Is retiring to Africa a wise decision?

[Tanks]

Mark. Have you thought about Australia or New Zealand politically stable world class health care forigners can buy land, great climate in the right area good hunting especialy in NZ both countries run by Left wing wankers at the moment but not as bad as your Joe B and this can change at the next election culture very similar to the US. Lots of wide open spaces. you are not going to be kidnapped
or robbed on the streets.

Well, the gun policies are pretty bad in both of those countries with all the restrictions and bans. I also think they have trophy import bans on various African species.

 

[Rickmt]

I'm kicking myself because I didn't by a house in Bozeman 15 years ago.
Californification is definitely changing the last best place for the worst, no doubt.
On a side note Montana had Democrat governors in the 80's before the invasion of Californians but like I said people voted for the person not the party in Montana. Things might be changing now.

Don’t buy a place in Bozeman ! I live there ! It is way overpriced because you are competing with the californications.
Try Billings, Lewiston or anywhere else . Montana is a big beautiful state.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Well, the gun policies are pretty bad in both of those countries with all the restrictions and bans. I also think they have trophy import bans on various African species.

@Tanks
What you can't import into Australia send it home. Trophies in both countries. Should be able to get a gun licence in Australia. Yes we only have bolt actions but they get the job done.
Bob

 

[Troubleshooter]

Much sound advice given above, and especially on having the means and ability to go elsewhere if political realities shift adversely. Argues for the concept of something similar to a hunting/fishing timeshare (and I hate timeshares) vs. purchasing a small property or condominium type of arrangement.
The discussions regarding accessibility to quality medical care are spot-on, but I would go one step further in considering the next potential phase. Hopefully this doesn't happen to you (or any of us) but what happens once you are no longer able to enjoy the outdoors (Africa or elsewhere) and are unable to live independently? The sad truth is that a large portion of the elderly population (which you will be someday) ends up in a nursing home somewhere. You want to be in one where they truly look after you.
Always good to plan two moves ahead.

 

[Sarg]

@rdog
My wife has Canadian relatives that live the Canadian winters in Australia and Australian winters in the Canadian summer. Summer all year round for them.
More shooting opportunities in Australia as no closed season on deer except Hog deer. Good hunting even for buff, bantang and scuba bulls for Americans that can afford it.
Excellent foods availability without the need to import tropical fruits.
Great money exchange rates, currently 1 dollar Aud is .64 cent US.
You won't get kidnapped but you will get ROBBED REGULARLY. Just buy food or fuel and you will be ROBBED blind with the current prices.
Bob

Not quite Bob, its .64 cents if you buying, if your selling you won't get .69 as I have had a bit to cash just now & the Fuckers gave me .72 & .70 supposedly at the platinum rate ??

I have been watching this thread with great interest as I have been looking at buying a small farm in Limpopo for the last couple of years, on one of the rivers, going on Friday to look at two on the Limpopo River, the small towns where I operate are like going back 40yrs people are respectful & polite very little crime other than petty thief the load shedding is super annoying & the farm raiding is a little scary if that happens near by, worst if its your farm !!

 

[Hunter4752001]

@Sarg I wish you good luck with the property. Understand the worry re farm raiding but there's no point worrying about what mght happen. Assess the realities and plan accordingly. Even in suburban Melbourne there are almost daily home invasions and vehicle hijackings.

 

[flatwater bill]

Panama...........upscale central America with good healthcare....most docs US trained.....rent for 6 months prior to buying....(where ever you choose ) is a must.
Great fishing, solid banks. fab restaurants , modest costs, but no cape buffalo....... going there myself..................FWB

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Sadly, the "not robbed/carjacked in the streets" is declining, fast. Living in Crimesville, er Townsville, Queensland is becoming like a warzone; juvenile crims running amok. Another stolen car dumped outside my home last Saturday morning; the blue-heeler cross is a great deterrent, along with the neighbour's Lab/Rhodesian Ridgeback. My philosophy is that if they cross the fence and get past the dogs then their asses are mine. Police on the beat endorse my attitude. I'm praying and working for a change of (state) government next year. This grumpy old bloke has had enough.

@geoff rath
Maybe if Anastasia Pilapoop got voted out thing may change. Things are out of hand with youth crime in Qld at the moment. Fuck the namby pamby human rights that say punishment traumatises the little shits. Maybe the trauma of a good kick up the arse will teach them. It did me.

