The 6 Easiest Places to Retire Abroad

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Retiring overseas can turn the page to a richer, more fulfilling chapter of your life. It’s an opportunity to stretch your retirement budget further and enjoy an overall higher standard of living.

Listed alphabetically, the following six countries offer user-friendly residency policies plus other benefits for U.S. retirees who relocate there:

Belize

Belize is a small country with big appeal. Just over a two-hour flight from the southern United States, it’s the only country in Central America where the official language is English. Locals are friendly, and the expat community is large and diverse.

A variety of lifestyle options are available, from Caribbean islands like Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker to relaxed Belizean villages on the mainland in Corozal and the sprawling greenery and rivers in areas like the Cayo District.

Belize offers some of the most streamlined residency policies of any country in the world. To stay here long-term, you can simply arrive as a tourist and apply for extensions on your tourist visa for 12 months. After a year, you can apply for residency.

Belize offers the qualified retirement program, which allows you to stay in Belize long-term. It also offers special perks, including tax exemptions from all taxes and duties on income received from a source outside of Belize and the ability to import household and personal effects duty-free.

To qualify for the QRP, you must be at least 40 and receive retirement income from a source outside of Belize of $2,000 per month or $24,000 annually. This amount should be deposited into a bank in Belize.

Colombia

Colombia is an exciting South American country that provides cultural vibrancy and astounding natural beauty.

Colombia offers big city environments, including the capital, Bogotá, with almost 8 million people, and Medellín, a euro-chic, highly livable city with over 4 million people. It has Spanish-colonial charm in colorful cities like Cartagena, on the country’s Caribbean coast, and Popayán, a city toward the south famous for its whitewashed colonial architecture.

Colombia is geographically diverse and one of the few countries in the world that’s classified as megadiverse because of its wide variety of plant and animal species. It’s home to snowcapped mountains, part of the Amazon rain forest and is bathed by the warm waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean.

Expats can choose from a variety of lifestyle opportunities in Colombia, and they can enjoy life at a discount. Living expenses are low throughout the country, even in major population zones. A monthly budget of about $1,800 is enough for a comfortable life in Medellín. Savings are enhanced by the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Colombian peso, which currently works in the dollar holder’s favor.

Colombia offers several paths to residency, but its pensionado visa is among the easiest to qualify for. The main requirement is showing that you receive a monthly income of at least three times the minimum wage, which in 2025 works out to about $1,000 per month.

Montenegro

Montenegro is a little-known country in Southeastern Europe that should be on U.S. retirees’ radars. It’s a country with towering gray mountains and a coastline along the Adriatic Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea that also laps the shores of Eastern Italy.

Montenegro’s most appealing area for expats is Kotor Bay, in the country’s southwestern corner. The bay is a deep inlet of the Adriatic with many twists and turns, extending the length of the coastline. Around the bay, you’ll find an interesting mix of historical and modern towns, as well as superluxury developments, all coexisting harmoniously.

Kotor Bay boasts one of the best-preserved medieval villages in Europe, with ancient pale stone buildings and terra-cotta roofs. The views around the bay are stunning, framed by sharp peaks. The ocean waters are so calm and clear that they create a fjord-like effect, contributing to the area’s reputation as Europe’s secret riviera.

A growing number of expats are attracted to Kotor Bay and all that it has to offer. It’s safe, and an expat couple can have a comfortable lifestyle for about $2,500 per month.

Montenegro is unique because it allows expats to gain residency through the purchase of any property of any value. This is almost like a golden visa program, except that no minimum amount is required to qualify. Although this is not the only way to gain residency in Montenegro, with reasonable property prices, it may interest expats and investors.

Panama

Panama has the best infrastructure in Central America, with a well-connected international airport, well-maintained highways and bridges, and excellent private health care facilities.

Its capital city, Panama City, is a cosmopolitan environment and a business and banking hub that attracts people from all over the world. Throughout the rest of the country, you’ll find incredible natural beauty, including sprawling jungle, Pacific and Caribbean coastlines, beautiful beaches, and diverse flora and fauna.

Panama has long attracted expats from the U.S. and beyond, and expat communities are well-established nationwide. Boquete, in the highlands of Chiriquí province, is one of the most popular expat communities in the world. It’s so well-established that you can get by on English alone, whereas you should plan to learn a little Spanish if living elsewhere in Panama.

Panama is inviting to foreigners with its friendly residency, business and tax policies. It offers a variety of residency visas, but the one that most retirees apply for is the pensionado visa. To qualify, you must be at least 18 years old and receive a monthly income of at least $1,000.

With pensionado status, you can access special perks and benefits, including discounts on airline tickets, utility bills, doctor bills, movie theater tickets, hotel stays and more. You’ll also get a one-time exemption on the import of your personal belongings into the country.

Panama is also attractive from a tax perspective. It charges no tax on income derived from outside the country, so you can live here with no local tax burden. It uses the U.S. dollar as its currency, which means dollar holders don’t need to worry about exchange rate fluctuations.

Portugal

Portugal is an attractive country that has skyrocketed in popularity among U.S. expats in recent years. It’s ranked as the seventh safest country in the world, costs of living are low, and the population is friendly and speaks English fairly well.

Portugal is a small country relative to the U.S., but it has a long coastline along the Atlantic Ocean full of beautiful, clean beaches with golden sand. It has a mild climate year-round, with plenty of sunny days throughout the year. It’s also steeped in old-world charm, with historic marvels like Lisbon and Porto, where you can indulge in café and museum culture.

Getting residency in Portugal is straightforward, and the thresholds for qualifying are low. Most expats and retirees can easily qualify for the passive income earner visa, D7.

The main requirement is showing you receive enough passive income to support yourself while living in Portugal. About $1,500 per month should suffice, although approval of your application is at the discretion of the immigration officer who processes it.

A major benefit of establishing residency in Portugal is gaining access to the Portuguese health system, which is highly rated. In population centers, you’ll find modern hospitals with highly trained medical professionals.

Spain

With its beautiful beaches and interesting culture with deep historical roots, Spain has a well-established reputation as an excellent place to spend time. It’s so well-loved that it’s on track to become the world’s most-visited country by 2040.

Expats love Spain because it’s easy to reach and has so much to offer. Expat communities are well-established along the country’s southern coast, where the weather is always warm, the sun always shines, and the Mediterranean beaches offer soft sand and bright blue waters.

Spain has iconic cities like Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, where infrastructure is solid and the standard of living is high. In the north, you have culinary delights and a more subdued, Northern European way of life in San Sebastián and Santander. Spain also has the Canary and Balearic Islands, where you can enjoy upscale island living.

Within the context of Europe, Spain is one of the easiest places to establish residency. It does not offer a retiree-specific visa. Instead, most retirees use the non-lucrative visa to live here long-term. To qualify, the main requirement is showing that you receive enough income to support yourself – about $2,460 per month.

While Spain is known for its high taxes, becoming a resident in Spain makes you eligible to receive care in the Spanish national health system, which is among the best-rated in the world.

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