- Robert Zimmerman and his wife moved to Guatemala to retire on Social Security income.
- They returned to the US after two years due to dissatisfaction with their quality of life.
Robert Zimmerman, 72, and his wife struggled to afford life in the US despite working for most of their lives. So when they decided to move to Guatemala, they anticipated they would retire there and live on their Social Security income.
However, two years later, they had enough. Though prices were much cheaper in Guatemala, they felt their quality of life was not to the standard they expected. Ultimately, they decided to move back to the US, paying higher prices and having to return to work.
Though Zimmerman and his wife disliked some aspects of living in Guatemala, he said it was good to experience new cultures 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."
Moving to Guatemala
Zimmerman spent most of his life in the Seattle area, where he worked at tech companies and a big law firm. Though his salary supported his family despite the area's high cost of living, he and his wife were ready to move south, citing consistently dreary weather.
Amid the 2008 housing crisis, Zimmerman and his wife bought a three-bedroom home in the suburbs of Phoenix for about $85,000. Zimmerman worked in the tech department of the Arizona Department of Education, and they had the funds to move to another home in Arizona.
However, a few years ago, Zimmerman got laid off amid budget cuts, and his unemployment benefits were insufficient 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.
Zimmerman found another job in Houston for a medical transport company, though after getting laid off and enduring Hurricane Harvey, he started rethinking his future in the US. They 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."
Zimmerman went to Guatemala for two weeks to scope it out, first settling in the village of San Marcos La Laguna on the shores of Lake Atitlán. They drove their truck through Mexico to the town of about 2,200 people in one of the more touristy parts of the country.
The towns along the lake struck him 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.
"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
They rented a house they thought was unsteady and could not withstand an earthquake if it hit their area. Part of their home was open to the street, so he said they would smell exhaust or overhear street conversations constantly.
They moved to Panajachel, a town of about 11,000 on the northeast side of the lake. The town boasted many craftsmen selling clothing and bags, coffee shops run by expats, and gorgeous lake views, surrounded by three volcanoes. The towns surrounding the lake are "real happening spots for young people," Zimmerman said, noting that bars and restaurants were often full in the evenings.
He loved visiting many of Guatemala's historic sites, such as the colonial buildings of Quetzaltenango and the Baroque architecture of Antigua Guatemala. Rents in these cities were outside their budgets, Zimmerman said.
Prices were affordable for housing and daily expenses, which they paid using Social Security income. Zimmerman said they paid $400 a month for a furnished house with an American landlord, then rented a cabin surrounded by the jungle for about $350 a month. They also had a maid and a gardener at the home, which cost them about $10 a week.
Transportation on three-wheeled bikes cost 60 cents a ride, though Zimmerman said food costs were comparable to those in the US, given many products were imported. Going out to eat, though, was much cheaper — he recalled paying 50 cents for rice and beans, $1 for pizza, $2.50 for large breakfasts, and $2 for beer at a bar.
They had their electric bill subsidized, so they paid just $12 a month. Their cable bill was about the same as the US.
Zimmerman said they paid $12 for a US-trained doctor in their town, including for his wife's gallbladder surgery. He acknowledged there wasn't state-of-the-art healthcare in the town, though dental care was about equivalent to the US for half the price. He said his doctors would give them free medications.
However, they found the infrastructure lacking. They never drank the tap water, as they 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 often interacted with the locals, though he said his town attracted many US expats, meaning that most people he spoke with were not from Guatemala. Due to the large expat community, he didn't learn Spanish beyond a few common phrases. However, he acknowledged he never acclimated to the environment and that the language barrier 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 issued 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, noting the sermons were often blasted out onto the streets via speakers. He said traffic would often be disrupted during church services.
Moving back to the US — and paying more
They lived in Guatemala during the Covid lockdowns, which restricted the hours businesses were open and when residents could leave their homes. By then, Zimmerman and his wife had wanted to leave, and they decided to move back to the US during the Covid recovery period.
They bought an old Jeep and loaded it with their belongings, then, after some challenges at the border, drove through Mexico. They knew moving back to the US would be more expensive, though it was their only option given their finances. Zimmerman said they wanted to return to the comfort of the US for a few years before deciding whether or not to move abroad again. They also needed to pay a penalty for renewing their Medicare after dropping coverage when moving to Guatemala.
When they moved back to the US, Zimmerman estimated they had about $50,000 in the bank. He knew he had to return to work, so he studied a business intelligence tool to land a specialized position. However, he said he never became fully proficient and is considering working as a contractor.
They couldn't afford to move back to the Seattle area, so after some time at Zimmerman's 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 lived off Social Security while Zimmerman searched for his next job.
"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 United States for a new country? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.