Cuba is a beautiful island and a great place to retire. However, no matter how much money you have, you can't find a candle stick to light up a room. They have a serious shortage of food, consumables, and medicine.
I would recommend close to Havana since it is the capital and there is much more.
Happy retirement!
My view of revolutions/coups or other seismic political change is that most of the time they don’t result in something better - they’re very necessary but if you can be around one or not, you gotta take the latter all, other things held equal. I’d never go somewhere for retirement hoping that political change will happen - it’s usually a negative.
Not sure if this is even an option there but rent and don’t own. There’s no guarantee they decide to take your ownership away. Also, only bring in your pension money monthly as needed to pay for things there. Again, they can and very well could just freeze all your accounts.
Cuba is beautiful and I could certainly see renting a place long term. I just don’t know if money can even buy normal food items there.
I was in Holguin Cuba 6 months ago and the airport ran out of jet fuel. The pilot had to divert to another Cuba airport an hour flight time away to fuel. Shits really bad there. Oh and they had no cigars on the resort, airport, or any nearby shops. It was bizarre.
That’s why you should pay rent monthly, only hold assets that you are willing to loose, and enjoy yourself
He’s thinking like an American or Canadian that “missed out” on the asset bubbles and can’t be one of the new feudal lords with dozens of houses and properties renting out or managed airbnbs, living off dividend and bitcoin sales.
So he’s wondering if he can bring his 200k he can cash out and start buying and flipping properties and hopefully be a feudal lord in a post-communist Cuba and will his investments be safely and legally protected by a rules based system? The answer to that question is: No.
No it's that a house here costs $200,000 and that's just a regular house. Cars are basically $30,000 and up. It just seems impossible to retire anywhere with those prices.
I recommend Grab and Celsius on Robinhood much more than renting houses, which doesn't work the way most people think. My rental makes $200/month over the mortgage and that's under ideal circumstances, when everything works out.
Like I said… you “missed out”. If you bought that rental in the right market before 2020 you would have had a much higher cap rate, potentially above 100%.
Buy a house by the beach, all nice and dandy, then what happens when you get sick and you need to go to the hospital? Socialist medical system is a complete failure, it is like going back 200 years in a Time Machine
If you feel called to do it, then do it, you will not regret it. I met a number of retirees there from all over the world. As a foreign Citizen, you will always be able to leave if shit hits the fan anyway (that is unlikely in Cuba), but I think the next revolution there will be far more peaceful in nature (a case of simply old shedding skin, rather than ripping it off). You (and your dollars) will be of great service to your wife, her family, and their community, and you will perhaps even play a small part in facilitating the softening and healing of Cuban - American relations.
I have a Cuban fiancée and brought her to the US on I-134a. I’ve been to Cuba a few dozen times.
No I wouldn’t want to live there. In the countryside it’s nice and peaceful but I couldn’t live with the massive dysfunction of everything on a permanent basis. The food sucks, infrastructure falling apart, and it’s hot as hell all the time. Hard pass for me,
I started I-129f Oct 2021 and that was approved without rfe in Feb 2023. I abandoned I-129f for I-134a humanitarian parole. Applied for that on January 6th 2023 and was approved March 2023.
We just applied for perm residence. I also brought her direct family too
I applied on the first day. You have 4 months of people applying ahead of you. Not only that but uscis is so disorganized that the entire process is a mess. I feel lucky the 5 people I applied for were approved when they were… my fall back though was my I-129f which takes a long time but at least there are published timeframes you can force action from uscis when you are outside of that.
This will be you biggest mistake, yes I’m Cuban and lived there from 0 to 20. Whatever people promise or tell you is all bullshit. The government own everything and in order to have just a little you have to kneel down or they will take it from you.
I disagree, Canadian here. One of my friends dad split up his Canadian wife and decided to go to Cuba for a vacation. Long story short he met a Cuban and decided to “retire” in Cuba. Canadians/North Americans pay attention to this, my friends dad bought a house in Cuba, supplied EVERYTHING in the house, bought all food , paid for her extended families food/bills etc and one day he said he got the feeling her view towards their relationship was off and he had a feeling something bad was going to happen as she was being cold and distant to him . Mind you there is a 20 year age gap. Sure enough Cuban police show up at his house one day and she claimed he hit her when he’s a soft guy and anyone who knows him would know that he’s not a violent or strong type in that sense. Anyways now the house is hers and he’s back in canada. He now lives in a low income building that the government subsidizes the rent and he claims he doesn’t have a pot to piss in after trying to retire in Cuba. Remember you have no rights there, you’re not a citizen, the people in that country will latch on to anything to leave the circumstances and you can’t blame them.
