Halloween 2014 I had the good fortune to be laid-off from my job of 29 years as Director of Publishing Innovation at the American Psychological Association in Washington, DC. I was 61 years old and I decided that I did not want another “job.”
I was given a generous severance package and I had retirement savings. I cashed in my retirement in 2015, paid taxes on the income and invested the remaining funds in equities and cryptocurrencies, both of which have performed well. I also invested in precious metals which so far have not performed so well, but have increased in value since 2015.
As I was faced with the option to activate my social security payments at the age of 62, or to wait, I decided to see if I could live on my Social Security alone. I had paid in maximum FICA payments for at least a decade and my monthly income from Social Security at the age of 62 was just under $2,000.
The short answer is “NO,” it was not possible for me to live in America on this amount. Just my Obamacare would have taken over 1/3 of my Social Security income. As a Type 1 diabetic, the additional costs for insulin and insulin pump supplies was over $500 per month. This left me with $800 per month for housing, food and transportation.
After activating my Social Security payments in January of 2016 I learned that if I did take a job, most of my Social Security payments would be lost in additional taxes. It was at this point that I realized that without my investments, homelessness was the inevitable outcome of my “social security retirement plan.”
Having traveled throughout the world for most of my adult life I started to investigate other countries where I could live with a much reduced cost of living. Sri Lanka and Ecuador were high on the list of cheap places. Then I discovered Georgia, the former Soviet Socialist Republic nestled in the Caucus Mountains, between the Black and Caspian Seas.
I arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia, a beautiful European feeling city of 1.5 million residents, in late October 2016 after spending a month in Greece visiting with my son at a Greek Orthodox Monastery. While in Greece I discovered I could obtain the exact same insulin that I used in the U.S. The cost in U.S. was $240 per bottle. The same bottle in Greece was $22. No prescription was required and I purchased a year’s supply before heading to Georgia. Airfare from Athens to Tbilisi was $120. I booked an Air B&B apartment in Tbilisi City Center for $450 for two weeks.
It was a spacious apartment, well furnished but cold! The owner was stingy with the heat. In addition, the gas cooking range that was prominently featured in the Air B&B photos did not work. I found another Air B&B apartment in the same neighborhood for $1,200 per month that had a better location and excellent heat that I could control. It had a functioning fireplace, a well equipped kitchen with working gas range, a convection oven and all the cooking tools I needed.
I was able to execute a 1 year rental contract on this fully furnished 4 bedroom apartment for $1,200 per month including utilities and a high bandwidth, fixed IP Internet connection with WIFI that covered the whole apartment. I had planned to get a smaller apartment but this space was so comfortable that I could not resist. It also gives me plenty of space for visits by friends and family. Comparable modern 2 bedroom apartments in the same neighborhood can be had for as little as $700 per month.
Rents are paid in U.S. dollars. I can cross the street where there is an ATM machine and withdraw U.S. dollars, crisp $100 bills, or Georgian Lari. I pay absolutely no ATM fees. I opened a Georgian Bank account at Liberty Bank, a few blocks away, so that I could deposit my dollars and pay rent online through direct transfers to my landlord. Georgian Banks take deposits in dollars, lari or euro and show balances in each currency. I can also use a bank website to store Bitcoin and convert them into lari adding to my bank balance if needed. Georgians don’t use bank checks. They have “pay machines” on every block where citizens can pay utilities and for other services with their bank cards.
On arrival in Georgia I purchased a Georgian cell phone. I have excellent 4G coverage almost everywhere I go, all for the cost of $8 per month. When out and about I use the “hot spot” feature on my Georgian phone to connect my American iPhone. Overall Internet connectivity is better here than it was in America.
Eating in Georgia is exceptional with Thai, Italian, American, Brazilian, Japanese and of course Georgian restaurants only a short walk away. Across the street is a well stocked grocery. At the end of the block are two fresh vegetable vendors and a fresh flower vendor. Groceries are beyond imagination cheap!
Lacking in Georgia is state-of-the-art healthcare. However, I can get my basic health needs handled here and I would make a trip to Vienna for more serous needs.
A solid middle class family of 4 earns $12,000 per year in Tbilisi. If your American Social Security is this amount or more, you can live very well and feel very safe in this delightful land!
Photos posted at flickr.com/photos/halwarren and a 1 minute video from my front window at 