Free · one-on-one
Talk to someone who actually lives here.
15 minutes, one-on-one, on video or by phone. There is nothing to pay and nothing to prepare. You bring the question you keep circling; we answer it with what we see on the ground in Cebu every week.
Short on purpose — 15 minutes is enough to find out whether we're any use to you, and it doesn't cost you an afternoon. If it turns out there's more to talk through, we'll set up a longer one. That one's free too.
Why a call and not another letter
A letter can tell you what a one-bedroom costs in Banilad. It can't tell you whether Banilad is right for your knees, your wife's medication, or your $1,800. Those answers need somebody to ask you three questions back — and that is a conversation, not a PDF.
And there's the arithmetic nobody enjoys doing alone. We'll do it with you on the call, on your real numbers — and if it comes out against the move, we'll say so. We've told people not to come before.
The same money, two places
The average Social Security retirement check is $2,071 a month in 2026. Here is what that same check is asked to cover in the median American town, and what it covers here.
| Every month | United States | Cebu |
|---|---|---|
| A one-bedroom | $1,520 US national median, July 2026 | $460–905 furnished, IT Park — pool, gym, 24-hour security |
| The same, twenty minutes out | — still $1,100–1,400 in most metros | $296–576 Mandaue, Talisay, Banilad |
| Groceries, one adult | $396–449 USDA moderate-cost plan, 51–70, May 2026 | $100–197 wet market at the low end, supermarket at the high |
| Electricity | $144–163 EIA confirmed $144 (2024); $163 is a 2026 estimate | $48–132 aircon 8–12 hours a day at ₱14.90/kWh — without it, $25–41 |
| Water | $118–142 water and sewer; no national average is published | $4–12 Cebu water district tariff, April 2026 |
| Seeing a doctor | $203 a month, before you go Medicare Part B, deducted from your check — then 20% of most bills | $8–36 cash, GP to specialist, at a private Cebu hospital |
| Dinner out for two | $60–90 mid-range, before tip | $13–30 casual Filipino to Western in IT Park |
Start with what actually reaches your bank. $203 of Medicare Part B comes out of that check before it is paid, so the money you can spend is about $1,868.
Now add three American lines — rent, groceries, electricity. They come to $2,060–2,132. More than what was banked, before water, internet, a phone, getting anywhere, or anything going wrong.
In Cebu there are two answers, and the difference between them is a lifestyle, not a hardship. $815–1,010 a month buys a one-bedroom outside the core, fan or light aircon, mostly local food. $1,200–1,870 buys a modern furnished one-bedroom in IT Park, aircon running, a mixed Western diet, eating out, a gym and health cover.
One thing to know before you count on that health cover: Most Philippine HMOs stop accepting new members between 60 and 65, and exclude most pre-existing conditions. Pacific Cross Blue Royale is one of the few that takes over-65s.
We're not going to tell you what you'd save — you know your own number and we don't. Put it next to both columns. Whatever the difference comes to, it isn't waiting for you to decide. It's running now, every month the question stays open.
National medians, not the worst city — if you're somewhere rural you already pay less than that in rent, and the gap is smaller. The Cebu rents are asking prices from listings, and what people sign is usually lower. The Cebu electricity figure assumes aircon eight to twelve hours a day, because that is what people here actually run; without it the bill is $25–41. The Both Cebu tiers leave out visa costs. Figures checked August 2026, at ₱60.79 to the dollar — a rate that ranged 60.79–63.19 over the past year, so treat every dollar figure here as carrying about four percent of currency noise.
Sources: Average Social Security benefit, 2026 · Medicare Part B premium, 2026 · US median one-bedroom rent, July 2026 · USDA food plan costs, 2026 · US average electricity bill · Cebu electricity tariff, July 2026 · Cebu water tariff, April 2026 · Our Cebu numbers, line by line · SSA
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What we'll cover
- Whether Cebu works on your actual income — your number, not a blog average.
- Which neighborhoods fit how you want to live, and which to cross off.
- Your visa path, and what it really takes.
- Healthcare at your age, and the Medicare gap.
- Whatever you bring — the thing that has been keeping you from deciding.
What it isn't: a pitch. If our hands-on help fits you we'll say so, and if it doesn't we'll say that too. Nobody here works on pressure.
Or let us come to you
Don't want to fuss with a calendar? Tell us how to reach you and roughly when suits, and we'll do the rest. WhatsApp and Messenger work anywhere with internet and cost you nothing.
Or write to [email protected] directly. We're 12–16 hours ahead of the US — write in your evening, expect an answer by your morning.
