Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 980, Retiring Abroad.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 980.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
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This episode is a dialogue between Wanda and George about living in another country after you retire.
Let's get started.
I just heard the news.
You're moving to McQuillanland?
I am.
I've decided to retire abroad.
Why?
It makes a lot of sense for people with a fixed income.
Social Security will only go so far here.
But the cost of living is much lower in other countries, including McQuillanland.
I can live it up at a fraction of the cost of living modestly here.
But you're moving away from all of your friends and family.
I can stay in touch remotely.
And there is an American expat community there, so I can make new friends.
I am a little worried about learning the language and adjusting to life abroad, but I'll be living a simpler life there and there'll be less stress.
But sometimes things aren't so reliable when you live abroad.
Like what?
I've heard that the internet services can be unreliable and power outages are common in McQuillan land.
Are you sure you want to put down stakes in a foreign country?
I already have my residency visa and a condo on the beach waiting for me.
The real question is, when are you going to take the plunge?
Our dialogue begins with Wanda saying to George, I just heard the news.
I just received this information.
You're moving to McQuillan land?
George says, I am.
I've decided to retire abroad.
To retire R-E-T-I-R-E is to stop working, usually later in your life, when you already have enough money and you no longer have to work anymore.
Abroad, A-B-R-O-A-D, is a term we use to describe work.
Wanda says, Why?
George says Fixed income is describes a situation where you only receive a certain amount of money each month, usually because you have retired and are not getting money from a job.
You are instead getting money, perhaps from what we would call a pension P-E-N-S-I-O-N, where you, A company or the government gives you money every month when you retire or you have invested your money.
You have put your money in things like stocks and bonds and other ways of earning money with your money, and are taking money each month from that money you have invested.
That's a fixed income.
Fixed, F-I-X-E-D, means you don't change it.
Once it's established, once it is determined, it doesn't change.
Social security, George says, will only go so far here, but the cost of living is much lower in other countries, including McQuillanland.
Social Security is the name of the US government program that gives money to people who are old, who have worked their entire life and now need money to live on.
Social Security also gives money to people who are disabled.
That is, they don't have the full use of their body for some reason.
Perhaps they have a disease or an illness and they need help because they can't work.
Normally, Social Security refers to people who have worked and have given the government money throughout their life and now get that money, or some of that money, back from the government.
Often it's more money than they gave to the government.
That's one of the problems with our social security system.
But This dialogue is simply saying that the money that a retired person gets from this government program called Social Security will only go so far.
That expression, to only go so far, means that it is limited.
Really, it means it's not enough.
It's less than what you really need.
George says the cost of living is much lower in other countries.
That would include...
Your rent for your apartment, your food, your transportation, your health insurance, your movies, your Coca-Cola.
All of these things could be part of your cost of living.
George says the cost of living is much lower, is less, in other countries.
This is something that a lot of American retirees realize, and for that reason they decide to move to another country where it doesn't cost as much money to live.
The majority of people, of course, don't move to another country after they retire, but there are some people who decide that this is a good option for them.
George says, I can live it up.
The expression to live it up means to live in a very enjoyable and fun way by spending usually lots of money.
If you want to go out every night and have a drink at a bar and see a movie and eat at a very nice restaurant, you would need to spend a lot of money in a city like Los Angeles to be able to do that.
But if you move to another country where things are cheaper, where the cost of living is lower, you can still have a good time.
You can live it up. but not have to pay very much money to do it.
The expression at a fraction F-R-A-C-T-I-O-N of the cost means at a much lower price, much more cheaply.
A fraction is something like one-half or one-third or one-fifth.
It is less than one.
So if it's at a fraction of the cost, it is at a much lower cost to you.
George says he can live it up at a fraction of the cost of living modestly here.
So he's telling you what cost he's comparing this to.
He's comparing it to the cost of living it up here in the United States.
He says that even living modestly here is more expensive than living it up in another country.