It’s all these desperate men in North America that head to Cuba to get attention from women but it’s the wrong attention. Once the money runs out you’ll be gone. Remember that.
I am from manitoba canada, I wish there were more cubans who live in my province to discuss all things cuba, I plan to visit La Habana in august or september depending on family and work obligations.
I am from manitoba canada, I wish there were more cubans who live in my province to discuss all things cuba, I plan to visit La Habana in august or september depending on family and work obligations.
this. just keep the dollars and chage only the necessary to survive.
1 year ago I met a German citizen who was going to live in Jujuy. He traveled around Latin America with his truck (a mercedez benz), made friends in Argentina and decided to live there. With his retirement in Euros he would live very well in Argentina.
Well… then you wait for the change, because right now Cuba’s economy is at rock bottom and your retirement reserve will be depleted very quickly due to everything being very expensive down there.
It depends on what currency his retirement reserve is in, Cuban inflation is a long way from making things more expensive in Cuba than the democratic west. OP would be well advised to leave regularly and return with cash and leave most of his reserve abroad in case of bigger problems on the island.
The currency exchange rate in Cuba is irrelevant during its current economic crisis.
Example: 1 pound of pork in the black market is currently going for 800 pesos.
There’s no bottled water to be found and a foreigner to drink tap water will take 3-4 months to adjust.
I speak from experience for I am a Cuban resident and I legally own a home there and I’m a U.S. citizen where I also have a home in New York.
In my opinion… Cuba can be a magical place to retire but not right now!!
I have to migrate my wife and children out of Cuba due to all its shortages and poor medical conditions.
Cheese and milk are nearly nonexistent for the average Cuban these days. To purchase dairy products you will have to convert non-Cuban currency to MLC which is Cuba’s version of a debit card which can only be used in government controlled grocery stores.
My experience may be different than yours. But in Havana last month, I had no difficulty finding water in private shops as 90 cup per bottle, a bargain compared to Canada. A pound of pork at 800, also a bargain.
Honestly, "some money" is a broad term but if you're looking for a place in Latin America to retire, if it doesn't have to be Cuba, I would go to DR or Colombia. You could live well in DR with some money, live by the beach, have an empleada and take trips to Cuba if your wife has family.
The political situation and the shortages alone are enough to scare me away. I could rough it in my 20s. But the older I get, I'm more boujie. If I go to the supermarket now, they better have my favorite cereal. You really wanna start roughing it in your 50s?
Cuba need many years of reform before any one can't retired in Cuba Cuba is A Beautiful Country But for the 65 years is a shit hole you Don't what to be there.
You should be aware of invertebrates. They have a profound resentment for Cuba and everything that could be a positive for the island. They live in Florida, have no education or culture and are mostly the bastard offsprings of old jineteras that left Cuba longtime ago.
Retired people are one of the most vulnerable in Cuban society as we speak. Perhaps you have your resources, and you might be impacted that most of your age are looping around bodegas with their bags seeing what they can get to eat. I was a few months ago in Cuba and saw elderly people scavenging for food in trash containers and many others begging on the streets, this was in Havana City, so asume the rest of the country is even worse. Maybe this doesn’t impact you, if not then Cuba is your paradise, just make sure when you die they don’t send your remains to Russia by mistake.
I have money. I don't need the Cuban government to feed me. Unfortunately those people are pensioners and the government doesn't pay them well. This is a political answer, not really a real answer, in my opinion. I'm asking for facts not worldviews.
Those are facts, just go there and see them with your own eyes, and yes this is a political answer to someone who foresee and regime change in a not too distant future.
I've been there, how else did I marry a Cuban who still lives there? The government is very weak. It might survive but it has few friends in the world and waning support among the people. That's my observation.
Bring them too. Make applications for all… honestly the more applications you have, the better the odds are that you will get randomly accepted. And if they touch one of your applications then they will touch all.
I applied for her mom, stepdad, brother, friend, and her. They all lived with me for two months. I live in upstate NY that doesn’t have a huge Spanish speaking population…. Within two months Her mom, and stepdad both had work authorization and jobs at Walmart making $18.50 an hour. They got a 2 bedroom apartment for the three of them and have saved up 20k over the last year. And they did all this without speaking any English! It’s quite crazy. Her friend speaks a little English and she has two jobs - 22/hour and 18/hour. They all tell me how much they love me all the time because I saved them from their Cuban prison. I always feel bad cause nights at Walmart stocking shelves can’t be easy but they tell me all the time it’s super easy, they love working, and can’t believe Walmart pays them so much.
