Chile Forum

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Chile has many advantages and for young people it's a unique opportunity to build their dreams. As a retirement destination for older folks I'd say it's not the place to go if you have limited funds.[/


The average Social Security retirement check is about 1.100 dollars a month..Which would be the "magical figure" to survive in Chile?...1.500?....2.000? . Not interested in Santiago areas.

El ovallino wrote:. . ..Which would be the "magical figure" to survive in Chile?...1.500?....2.000? . Not interested in Santiago areas.

Some older posts by EE.UU. and others give good insight into the cost of living for Americans in Chile. I've Chilean acquaintances who, with care, seem to get by quite well on about US$800 apiece per month; but that might be more restrictive than the way that most Americans care to live.

GJJIM wrote:

admin wrote:From what I saw during a visit last month, I'd have to disagree with the 5X-10X difference in the cost of maintaining a lifestyle

I can't emphasize enough that the answer is quite different based on the lifestyle you choose and can afford to have. Lower middle class lifestyle is cheaper in Chile, but not dramatically so. Upper middle class lifestyle is much cheaper, in the "it's way out of my league in the US" range. Nice real estate and services (schools, daycare, healthcare, labor to help you do a thousand different things) impact your overall expenses much more than how much you pay for a new laptop (especially if you buy electronics and apparel in the US anyway).

You also have to work at getting good deals more aggressively in Chile than in the US, whether it's the research or the bargaining you have to do.

Both these things I doubt you can accurately assess while visiting. How much to pay for things, and where best to buy them, has taken us months of living here to figure out. That, and me learning enough Spanish that I can bargain. Labor costs vary widely depending on whom you ask, and whether you ask yourself with gringo looks and accent and posh delivery address, or send a Chilean to order for you. So on and so forth. Even Chileans have to be smart about it, depending on their social status. If you look affluent, people will try to get more money out of you, foreigner or not.

admin wrote:More likely various eastern EU countries are the closest comparison, outside South America to Chile.

We've looked into it (we're EU citizens so immigration would have been easier) but languages tend to be tougher and corruption higher. Also, to stick to the cost of living issue, there's been an influx of German and Austrian money into these countries, and seaside property (in Croatia for instance, which is not even in the EU yet) is now priced roughly similarly to the rest of Europe (i.e. start by lining up $1.5M+). Recent currency swings may have created occasional windows of opportunity but by and large, wide cost gaps within Europe have been narrowing.

I was sent this by a "tea party" friend (him, not me). It's a little rosier than I'd have thought, opinions?

http://www.personalliberty.com/liberty/ ... performer/

Just read some of the comments.

Sounds like some of the very recent visitors and newbies that come to the forum.

I can understand how one may feel if trapped or semi-trapped in the States but the yearning that the hill is soo much greener on the other side may lead some to jump in without researching and lose their stash that the new currency controls couldn't screen or block.

As for Chileans being God-fearing in the USA-style evangelical mode

Chile just lost 10% of its stock capital. Let's be realistic, it's going to take years to come back to just pre-Feb 27 accrued wealth.

admin wrote:......Also remember, that relatively speaking consumer credit is widely available in Chile. ......

It sure is, and they are getting raped. The percentages Chileano's pay are astronomical. Ripley probably make more money from their loan-shark banking; the stores are only an adjunct anymore.(Sort of like how GM became only a small part of and and basically an after-thought to GMAC in Detroit.) Also, in Chile no real consumer protections or recourse from predatory lending, IMO. Credit for the masses is a pretty new thing in Chile I'm not sure people have realized the downside of it, ya gotta pay for that swag you just couldn't pass up, and you end up paying for it and paying for it and paying for it........

otravers wrote:Chile just lost 10% of its stock capital. Let's be realistic, it's going to take years to come back to just pre-Feb 27 accrued wealth.

yea, but it's public debt is still many many billions of dollars less than "countries" like California.

I actually think (setting aside the death and destruction) that this may in the long-term help distribute wealth across the country much more evenly. The hardest hit people, in some of the hardest hit areas, where big populations that had somehow missed the boat on the economic miracle of the last 20+ years. They were a little better off, but not much. It is an opportunity decentralize this countries wealth out of the central corridor between vina and Santiago, and really unleash the economic potential of the country.

BUMP... for recent murmurings on the financial blogs...
And btw... copper stock levels on the LME going down... spot prices rising.

http://www.kitcometals.com/charts/copper_historical_large.html
Got copper...
And lithium is gonna be the next BIG play

The Case For Being Bullish On Chile - Aug. 1, 2010
Want to invest in an extremely well managed country with almost no debt, budget surpluses, an appreciating currency, and the price for its dominant export commodity going through the roof? Then, Chile is the place for you. It is an old trading adage that if you throw bad news on a market and it doesn’t go down, you buy it. That has happened in spades in this prosperous Latin American country, when the ETF barely backed off a peso after it was devastated by a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake in February that caused $32 billion worth of damage.

While I have seen too many emerging nations blow their mineral wealth on ornate palaces, fast cars, and faster women, and stash the rest in secret Swiss bank accounts, that is not the case with Chile. Looking at the country’s finances is a breath of fresh air. Of course, the 800 pound gorilla in the room is copper, for which it is the world’s largest supplier, and generates one third of its GDP. Chile has had the good luck to be run by a government that took windfall prices from copper’s meteoric price rise over the last decade and poured it into development projects and debt reduction. It runs a debt to GDP of only 6%, compared to 60% in the US, and 140% in troubled Greece.

While corruption is rampant in much of the continent, the newly elected president, Sebastián Piñera, is already a self made billionaire, having made a fortune introducing credit cards to the country during the seventies. So what’s the point? You don’t get a more pro business leader than that. The country’s demographic pyramid looks good until 2017, when a rapid shrinking of its fertility rate starts to bite. It is already approaching US fertility levels of 2.1, barely the replacement rate. Prior to the earthquake, GDP growth for the previous two quarters came in at an explosive 11.3% and 13.7% annualized rates.

Many analysts believe the full year rate will come in as high as 5.5%. With reconstruction now getting underway, the central bank is expected to raise interest rates to keep the economy from overheating, likely leading to a stronger Chilean peso. Rising revenues and an appreciating currency give investors a “hockey stick” effect that I am always looking for in international trading profits.

Think Canada, Singapore, and Australia. And get this: even though the government is running a budget surplus, it raised taxes to pay for the rebuild. Perish the thought! I recommended Sociedad Quimica Y Minera(SQM) last year, the country’s largest lithium producer for batteries, with spectacular results.

Ironically, Chile’s ETF (ECH) is dominated by utilities and has no direct mining exposure, as they are all government owned, such as the giant CODALCO. That will change if privatizations begin. But Dr. Copper’s footprint in the country is so big, you can’t help but participate, even if indirectly. With China on a tear to accumulate more of the red metal for its own infrastructure build out, that looks like a good bet.

admin wrote:It is an opportunity decentralize this countries wealth out of the central corridor between vina and Santiago, and really unleash the economic potential of the country.

Do you think that will happen under the new government?