Modestly, M-O-D-E-S-T-L-Y, here means without very much or not very much.
To live modestly or to spend modestly is to use enough money so that you can live, but not live well.
You don't have a nice new car or a beautiful house.
You may live in a small apartment with a small car or no car at all.
That would be living modestly.
Wanda says, but you're moving away from all of your friends and family.
George says, I can stay in touch.
I can stay in contact with, I can communicate with these people remotely.
And there is an American expat community there, so I can make new friends.
Remotely, R-E-M-O-T-E-L-Y, means from a far away place, from a long distance away.
We talk about people working remotely.
That usually means that, instead of going to an office building where the company's headquarters are, they work at their home or in another city even.
George says that in McQuillan land, there is an American expat community.
Expat, E-X-P-A-T, is a short form of the word expatriate.
An expatriate is a person who lives in another country, and often for a long time, while working in that country.
The person isn't a visitor.
They are living in the country, sometimes to work, but sometimes as what we would call a retiree R-E-T-I-R-E-E, which is a person who has retired.
George says I am a little worried about learning the language and adjusting to life abroad, but I'll be living a simpler life there and there'll be less stress.
To adjust to something is to get used to something, to adapt to something, we might say.
George is worried about learning the language of McQuillan land and adjusting to life in another country, but he says he'll be living a simpler life, a less complicated, less stressful life in McQuillan land.
Wanda says, but sometimes things aren't so reliable when you live abroad.
To be reliable means you can depend on them, you can count on them.
George says, like what?
Wanda says I've heard that the internet services can be unreliable and power outages are common in McQuillan land.
A power outage, O-U-T-A-G-E, is a period of time when you don't have electricity.
In some countries, it... may happen that the electricity is only on during certain hours of the day.
That would be what Wanda is talking about here.
She says, are you sure you want to put down stakes in a foreign country?
The expression to put down stakes S-T-A-K-E-S means to select a new place to live, to select a location where you are going to live.
When I left Minnesota, I put down stakes in Los Angeles.
This is where I decided I was going to live.
George says, what do I have to lose?
This is a common expression meaning that There's no bad thing that can happen to me.
There's no negative consequence of doing this.
George says, Residency, R-E-S-I-D-E-N-C-Y, refers to living permanently in a certain place.
A visa, V-I-S-A, here means permission to enter a country and to stay in that country.
So a residency visa refers to official permission from the country for you to go and live there.
Not all countries, of course, will allow you to come and just live in their country for the rest of your life.
But McQuillan land is different.
They'll take anyone who wants to go.
George says he has his residency visa and a condo on the beach.
A condo is a condominium.
It's a kind of apartment that you own instead of rent, although you can buy a condominium and then rent it to another person, of course.
George says, the real question is, the most important question is when are you going to take the plunge?
To take the plunge P-L-U-N-G-E is to start something that is difficult or challenging, especially if you are unsure about it or nervous about it.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I just heard the news.
You're moving to McQuillanland?
I am.
I've decided to retire abroad.
Why?
It makes a lot of sense for people with a fixed income.
Social security will only go so far here, but the cost of living is much lower in other countries, including McQuillanland.
I can live it up at a fraction of the cost of living modestly here.
But you're moving away from all of your friends and family.
I can stay in touch remotely and there's an American expat community there so I can make new friends.
I am a little worried about learning the language and adjusting to life abroad, but I'll be living a simpler life there and there'll be less stress.
But sometimes things aren't so reliable when you live abroad.
Like what?
I've heard that the internet services can be unreliable and power outages are common in McQuillan land.
Are you sure you want to put down stakes in a foreign country?
What do I have to lose?
I already have my residency visa and a condo on the beach waiting for me.
The real question is, when are you going to take the plunge?
You can improve your English in a fraction of the time it takes you to do that somewhere else, thanks to the wonderful scripts by our wonderful script writer, Dr Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational Development.
