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I lived on a tropical island for more than 20 years. Here is some of what I learned: If you want to do full-time living on a tropical island, you better have a home that can withstand strong hurricane winds and is located well above the storm surge zone (stay away from residences located near beaches and yacht basins). You should also be prepared to provide your own electrical power, clean drinking water and food for months after the island is hit by a strong hurricane. It also helps to own a chainsaw because someone is going to have to remove those downed trees blocking your driveway and the public road in front of your home. Expect that until the local airport and its runways are repaired there will be no commercial flights to and from the island for weeks or longer after a strong hurricane. And you should be in good health because it could take a week for rescue workers to get to your home. Expect that cell phone towers will be down for weeks or even months -- it is good to own a satellite phone and an off-grid way to charge it. The alternative all the above is to take a departing flight away from the island EVERY time a hurricane path is predicted to travel over the island and to book those flights early before they are sold out. And be prepared to wait months before you can return to the island to check property damage. Tropical islands are great places to visit on vacation, but living there full-time carries with it a special set of risks.

I tried that until I was a victim of a home invasion. Woke up with a guy with a black ski imask standing over me. He jumped me and I screamed and fought him off. I was lucky. Could have been much worse. Don't recommend it folks. Also unless you have lots of money , things could get really rough. Very expressive. I had been living there off and on for more than 30 yrs.

Some things are better to just visit. Stay for a few months and see what you think.

I lived there for ten years (1965-1976), my family for twenty - unless you have a high-paying job, a ton of savings, or a lucrative pension, the cost of living in the V.I. is very high.

Excellent review! It seems like you left nothing out! Very much appreciated! Thanks!

You are incorrect. Medical care in the Virgin Islands is poor. For extensive care, surgeries etc. people travel to Miami to seek care. Working unless you are a professional is difficult to come by. St. Croix's electric infrastructure is horrendous. After hurricane Maria people were without electric power for one year.

Thanks, very informative

Another Great Analysis !

Thank you, very nice and informative video..........

This was great 👍🏻!! I just subscribed to your channel!❤️❤️❤️✌️✌️😍😁🙏

Good summary of USVI.

Very professional, educational and thoughtful.

Thank you for the video,,I am READY

Nice video.

I lived on St. Croix while working at Hess Refinery and it was anything but safe!

Wrong about several things. Health care is fair until you have to go to a hospital. Terrible. The bull about the tax rate is not correct. You will pay taxes to the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue. It is a mirror image of the IRS code as is the tax rate. The numbers he quoted are available only if you have a special designation from the Economic Development Commission. Electrical power is intermittent. Of the 10 years living on St. Croix power went out 7 Christmases either part of the day or all day. The cost is 3.5 times higher than in the US. I could go on and on. Like to see what this guy thinks after living there a few years.

You didn't include the fact It's literally Hurricane Alley. Yes, overall the weather's beautiful but watch out/be on high alert between June-Sept. and maybe Oct. Streets turned into lakes as most Guts have been paved over, depending upon your location. As others have stated, food items are sky high as well as other items because they're shipped in (however, most veggies and fruits are grown there, sold in Market Square). Grew up, wasn't born there. My Great Grandfather built a house there in 1911, still standing, and has withheld every hurricane since because it's in the valley between two hills, not on any hill. In other words, location is paramount.

i heard the rental cost for a 2 bedroom house, and up, but nothing said about a 1 bedroom or an small apt. where is the most least expensive place to live. i am 69 yrs old retired

THANKS.

I Love The US VIRGIN ISLANDS I grew up there went to school there , and upon Ret. I will be moving back to St Croix v,i .

There used to be a 1 story shack where the 3 story building is right at the end of the St. John dock. It had stones out front with a couple picnic tables, and there was no gate or building on the dock. My dad was involved in the St. John Pub that was there throughout the 1980s that sold subs, hotdogs, cold beer and mixed tropical drinks to the tourists. I used to go over to St. John and have lunch at The Backyard on some Saturdays, that was practically all traveling by road on that island I did in the years I was there. When I was 12 dad bought me a 13 foot Boston Whaler with a 55hp and besides the other 4 boats he had I used to use it to go to St. John once in a while. A couple times was to Trunk where we visited our schoolmate that lived in the house on the peninsula that you see. She used to travel to St. Thomas to go to school and back every day. Feed any iguanas you run into with hibiscus flowers, red ones especially, that's why if you're wearing red they might come up to you and try to chew on your shirt. My best friend's dad owned the largest dump truck on St. Thomas during the time they were moving the Eastern mountain to off the Western end of the runway extending it. His driver was dropping a load off the end, lost control and jumped out just in time to see it sink into the end of the runway. Time, resources, etc dictated that they just keep going. So when you land there, you are landing on a dump truck. My family of 6 including 2 of my grandparents were scheduled on the American Airlines flight that crashed on the island in 1976 running into a Shell gas station at the end of the short runway. My mom had a dream, and rescheduled us for a week earlier with all the work and changes made for dad's 3 stores to run for 2 weeks. We were at Magens when it crashed. A call went out for the 2nd most rare blood, AB-, which my father had. My dad said he wasn't taking time out from his vacation to donate blood. Read the karma my dad died to on that island 14 years after that crash, in this book with links below. I've probably been on more cruise ships than anyone reading this, yet never been on a cruise. My dad ran a ship chandlery that had a monopoly on selling liquor to the cruise ships in the early '80s, that I used to spend my afternoons after school doing my homework at, that was located at the last building on the Havensite dock (has Senior Frogs painted on its roof). After growing up on the island and starting when I was 17 in late 1986, we used to roam Charlotte Amalie downtown streets at night bar hopping Coconuts, Rosie O'Grady's, The Ritz, Yesterdays, then to the Greenhouse at 10pm for the current live band, when everyone was partying in the islands. Since the bars closed at 2 AM we would go out to steal cars, usually rentals, and race across the island, afterward sometimes stripping them for parts. I've floored it in a brand new 1987 Accord LXi from the Fort all the way to Frenchtown one night easily doing 100mph, which was not unusual to do with stolen cars but sometimes done even with the ones we sort of cared about. One night I was with a few locals and we got pulled over for racing into Frenchtown. The cop went to arrest one of us and he started skipping around the car in a circle repeatedly singing, "Haha you can't catch me!" to the cop. He made it a couple times around the car and we had to bail him out that night. I hold the record for most boats stolen in one night while alone; three - I took them to a birthday party. Would you like to read about real modern pirates based out of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands taking place in the end of the cocaine fueled '80s? "THE REAL PARADISE: Diary of a Modern-Day Caribbean Pirate" Paperback: www.amazon.com/dp/1653714360 or Kindle: www.amazon.com/dp/B083C3DD19 (free with Ultimate).

