It isn't very comforting to contemplate living on an inadequate income, forced to draw excessive supplementary funds from your IRA as you age and perhaps manifest some serious signs of ill health. Your only real certainty financially is that your medical expenses are covered, thanks to Medicare and supplemental medical insurance. Still, what do you do when your financial advisor assures you - as your IRA hemorrhages - that you will be able to enjoy your current lifestyle if you will only curb excessive spending. You wonder whether he's talking about gas, corn, meat, or just what that's an excessive part of your current lifestyle.

To be honest, some of us do overspend, depending in some miraculous way on the ever-blossoming money tree in the back yard. Eventually, most such people learn to control their spending but still run a deficit that forces them to raid the IRA too often.

Believe it or not, there's an answer - not an easy one in many ways and certainly not for everyone. It works best for couples who have some kind of income, who have no children or at least none that are dependent upon you, who are not devoted to relatives or friends, who are debt free, who are willing to sell their house and keep any proceeds from it. It also helps if you have "final arrangements" that don't include expensive funerals or rituals at sea. It's so much cheaper and simpler to call someone and ask them to come take "him" or "her" away, then ask your church for a small memorial service if you want it.

But let's suppose you have an income of $2K or so and maybe $200K hanging on in your stock IRA. If you have a mortgage it's highly unlikely that you live in a city, even a small one, without dipping into your IRA to make up your cash flow deficit. Rather than watch your assets disappear, why not disappear yourself? At least disappear from where you now live. Where do you go?

Well, that's up to you. Some financial advisors recommend leaving the United States to go to a country you can afford to live in. Let's look at one place you might consider - Colombia. Yes, THAT Colombia!. It's winning it's war against terrorist guerillas and most of its major cities (e.g., Bogota, Medellin, and Cartagena) are perfectly safe. Foreign investment money from the European Union, the United States, and Canada is pouring in (check this out in, say, Business Week or The Wall Street Journal) and so are retirees from all of those mentioned and others besides. The lingua franca is English among the retiree-expatriates but anyone going there would be well-advised to learn the language of the country, Spanish, to be able to join fully into the cultural life of the country.

Why Colombia? Check out the sites on cost of living. You will learn that living very well (especially if you buy a condo - see discussion below) comes in just over or under $2K for EVERYTHING (food, taxes, utilities, eating out, medical insurance, etc.). I'm told that one need not import a car. Instead, one relies upon taxis for everything. Doing so, you discover how much you save on gas, insurance, and upkeep; and the taxi companies are really reliable. If you want to go shopping at one of the farmer's markets, you hire the taxi to go with you and keep moving in order for you to load your purchases. Go to a movie and want to eat out after the show? - just call the taxi before you're ready to leave and he'll be waiting for you. And no parking worries.

Decisions have to be made about what to take with you. Probably it's best to take clothes and art objects but otherwise start over. Furniture can be fairly expensive, albeit of fine quality, and some items may be hard to find. But shipping entails customs taxes, shipping and packing costs, insurance, major hassles that would be better to avoid, and some question about the condition of your belongings when they reach you. Buy there - even if a new 48-in plasma TV does cost 30% more than in the U.S. - and the problems disappear. The seller will deliver and set up your purchase just as he does in the U.S.

Colombia is pet friendly - so long as you bring or ship your little friends with the proper documentation (e.g., rabies vaccination).

Computers and high-speed Internet are in common use and cell phones are in use everywhere, usually in preference to home installations. Land lines, however, are also in major use.

Culturally, Colombia is very much in the Western Judeo/Christian tradition. While the Catholic Church is prevalent the country nevertheless is quite secular. There are numerous universities and the middle- and upper middle-class is very well educated. It is not difficult to find your intellectual equals. Moreover, it is helpful to bear in mind that Colombia boasts a Nobel Prize winning author, Gabriel Garcia Marques, and probably the world's most famous sculptor, Fernando Botero.

Those with medical and insurance concerns are probably quite safe in Colombia. Bogota and especially Medellin have famous medical centers with specialties in some of the most difficult areas of medical science. Colombia was a major contributor to modern Opthalmological techniques. Its centers for plastic surgery have become world famous. Colombia very definitely encourages "medical tourism" and is fully capable of providing for the needs of patients at perhaps 10-15% of costs in the United States. Dental work is similarly inexpensive, especially compared to costs in the U.S. Many doctors and dentists have attended American medical and dental schools and/or have completed residencies in the United States.

An array of health insurance plans is available offering full coverage at very modern, first-rate medical centers.

We have heard so much about the drug cartels and Colombians for two or three decades have been depicted as depraved drug pushers and addicts. In actual fact they are a cultured people who may have attended one or more of several fine universities. They are naturally very friendly and like Americans.

I do not suggest that giving up one's own native country is easy and it certainly isn't a move that will appeal to everyone. But Colombia isn't a long way off - it takes only about three hours to fly from Miami to Bogota. While Bogota is a beautiful city with much in the way of popular entertainment, culture, educational resources, medical centers, and business headquarters, an even more beautiful city with most of these advantages and lower prices is Medellin. Surrounded by mountains you have to try hard NOT to have a fantastic view from your penthouse apartment, And the cost of that apartment in one of the best sectors of the city won't break the bank.

So that's the story. Cut the cost of everything relatively and absolutely. You'll have the challenge of starting life anew in a different culture with a different language that won't be easy to master if you are over a certain age. Still, you'll be living in a very beautiful country that will give you the thrill of scaling towering peaks or crossing the Amazon River. It's a last chance to try something completely different and exciting.

Robert D. Forst is an avid art, opera, and classical music enthusiast who has lived all over the world acquiring a cultivated taste in art, crystal, and paintings that is reflected in our e-commerce store. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and taste as a contributing editor at http://www.theglobalconnoisseur.com - a site that offers information concerning original oil paintings and watercolors, Romanian Crystal, Limited Edition Romanian Vases, one-of-a-kind hand-painted ceramic vases and boxes, and a great deal more.