New Video: The A-Z Of Retiring In Belize

Introduction

Kathleen Peddicord

Hello, I’m Kathleen Peddicord. Welcome to the Retire Overseas Podcast.

Today I’m speaking with nurse practitioner Kelly Demele. Kelly has reinvented her life in Cayo, Belize. She is not quite retired, but she is living her dream life while still practicing telemedicine.

Welcome, Kelly. Thank you very much for taking time to speak with us today.

You have a great story, and you have retired to one of my favorite places in the world. I know Cayo pretty well. I know Carmelita well. We’ve been friends with Phil Hahn, the developer behind Carmelita, for about 25 years or more.

So I’m very excited to hear from a full-time resident of Carmelita now that it has really come of age. But before we get to all of that and talk about your life there in Carmelita, in Cayo, I’m wondering if we can take a step back and let everyone know when this idea first occurred to you.

When did you first think of moving overseas?

Kathleen Peddicord

When did you first have the thought, “I’m going to retire outside the United States?”

Kelly Demele

I guess it was pretty sudden, honestly. I’d probably say maybe 2021 or 2022.

When I was down in Fort Myers taking care of my father-in-law after he broke his leg, I just knew I wanted to retire somewhere else. I still had a lot of working years left. I was maybe 57 or 58 at the time. But I started looking at different countries, and I was leaning toward Central America because it was close to Florida, where my daughter and two grandsons live.

It all happened kind of suddenly, and then actually getting down here happened even faster once I finally decided I was going.

The residency programs in Belize

Kathleen Peddicord

One of the big questions when you move abroad is residency, whether you want to stay in your new country full time, come and go, or retire there only part time. If you want to be there full time without worrying about overstaying a tourist visa, then you need to choose a residency path.

In Belize, there are a couple of options. Can you tell us how you processed all of that and what you decided to do in the end for your residency?

Kelly Demele

There’s the QRP residency, which is what I went for just based on my age.

I needed to be able to come and go back and forth to the States at my leisure. If you apply for regular residency, in that first year you’re kind of locked there for the full year. You only have about two weeks out of the whole year that you can leave, and I couldn’t do that because of my job.

I do have to go back to the state that I work out of and see some of my patients, and that requires me to leave more often than that. So I couldn’t really even think about doing that program.

So I went with QRP, and there are pros and cons to both, but getting your passport stamped every month or every couple of months to extend the visa starts to feel like paying rent. You’re paying just to stay.

With the QRP program, I’m a resident, but I can come and go as I please, and I don’t have to worry about getting a stamp on my passport.

Kathleen Peddicord

Exactly. And the requirement there is to deposit money into a Belize bank.

Kelly Demele

Exactly.

How to qualify for Belize’s QRP Program

Kathleen Peddicord

To qualify for the QRP, the Qualified Retired Persons Program, you need to show a minimum income of, I believe, $2,000 U.S. dollars a month.

Kelly Demele

Yes, $2,000 a month. But you can do it all in one lump sum. You don’t have to do it monthly. You can do it quarterly, semiannually, or just in one deposit.

Kathleen Peddicord

And that’s a big advantage because not every country allows that flexibility. You can simply deposit $24,000 U.S. dollars in your Belize bank account, and that qualifies you for the year. Then that becomes an annual requirement.

Kelly Demele

Right, and it’s only $50 per year to renew. Unless you don’t get a card, which I haven’t received for two years. Last year I didn’t pay anything to renew.

That’s kind of one of the stipulations. If they don’t give you a card, you get a free renewal. If you don’t get the card, they just give you a QRP letter saying you are a member, when it expires, and all of that.

But yes, that was the big factor for me. Also, bringing stuff down was easier because there are no tax duties on imports.

Kathleen Peddicord

Right. As a QRP retiree, you have duty exemptions on bringing in your household goods and everything.

Kelly Demele

Yes. No taxes, no duties, no import fees at all.

Kathleen Peddicord

Super. So there are lots of administrative issues and to-dos that need to be addressed. For me, that is kind of the least fun part of the whole thing. But all of those things have to be dealt with, and you want help and guidance.

We’re going to talk about more of those details in a bit, but before we go deeper into the administration, let’s talk about the fun part. The fun part is that you’re living in Belize now. You’re in Cayo, Belize.

What is life in Belize like?

Kathleen Peddicord

What does your life in Cayo, Belize look like now? Is it what you expected it to be? As great as you expected? Or are there disappointments? How is it playing out?

Kelly Demele

No, I mean, it is exactly how I envisioned it.

I wanted to go somewhere quiet, with no noise pollution, no air pollution, no light pollution, nothing like that. It’s very slow-paced, very low-key. You get up in the morning and just go about your day, and it’s just amazing.

It’s so relaxed. I have never been this relaxed and de-stressed in my entire life. And I’m still working pretty much full time, but it doesn’t feel like I’m working.

