Why retiring in Canada can be better

Average wait for an MRI, and thats if its not urgent, is typically a month in most places in Canada. As I said, thats if its not urgent. You get much faster service, if it is urgent.  For non-urgent care, there has to be wait lists, thats how we keep it cheap!!!!!  We dont have private insurance, because we dont need it. We have government NON-PROFIT insurance. No middle men sucking millions off the sickness of others up here.  The supplemental insurance, is to cover the few things the government insurance doesnt cover. Like medications that arent covered, private rooms all to yourself, etc.  On the other hand, Canada is listed as one of the best for overall care. Much higher than the U.S.. And as a result, has a higher life expectancy statistic, and lower infant mortality rate than the U.S. does. So they are obviously doing something right. Oh, and nobody goes bankrupt because of a family illness either.

 

I wouldnt give up our Healthcare system, for the U.S. system, if you paid me. You Americans should thank your lucky stars, if you manage to get a system that's even remotely like what Canada has. And you wont find many Canadians who would disagree with that either.

My wife and I are retired, and have lived in RV parks in Arizona for a number of years.  We have had many canadian neighbors down for the winter.  We found them to be the very best neighbors and friendliest

 people.  In discussing the economy, health, and all subjects, they never gave us a negative response.  When we asked the proverbial question "Would you want to live in the United States?"  They  answered with a very polite, "NO THANK YOU"   Need I say more????????

All of Canada's major cities are mostly in the south, close to the border. So the weather is the same, for the most part, as the northern U.S., for most Candians. So, unless you choose to live way up north where it is really cold, the weather in Canada isnt much different than the northern U.S. Its barely a 100 miles between Seattle and  Vancouver, or Toronto and Buffalo.

 

Taxes are higher.. But unlike the U.S, the money is actually spent on Canadians. Their safety net is second to very few. I think Sweden is the only one thats better. They have many non-profit government run businesses that give HUGE savings. Especially in the insurance field. No carpet baggers up here!

 

The best thing about Canada, is the low population. Only 30 million. Theres still room to breath up here.

I think the main reason Canada is so great is because they are not spending 1.2 Trillion dollars each year attacking countries that did not attack them.  Imagine what we here in the USA could do with 1.2 Trillion no longer going to the military each and every year?  It's time to cut Offense spending by at least 75%.

I love reading the posts of the undereducated and misinformed.  I am a dual citizen, having grown up and received my education in Canada, and now working and living in the USA.  Both countries have their pros and cons.  I will however always be an avid defender of Canada's healthcare system.  Regarding the "long lines" and "death panels" that America's media likes to propagate and spin is laughable.  What is even more laughable is that a large percentage of American citizens buy into the propaganda.  Two years ago, my 97 year old grandpa in Western Canada fell and broke his hip.  Within the week he received a full hip replacement, went through rehab services etc, and just recently celebrated his 99th birthday.  More importantly, he was able to return home and still has a certain level of independence as well as maintaining his integrity.  I ask "Is that a long wait time to receive care?"  Would my grandpa been given the same care in Texas?  Canada continues to maintains a higher average lifespan and a lower infant mortality rate; both indicators of an overall superior healthcare system.  The way the media in America was able to pit poor man against poor man in an almost "battle to the death" over Healthcare, a right that should be ardently defended is both baffling and disgusting.

It seems that retiring to a foreign country might be a good idea, but the overall scope of the decision is bad.

Retire in Canada-easier said than done. Everyone I know who has applied to retie in Canada were denied.  My family is still in Canada. there are no  problems with health care at all where they live-none. My mother is 85 and she gets excellent care.  

In 2003, I retired at 52, moved to Michigan from NYC, stayed there for 7 years, then moved to the Philippines and loving every minute of it. Health care here is cheap.  No need to see a doctor here to get a prescription medication, just go to the pharmacy and get the medications you need.  Weather here stays in the 80's or 90's year round.

This is the dumbest, most half-baked article I've ever read.  Firstly, and just for starters, Canada has  very strict immigration laws.  If you are an American immigrating to Canada--assuming they'll let you in -- you would not be accorded the rights of Canadian citizenship or what this so called article is telling you.

In the current economic environment, I am not sure why any more of these lame articles about retirement even keep being written and published.  You folks and I know that the middle class fools, such as myself, have worked like dogs and saved all their lives and they will still be working till the day they fall over dead at their desks! 

If I figure out how to keep a couple dollars, either the taxes go up somehow and I pay it to Uncle Sam, or the Wall Street gang figures out how to suck it out of my 401k.

The "financial crisis" that we are all so eager to forget about took a lot of people's retirement savings back to the level it was 10 years ago (and some farther back than that).

Save your money, learn to grow vegetables, can and freeze food.  Most of us lost the skills that our grandparents had to survive during the great depression.