9 Great Affordable Places to Retire Abroad

Advantages: The flexibility to sample varied regions and lifestyles without “having to deal with visas or any of the bureaucracy of the country,” Cronwell says. “You just get to experience different countries and the culture. You don’t need to be tied to any one place.”

Disadvantages: Having to watch the calendar. Overstaying a tourist visa can carry serious penalties, including fines and being barred from re-entering a country (or, if you stay too long in the Schengen area, many countries).

If you don’t own property abroad, serially searching for short-term accommodation can be a chore. And you’ll likely need travel health insurance — Medicare usually doesn’t cover you abroad, and you often need to be a legal resident to be covered by another country’s national health system.

Even something as mundane as getting mail forwarded can be a headache, says Kenneth Cooper, 69. He winters in Jamaica (which permits a three-month stay visa-free) but pays for a service to collect his mail and send it monthly. “That’s a bit of a hassle,” he says.

Retirement visa

Several countries offer residency visas for retirees or others who don’t intend to work while living there. Sometimes called “non-lucrative” or “non-working” visas, they allow holders to live in the country year-round.

Qualification generally depends on demonstrating you can support yourself financially. Standards for that vary, says Lief Simon, an editor with Live and Invest Overseas, a company that publishes guides on moving and doing business abroad. Most countries require you to have a minimum passive income from sources like Social Security or pensions; some also base eligibility on your bank or portfolio balance.

Other common requirements are proof of health insurance and a medical certificate showing that you do not have a disease that could cause serious repercussions for public health. Host countries also typically require a criminal record check certificate and an FBI background check. The U.S. State Department website has information on getting these records.

Advantages: Permanent residency means more paperwork, but it also brings stability. In Portugal, for example, legal residents can access the country’s health care and education systems. As in many European countries, foreign residents are eligible to apply for citizenship after five years.

That’s Joch and Jeff Woodruff’s plan. The couple moved from Las Vegas to Portugal just before the borders closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Joch, 76, first visited the country in 1979 for work and vowed to return one day to live. When he decided to retire, Jeff, 56, told him it was “time to put some feet to your dream.” They now live near the wine center of Porto on the country’s northern coast, enjoying the region’s mild climate and relaxed lifestyle.

Permanent residency can also come with perks. Panama’s retirement visa, or pensionado, only requires you to prove passive income of at least $1,000 a month and confers discounts on air travel, public transport, health care, hotels and entertainment.

Older residents “are treated so well,” says Lesbia White, 79, a native Panamanian who retired to Panama City with her American husband in 2019. “They respect the seniors, and they give them what they need.”

Disadvantages: As a legal, full-time resident, you typically must file taxes in both your new home country and in the U.S., which taxes its citizens globally. If you live in a country that does not have a tax treaty with the U.S., you may have to pay taxes on the same income in both places.

Some countries have minimum-stay requirements for residential visas, which could become an issue if a health or family crisis requires an extended return to the States. Should you wish to pick up a little extra cash working, you’ll need to apply for a work visa, which is typically much harder to get.