Ecuador and Panama rated top retirement nations

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Retirees looking to stretch  their pensions might consider spending their golden years in  Ecuador, Panama or Mexico, where cost of living is low and the  weather is warm, according to a new index.
International Living Magazine rated the three Latin American  countries the top destinations in its Retirement Index 2012,  followed by Malaysia, Colombia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Spain,  Thailand and Honduras.
“The proposition is that you can live better for less, and  not sacrifice anything, if at all, in quality of life and still  live on half or less of what your cost of living would be in the  United States or Canada,” said Dan Prescher, special projects  editor for International Living.
“As the world economic situation deteriorates that’s  becoming more important,” he added in an interview
Prescher, an American who now calls Ecuador home, said he  and his wife live comfortably on about $1,300 a month — for  everything.
Honduras, Thailand, Panama, Nicaragua and Mexico offer  similar lifestyles for comparable prices, according to the  magazine. Meals in some of the index countries cost as little as  $3, local beers sell for $1.50 and there are discounts for  retirees on public transport and utilities, among other perks.
The magazine assessed the nations in eight categories — the  price and availability of property, special benefits for  retirees, cost of living, integration and assimilation into the  local population, entertainment and amenities, health  infrastructure, availability of high-quality healthcare and  climate.
“You can go almost anywhere outside the U.S. and live for  less right now but there are some places that are easier to  assimilate in,” Prescher explained.
“In Belize the national language is English, so you don’t  have to worry about a second language. Panama and Ecuador both  use the U.S. dollar now as their currency.”
None of the countries received a 100 percent score. But  Ecuador had the highest mark at 91.1 percent and there was less  than a two percent difference between the top three countries.
“A lot of these categories are very subjective,” said  Prescher. “They are just guide posts to let you start doing your  own research on specific places you might be interested in.”
Apart from New Zealand, which was No. 6 and Spain at No. 8,  all the other nations were in Latin America or Asia, largely  because of the low cost of living and the integration factor.
“Most of Latin America is close to the United States. It is  easy to get to, easy to get back and almost everybody has some  English, which makes integration good. And the cost of living  throughout Latin America is incredibly low,” said Prescher.
Although security was not among of the categories assessed  in the index, Prescher said most of the countries in the index  are statistically safer than the United States.
The complete list can be found at  http://internationalliving.com/2011/12/the-scores-and-how-our-2012-retirement-index-works/?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=release&utm_term=GRI&utm_content=GRIranks&utm_campaign=PR-Jan