Most immigration problems don’t begin in Ecuador. They begin months earlier—at a kitchen table in the U.S. or Canada—when documents are misunderstood, timelines are underestimated, or advice comes from well-meaning but misinformed sources.

There is an unspoken reality many retirees share: retirement in the U.S. has become expensive to the point of emotional strain. When a large portion of monthly income goes toward rent, insurance, and medical costs, the freedom retirement promises begins to shrink.

Why more Baby Boomers are taking back control of retirement by looking beyond the U.S. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that the dignity of the individual flourishes when the decisions concerning his life are in his own hands.