Top 5 Retirement Destinations Worldwide

International Living recently released their annual Global Retirement Index 2014, which ranks the top five countries world-wide to retire. Here are the five countries that topped the list:

1. Panama unseated Ecuador for the first place spot due to increased ease to acquire visas and residence status, convenience of travel back to the U.S., and ease of transition due in part to the wide use of English.
2. Ecuador held the second top position on the list with affordability, beautiful scenery, and friendly culture as top factors for making it a popular retirement destination.
3.  Malaysia ranked third, but first out of all Asian countries, due to a combination of low cost of living and high quality of life, and the Malaysia my Second Home program allows for retires to acquire a renewable social visit pass for 10 years.
4. Costa Rica’s place on the list is attributed to the welcoming nature of the country to expat retirees and beautiful year round weather.
5. Spain’s recent decrease in cost of living landed it a top spot on the list and much of the draw comes from the comparable affordability to other European countries.

See, The World’s Best Place to Retire in 2014, International Living, Jan. 5, 2015.

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.