When I suggest Ecuador as a place for living and investing, most people give me the same blank stares I received when I suggested Panama for the same reasons back in 1999.
For those of you with foresight and a sense of adventure, blank stares from mainstream audiences are excellent indicators. Blank stares usually indicate great opportunities for unique experiences, eccentric lifestyles, and rewarding investments.
Most people know very little about Ecuador, and what they do know is very often a combination of misconceptions and half-truths. Ecuador is often associated with political instability, economic volatility, poverty, and partnerships with Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s socialist dictator.
My intention was to investigate for myself and my readers what Ecuador is really like as a place to visit, live, retire or invest.
After two lengthy visits over the last two years, my initial impression of Ecuador is extremely positive and my visits have dispelled most of the negative myths associated with Ecuador as a nation. Many of the misconceptions about political instability and danger have worked to keep Ecuador’s cost of living and property prices very low.
I’ve found the people to be extraordinarily friendly, and the existing tourist infrastructure under utilized despite a wealth of diverse attractions. Ecuador has not been overdeveloped or over-infiltrated with foreign interests which, believe it or not, is usually the true source of crime and drug problems (take Mexican and Costa Rican resort areas as examples).
In terms of safety, I would not hesitate to claim Ecuador to be a safer place than Mexico or Costa Rica, certainly in terms of criminal activity against tourists. Of course, many Ecuadorians are extremely poor by Western standards, but for the most part, poverty does not translate into high crime levels except in the heavily populated urban barrios of Guayaquil and Quito.
Planes, taxis, and buses run safely and efficiently in Ecuador. In fact, when flying between the highlands and the coast, travelers will be pleasantly surprised at the high level of organization and efficiency. There are rarely line-ups to check in, security is a breeze (no frisking or long line-ups), and nearly all of the primary destinations within Ecuador are reached in under an hour and for under $80.
Ecuador and its people do not appear as impoverished as one might expect of a developing nation with a history of economic turbulence. On the contrary, Ecuador and the bulk of its citizens should be considered wealthy and prosperous. In my view, per capita GDP is not a measure of true wealth. A measure of true wealth is affordable access to healthy food and water that is locally produced, a sense of community spirit and respect for one’s neighbors, and a lack of unnecessary government regulation and taxes. By these measures, Ecuador stands out as one of the wealthiest nations on Earth.
With regard to political stability, Ecuador is in many ways more democratic than Western nations. Ecuadorian people are willing to get off their behinds and support grass roots movements to stem corruption, protect the environment, and ensure the voice of the people is heard. Political rallies are part of the culture and receive active participation from all ages from small children to grandparents. Communities genuinely care about what happens with the limited funds coming from government – a rather stark contrast to the indifference demonstrated by the majority of U.S. and Canadian populations.
Property rights are guaranteed in the constitution and apply equally to foreigners and Ecuadorians alike. Ecuador’s current government has decided to play hardball with the large mining and oil companies by imposing rigid environmental standards and ensuring that a healthy share of the profits return to the Ecuadorian treasury in the form of taxes. Many analysts point out that Ecuador simply refuses to “sell out” by accepting the bribes or “contributions” that are normally sufficient to allow large multinationals to rape and pillage in the name of capitalism, leaving the locals with very few of the benefits their land ought to endow. Ecuador is the first nation on Earth to endow Mother Nature with constitutional rights.
Editor’s Note: The beta version of Ecuador 101 – E-Book Guide To Living and Investing in Ecuador written by the author of this article, Michael Manville is now available for free to Members of Retire Worldwide. This version is uncut, unedited, but a lot of fun to read. An additional report also free for members is “Undiscovered Beachfront“, where you can find some of the most affordable beachfront property in the Western Hemisphere.
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Expat Advice - Expat Finance - Expat Health - Invest Overseas - Live Overseas - Real Estate Overseas - Retire Overseas - Work Overseas - Hot Topics
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For those of you with foresight and a sense of adventure, blank stares from mainstream audiences are excellent indicators. Blank stares usually indicate great opportunities for unique experiences, eccentric lifestyles, and rewarding investments.
Most people know very little about Ecuador, and what they do know is very often a combination of misconceptions and half-truths. Ecuador is often associated with political instability, economic volatility, poverty, and partnerships with Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s socialist dictator.
My intention was to investigate for myself and my readers what Ecuador is really like as a place to visit, live, retire or invest.
After two lengthy visits over the last two years, my initial impression of Ecuador is extremely positive and my visits have dispelled most of the negative myths associated with Ecuador as a nation. Many of the misconceptions about political instability and danger have worked to keep Ecuador’s cost of living and property prices very low.
I’ve found the people to be extraordinarily friendly, and the existing tourist infrastructure under utilized despite a wealth of diverse attractions. Ecuador has not been overdeveloped or over-infiltrated with foreign interests which, believe it or not, is usually the true source of crime and drug problems (take Mexican and Costa Rican resort areas as examples).
In terms of safety, I would not hesitate to claim Ecuador to be a safer place than Mexico or Costa Rica, certainly in terms of criminal activity against tourists. Of course, many Ecuadorians are extremely poor by Western standards, but for the most part, poverty does not translate into high crime levels except in the heavily populated urban barrios of Guayaquil and Quito.
