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Retirees search for best bang for buck destinations
| Published: | 19 Apr at 6 PM |
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Discovering the best retirement bang for your pension bucks is a task many would-be expats need to do before they decide on their new country.
For the average expat, the decision to leave the home country is based on many reasons, not the least being the need to stretch out a less-than-generous state pension and get a better lifestyle as a result. For those without private or occupational pension top-up or large sums in offshore banks, it’s a necessity.
The internet is crawling with websites and local forums offering cost of living tables for almost all of the world’s popular retirement hubs, but choosing the best option takes time as well as dedication. Surveys often contradict each other, and not every retiree has the time or inclination to travel and personally sample a list of relocation options.
The various Southeast Asia countries offer a good choice of lifestyles, ranging from upscale Singapore and the equally expensive capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, to Thailand, the Philippines and new kid on the block Cambodia. At this point, the surveys get confusing.
For example, why do write-ups class the Philippines as low on the list of economical places to hang the expat hat? And why doesn’t little Cambodia, perhaps the least expensive home from home in the region, rarely appear anywhere in surveys listing so-called cheap retirement destinations in Central America which are only affordable on the far more generous USA pension?
One recent study by International Living online gives at least a fair comparison for Cambodia, mentioning the exceptionally low cost of everyday necessities plus cheap rental costs, culture, history and natural beauty as well as the most friendly and non-prejudiced people in the region. However, even here much more word-count is given to Central American destinations such as Guatemala, Peru and Nicaragua.
Perhaps it’s a cultural thing, with US expats preferring to retire to another country on the same side of their own large slice of the planet, whilst expats from Europe and especially the UK prefer to up sticks and settle in or close to former outposts of the British Empire? It’s also rumoured that USA expats are keen on the Philippines, due perhaps to its WW11 connection with the States. Who knows?
For the average expat, the decision to leave the home country is based on many reasons, not the least being the need to stretch out a less-than-generous state pension and get a better lifestyle as a result. For those without private or occupational pension top-up or large sums in offshore banks, it’s a necessity.
The internet is crawling with websites and local forums offering cost of living tables for almost all of the world’s popular retirement hubs, but choosing the best option takes time as well as dedication. Surveys often contradict each other, and not every retiree has the time or inclination to travel and personally sample a list of relocation options.
The various Southeast Asia countries offer a good choice of lifestyles, ranging from upscale Singapore and the equally expensive capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, to Thailand, the Philippines and new kid on the block Cambodia. At this point, the surveys get confusing.
For example, why do write-ups class the Philippines as low on the list of economical places to hang the expat hat? And why doesn’t little Cambodia, perhaps the least expensive home from home in the region, rarely appear anywhere in surveys listing so-called cheap retirement destinations in Central America which are only affordable on the far more generous USA pension?
One recent study by International Living online gives at least a fair comparison for Cambodia, mentioning the exceptionally low cost of everyday necessities plus cheap rental costs, culture, history and natural beauty as well as the most friendly and non-prejudiced people in the region. However, even here much more word-count is given to Central American destinations such as Guatemala, Peru and Nicaragua.
Perhaps it’s a cultural thing, with US expats preferring to retire to another country on the same side of their own large slice of the planet, whilst expats from Europe and especially the UK prefer to up sticks and settle in or close to former outposts of the British Empire? It’s also rumoured that USA expats are keen on the Philippines, due perhaps to its WW11 connection with the States. Who knows?
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