BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND TWITTER BACKGROUNDS

7/11/11

8 Great Places to Retire Abroad

Great places to retire can be found outside of Florida and Arizona. In fact, many can be found outside of the U.S. entirely. Safe, attractive and affordable places to retire are scattered across the globe, from Latin America to Asia and even Europe. We've narrowed our list to eight overseas retirement hot spots.

Two factors critical to retirees (and their wallets) shaped our choices: cost of living and health care. To make our picks we consulted several experts on travel, tourism and overseas retirement, including Jennifer Stevens, executive editor of International Living, and Kathleen Peddicord, publisher of LiveandInvestOverseas.com. We also gave added weight to the cost of living, real estate and health care components of International Living's Global Retirement Index of the top 25 countries for retirees.

A note on cost of living: Monthly budgets for overseas retirees will vary widely, depending on country, lifestyle and housing type. There's no one-size-fits-all dollar amount. The estimates provided for each retirement hot spot offer a ballpark figure, including housing expenses, for how much a "typical" retired American couple would need to live comfortably.

©Enrique Lopez/Tamayo Biosca

Merida, Mexico

Population: 777,615

Climate: Tropical. Temperatures range from the low 80s to the mid 90s. Risk of hurricanes.

Proximity to major airport: Merida has an international airport with some nonstop flights to the U.S. Mexico City is less than two hours by plane.

Read more »

0 comments: