Places Where You Can Retire on $200,000 and Feel Rich

[Capt. Ray]

I find this ranking strange. I have some experience having lived in Mexico for over two years where I am now again, but I took a break to the Philippines all 2020 and found the cost of living substantially lower but of course not in Manila. My beach-front 3-bed apartment in Oriental Mindoro (fairly expensive by Philippine standards) was about US $200 a month. I bought a 3-wheeler electric 3-seater vehicle for about $1,000 which did very well and no registration, license or insurance needed! Restaurants are cheap. You can speak English everywhere. After 6 months you can buy cheap medical insurance.

Originally Posted by GordMay

International Living Annual Global Retirement Index
The World’s Best Places to Retire in 2021
InternationalLiving.com‘s 2021 Global Retirement Index scores the world’s top 24 retirement destinations across 10 categories, including cost of living, retiree benefits, climate, healthcare, and more. This yearly Index examines safe, good-value destinations beyond the U.S. or Canadian borders—comparing, contrasting, ranking, and rating them to select spots across the globe where a retired couple can live a comfortable, carefree, affordable life.
According to InternationalLiving.com's 2021 Global Retirement Index, the world's top 10 retirement destinations are:
#1 Costa Rica*
#2 Panama
#3 Mexico
#4 Colombia
#5 Portugal
#6 Ecuador
#7 Malaysia
#8 France
#9 Malta
#10 Vietnam
* A couple can live comfortably, but not necessarily extravagantly, here [Costa Rica] for around $2,000 a month. This includes renting a two-bedroom home with North American amenities, air conditioning, plus groceries, entertainment, transportation, and healthcare. If your monthly budget is closer to $2,500 to $3,000, you will find a relaxed lifestyle with every comfort you require.
More ➥ https://internationalliving.com/the-...=press-release

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Capt. Ray

I find this ranking strange. I have some experience having lived in Mexico for over two years where I am now again, but I took a break to the Philippines all 2020 and found the cost of living substantially lower ...

You'll note that 'Cost of Living' is just one of ten categories, these reviewers evaluated. YMMV.
Also note, they come up with different rankings, every year.

[CabrillosGhost]

Originally Posted by GordMay

5. Spain - 4. Portugal - 3. Uruguay - 2. Costa Rica - 1. Panama

Costa Rica's persistent reputation as a "safe country" may be coming in to conflict with reality. Mafia attitudes, and by that I mean Roman and possibly Camorra, and use of crack cocaine are contributing to a really violent streak through the gangs of young men running extortion and pimping rackets that are so unpopular, that people are frequently being killed openly now over this behavior.

Panamanians are universally less well educated, but they also tend to act like murder is a real possibility in Panama when people are crackheads who start fights, which makes Panama a lot more tolerable lately.

Spain doesn't hold much interest for me, but I'm still very curious about Uruguay.

[Mr B]

Why am I not Surprised that Australia is not on that list,

Boat Berth and 2 bed unit where I am at the moment is costing me $3500-00 USD a month without any thing else included,

Im only here because the borders are illegally closed between the states,

[cdy]

I would not trust any rankings/numbers the International Living puts out - they pimp up countries - write glowing pieces - direct those interested to lawyers/realtors that they recommend - who are generally way overpriced ( gringo procing) and IL gets a cut. Do your own research and be realistic on what your lifestyle will be with your income - no where are you going to live like a king on $1,500 /month

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Why am I not Surprised that Australia is not on that list,

Boat Berth and 2 bed unit where I am at the moment is costing me $3500-00 USD a month without any thing else included,

Im only here because the borders are illegally closed between the states,

High cost of living is definitely an issue for retiring in OZ.......high wages, strong economy, high cost of living.

I love OZ and actually wanted to retire there...even had a waterfront house picked out. Of course as a Yank, I would have had to pay a nice fat surcharge to do so. Also, I wouldn't been able to actually live in my home because OZ is no longer accepting retirement visas.

[goboatingnow]

Portugal is cheaper then Spain imho and Greece is cheaper then both if you avoid obvious tourist areas.

[belizesailor]

The original article mentions some great options, but is financially flawed. You aren't going to feel "rich" for very long anywhere on $200K.

You could choose to live like a local, which few expats are willing to do, and make it last longer.

