I found these folks to be the go to guide for international retirement. This link contains a pitch at the end; however they provide some good budgeting data to get your brain storming:
http://pro.internationalliving.com/SHORTCUT/EILVR4A2?email=david.flora%40comcast.net&a=12&o=125250&s=129109&u=3878545&l=121928&r=MC&g=0&h=true
I just returned from Ecuador to check things out and spoke to a couple of US expats who are spending extended periods there in retirement. One retiree cautioned "...it's not for everybody" and from my visit I can see why. It takes a strong commitment.
Capsu, where in Ecuador were you? Can you explain what you mean by "It takes a strong commitment"? I ask because Ecuador is on our list of potential places to retire, but I haven't been there yet (hoping to go this January).
I went to Quito, solo, pretty much on a whim- I wanted to go anywhere nicer than Chicago for a few days. My wife said "Why don't you go to Florida?". I said "been there, done that" and received an email from International Living talking about Ecuador being named the No 1 rated international retirement country for 2014. (In all honestly, they seem to rotate around all the countries looking to expand the market of Ex Pat retiree's). Anyway, I could get to Quito for $600 airfare vs Miami at $450 and found a B&B for $23/night (!). ( DW has already been gone 25 nights this year internationally and had no interest is going with me, so she was a bit shocked when I said I want to go to Ecuador- now that I am back she realizes that our next big trip will be to the Galapagos Islands).
Anyway, spoke to 4 different expats, both US and Canadian, who were all down there for at least 90 days and here were some of their comments:
Should be obvious, but a commitment to learning functional Spanish is a must- I was hindered in even the basics, like telling the taxi driver where I wanted to go.
Someone mentioned it above, but the one home owner I spoke to who was coming back to the US after 5 months said you have to be prepared to doing without some things you take for granted...he didn't elaborate but said a lot of unanticipated costs come up- labor is cheap but often materials are not.
Also, of the 4 "rando's" I spoke with, all of them were spry and appeared very healthy...3 of the 4 were in their 70's. This is an extremely small sample, but my takeaway was you won't find unhealthy elders taking on this type of lifestyle.
I spent money 2 of the days to hire a driver. As a solo, I was hoping someone else would join us to defray the costs but no such luck. Fortunately my driver spoke good English so we talked a lot about our different cultures etc. The driving is best described as "controlled chaos" which is to be expected in many places on earth... however driving up to the volcanos, on winding 2 lane roads was a complete "white knuckle, glad I didn't have coffee this morning, where is the passenger side brake?" experience! If you decide to "wait it out behind the logging truck in first gear for the next 5,000 ft climb, OK, but the cars and trucks behind you won't!
Finally, met one guy who asked me what I did for a living and I tested my MMM "Pretired" title out on him. He said "I am just the opposite from you- in his 70's, just separated from his 2nd wife who took it out on him financially and running out of/ living off his investments. Was driving to Chile from NA for a job someone said they could get him. His early 2000 vehicle transmission plant was damaged avoiding horses in Mexico and his gearbox case cracked and gave out coming up a big mountain pass near Quito. Car manufacturer no longer in business and 1 repair guy in the whole country willing to look at it- and he thinks its a lost cause... So the guy is hoping to get his car working again in about a month, is stuck a thousand miles from where he was supposed to be and he needs a car when he gets there. Fortunately, the guy has been all around the world and spoke 6 languages, so he knows how to operate in an international setting...but I felt bad for the spot the guy was in.
So Kris, I can't add much more as I didn't get out to the main expat communities but they have at least 3 of them- one on the Pacific Coast, one in the mountains and the largest Cuenca down to the south with 5- 7,000 US expats living there. If you Google for International Living I think you can drill down to some good information.