there. I meet all of them except for one. Sadly, it's a biggie. You must have $750,000 cash in the bank. I'm sure if someone has a house to sell, especially in expensive places like Los Angeles or New York City, this wouldn't be a problem. But for a retired high school teacher without a house to sell, it's a disqualifier with no work around.

Next I checked New Zealand for the same information. Could a single American retiree settle in New Zealand? Oh, my! The requirements there are worse. You again need $750,000 in the bank, but in New Zealand, you have to invest that money in a business there. Nope. Not even if I had the cash. My goal is retirement, not work.

However, there is another way to enjoy either place in retirement. I could live in more than one location. If I did spend the "perfect weather window" in one place, and rotate to another spot on the globe when they have "perfect weather" I could enjoy living in several places, and not limit myself to just one. Legally I would be a tourist, although in my mind it would be my home for part of the year.

So, checking for Australia, no problem. As an American tourist I could stay from three to twelve months. I wouldn't stay a whole year, of course. That wouldn't be the plan. 

Next, I checked on New Zealand. An American can apply for a visitor's visa and stay for six months, if they do not plan on leaving the country during the six months. Since I would be staying put, probably during the winter months, this would be adequate for my Plan B, living in more than one country during a calendar year. 

The next step, was to check out the weather. I used Sydney as my location and found the weather from December through February to be to my liking. There's a little more rain than I would like, but it's not a deal breaker, since the number of days with clear sky is over 70%.

I did the same check for New Zealand. I looked at both Auckland and Wellington. The temperature in each is more to my liking than Australia. It in the high sixties Fahrenheit. They also have fewer days of rain, and less of it. So, this eliminates Australia for a December through February spot to stay, if I end up leaving the country after the election, and if I end up living in more than one location. So far, I haven't found anywhere with weather I would enjoy all twelve months of the year.

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My next part of the English-speaking world to check out is South Africa. Since I lived in Cape Town from 1997-1999, I know it fairly well. I'll do a deep dive and focus on the changes there in the last twenty-five years. It may be better, or not. I won't know until I do some digging. I do, however, remember it was a bit cold in winter. I'll need to dig deep to see if my memory serves me well. 

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