Doing your retirement planning? Here are the top 20 countries to retire in
According to International Living’s recently published 2017 Global Retirement Index, the top three best countries to retire in are Mexico, Panama, and Ecuador. The only Asian country in the top 10 is Malaysia; there are three other Asian countries in the top 20: Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. All of these countries have an established pension and medical system. Prices are generally low, with a pleasant and accommodating environment for pensioners to spend their retirement.
International Living ranks the 25 best retirement destinations in the world annually based on their attractiveness for pensioners across a range of lifestyle categories. In addition to housing costs, the magazine evaluates countries on the basis of their welfare systems, cost of living, ease of “fitting in”, entertainment, health and medical systems, infrastructure, and climate, along with the ease of securing an immigration visa and permanent residence.
Many of the countries listed have a mild climate and a pleasant natural environment. Mexico tops the list with over 90 index points, and scores strongly across most categories. However, perhaps the most surprising aspect of this ranking is the number of Latin American countries – typically these countries are poorly perceived in terms of security and public order (Mexico included). Honduras, for example, has the worst murder rate in the world – peaking at 86.5 cases per 100,000 people in 2011 (US State Department data). Although this decreased to 66.4 cases in 2014, it is hard to say that the country is “safe”. The same goes for Mexico.
Public order is not specifically one of the evaluation criteria. However, International Living says that being a safe country is one of the conditions for being on the list. That seems to imply that public order is at least taken into consideration.
Source: Shutterstock
Somewhat surprisingly, Japan is not on this list. We assume this is a reflection of its relatively high cost of living, as well as its stringent immigration and residency criteria.
International Living: Top 20 best places to retire in
1. Mexico (North America) 90.9
2. Panama (Central America) 90 · 8
3. Ecuador (South America) 90.7
4. Costa Rica (Central America) 87.9
5. Colombia (South America) 87.7
6. Malaysia (Southeast Asian) 87.0
7. Spain (Western Europe) 84.8
8. Nicaragua (Central America) 83.6
9. Portugal (Western Europe) 83.1
10. Malta (Southern Europe) 81.7
11. Honduras (Central America) 81.0 & Thailand (Southeast Asian) 81.0
13. Italy (Southern Europe) 80.5
14. Peru (South America) 80.2 & Belize (Central America) 80.2
16. France (Western Europe) 80.0
17. Cambodia (Southeast Asia) 79.5
18. Bolivia (South America) 78.9
19. Philippines (Southeast Asia) 78.2
20. Dominican Republic (North America) 78.1
(By ZUU)
Related Articles
- How does your Singapore pension stack up, and do you have enough for a comfortable retirement?
- Ensuring a simple but successful financial retirement plan.
- 4 Best Investment Strategies for Funding Retirement
