Robert Zimmerman, 72, and his wife struggled to afford life in the US despite working for most of their lives. When they decided to move to Guatemala, they anticipated they'd retire and live on their Social Security income.
But two years later, they'd had enough. Though prices were much lower in Guatemala, they felt their quality of life was not to the standard they expected. They ultimately decided to move back to the US, despite the higher cost of living and having to return to work.
While Zimmerman and his wife disliked some aspects of living in Guatemala, he said it was good to experience a new culture and take a break from the corporate world.
"While my friends and acquaintances enjoy high salaries and a cushier life, our experience in Guatemala was exposure to a culture that most Americans will never get to enjoy," Zimmerman said. "It does change people."
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Moving to Guatemala
Zimmerman spent most of his life in the Seattle area, where he worked at tech companies and a big law firm. Despite the area's high cost of living, he made enough to support his family, but the consistently dreary weather spurred Zimmerman and his wife to move south.
Amid the 2008 housing crisis, the couple bought a three-bedroom home in the suburbs of Phoenix for about $85,000. Zimmerman worked in the tech department at the Arizona Department of Education, and they were able to move to another home in Arizona.
But after Zimmerman was laid off amid budget cuts a few years ago, his unemployment benefits weren't enough to keep them financially stable.
"We didn't do a good job of preparing for our retirement, and so I didn't save up a huge amount of money," Zimmerman said.
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Zimmerman found another job in Houston with a medical-transport company, but after getting laid off and enduring Hurricane Harvey, he began to consider a future outside the US. He and his wife wanted to move to a country where they could live entirely on Social Security income.
"I was getting tired of the drudgery of doing a 9-to-5," Zimmerman said. "I was at my retirement age of 65 and was to go on Social Security, and I had done some research and found that Guatemala was probably one of the cheapest options available for people on retirement income."
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Zimmerman went to Guatemala for two weeks to scope it out, first settling in San Marcos La Laguna, a village on the western shores of Lake Atitlán. He and his wife drove their truck through Mexico to the town of about 2,200 people in one of the more touristy parts of the country.
Zimmerman was struck by the towns along the lake for their colorful buildings, tiny coffee shops built within the jungle, cultural diversity, and low prices. He said the area was also a popular site for religious offerings.
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"Lake Atitlán has a history of being a place that not a lot of people know about — but people find a real eye-opening place," Zimmerman said. "We didn't have any expectations of what we would confront there."
Living in Guatemala: Pros and cons
The Zimmermans rented a house that they thought was unstable and couldn't withstand an earthquake if it hit their area. Part of their home opened onto the street, so Zimmerman said they'd often smell exhaust or overhear street conversations.
They moved to Panajachel, a town of about 11,000 that's surrounded by three volcanoes. The town had many craftsmen selling clothing and bags, coffee shops run by expats, and gorgeous lake views. Zimmerman said that the towns surrounding the lake were "real happening spots for young people," adding that bars and restaurants were often full in the evenings.
Zimmerman loved visiting Guatemala's many historic sites, such as the colonial buildings of Quetzaltenango and the Baroque architecture of Antigua Guatemala. He said rent prices in these cities were outside their budget.
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Prices were affordable for housing and daily expenses, which Zimmerman said they paid using their Social Security income. He said they paid $400 a month for a furnished house rented by an American landlord before renting a cabin in the jungle for about $350 a month. They also had a maid and a gardener at the home, which he said cost them about $10 a week.
Transportation on three-wheel bikes cost 60 cents a ride, but Zimmerman said food costs were comparable to those in the US, given that many products were imported. But going out to eat was much cheaper — he recalled paying 50 cents for rice and beans, $1 for pizza, $2.50 for a large breakfast, and $2 for beer.
The Zimmermans had their electric bill subsidized, so they paid just $12 a month. Their cable bill was about the same as it was in the US.
Zimmerman said they paid $12 for a US-trained doctor in their town, including for his wife's gallbladder surgery. He said there wasn't state-of-the-art healthcare in the town but that dental care was about equivalent to the US for half the price. He said that doctors would give them free medications.
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But they thought the infrastructure was lacking. They never drank the tap water, which he said it came from a ditch that sometimes smelled like raw sewage. Zimmerman said he got sick a few times from eating food from street sellers.
He interacted with the locals, but he said his town attracted many US expats, meaning that most people he spoke with were not from Guatemala. Because of the large expat community, he said he didn't learn Spanish beyond a few common phrases. But he added that he never acclimated to the environment and that the language barrier had hindered him.
His relationship with the area quickly soured when he realized that many locals shot fireworks — which he described as "small bombs" — randomly each day as late as 4 a.m., which affected his sleep schedule. He said he was met with vitriol when he made noise complaints.
Though he respected the locals' cultural and religious traditions, he said he never got used to how religious his area was. He lived next to a church where electronic speakers would blast sermons out onto the streets, which he said often disrupted traffic.
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Moving back to the US — and paying more
The Zimmermans lived in Guatemala during the COVID-19 lockdowns, which restricted the hours businesses were open and when residents could leave their homes. By then, Zimmerman and his wife wanted to leave, and they decided to move back to the US during the pandemic-recovery period.
They bought an old Jeep and loaded it with their belongings; and after some challenges at the border, they drove through Mexico. They knew moving back to the US would be more expensive, but Zimmerman said that given their finances, it was their only option. Zimmerman said they wanted to return to the comfort of the US for a few years while deciding whether to move abroad again. They also needed to pay a penalty for renewing their Medicare after dropping coverage when they moved to Guatemala.
When they moved back to the US, Zimmerman estimated that they had about $50,000 in the bank. Zimmerman knew he had to return to work, so he studied a business-intelligence tool to land a specialized position, but he said he never became fully proficient. He's now considering working as a contractor.
Zimmerman said he and his wife couldn't afford to move back to the Seattle area, so after spending some time at his sister's place in Las Vegas, they moved to Illinois, living in cities like Belleville, Peoria, and now Rockford — which has a cheaper cost of living with fewer property taxes. They've lived off Social Security as Zimmerman searches for his next job.
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"Most of the people I worked with in Seattle now have high-paying tech jobs, and I am unable to find equal work here in small-town Illinois," Zimmerman said.
Have you recently left the US for a new country? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.