Thats funny. I have a person who works for me from the US Virgin Islands. He told me never to go there as the crime is out of control.

So, so burger and fries, no drink $15.00.

St croix...sweet

Your nuts. I lived there for a year. This is Last place you want to retire. I can give 20 reasons why not to retire in the islands. Record crime, Record high electric rates, Ridiculously high food prices! Should I keep going??

Been here 40 years. Time to get out. Very expensive, power goes out all the time. Hurricanes are always bad. Dont recommend unless u can leave anytime u want. Beaches are great but that gets old.

Thank you such good info for people like myself looking to retire and move

Have you ever stayed for a period in the USVI? This video reads like a Lonely Planet.

You have erroneously used a photo from one of the lesser Antilles islands in your video of the US Virgin Islands. From 2:33 to 2:47 it shows the Carimar Beach Club on the lovely island of Anguilla, NOT a US Virgin island.

Uhm correction we went through Irma and Maria at cat5 back to back

Oh trust me renting here is ridiculous high and don't talk about WAPA🤦🏽‍♀️

Not for retirement but thanks for exploring.

When you all do these things I wish you would include mooring and docking fees

Very informative thank you!

Surprised there's no passport involved. Thanks for the thorough coverage.

I told a friend who grew up there that we were thinking of retiring down there, and she had one word of advice: DON'T.

Love City is where it's at!

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🙌🏼👍🏼

Sounds too expensive to make it worthwhile. As to jobs I think back when I saw an ad in our trade mag every month for managers down there. At the same time I wish I tried it and am glad I did not.

kinda sucks unless you are rich? Other places are much cheaper.

@RoninBlue-I’m actually from St. Croix and I can say that you really gave a very accurate and fair analysis of the United States Virgin Islands. Thank you.

Live no visit yes

Is central ac found in many of the homes in the usvi?

All that glitters in not gold. Be sure to check out the ugliness and can you live with those. Don't sell everything and move until you've spent at least a year there. Oh, yeah. Retain stateside status...

I can jus move back home

....cargo container home building...it is possible?

Did he say sea lions? Ha ha

There are no sea lions on St Thomas what is he talking about

😊

Cost of living will lower very much if you own your own house on a nice size plltltltltltltltltltof land, tether you can grow most of what you eat. In with in 3 to 5 year you’ll be eating all tropical fruits and vegetables from your own years

Whats the safety situation in the USVI? I can never seem to get a straight answer. Some people say its Lord of the Flies and others say its paradise what gives?

You are 30 miles off it’s only 40 East

As usual :girl friend and I. What if Im 60 and have no girl friend . Means i going to be a lonely in that Paradise... Thanks .Im lonely in NYC..

Great. But, what's the point? Everything is at least 30% more expensive than on the mainland. So, you're not really escaping the madness of the US mainland. To do that you have to move to ... Cambodia.

RoninBlue, you have a bad view of Vietnam. Hearing that you died from heart disease, not from accidents and the environment. We Vietnamese have a saying: "Evil, evil retribution", which means that whoever does something bad, will receive the consequences. May you rest in peace with God!

the virgin islands are not that safe...i know from living there !

Its prettier than the united states 1000 to one.....its a must see...a week vacation is sweet

Capital one scammed me. . I opened a secured credit card, with my own money. I used card for first time, to build my credit, my first on time payment, was put in,and they said it successful went through , two days later without me knowing it. They blocked the payment and blamed it on my bank. I had sufficient funds. Now when I tried pay 2nd payment, I found our about the unto famative rejected 2nd payment. They sent me a lying later charge, I send a money order they denied receiving it

Um

Too expensive.

No comments on the crime ....high murder rate

More USVI born locals should move back and retire to the USVI, you will lose your paradise to outsiders.

It's to expensive to retire on for middle class Americans. There are much better places to retire.

Native Virgin Islanders don't want outsiders to retire here!

This paradise of Virgin Islands must be independent country.

Boring but beautiful even though is expensive.

The US is a US territory not a country. Please this is basic knowledge

8 Best reasons NOT to retire to the USVI... I'd rather stay in New Jersey.

AND DRUG INFESTED!!

Haha Virgin Islands get it virgin hah

The whole world is being gentrified to accommodate the filthy rich and parasitic rentier class. Pretty soon your servants won't be able to afford to live in the areas they work like the US west coast. Also,as an American citizen,I'd LOVE to hear what you think the "benefits of living under the US flag" are,other than not being invaded by the US and having your government overthrown..

Shop around, almost any other Caribbean island is better than that awful place.

Why do most non African people flock to mostly African or Black countries for retirement and also try to control the economies of those countries and expect special privileges

You have no idea what you're talking about. USVI is a very dangerous place to even visit, never mind retire there. UNSUBSCRIBE