In Guatemala for example, minimum wage for a full time job is about Q2,000 (~ US$260) per month. I know Guatemalans raising families on that, but no expats living on that income willingly. Its a hard road, but $200K would last a long time at that rate.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Why am I not Surprised that Australia is not on that list,

Boat Berth and 2 bed unit where I am at the moment is costing me $3500-00 USD a month without any thing else included,

If you have the money, it's great. A lot of retirement articles focus too much on how "cheap" a destination is. But as others have suggested, living cheap usually means living like a local (not like a king). Certainly with only $200k, you will be living a very modest lifestyle.

The bigger issue is unless you already have a strong connection, Australia make it near impossible to get long term residency.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Portugal is cheaper then Spain imho and Greece is cheaper then both if you avoid obvious tourist areas.

Yeah, but it's back to the same issue of would you want to live there/like that. There are dying towns in Italy where you can have a free house...but they are dying for a reason...usually they aren't close to anything, the houses are very rustic and there are limited services nearby.

If you end goal is to sit in a rocking chair and watch the grass grow, you can do that on the cheap in a lot of countries.

You don't have to spend like a billionaire but cheap for the sake of cheap is rarely a good plan unless you are desperate.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Yeah, but it's back to the same issue of would you want to live there/like that. There are dying towns in Italy where you can have a free house...but they are dying for a reason...usually they aren't close to anything, the houses are very rustic and there are limited services nearby.



If you end goal is to sit in a rocking chair and watch the grass grow, you can do that on the cheap in a lot of countries.



You don't have to spend like a billionaire but cheap for the sake of cheap is rarely a good plan unless you are desperate.

Except...Portugal is AWESOME!

We would absolutely be happy to live in many different places in Portugal.

The fact that it also relatively affordable is just a bonus.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Except...Portugal is AWESOME!

We would absolutely be happy to live in many different places in Portugal.

The fact that it also relatively affordable is just a bonus.

Same with Spain and Italy...love them and yes, it can be pretty affordable. In fact planning to spend all of December in Italy...just not out in the boonies watching the olive trees grow.

If you are shooting for $1000-1500/month total expenses, it really cuts down the places/lifestyle you can afford.

Of course, if that's all you have, you make do with what you have but a retired couple from the USA on average is going to have something around $3000/month from social security, let alone anything they saved...That's not going to fund an extravagant lifestyle but now you can move up to better locations and have funds sufficient to maintain a lifestyle, you are likely more accustomed to.

PS: Living like the locals is actually a great reason to retire overseas...but in moderation and not out of desperation.

[Simon.Sails]

I generally found cost of living indexes fairly accurate if you compare apples to apples. Yes, you can live on the cheap somewhere in the Philippines for example, but you'll live like a local which few expats are willing to do.

The Philippines isn't cheap for both quality housing and tourist accommodation. Simple huts with single-glazed windows and poor insulation can be had for a few hundred dollars per month, sure. But I'm not sure you couldn't find such a place in Europe either.

In fact having lived in many countries and visited even more (both for work and pleasure), prices for a certain quality of goods and services increasingly become very similar globally. You won't live like a king anywhere on 200k usd savings/pension.

There is no place on earth where a car costs much less than in Europe for example, the same goes for TVs, fridges, air conditioners.

Having said all that, I still think South East Asia probably offers the best value for money for a boat owner, even if the marina infrastructure isn't quite there yet.

[goboatingnow]

We budget in Greece excluding boat costs and find we live on the equivalent of about $2200 a month for the two of us. That includes some fixed costs of about $700 ( car , health insurance , house insurance ) we are completely debt free as you couldn’t service debt out of that figure . We work during 4 winter months to recharge the boat kitty ( Mainly marina fees and some maintenance )

We eat out from time to time( again nothing fancy ) , but in reality out of that money , you really only have to feed yourself and buy the odd t-shirt etc

We do make more from time to time but we save that.

It’s careful living but it’s not frugal. I’m not sure what “ living like a king means “ but we’re happy.

[sailingabe41ds]

Funny ... two of the places that Hollywood and some of our politicians rave about where health care is great, it is free, and everyone lives on a living wage...a utopia on earth is Cuba and Venezuela. Somehow those to places never make it to the best place to retire to. Never see any of those two countries in any list.
People should really spend a lot of time in those countries before jumping in ...very few places like home. In this case I would disagree with Milton..." I rather rule in hell than serve in heaven".

Abe