Planes, taxis, and buses run safely and efficiently in Ecuador. In fact, when flying between the highlands and the coast, travelers will be pleasantly surprised at the high level of organization and efficiency. There are rarely line-ups to check in, security is a breeze (no frisking or long line-ups), and nearly all of the primary destinations within Ecuador are reached in under an hour and for under $80.
Ecuador and its people do not appear as impoverished as one might expect of a developing nation with a history of economic turbulence. On the contrary, Ecuador and the bulk of its citizens should be considered wealthy and prosperous. In my view, per capita GDP is not a measure of true wealth. A measure of true wealth is affordable access to healthy food and water that is locally produced, a sense of community spirit and respect for one’s neighbors, and a lack of unnecessary government regulation and taxes. By these measures, Ecuador stands out as one of the wealthiest nations on Earth.
With regard to political stability, Ecuador is in many ways more democratic than Western nations. Ecuadorian people are willing to get off their behinds and support grass roots movements to stem corruption, protect the environment, and ensure the voice of the people is heard. Political rallies are part of the culture and receive active participation from all ages from small children to grandparents. Communities genuinely care about what happens with the limited funds coming from government – a rather stark contrast to the indifference demonstrated by the majority of U.S. and Canadian populations.
Property rights are guaranteed in the constitution and apply equally to foreigners and Ecuadorians alike. Ecuador’s current government has decided to play hardball with the large mining and oil companies by imposing rigid environmental standards and ensuring that a healthy share of the profits return to the Ecuadorian treasury in the form of taxes. Many analysts point out that Ecuador simply refuses to “sell out” by accepting the bribes or “contributions” that are normally sufficient to allow large multinationals to rape and pillage in the name of capitalism, leaving the locals with very few of the benefits their land ought to endow. Ecuador is the first nation on Earth to endow Mother Nature with constitutional rights.
Editor’s Note: The beta version of Ecuador 101 – E-Book Guide To Living and Investing in Ecuador written by the author of this article, Michael Manville is now available for free to Members of Retire Worldwide. This version is uncut, unedited, but a lot of fun to read. An additional report also free for members is “Undiscovered Beachfront“, where you can find some of the most affordable beachfront property in the Western Hemisphere.
More articles:
Expat Advice - Expat Finance - Expat Health - Invest Overseas - Live Overseas - Real Estate Overseas - Retire Overseas - Work Overseas - Hot Topics
Back to Expat Daily News
Subscribe in a reader 
5 comments:
allow me to provide a different perspective on your comments. as someone who is married to an ecuadorian and who travels there every year, i can say that there are absolutely many parts that are overdeveloped. real estate in safer areas in and around quito, for example, is on par with pricing in the united states. other cities that are expensive to purchase property(again, assuming you want to live in an area that is deemed safe) are ambato and many parts of cuenca. regarding political stability, it is not stable. correa, the current president, has made it clear he intends to do away with its currency, the american dollar. if this happens, you could see instability again. additionally, correa has begun to take draconian measures to protect his presidency, such as regulating the media and creating "community government groups" to watch over any anti-correa activity. over half the country is in poverty, so im not sure why this author talks about wealth. its a land of have and have-nots. most of the wealth is in the hands of a small group of people. poverty is poverty, regardless of gdp numbers. my wife and i run a charity that assists poor communities in ecuador, and there are countless malnourished children with no access to medical care. the english language is virtually non existent, so you must have a basic understanding of spanish to get anywhere. there is alot of red tape, so one must be very patient with any service one needs, whether its phone, banking, internet, paying bills, etc. i want to emphasize ecuador is a beautiful country, but it is not without its issues.
Possibly, Ecuador might becomes the new Panama, simply because, its dollarization alone.
However, there is one of difference, that is the division of Ecuadorians in politics and its ethnicity, plus its current path with Venezuela, Bolivia, Iran, Russia,and China associated with those countries herein on their political idiologies, are factors not yet observed in Panama, but in Ecuador.
Besides, as of today, Panama has shown much of appreciation to the USA, not so Ecuador, especially with the arrival of Correa, the new president of this small but rich country.
There are several measures to measure the
wealth of a country, but it is difficult not
turn our face aside and not understand the variety and quantities of rich natural resources in Ecuador, unfortunatelly, its lack of management, poor on fiscal discipline and active corruption on public and private sectors are contributors not to call Ecuador the new Panama.
Kirk Nelson, from New York, USA
Both the original post and the comments by anonymous have some truths and exaggerations. It is true that there is terrible poverty for the most part for the majority of Ecuadorians, not wealth. But the comments about Correa has "made it clear he intends to do away with its currency" is comletely untrue. Most of the negative press against Correa is generated by the elite and priviliged and multinational interests who have the most to lose. The redtape can be a nightmare, but the benefit outweights this. THe historical center of Quito where I live is relatively safe, in 5 years nothing has happened to me, and it is cheap. I bought two colonial type apartments for $25000 each, with great views, in an excellent location. THe historical center has been dramatically improved over the last years and is still cheap. There is also no definitive line between the "safe" and "unsafe" areas as for example, according to Police reports much more crime occurs in wealthier areas around park carolina in Quito than in the center.
How long ago did you get those apts for $25K ?
can u get by without speaking spanish how long can u stay thereand go back 2 the us
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