3 Ways You Could Save Money by Retiring Abroad

Published on April 25, 2024

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KEY POINTS

• The United States has a high cost of living, so you could save on your biggest expenses by retiring abroad.
• Many foreign countries also have much more affordable healthcare.
• If you move to a walkable city, or one with good public transportation, you won’t need a car.

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Saving enough money for retirement isn’t easy. It’s recommended that you set aside at least 10% to 15% of your income, which is already no small sum. If you didn’t start doing so in your 20s or 30s, you may need to save an even larger portion of what you make.

An increasingly popular way to stretch your retirement savings is moving to a foreign country. An estimated 5.4 million Americans live abroad, according to the Association of Americans Residents Overseas. I’m one of them — not retired, but living abroad — and I love it.

It’s a life-changing experience that can also help you save quite a bit of money. Here’s how.

1. You could move to an area with a lower cost of living

The United States isn’t the most expensive country in the world. Monaco wins that one, at least according to World Population Review. But it’s near the top.

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There are many places with a much lower cost of living than the United States. Latin America, Southeast Asia, and even much of Western Europe are more affordable, to provide a few examples.

Depending on where you go, you could cut your housing costs in half — or even lower. You could also pay less for utilities, going out to eat, and any activities you want to do. You probably won’t save on absolutely everything. Some products, such as electronics, tend to be the cheapest in the United States. But you could spend significantly less on your regular bills.

2. You could get cheaper healthcare

The U.S. healthcare system isn’t known for being affordable. It’s known for being prohibitively expensive, to the point where any serious issue will require draining your savings account, going into a mountain of debt, or starting a GoFundMe.

In fact, the United States has the highest healthcare spending in the world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It does not, however, rank anywhere near the top in worldwide healthcare rankings.

To keep expectations in check here, you can’t just move to a new country and start getting all the cheap healthcare you want. You typically need to either register in its public healthcare system or pay for health insurance. You may also need a residency to do this. If you don’t have coverage, you’ll pay out of pocket for healthcare services.

Still, costs for all this are lower in most countries than they are in the United States. I’ve paid about $30 to $40 out of pocket for teeth cleanings in Colombia and gotten bloodwork done with health insurance coverage for less than $2. If you’re open to getting a residency and registering for healthcare coverage in a new country, you can likely get it for much less than you’d pay at home.

3. You could live car free

I sold my car shortly before leaving the United States, and I haven’t bought a new one since. I’ve found that all of the places I’ve been to are much more walkable, and many of them have better public transportation, too.

Most U.S. cities aren’t built with walkability in mind. If you want to do anything, you need a car. In many foreign countries, this isn’t the case. Stores and parks are five to 10 minutes on foot. When you experience it firsthand, you realize what an amazing difference it is.

It also means you can get by without a car. If you go car free, you won’t have a car payment, auto insurance, gas, or maintenance. That could easily save you $500 to $1,000 per month.

Retiring abroad isn’t going to be right for everyone. It’s a huge change, and I wouldn’t recommend it if your only motivation is to save money. But if you’re the adventurous type and feel like living somewhere new when you retire, going abroad could be an exciting choice with some serious financial benefits.