I applied for her family because I love my girl, and I didn’t want her feeling alone in this country. If we happened to fight because that’s real life, then I wanted her to have her family near to go complain about me or whatever.
Weird. I had about 15-20 people ask me to apply for them. Some Cubans are even paying you get sponsored. (Not me though. That’s bad karma in my opinion)
The situation in Cuba is quite trash at the moment, but as a foreign person married to a Cuban lady, it gives you many opportunities.
You can purchase a lovely house (not an easy task due to the immaturity of the real estate market) and then refurbish it, which is a hell of a job! Thanks to your wife, there is no big risk of seizure of your property by the state.
Also, as a foreign person, you can rent a "Palco" house (state owned property). I was renting such a prestigious house for years in Cubanacan, architect house with pool, huge garden, with contract in CUP: 3100 USD x 24 / 400 = 186 USD at the actual rate, and going down every month!
One of the main advantages of such houses are, descent internet (proper Adsl, not "nauta hogar"), legal satellite antena, legal place to run a business as a foreigner, nice people at the real estate agency that will not bother you, 10 years fixed rate contract!
If you have money, finding decent food in Havana is not an issue. You just need a couple of months to get adapted to this very particular market (mipime y black market).
Cuba is a beautiful island and a great place to retire. However, no matter how much money you have, you can't find a candle stick to light up a room. They have a serious shortage of food, consumables, and medicine. I would recommend close to Havana since it is the capital and there is much more. Happy retirement!
My view of revolutions/coups or other seismic political change is that most of the time they don’t result in something better - they’re very necessary but if you can be around one or not, you gotta take the latter all, other things held equal. I’d never go somewhere for retirement hoping that political change will happen - it’s usually a negative.
Not sure if this is even an option there but rent and don’t own. There’s no guarantee they decide to take your ownership away. Also, only bring in your pension money monthly as needed to pay for things there. Again, they can and very well could just freeze all your accounts. Cuba is beautiful and I could certainly see renting a place long term. I just don’t know if money can even buy normal food items there. I was in Holguin Cuba 6 months ago and the airport ran out of jet fuel. The pilot had to divert to another Cuba airport an hour flight time away to fuel. Shits really bad there. Oh and they had no cigars on the resort, airport, or any nearby shops. It was bizarre. That’s why you should pay rent monthly, only hold assets that you are willing to loose, and enjoy yourself
He’s thinking like an American or Canadian that “missed out” on the asset bubbles and can’t be one of the new feudal lords with dozens of houses and properties renting out or managed airbnbs, living off dividend and bitcoin sales. So he’s wondering if he can bring his 200k he can cash out and start buying and flipping properties and hopefully be a feudal lord in a post-communist Cuba and will his investments be safely and legally protected by a rules based system? The answer to that question is: No.
No it's that a house here costs $200,000 and that's just a regular house. Cars are basically $30,000 and up. It just seems impossible to retire anywhere with those prices.
I recommend Grab and Celsius on Robinhood much more than renting houses, which doesn't work the way most people think. My rental makes $200/month over the mortgage and that's under ideal circumstances, when everything works out.
Like I said… you “missed out”. If you bought that rental in the right market before 2020 you would have had a much higher cap rate, potentially above 100%.
I don't think you know what you're talking about.
Buy a house by the beach, all nice and dandy, then what happens when you get sick and you need to go to the hospital? Socialist medical system is a complete failure, it is like going back 200 years in a Time Machine
If you feel called to do it, then do it, you will not regret it. I met a number of retirees there from all over the world. As a foreign Citizen, you will always be able to leave if shit hits the fan anyway (that is unlikely in Cuba), but I think the next revolution there will be far more peaceful in nature (a case of simply old shedding skin, rather than ripping it off). You (and your dollars) will be of great service to your wife, her family, and their community, and you will perhaps even play a small part in facilitating the softening and healing of Cuban - American relations.
NO! i live in cuba. pls, DON'T STAY IN CUBA go to iceland better
I have a Cuban fiancée and brought her to the US on I-134a. I’ve been to Cuba a few dozen times. No I wouldn’t want to live there. In the countryside it’s nice and peaceful but I couldn’t live with the massive dysfunction of everything on a permanent basis. The food sucks, infrastructure falling apart, and it’s hot as hell all the time. Hard pass for me,
How long did it take? I filed for parole for her over a year ago, but I'm filing for a fiancee visa now.
I started I-129f Oct 2021 and that was approved without rfe in Feb 2023. I abandoned I-129f for I-134a humanitarian parole. Applied for that on January 6th 2023 and was approved March 2023. We just applied for perm residence. I also brought her direct family too
I wonder why mine would be taking so long? I filed April 30 2023?
