Is the American Dream dead? Couple who moved to Ecuador say they’re ‘aging in reverse’ after escaping ‘toxic hamster wheel’ culture in the US – as families head overseas amid crippling debt and soaring house prices

Americans are trading massive debt and rising home prices for white sand beaches and cheap rent abroad as some expats say “the American Dream is dead.”

One middle-aged couple who gave up their home and jobs to move to Ecuador even said they lost 50 pounds after escaping the “toxic hamster wheel” culture in the United States.

And they are not alone. About 9 million Americans now live abroad, up from 6.8 million in 2013, according to the latest State Department data.

Housing prices, inflation and debt have forced many to raise the bar and move to countries with a lower cost of living and a higher quality of life.

An October NORC poll found that only 36 percent of Americans still believe in the “American Dream,” which holds that “if you work hard, you will succeed.”

Half of Americans believe that “the economic and political systems in this country are rigged against people like me” and that life for people like them is worse now than it was 50 years ago.

Instead, hundreds of people – especially old and young – decide to go abroad in search of a “better life”.

JP Stonestreet and Amelia Basista left Colorado to move to Ecuador in 2017 and are now running for office. business helping other people move to live abroad.

They told DailyMail.com their only regret was “not going sooner.”

Before leaving, the couple was “fulfilling the American dream” in Colorado, JP said: “We had a house, two cars and a mortgage.”

Amelia was on the road four days a week for regional sales and JP worked from home as a website designer, leaving them with little time to see friends or spend time together.

Amelia said: “It was stressful, it was draining, and it felt like my whole life was tied up in my job – and I didn’t want to live my life the way I wanted to, but I didn’t know what to do – but that’s kind of the American way of life. , available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

They made about $8,000 a month, but after paying off their mortgage, student loans and living expenses, they were left with nothing.

Then JP got sick. He said: “When I had a back injury and had to have two major spinal surgeries in two months, I couldn’t work, I had a year of recovery and after that we couldn’t afford the house and cars anymore.”

“We sold our cars and house and moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Denver—we still had to crawl into a hole every month because of all the debt. We were in trouble. We didn’t know what to do, it was a very stressful time.”

The couple considered taking out a second mortgage, but they didn’t want to take on more debt since they already had more than $60,000 worth of student loans and other bills to pay off.

So they took the plunge and moved to Cuenca, Ecuador.

Their lives have completely changed, JP said: “We can spend time together, we’ve paid off our debt, we can finally save for retirement.” We don’t set an alarm in the morning; we wake up and cook together when we wake up.

“We were both overweight and lost about 50 pounds together.”

And their cost of living has dropped significantly, meaning they can also save for retirement in a way they never could in the US.

JP said: “I came very close to either dying or being paralyzed from the neck down and we realized that working towards a retirement we might never be able to afford wasn’t worth it.

“That’s when we realized that the American dream was dying, that it no longer existed. Many people tell us they will have to work until they die, they are stuck in this cycle.”

The couple are among hundreds who have fled the rising cost of living in the United States caused by the pandemic and inflation.

Older people are more likely to take this step when they realize they are working for a pension they may not be able to afford.

Nearly 450,000 retirees received Social Security benefits outside the U.S. at the end of 2021, up from 307,000 in 2008, according to the Social Security Administration.

But young people are moving too: On TikTok, young American influencers are sharing clips of their exotic lifestyles abroad.

Cara Celeste West, 32, was living in Austin, Texas, and working as a sales manager when her family decided to make concessions and become “full nomads.”

She told DailyMail.com: “I lived a standard American lifestyle in a standard two-bedroom apartment in a nice area near downtown Austin.

“My husband and I both worked full time, each had a car, and we could afford to go on weekends every now and then.”

But things weren’t perfect: They were paying $1,530 a month for a two-bedroom apartment and had about $70,000 in debt.

She said: “Because we were in so much debt we couldn’t afford to put our daughter in nursery, so we worked different hours to avoid paying for childcare, which meant we often never See you.”

So they made the decision to become “completely nomads,” she said: “We decided to sell almost everything we owned and live abroad because we wanted to spend more time together as a family rather than work so much to pay for life”. ‘

She added, “And most importantly, living abroad has given us a much greater sense of security than living in the US.”

She has started a new job as a luxury travel concierge and her family is currently in Greece.

She said, “Because we can shift our income from the U.S. to other countries where the cost of living is more affordable, we can further focus our income on our basic needs, such as food, healthcare, housing and child care.”

She said: “For many families and individuals, life in America has become a life of paycheck to paycheck, borrowing money through loans or putting necessities on credit cards.

“Many people are just trying to survive, and financial stress has reduced the quality of life for many.

“It hasn’t been an easy journey for us, honestly it was one of the hardest things we’ve ever done to give up a lot of the material things we worked so hard to get, but we realized that our main goal was a life that is consistent with our morals and values.

“Although we live a very minimalistic lifestyle now, living in countries that allow our incomes to increase and living below our means, as well as not pursuing the American Dream in America, has allowed us to achieve something better abroad – freedom.”

Last week, it was revealed that Americans would need an extra $11,400 a year on average to afford the same quality of life they enjoyed in 2021, according to an analysis by Republican members of the US Senate Joint Economic Committee.

Colorado is the hardest-hit state, where residents must shell out an additional $14,995 to enjoy the same quality of life they had two years ago.

This year, housing affordability fell to its lowest point in decades. During the pandemic, home prices rose from $329,000 in January 2020 to $433,000 two years later, according to U.S. Census data.

Mortgage rates have also risen sharply: A person who bought a $400,000 home two years ago would be paying about $1,623 a month for a mortgage.

That same buyer today faces monthly payments of $2,585—more than $1,000 extra.

In addition to negative factors in the United States, there are also positive factors pulling Americans abroad.

The process has also become simpler, making it relatively easy for Americans to obtain a visa.

Forty-three countries, including Greece, Portugal and Spain, have introduced Digital Nomad visas, which allow you to work remotely for a year, or there are Golden Visa, Entrepreneur, Retirement or Work visa options.

According to relocation company Lexidy, the most common country Americans move to is Mexico, followed by Canada, and then smaller populations moving to France, Italy, Germany and Israel.

About 800,000 Americans live in Mexico alone, 200,000 in France and 72,000 in Greece.