They need a bit of ADD, adult discipline and detention.
Bob

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

I have been watching this thread with great interest as I have been looking at buying a small farm in Limpopo for the last couple of years, on one of the rivers, going on Friday to look at two on the Limpopo River, the small towns where I operate are like going back 40yrs people are respectful & polite very little crime other than petty thief the load shedding is super annoying & the farm raiding is a little scary if that happens near by, worst if its your farm !!

@Sarg Please keep me and others posted on your Limpopo farm endeavor. I am a few years from retiring. Presently I am gathering information and analyzing toward my retirement options.

There have been many good facts, opinions, and ideas and even more "cautions" presented in this thread. All of these are good information and will be noted. I hope there will be more comments, both good and bad!

Concerning any important decision, I always;

• Make a plan
• Make a backup plan because the first plan will probably fail
• Keep a reserve of whatever is important
• Know when to commit the reserve
• And, know when to keep my head down or retreat if necessary!

 

[Doubleplay]

Not quite Bob, its .64 cents if you buying, if your selling you won't get .69 as I have had a bit to cash just now & the Fuckers gave me .72 & .70 supposedly at the platinum rate ??

I have been watching this thread with great interest as I have been looking at buying a small farm in Limpopo for the last couple of years, on one of the rivers, going on Friday to look at two on the Limpopo River, the small towns where I operate are like going back 40yrs people are respectful & polite very little crime other than petty thief the load shedding is super annoying & the farm raiding is a little scary if that happens near by, worst if its your farm !!

Good Luck.
I've looked at properties around Limpopo. They are extremely attractive and priced well below anything comparable in the World, no doubt.
However there's a reason for that. People are selling and trying to leave the country.
They can be a great investment if things in SA turn around but if not?
I'm sure you're aware of all that.

 

[Dogone]

I have met farmers from South Africa here in Canada. Most say they will never go back even to visit. One had not even got all his money from sale of his farm to the SA government. He wasn’t going back to get it.
Could be very interesting to move there as a young man and try to build a business but doesn’t seem like a restful place to retire.

 

[C.W. Richter]

It is not the Californians, but the whole country as a whole has changed in the last 40 years. The Democrat hero JFK would be vilified today and even Bill Clinton by today's left. Heck, JFK would be further right than a lot of today's GOP.

And JFK f***** everyone but his wife under the Sun during his presidency. Djt did not do that and we don't care about anyone's personal life but a University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business graduate and billionaire certainly knows more about money and management than all politicians combined. Further under his tutelage my retirement increased many fold but as soon as the elderly retard sponsored by international energy took over that seemed to take a 33% nosedive and most of us noticed...

 

[Doubleplay]

And JFK f***** everyone but his wife under the Sun during his presidency. Djt did not do that and we don't care about anyone's personal life but a University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business graduate and billionaire certainly knows more about money and management than all politicians combined. Further under his tutelage my retirement increased many fold but as soon as the elderly retard sponsored by international energy took over that seemed to take a 33% nosedive and most of us noticed...

IMHO both Brandon and Orange boy are not fit to lead this nation and senile.
Having said that if we make a comparison between JFK and Orange Boy both fu... everybody and both are/were billionaires.
Both went to elite Ivy league schools.
Orange was a draft dodger and JFK was a decorated combat veteran.
If someone like JFK would be running today he would win in a landslide with votes from right and left.
Least to say he would get my vote as a father of an active duty Marine.

 

[Tam Dl]

If you look at African colonial history as a whole, would today's disturbances be out of whack with the good old days? There certainly are differences of kind, like who is in charge and happy to take advantage of whom. Just wondering on the risk reward basis. Also agreeing with the comment above that it is a young person's game in most cases. Some of the great old days, post WWII hunting, occurred during a period when the communist insurgencies were active and growing. The biggest change I see around the world is who runs the courts, if any.

 

[Rem700stw]

My wife and I have been looking into expat retirement in South Africa. We are considering a summer place on the Indian Ocean and a winter home in either Limpopo, Free State or Northwest.

As we get older neither of us like hot or cold as much. I know there are challenges in RSA but if you don’t think the same issues are coming to U.S.A. you just are not paying attention to current events.

Afrikaners have the advantage of having their culture, language, and livelihoods survive 40 years of attack. I fear the learning curve in the US wI’ll be steep.

 

[Tanks]

...

As we get older neither of us like hot or cold as much. I know there are challenges in RSA but if you don’t think the same issues are coming to U.S.A. you just are not paying attention to current events.

Afrikaners have the advantage of having their culture, language, and livelihoods survive 40 years of attack. I fear the learning curve in the US wI’ll be steep.