Challenges of moving abroad as a single woman

Kathleen Peddicord

You made the move on your own as a single woman with your dog, Baxter. Did that present any specific challenges?

We hear every day from women who say this all sounds wonderful, like a dream come true, the idea of moving somewhere their retirement savings will go further and where they can shape a new life for themselves. But they ask, “I’m a woman on my own in my 50s, 60s, or 70s. Could I really do this?”

Kelly Demele

It is realistic. It’s not as difficult as people make it out to be. It really just depends on how much stuff you want to bring down.

Most people, if they have a vehicle, will just pack it to the brim, hire someone to drive it through, and come down with the bare minimum. Then they sort of start over. They build a small cottage or bungalow, something manageable, and they downsize.

That’s what I did. My house seems big, but a lot of that is outdoor space. The way they calculate square footage there includes the outside space.

Kathleen Peddicord

Were you nervous as a woman on your own? Were you scared to make this move on your own?

Kelly Demele

I really wasn’t. I just knew in my head that this was what I wanted to do, and I went for it.

I did lots and lots of research before I ultimately made the final decision, and I had everything lined up. I knew I was going to make the move.

I hired a Belizean consultant to help me through the whole process from start to finish. Step by step, she told me what I needed. I got all those documents to her.

I had a bank account ready for me when I got there. I had a cottage to rent when I got there. I purchased a 20-foot container in the States and packed it with everything I was going to need, and it stayed in that container until the house was finished.

That was it. It was so easy.

What self-sufficient living is like

Kathleen Peddicord

Now that you’ve been living in Carmelita for a little more than a year, what do you think about self-sufficient living? Has it been challenging in any way?

Kelly Demele

I love it because I don’t have to pay a water bill. I don’t have to pay an electric bill. I don’t have to pay a mortgage.

The downside is that if it rains for more than a couple of days, you’re going to run out of solar power at some point. Some people have generators. I chose not to buy a big generator, but I did buy a small portable battery backup, the kind a lot of people use for camping.

How is the internet in Belize?

Kathleen Peddicord

Has the internet been able to support your virtual work?

Kelly Demele

Yes. It has not been a problem at all.

The elevation of my house is a big factor because I’m up high, and I don’t have any obstacles between me and the towers. So I really don’t have any issues unless the internet service itself goes down.

There are several internet providers down there, so you’re not limited. Like I said, I’ve had no real problems. Every once in a while it acts up, and I’ll tell a patient I’m having internet trouble and need a minute to reboot, but that’s about it.

The cost of living in Belize

Kathleen Peddicord

You mentioned that one of the advantages of living this way is that you don’t have an electric bill or water bill. So what is your budget for living there in Carmelita?

I think you moved for a more affordable cost of living, as so many retirees are trying to do. How is that playing out? Is your cost of living reduced compared with what it was in Tampa?

Kelly Demele

Oh, big time.

I would say with food and things I might want from Amazon or whatever, you can live very comfortably on about $1,500 U.S. a month. Easy. Maybe even less, because $1,500 U.S. is $3,000 Belize.

I don’t think I even spend that. I think maybe the most I spend is less than $1,000 a month Belize.

Kathleen Peddicord

Okay, great.

Who is a good candidate to move to Belize?

Kathleen Peddicord

Who do you think would be a good candidate to make a move to Belize, and maybe specifically to Carmelita?

Retiring overseas isn’t for everyone. You need an open mind, a good sense of humor, self-reliance, and a positive attitude. Beyond that, every country isn’t right for everyone. Belize is very quirky. It’s one of my favorite places, but it won’t be for everyone.

Not everyone is looking to live that simple of a lifestyle, that kind of back-to-basics lifestyle that Belize offers. So who do you think is a good fit?

Kelly Demele

I mean, I’m seeing a lot more younger people coming down now because they can work remotely.

But I think a good candidate is someone who just wants to get away from the craziness of traffic and noise and all of that, and live a simpler, quieter life.

You can still have your toys and the things you’re used to in the States. It’s just that you don’t bring as much. You really downsize and live more simply, more like the older days where you grow your own food and gather together.

For Thanksgiving dinner, for example, the whole community gets together, everybody makes a dish, and we all share. It’s really for people who are ready to get away and live a much quieter, simpler life.

Kathleen Peddicord

That’s a great way to frame the experience of Belize, and I would agree completely.

Belize really does have so much to offer in today’s world, maybe more than ever, this opportunity to escape some of the chaos of our time, as a lot of people might see it.

So you went from initial idea and research to a new life in a very short timeframe, really three years or less.

Kelly Demele

Very short. Probably maybe a year.

Kathleen Peddicord

Wow. Okay. Well, congratulations. I’m very glad to hear you have no regrets and that you have built such a beautiful new life for yourself.

So again, congratulations, and thank you for sharing your story.