Welcome. Have you ever been to the DR for vacation? Are you a beach person or do you like a different environment? Are you from the US or Canada? Do you speak a second language. Retiring in the DR is not cheap. You will also have to get your residency. There is a lot to consider and a long learning curve. You have to remember that the DR is a third world country with many of the problems that come along with it. Good luck and good travels.
Our retirement is still a ways off (10-15 years), so we are trying to make preparations now so when the time comes the transition is as smooth as can be expected.
I have not been to the DR yet, but I have been to other places in the Caribbean. I have heard a lot about the DR from my in-laws who have vacationed/worked there. They were around Punta Cana though, and I am actually more interested in the north east, leaning towards either Las Terrenas or maybe Cabrera since it seems to a bit cheaper. (The pirate history of Saman? before it became a peninsula intrigues me and I'd like to visit any sites that were pirate havens). We are currently making plans to take a few vacations over the next couple years to get a feel for those areas. When we retire, if we aren't on the beach, then we'll probably look in the hills for cooler temperatures and an ocean view.
I am from the US, currently living in Colorado. I'd put that in my profile, but for some reason I still can't edit my profile on the forums.
I speak spanish pretty well, having lived a few years in Venezuela in the early 90's. My wife understands more than she speaks, but I have explained to her that part of the deal will be committing to learning spanish. She said "est? jevi" (or at least she did after I showed her a youtube video on dominican slang! :lick: )
The DR seems like a good place for retirement as the $ US seems to go a bit farther from what I have read (maybe not in Las Terrenas, being a tourist destination). When you say it's not cheap to retire there, may I ask to which costs you are referring? I know residency will be a pretty big undertaking (we'll most likely have to use some kind of legal service for that) and I've looked at private health insurance costs and property taxes (should we decide to buy instead of renting), but is there something else we need to consider? It would be good to investigate those and add them in to our planning.
Anyway, Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!