united states of america Archives

After countless years of routinely work, most people cannot imagine a life without it. Retirement, a course that can happen either by choice or by circumstance, came as an easy decision for Lee Wachtsetter.

Lee Wachtsetter or commonly called as Mama Lee has been spending the past seven years on the luxury liner named Crystal Serenity.

Image Credits: YouTube.com

She told USA Today that she was always fond of cruises. In fact, she has been on more than 283 ships since 1962. She spends about $164,000 a year to live cruise-ship lifestyle, which includes a single-occupancy seventh deck stateroom, all her meals, and the cruise’s entertainment.

In order for her to afford this, she sold her five-bedroom Fort Lauderdale-area home after her husband died.

Before her husband died in 1997, he told her to never stop cruising because both of them have deeply rooted love for it…and so cruising she shall! She chose the luxury liner because of their dance programs. Aside from frequent cocktail parties, Mama Lee enjoys watching movies, interesting lectures, and other free daily entertainment such as ballroom dancing.

Image Credits: Gary Bembridge via Flickr

The sea life has brought Mama Lee nothing but joy but the hardest part of her retirement is being away from her three sons and seven grandchildren. Luckily, technology paved way for regular Skype and email conversations.

She has been on the Crystal Serenity since 2008, a period of time that is longer than most of the crew. The relationship she built with the crewmembers made her feel close to home. On an interview, she once said: “The crewmembers bend over backwards to keep me happy. Some are almost like family now. If they don’t have what I want, they get it. Even if they have to buy it off the ship or make it to my specific needs.”

A YouTube clip of their Christmas dance show proves that she can still shake it even at 86…

To retire on a luxury cruise is truly a dream of a lifetime. It makes you realize how to live in the moment like Mama Lee — Dancing, Cruising, and Enjoying Life.

Cost of living is the total expense of maintaining a standard of living in a certain country. This changes over time and is often operationalized in a cost of living index.

In this chart is the comparison of the cost of living of four countries namely: United States of America, Australia, Singapore, and Italy.

Clothing And Shoes Ave. (in SGD)	USA	SG	AUS	ITALY

1 Pair of Jeans (Levis)	54.95	111.92	111.35	129.67
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, F21, etc.)	47.82	63.24	76.26	53.99
1 Pair of Men Leather Shoes	113.77	136.22	147.41	166.62

Total Clothing:	216.54	311.38	335.02	350.28

Rent Per Month Ave. (in SGD)

Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre	1,359.20	3,312.03	1,944.27	928.25
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre	1,032.05	2,133.33	1,380.82	709.08
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre	2,313.77	5,955.30	3,335.58	1,634.16
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre	1,743.47	3,579.49	2,186.44	1,192.56

Total Rent:	6,448.49	14,980.15	8,847.11	4464.05

Ave. Salary After Tax (in SGD)

Monthly Salary	4,103.69	3,875.20	4,732.34	2,439.03

All the data were collated from Numbeo. It is a website that stores the world’s largest database of user contributed information about global living conditions.

Before discussing the variables in the chart, let us first explore a brief introduction of these four countries. United States of America, commonly referred to as U.S., is a federal republic country that is consists of 50 states. According to the International Monetary Fund, U.S. has the world’s largest national economy. It is considered as a developed country.

Australia, or Commonwealth of Australia, consists of the mainland and numerous smaller islands. In 2012, International Monetary Fund ranked Australia as the fifth highest per capita income among the world. It is also considered as a developed country.

Singapore, officially known as Republic of Singapore, is an island country in Southeast Asia. Despite its size, Singapore had the third highest per capita income around the world. It boasts its high regard on education, healthcare, and economic competitiveness.

Lastly, Italy is a parliamentary republic in Southern Europe. Human Development Report highlighted that Italy is a very developed country with its economy being the eighth largest in the world.

In the comparative chart above, Italy was shown to have the highest cost in Clothing and Shoes. Most of the famous chain brands originated from the U.S., which is why the country had the least cost on clothing and shoes. Furthermore, it is the reason why some items are cheaper when you buy it on its online store.

The Average Rent per Month is overwhelmingly dominated by Singapore. Renting a bedroom apartment at the city center will cost you about S$3,312.03 in Singapore. With that amount, a person can already rent two 3-bedroom apartments in Italy’s city center. The higher cost of rent in Singapore is due to the 718.3 km2 total area of land wherein millions of people reside.

Image Credits: Lina Hughes via Flickr

Lastly, in most of the factors, Australia sits strong on the second place. Although rent and clothing may be costly in Australia, the average salary per month is S$4,732.34. It is the highest among the other four countries.

So, if you are moving to a different country and curious about its cost of living, look it up on Numbeo. It has been mentioned in internationally renowned newspapers and magazines such as BBC, Forbes, The Economist, and New York Times among others.

Sources: International Monetary Fund, Numbeo, and Wikipedia

An 86-Year-Old Woman Spends $164,000 A Year To Retire In A Luxury Cruise Ship

How Much Will It Cost To Live in USA, Singapore, Australia or Italy?

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