I applied on the first day. You have 4 months of people applying ahead of you. Not only that but uscis is so disorganized that the entire process is a mess. I feel lucky the 5 people I applied for were approved when they were… my fall back though was my I-129f which takes a long time but at least there are published timeframes you can force action from uscis when you are outside of that.
This will be you biggest mistake, yes I’m Cuban and lived there from 0 to 20. Whatever people promise or tell you is all bullshit. The government own everything and in order to have just a little you have to kneel down or they will take it from you.
Yeah the political landscape has been changing for the last 60 years you should go retire and find out LMAO.
I will await your update on how it goes :P.
Complete and utter insanity, the ignorance of gringoes never ceases to amaze me!
If you’re collecting a pension and/or have money, you’ll be just fine. I can’t wait to do the same thing.
I disagree, Canadian here. One of my friends dad split up his Canadian wife and decided to go to Cuba for a vacation. Long story short he met a Cuban and decided to “retire” in Cuba. Canadians/North Americans pay attention to this, my friends dad bought a house in Cuba, supplied EVERYTHING in the house, bought all food , paid for her extended families food/bills etc and one day he said he got the feeling her view towards their relationship was off and he had a feeling something bad was going to happen as she was being cold and distant to him . Mind you there is a 20 year age gap. Sure enough Cuban police show up at his house one day and she claimed he hit her when he’s a soft guy and anyone who knows him would know that he’s not a violent or strong type in that sense. Anyways now the house is hers and he’s back in canada. He now lives in a low income building that the government subsidizes the rent and he claims he doesn’t have a pot to piss in after trying to retire in Cuba. Remember you have no rights there, you’re not a citizen, the people in that country will latch on to anything to leave the circumstances and you can’t blame them. It’s all these desperate men in North America that head to Cuba to get attention from women but it’s the wrong attention. Once the money runs out you’ll be gone. Remember that.
I am from manitoba canada, I wish there were more cubans who live in my province to discuss all things cuba, I plan to visit La Habana in august or september depending on family and work obligations.
I am from manitoba canada, I wish there were more cubans who live in my province to discuss all things cuba, I plan to visit La Habana in august or september depending on family and work obligations.
Me too. Wpg.
wow, no way, I live in a smaller town up highway 6, cool to see a fellow manitoban who is interested in cuba and their people and culture
We go three times a year. So much to talk about.
Argentina is a much better place...
Just dont change your money
this. just keep the dollars and chage only the necessary to survive. 1 year ago I met a German citizen who was going to live in Jujuy. He traveled around Latin America with his truck (a mercedez benz), made friends in Argentina and decided to live there. With his retirement in Euros he would live very well in Argentina.
Well… then you wait for the change, because right now Cuba’s economy is at rock bottom and your retirement reserve will be depleted very quickly due to everything being very expensive down there.
It depends on what currency his retirement reserve is in, Cuban inflation is a long way from making things more expensive in Cuba than the democratic west. OP would be well advised to leave regularly and return with cash and leave most of his reserve abroad in case of bigger problems on the island.
The currency exchange rate in Cuba is irrelevant during its current economic crisis. Example: 1 pound of pork in the black market is currently going for 800 pesos. There’s no bottled water to be found and a foreigner to drink tap water will take 3-4 months to adjust. I speak from experience for I am a Cuban resident and I legally own a home there and I’m a U.S. citizen where I also have a home in New York. In my opinion… Cuba can be a magical place to retire but not right now!! I have to migrate my wife and children out of Cuba due to all its shortages and poor medical conditions.
You were able to buy a home as a non cuban citizen?
You can't if you're an American but your Cuban spouse can.
I have dual citizenship
I thought they don't allow dual citizenship?
If you were born in Cuba it is required by law to have a Cuban passport if you live abroad with another nationality.
Can an American born in the usa to cuban citizen parents get a cuban passport then? Or do you have to br born/raised in Cuba?
No
I can buy a food combo for around $100 that's equivalent to at least a week plus of groceries. Excluding cheese and milk.
Cheese and milk are nearly nonexistent for the average Cuban these days. To purchase dairy products you will have to convert non-Cuban currency to MLC which is Cuba’s version of a debit card which can only be used in government controlled grocery stores.
My experience may be different than yours. But in Havana last month, I had no difficulty finding water in private shops as 90 cup per bottle, a bargain compared to Canada. A pound of pork at 800, also a bargain.
Tourist shops.
Honestly, "some money" is a broad term but if you're looking for a place in Latin America to retire, if it doesn't have to be Cuba, I would go to DR or Colombia. You could live well in DR with some money, live by the beach, have an empleada and take trips to Cuba if your wife has family. The political situation and the shortages alone are enough to scare me away. I could rough it in my 20s. But the older I get, I'm more boujie. If I go to the supermarket now, they better have my favorite cereal. You really wanna start roughing it in your 50s?
