Living in Canada on $600 a month?

mere999

Would like to know how Senior Citizens live in India for 6 months and return back to Canada on their pension money.
Living in India is not a problem as we have an apartment and currency conversion.
But returning back to Canada and living off pension money. How do all the seniors from India do it abroad. The Canadian Health Care System pays for seniors. And in order to keep our Citizenship valid we have to return every 6 months.
Do not want to trouble the children living in Canada.
Thank you

Haylo

Despite the thread title, after reading your post it sounds as if you are asking "How do you live in Canada for six months on $600?"

*confused*

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mere999

Thank you yes it should be so.
I will revert it to as suggested

indiaprof

I came here hoping to glean some advice... and now I'm confused.

OK, so your question is: How do I live on my pension (with my Canadian health benefits) in India, but afford to come back home to Canada every six months to meet Canadian requirements?

mere999

My apologies my thread should have read as:
How does one live in Canada on $600 p/m
Just wondering how senior citizens from India live in Canada

indiaprof

Oh! Now all is clear. Thank you. I don't know about Canada, but in the U.S. that would be an extremely restrictive budget, even with health care.

Nick-H

Will edit thread title.

sego

For $600 dollars you will have to live with your kids and hope they don't kick you out because the waiting list for subsidize house in some areas is over 10yrs. The cheapest basement rent in Toronto areas is about $500 a month for shared basement. Good luck.

claurianta

Well, for starters, don't live in big cities - Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver because the rest is expensive. Montreal is a bit cheaper, but out in small towns it's considerably cheaper to rent.

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yogi_colin

when i was going to school (about 10 years ago) i shared a house with my brother and paid $125/month in rent. food cost me about $100 a month, and my bills about another $100. now that was ten years ago in Regina - a city of about 200,000. i think it can still be done today. there is subsidized housing available to seniors and lower income folks that can make getting by on a skimpy budget very do-able (though not necessarily comfortable).

Sama

I was confused, too. no offense, but maybe ask this question on a Canadian travel forum? just a suggestion.

$600 for two people in America would be poverty level.

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anar

this is a bit of an off-shoot: does anyone know if naturalised brits have to go back to the uk to keep their citizenship? i haven't been back since summer 07 (rained 15 days out of the 16 i spent there so went to southern europe last summer instead).

Haylo

If the UK is too rainy for you to want to go there, even for a holiday, I don't think you are tough enough to be a citizen.

In America, I seem to recall that they have citizenship tests where you have to answer questions about the constitution and suchlike, for British citizenship you should have to survive a camping holiday for two weeks in Wales in the summer!

indiaprof

I would not advise trying to live in Canada or the United States on $600 a month (for two people) even in a small town. Plus, if you're Indian (and I take it you are), you'll likely feel very isolated in a small town - no Indian community, no temple or mosque or gurudwara, no stores, no restaurants. (With the possible exception of some towns in British Columbia, where there are Sikh farmers.) At least the larger towns and cities have Indian institutions, but these cities will be far outside your budget. I live in a medium-sized city of less than 100,000 people, with a small Indian community, Indian grocery stores, etc., but my rent is $750 USD a month. That's cheap by American standards, and anything less than this is not worth living in. Also, heating bills, insurance, electricity, water, phone, etc., are hundreds of dollars more altogether. Futhermore, in a small town you can't get around or even go to the store, often, without a car. In a lot of places, there are no corner markets like there are in India, and only a few markets carry food. You can't easily do things like your daily shopping without a car. That means more overhead costs.

You might be better off (i.e., have a higher standard of living and quality of life) in India. If you live in Canada, someone is going to have to help you considerably with expenses. However, your kids might not mind doing that. Even in the U.S., among non-Indians, in these difficult times, with many elderly people's pension funds wrecked, a lot of families help their elders pay for rent, utilities, etc. But that really depends on what sort of financial resources your kids have. It's not as easy to save money by cutting expenses in North America as it is in India - a lot of expenses here are mandatory (i.e., legal requirements) or just necessary to lead a normal life.

One of the other posters was right: $600 a month is poverty here. But it's about what I live on myself when I visit India, and although it's not luxurious, I find it pleasant and would not consider it poverty by Indian standards. I'm not living like a Bollywood star or a BPO executive, mind, but I can afford what I need as long as my needs are within reason. Plus, any money your kids could send you, in India, would go much further there than in North America. Or, they can limit their help to buying you a plane ticket to Canada every 6 months, if they can afford that.

Now that I look at the whole problem, in order to keep your Canadian health benefits, you're either going to have to have someone fly you to Canada every 6 months, or have them subsidize your expenses in Canada. You might want to talk with your kids about which choice suits your needs best - and not just financial matters, but also the value of having you closer at home, how comfortable you will be in Canada as opposed to India, etc.

pontesnm

I think you mean that you have to visit Canada to keep your Canadian resident status (not Canadian citizenship). I would be surprised if Canadians living overseas lost their citizenship if they did not return to Canada every year.

If so the stay does not have to be 6 months; could even be 2 days. What Indian parents do is they visit (and live with) their kids in the US for a 3-4 months in the summer and then return to India for 8-9 months.