Retiring in Ecuador brings a lot of investment opportunities. The beauty about retiring in this country is the low cost of living. You can enjoy a high quality lifestyle without having to spend too much money. In fact, even if you are living on your Social Security benefits alone, you can comfortably live in Ecuador. If you live in the right lifestyle and in the right city, you can live on less than $1,500. If that amount would mean a poverty-stricken life in your home country, that is a middle class life here in Ecuador.

Since your retirement money will not be burdened when you decide to retire in Ecuador, that means you have a couple of investment opportunities. Your money is not tied to your lifestyle expenses alone. You can afford to risk some of it because you know that retiring in Ecuador does not have to be too expensive.

Investment mistakes that retirees should avoid in Ecuador

The great thing about investing while in retirement is that you have all the time in the world to do your research. You can view all the opportunities and pore on them one by one to calculate the risk and return of investing in them.

While you are exploring all the investment opportunities while retiring in Ecuador, there are a couple of mistakes that you need to avoid. These will help minimize the risks you will take and protect your money from being wasted.

• Investing in foreign mutual funds. If you want to invest in mutual funds, stick to the ones that you have back home. If your retirement money is being kept in your home country anyway, this will make fund management easy. Of course, there are other reasons. For Americans, it is not advised to invest in foreign mutual funds because of the high tax implications. You need to look into the tax code in your country before you invest in any foreign mutual fund. You might end up wasting your gains because you failed to consider the tax implications.
• Investing everything in your Ecuador real estate property. A real estate property is one of the most sound investments that you can make while retiring in Ecuador. However, you need to exert caution especially since you are investing in foreign land. Although the economy and government is stable and not on the verge of a crisis or turmoil, it may not be a wise decision to invest everything. Unless you are sure that it is easy to liquidate everything in case you need to pack up and leave immediately, keep your real estate investments a reasonable percentage of your money.
• Failing to report for tax purposes. Another investment mistake that you need to avoid while retiring in Ecuador is not reporting your investment income and gains to your home country. This might cost you a lot of money if they found out. Not only that, you might face criminal charges too. If your retirement money is kept in your home country, that might be compromised because of your tax issues.
• Failing to understand the rules of investing in a foreign land. You should also do your research about investing in Ecuador before you go through with it. You have to research the laws that you need to adhere to – both in your home and host country (Ecuador). It is your responsibility to keep yourself informed of these things so you will not break any of the laws by mistake.

Retiring in Ecuador can reap investing rewards if you know how to be a responsible and smart investor. The key is to keep yourself informed. If you are confused about it, you can always ask a professional to guide you. It may seem complex but if you start reading and researching about it, you will understand how the game is played. One of the mistakes that you can do is not doing anything. Do not miss out on the opportunities just because the rules seem intimidating. If you pay your cards right, you may be able to grow your retirement money and have a better chance at living your retirement in Ecuador.

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