Do your clients dream of living a life of leisure in retirement on a beach or in the mountains outside the United States?
“Today, retiring overseas is about launching a new life in a new country, starting over someplace sunny and exotic with white-sand beaches or Old World culture,” says Kathleen Peddicord, author and publisher of Live and Invest Overseas. “But there is no one way to determine the best place to retire for every person. That’s why our 2016 index rates the top destinations around the world that are each special for their own reasons.”
The categories considered in the Live and Invest Overseas index represent the most important criteria that retirees consider when shopping the globe for the best place to live, including climate, cost of living, whether English is spoken, entertainment, environmental conditions, existing expat community, health care, infrastructure, real estate, residency options, safety and taxes.
This year, the strong dollar has lifted European countries into three of the top five best places to retire abroad. Following are Live and Invest Overseas’ top 10 places to live out a happy retirement, listed in reverse order.
No. 10: Ambergris Caye, Belize. The largest island of the group, Ambergris Caye has the second largest barrier reef in the world, after Australia, and is a ring of white sandy beaches sitting in azure water.
No. 9: Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic. Located on the northeastern coast of the Samana Peninsula, Las Terrenas offers miles of protected inshore waters and undeveloped, white sand beaches.
No. 8: Crete, Greece. In addition to being old-world beautiful, Crete offers a low cost of living for retirees.
No. 7: Playa del Carmen, Mexico. This coastal resort town offers palm-lined beaches, coral reefs, and plenty of shopping and restaurants.
No. 6: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. This developed city facing the South China Sea offers a low crime rate.
No. 5: Ljubljana, Slovenia. Nestled between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia in Central Europe, Slovenia is a mountainous country with a continental lifestyle. It is the second richest of the 13 Slavic countries.
No. 4: Cayo, Belize. This is a “leave the-world-behind, embrace-the simple-life, off-the-grid paradise,” according to Live and Invest Overseas.
No. 3: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. This Mexican city is a developed, luxury-level Pacific Ocean resort town with history and charm.
No. 2: Valletta, Malta. The Maltese archipelago is one of Europe’s smallest countries, but from its weather and food to its history and culture, it’s quintessential Mediterranean Europe.
No. 1: For the third year in a row, Algarve, Portugal nabbed the top spot. “This inexpensive Old World destination is the best place in the world to retire that nobody’s talking about. It’s got cobblestone streets, whitewashed houses with lace-patterned chimneys, surrounded everywhere by fig, olive, almond and carob trees. Algarve also offers beaches and great weather with more sunny days than almost anywhere else in Europe,” says Live and Invest Overseas.