Self Assessment for Finding the Best Places to Retire

While it’s tempting to want to find the best places to retire by reading an article titled “The Top 10 Places to Retire”, I don’t think the answer will be found that way. You might as well ask, “How long is a piece of string?”

The answer is that it depends on an individual’s personal preferences when looking for best places to retire and the odds are that these preferences will vary from one person to the next. So then, how does one determine what the best places to retire are?

I personally recommended, conducting a “Best Places to Retire” self-assessment to help you find your answer. Use the following as personal inventory guide to start:

Best Places to Retire Abroad Personal Inventory #1 

Your Retirement Budget:  The first item to consider is your budget for living abroad. The cost of living varies from country to country and your budget will help to begin to define what the best places to retire are for you. For example, if you are retired and living well in the United States, it’s a good bet that you could live in almost any country of your choosing in the world. On the other hand, if your budget is tight and you want to retire overseas to improve your standard of living, then it’s a good bet that a developing country in Latin America or Asia is likely to provide you with an ideal overseas retirement destination.

How much money is necessary? There is no one answer for this. To sustain a middle class American lifestyle, depending on your country of choice, budgetary requirements may vary from about $1000 – $2500 per month.

Best Places to Retire Abroad Personal Inventory #2

Healthcare Needs: The second item to consider is the kind healthcare that you will need. If your health is excellent, the world is your playground. On the other hand, if you have health risks that may require acute care, then the best places to retire overseas becomes a much shorter list. Developed countries in Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand have excellent acute care facilities. In the developing countries, quality health care can be found in countries actively pursuing medical tourism and have developed internationally accredited hospitals. Both Southeast Asia and Latin America are moving in this direction, but quality care is pretty much limited to the large cities.

When it comes to long term care, the cost of obtaining nursing care is far cheaper in the developing countries. If obtaining assistance for routine daily activities are all you need, a developing country can offer that to you for a fraction of the cost in the USA. In the Philippines where I am residing, I could probably hire a full time nurse for $300-400 a month to provide me with daily care.

Best Places to Retire Abroad Personal Inventory #3

Lifestyle Preferences: The third item to consider is lifestyle preference. Are you a city creature that loves the nightlife? Or is rural and isolated in your definition of the best places to retire? Developed countries have a wider selection of urban to rural living options with a full range of amenities. In developing countries, urban will usually mean a mega city with a population of several million, but with the full array of amenities needed. In contrast, in a developing country, rural will often mean very isolated with limitations on basic amenities.

Best Places to Retire Abroad Personal Inventory #4

Your Ability to Adapt: The next item is harder to assess, but is a fairly important one. This involves how well you can adapt to a new culture. This sounds simple, but some expatriates have found living abroad to be difficult because their cultural values could not adapt to the cultural behaviors of their new home. When you choose an overseas retirement destination, there will be some cultural variation. Language, religion, family values, non-verbal communications, food, entertainment, and anything related to culture is likely to be different.

If you are an old dog that does not want to learn new tricks, countries where English is spoken, where the demographics are similar to the US, and level of economic development is high are probably the best places to live for you (think Canada, the United Kingdom, and maybe Western Europe). On the other hand, if you are very adaptable, there is no limit to the best places to retire for you. If you fall somewhere in between, city life in any country that has a fairly large tourism industry is likely to provide you with enough Americanisms to get by.

Best Places to Retire Abroad Personal Inventory #5

Personal Relationships: Are you married or are you widowed and looking? If you are married, almost any country could be one of the best places to retire. On the other hand, if you are seeking a spouse, your choices will depend on the type of spouse that you are seeking. The questions that you should ask yourself include: how important is good communications to you? How important are religious or political beliefs? How important are personal or cultural values? Do you want children? Are you most comfortable with a nuclear or extended family?

This is a difficult one to make recommendations on. Personal tastes vary so much that it is hard to make a recommendation on what the best places to retire are for finding a partner in life. However, it will be useful for you to go through the questions above, because these are the kinds of things that will vary from one culture to the next. One word of caution though, scamming senior citizens is a growing industry worldwide and you will should use sound judgement in any romantic relationship.

Best Places to Retire Abroad Personal Inventory #6

Climate: What kind of climate do you want? Do you want a tropical lifestyle or do you prefer a cooler climate? Generally, the tropics provide the greatest range of options. While tropical countries are usually hot and humid, many tropical countries will have mountains where the climate gets to be cooler and more temperate. On the other hand, if you select a temperate climate for your overseas destination, the climate tends to come in one basic flavor.

Best Places to Retire Personal Inventory #7

Diet: The last item in this personal inventory is diet. Every culture has its own unique cuisine. This could be an important factor for consideration. Of course, if you are Andrew Zimmern and can survive on raw tree worms dipped in vinegar, then you pretty much can choose from any country on the planet.

On the other hand, if you are a little more picky for personal or health reasons, then this is something that you will need to explore when searching for the best places to retire. Generally speaking, one can find fairly modern supermarkets in the larger cities in most countries today where you can find a wide range of food products. On the other hand, if you live overseas in a more rural location, you may have to purchase your foods from a local market. Local markets tend to be great places for fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and meats. However, they tend to be a bit short on packaged or processed foods, so you are not likely to find a bottle of California Merlot in a local market in the Philippines.

If you don’t like to cook, the best places to retire will include almost any country with a large cosmopolitan population. These large cities will usually have McDonald’s and Starbucks on the low end of the cuisine scale, to restaurants offering international gourmet dining on the high end.

The key to a successful retirement abroad in part depends on knowing your retirement destination reasonably. But knowing yourself, your wants and needs, and your life goals are as important for you to understand.

(photo by Aqualand)

Popularity: 14% [?]