15 of the Best Places to Retire Around the World
Expand your retirement horizons
If you’re looking for the best places to retire, congratulations! You’ve likely worked your entire adult life to be able to move on to this exciting new phase of your life, and now you’re ready to reap the rewards. Although there are many U.S. states to retire in where the weather is lovely and you’ll have plenty to do, there are myriad options beyond our borders too. And these countries are considered not only some of the best places to travel but also fantastic destinations for retirees to make their new homes.
Moving to a new country brings all the joys of discovery you experience on vacation that you can now incorporate into your daily life, including fascinating cultures, fabulous scenery, and new cuisines to try and languages to learn. Plus, in many of these foreign destinations, your retirement savings will go further—and even a small budget will allow you to experience a higher standard of living (i.e., luxury housing, housekeeping help, gourmet dinners) than you would if you stayed in the United States. This may be even more appealing if you’re retiring early and want to start living your best life now!
How we chose the best places to retire
We consulted several of the top sources that analyze data about retirement destinations, including 2023 reports from International Living, Global Citizen Solutions, and Live and Invest Overseas. Ultimately, we chose to use International Living’s rankings for our list of the best places to retire, since they break down their findings to account for value, housing availability, accessibility and cost of health care, ease of getting visas and citizenship, the destination’s climate and weather, and the country’s government and infrastructure.
To give you a fuller picture of these retirement hot spots, we then looked into the best places within these countries to settle, the highlights of living there and some of the practicalities regarding the cost of living in these dream destinations. These are the retirement tips you need to make your money go as far as possible and truly enjoy your golden years.
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Portugal
This sunny southern European country hugging the Atlantic coastline claims the No. 1 retirement spot on both International Living’s 2023 Annual Global Retirement Index and Global Citizen Solutions’s list of countries to retire abroad for Americans in 2023. It also grabbed the No. 2 spot on Live and Invest Overseas’s top 10 list. So what makes Portugal such a fabulous place to retire? The country scored high marks not only for being one of the safest countries in the world but also for its affordability, temperate climate and stable government.
You won’t need a pocket full of cash to enjoy your time in this cheap place to travel and live. Simply walk the winding, picturesque cobblestone streets of Lisbon—which are lined with shops, restaurants, fountains and statues of leaders and poets—to be immersed in culture. Step into a bakery to sample a pastel de nata (egg custard tart) for just 1 euro, and then stop at one of the many stands to down a shot of ginja, the signature Portuguese cherry liquor (served in a tiny chocolate cup), for about 1.5 euros. You’ll easily meet your new neighbors who are doing the same!
Pros:
- One of the safest destinations in the world
- Ranks high among European countries with the least expensive cost of living
- The Golden Visa program streamlines the path to citizenship
Con:
- The fastest way to gain citizenship is also the most expensive: buying a property worth at least 500,000 euros.