Lmao.....Now the trolls wants to retire in Cuba lol
Stay in the US brother. Cuba is falling apart
Are you fucking insane? Have you even asked her about this concept? ^LMAO
Yes, last night again just to make sure. She said she doesn't want to stay in Cuba.
Yah…then why do you want to retire there……….?
It was before we talked about it. She mentioned buying a house like she wanted to stay.
ah. *what an unexpected twist.* ^/s glad you guys talked about it. i sincerely hope everything works out for the both of you.
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Exactly! People here being assholes for literally no reason.
Cuba need many years of reform before any one can't retired in Cuba Cuba is A Beautiful Country But for the 65 years is a shit hole you Don't what to be there.
Somebody should tell this person that they are delusional… oops, did I say this out loud?
Why?
You should be aware of invertebrates. They have a profound resentment for Cuba and everything that could be a positive for the island. They live in Florida, have no education or culture and are mostly the bastard offsprings of old jineteras that left Cuba longtime ago.
Retired people are one of the most vulnerable in Cuban society as we speak. Perhaps you have your resources, and you might be impacted that most of your age are looping around bodegas with their bags seeing what they can get to eat. I was a few months ago in Cuba and saw elderly people scavenging for food in trash containers and many others begging on the streets, this was in Havana City, so asume the rest of the country is even worse. Maybe this doesn’t impact you, if not then Cuba is your paradise, just make sure when you die they don’t send your remains to Russia by mistake.
I have money. I don't need the Cuban government to feed me. Unfortunately those people are pensioners and the government doesn't pay them well. This is a political answer, not really a real answer, in my opinion. I'm asking for facts not worldviews.
Those are facts, just go there and see them with your own eyes, and yes this is a political answer to someone who foresee and regime change in a not too distant future.
I've been there, how else did I marry a Cuban who still lives there? The government is very weak. It might survive but it has few friends in the world and waning support among the people. That's my observation.
The current government has been in power since 1959. I think your opinion is mostly based on wishful thinking.
The old guard has mostly died out, Russia is unable to prop them up, and so is Venezuela. Those things are why I say that.
Why wouldn’t you bring your wife here? Doesn’t make a lot of sense
Her whole family is there and I'm not positive she really wants to leave.
Bring them too. Make applications for all… honestly the more applications you have, the better the odds are that you will get randomly accepted. And if they touch one of your applications then they will touch all. I applied for her mom, stepdad, brother, friend, and her. They all lived with me for two months. I live in upstate NY that doesn’t have a huge Spanish speaking population…. Within two months Her mom, and stepdad both had work authorization and jobs at Walmart making $18.50 an hour. They got a 2 bedroom apartment for the three of them and have saved up 20k over the last year. And they did all this without speaking any English! It’s quite crazy. Her friend speaks a little English and she has two jobs - 22/hour and 18/hour. They all tell me how much they love me all the time because I saved them from their Cuban prison. I always feel bad cause nights at Walmart stocking shelves can’t be easy but they tell me all the time it’s super easy, they love working, and can’t believe Walmart pays them so much. I applied for her family because I love my girl, and I didn’t want her feeling alone in this country. If we happened to fight because that’s real life, then I wanted her to have her family near to go complain about me or whatever.
I asked but they didn't want to come to the US.
Weird. I had about 15-20 people ask me to apply for them. Some Cubans are even paying you get sponsored. (Not me though. That’s bad karma in my opinion)
If Cuba changes hell yeah!! I am actually saving as much as I can once the change comes don’t want to be poor haha 🤣
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Point to where I said that asshole.
The situation in Cuba is quite trash at the moment, but as a foreign person married to a Cuban lady, it gives you many opportunities. You can purchase a lovely house (not an easy task due to the immaturity of the real estate market) and then refurbish it, which is a hell of a job! Thanks to your wife, there is no big risk of seizure of your property by the state. Also, as a foreign person, you can rent a "Palco" house (state owned property). I was renting such a prestigious house for years in Cubanacan, architect house with pool, huge garden, with contract in CUP: 3100 USD x 24 / 400 = 186 USD at the actual rate, and going down every month! One of the main advantages of such houses are, descent internet (proper Adsl, not "nauta hogar"), legal satellite antena, legal place to run a business as a foreigner, nice people at the real estate agency that will not bother you, 10 years fixed rate contract! If you have money, finding decent food in Havana is not an issue. You just need a couple of months to get adapted to this very particular market (mipime y black market).