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International Living: Retire Overseas For Less

Posted February 13, 2008

"Panama has what we think is the best retirement program in the world right now. If you have a pension or can prove that you have $500 worth of income each month to support yourself, you can qualify for a host of really nice and valuable pensionato discounts in Panama." — Suzan Hazkins, International Living

Baltimore – (TFN): The following was taken from this week's Market Insights with Krista Das featuring Susan Hazkins, editor of International Living. Watch this video.

Krista Das: We have a special program for you today. While the U.S. housing market has gotten a lot of bad press lately, and the U.S. economy is working to get itself out of a recession, an increasing number of baby boomers are considering the benefits of living overseas. 

My next guest says it’s worth it. If you look beyond your own shores, you’ll find that many countries around the world offer far greater benefits and advantages for retirees than those offered at home. Susan Hazkins is the Latin American editorial director for International Living, a publication that has proven over the last 30 years that you can live better overseas for less. So Susan, what’s the hottest spot right now that retirees are choosing to call home?

Suzan Hazkins: Well, I would say that the hottest spot that retirees are looking at is the one that’s traditionally been the hottest spot over the last many years. International Living every year does what we call our global retirement index where we select what we think are the best places to retire, and that can vary from year to year. But this year, Mexico came in at the top of our list. 

And really, if you look at it, over the last many years, as I’ve mentioned, all of the ex-pats who have been moving overseas, at least half of them are going to Mexico, and that’s quite a big number.

Krista Das: If Mexico ranks first, which country ranks second?

Suzan Hazkins: Second on our list is Ecuador. Ecuador came in number one many years ago. Ecuador has a very low cost of living. Things are extremely cheap and it’s a dollarized economy, so you’re not going to see any fluctuation in the dollar if you should choose to move to Ecuador.

Krista DasRather watch the financial video? Click here.

Krista Das: How much could you get away with spending each week, for example, if you lived in Ecuador?

Suzan Hazkins: My husband and I lived in Ecuador for a year a couple of years ago. And actually, we could go to the ATM every week, withdraw $250, and that would do us well for our expenses for the entire week.

Krista Das: Wow. Okay. So since we seem to be focused on Latin America right now as a retirement haven, what about Panama? Isn’t that still a popular?

Suzan Hazkins: Yes, Panama is a very popular place, and I think you’ll see that trend continue. Lots of American ex-pats are looking at Panama for a variety of reasons. One is that the American influence in Panama has been so strong over the years with the U.S. military having been there and working on the canal, etc.

Krista Das: Are there any particular areas in Europe that retirees are flocking to?

Suzan Hazkins: Europe’s not as popular as it has been because the dollar just doesn’t go as far there anymore. But you do have a lot of Americans who are continuing to look at places like Spain, France and Italy. They’re going beyond the major metropolitan areas to the more rural areas where the cost of living is considerably lower. Places like Southern and Central Italy, for example, are very popular.

Krista Das: So in looking at all of these places, explain how the rating system for International Living’s retirement index works?

Suzan Hazkins: We take a series of criteria, and we rank them. We give them a specific weight. For instance, the cost of real estate has quite a bit of weight in our index. Also, entertainment, recreation, cultural activities, things like climate, cost of living, safety, healthcare. If a country has a high quality of healthcare we give it a higher rating. We assign points and different rankings to all of these criteria in order to come out with our list.

Krista Das: All right. And in looking at that list, are there countries that have special benefits for retirees that are worth noting?

Suzan Hazkins:Yes, absolutely. Mexico has a good program where if you have a resident visa and you live in Mexico, you can qualify for a series of discounts if you’re aged 60 or over. Panama has what we think is the best retirement program in the world right now. If you have a pension or can prove that you have $500 worth of income each month to support yourself, you can qualify for a host of really nice and valuable pensionato discounts in Panama.

There are other countries like Malaysia and Belize which also offer good retirement programs. If you’re looking to retire overseas, you need to look at all of these things.

Krista Das: Do you have a particular homebuilder SPF that you can recommend?

Suzan Hazkins is International Living’s Latin America editorial director.

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