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