I don't think you have the government advocating killing all whites and trying to take farms etc. from the whites in the USA. Yes, any large city is going to have crime regardless of location on Earth.

One thing to note is the infrastructure in regard to power, transportation, etc., etc.,, It is deteriorating, and South Africa is a mixture of a Third World country and a developing Nation depending on the region.

As far as Afrikaners surviving, A lot of Afrikaners are living outside of RSA now. Those that could leave, left. Kinda reminds me of Iran. First the rich left, then the educated class and the poor got stuck with the Ayatollahs after the regime change.

 

[Tam Dl]

As we get older neither of us like hot or cold as much. I know there are challenges in RSA but if you don’t think the same issues are coming to U.S.A. you just are not paying attention to current events.

I have been paying attention a lot, but I think that statement is pretty extreme. I worry for my kids, but time horizon has a lot to do with it. My parents both died at 93, so I have less than 30 years to go, and 93 is a lot of good luck, probably the active part of that is 10 to 15 years. I thought a major breakthrough on health was possible during my lifetime. Never counted on it, or even wanted it, but at this point it is looking like assisted suicide is the main one in Canada.

The US is not falling apart to RSA levels in 15 years, and RSA will keep on getting worse. The problems are different. In a country of law abiding people with great services and once great institutions, the issue is that you can get organized terror, as we did during COVID. You can get organized repression. In crappy countries, that aren't organized, you get collapse, possible violent outbreaks, or revolutions. Neither is good for old people, but on balance the place you were born, understand, and have some rights and status, is still a better bet. Foreign countries are good if you have money, and the local scene is peaceful enough you don't have to worry about getting robbed and murdered for it.

Relative to the US and Europe the flow of emigrants is basically one way from Africa. Is it wise to settle there for retirement, in RSA, of course not. It is crazy. But I also think it is the wrong measuring stick. If I were doing it, it would in part be because I want a life of adventure. An adventure is something that stretches you and is worth dying for. Quantifying how much risk is up to the individual. Climbing a ladder comes with some risk. I loved my climbing life, don't like ladders. I am not willing to die climbing ladders, so I use the climbing gear to insure it is impossible. If I could get back into climbing, I would be willing to take the risks that go with it because it is such fun.

On the other hand, I am currently reading the book of Isaiah, for the first time, and every paragraph, pretty much, ends with the warning, "and that is Vanity". He ain't wrong.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

I have been paying attention a lot, but I think that statement is pretty extreme. I worry for my kids, but time horizon has a lot to do with it. My parents both died at 93, so I have less than 30 years to go, and 93 is a lot of good luck, probably the active part of that is 10 to 15 years. I thought a major breakthrough on health was possible during my lifetime. Never counted on it, or even wanted it, but at this point it is looking like assisted suicide is the main one in Canada.

The US is not falling apart to RSA levels in 15 years, and RSA will keep on getting worse. The problems are different. In a country of law abiding people with great services and once great institutions, the issue is that you can get organized terror, as we did during COVID. You can get organized repression. In crappy countries, that aren't organized, you get collapse, possible violent outbreaks, or revolutions. Neither is good for old people, but on balance the place you were born, understand, and have some rights and status, is still a better bet. Foreign countries are good if you have money, and the local scene is peaceful enough you don't have to worry about getting robbed and murdered for it.

Relative to the US and Europe the flow of emigrants is basically one way from Africa. Is it wise to settle there for retirement, in RSA, of course not. It is crazy. But I also think it is the wrong measuring stick. If I were doing it, it would in part be because I want a life of adventure. An adventure is something that stretches you and is worth dying for. Quantifying how much risk is up to the individual. Climbing a ladder comes with some risk. I loved my climbing life, don't like ladders. I am not willing to die climbing ladders, so I use the climbing gear to insure it is impossible. If I could get back into climbing, I would be willing to take the risks that go with it because it is such fun.

On the other hand, I am currently reading the book of Isaiah, for the first time, and every paragraph, pretty much, ends with the warning, "and that is Vanity". He ain't wrong.

Sounds more like Ecclesiastes?

 

[Tam Dl]

You are correct. Thanks!

Time flies when you are having fun. I found that book too short from the enjoyment perspective, though presumably right on for message. And that too is vanity.

 

[Bearkat]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12486695/The-40-deadliest-cities-world-homicide-rate.htmlI found this article interesting. I agree you can't really compare SA to the US, but this is eye opening.