10 Cheap Places To Retire Abroad (on Social Security)

If you’re planning retire abroad on social security alone, this video is for you. These are places that you and REALISTICALLY move on $1-2k per month, that have retirement visas, good healthcare, and are generally considered safe.

If you’re dreaming of a better life abroad where your money will go farther, I’m offering practical advice in this video so you can make that dream a reality. I’m ranking 10 countries by the cost of their retirement visas and average cost of living, with #1 being the cheapest place to retire on this list.

Living Abroad: 🌍

Check Out My Favorite Travel Gear: ✈️

Watch next: 👀
1 Top 10 Best Places to Retire in 2024 (Visas, Residency, Healthcare, Taxes)
2 The Top 10 Best Places to Retire in the World
3 Ten Places I Would Personally Live with $1,000 per Month
4 Why Expats Leave Costa Rica
5 The Best Countries for Americans to Live Abroad
6 The Best Places to Live on $1,000 per Month

Chapters:
00:00 Retiring Abroad on Social Security
1:11 10th Place
4:50 9th Place
8:00 8th Place
11:44 Learning a New Language
13:44 7th Place
16:00 6th Place
18:55 5th Place
19:41 Retired Dave in Paraguay
23:30 4th Place
26:25 3rd Place
32:13 2nd Place
35:18 Karen on Retiring in Albania
36:26 1st Place
39:50 What about Costa Rica and Panama?

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👱🏻‍♀️ About: Kristin Wilson is the author of Digital Nomads For Dummies, the host of Badass Digital Nomads Podcast, and known as Traveling with Kristin on YouTube. She's traveled to more than 60 countries and has been helping people move overseas since 2005.

PS: This video is for entertainment purposes only and is not consulting or advice. Information about visas, residency permits, immigration, cost of living, and taxes change frequently. Consult a licensed professional for advice. Video descriptions may contain affiliate or refer-a-friend links for products I use and recommend. Thanks for supporting the channel!

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#cheapplaces #retireabroad #top10 #rosettastone #rosettastonepartner

[tonysilke]

The big thing you missed in this video is the fact that taxes on Social Security should be illegal in the first place. Double taxation is illegal and that is exactly what is happening. SS recipients have already paid taxes on the wages when they were working and now when retirees desperately need this income the most to live the government gives them the shaft! Retirement may become a problem for Americans

[Fedrick-joed]

If you’re relying mostly on Social Security, finding a cheap place to retire is key. I’ve heard places like Mexico, Portugal, or even parts of the U.S. like Arkansas and Tennessee are very affordable.

[LeonardMarlin]

I live the same lifestyle here in the Philippines on Samal Island in Garden City as I do in the United States in Clearwater, Florida with my wife and four kids, two being in college.

It's all about how you want to live your life.
A single person can live very well on $1, 500 dollars a month anywhere in the Philippines while a Family of five can live a comfortable upper middle class lifestyle on $2, 000 dollars a month here.

What it takes to live a comfortable life in the Philippines for this American. (Me) I refuse not too.

1) I refuse to rent, I'm not stressing about a house or rental payment every month. We own our own house that's paid for because of this specific reason.

2) I refuse to live without air-conditioning.
Not only do we have a split air-conditioning unit ( central air ) But three window air-conditioning units as well for back up.
I'm never going without air-conditioning.

3) I refuse to live without water to clean our house, take showers, do dishes, do laundry, water the plants, wash our scooters. We have Public water as well as a water tank and electric water pump.
I'm never going to run out of water.

4) I refuse to run out of drinking water.
We keep 50 gallons of drinking water on hand at all times. I'm never going to run out of drinking water.

5) I refuse to be sitting in our house in a brown out without lights, air-conditioning, and water.
We have Public commercial power as well as a generator.
The generator will run everything in our house when the power goes out.
We have brown outs a few times a week.
In most cases they last about 10 minutes but sometimes more so in the event the power is out for more than 30 minutes I will then turn the generator on.
Sometime in the next year we will be putting up solar panels.

6) I refuse to run out of propane gas.
We cook with propane gas.
We keep two tanks so we don't have to wait around for a delivery to finish cooking a meal.
I'm never running out of propane gas.

7) I refuse to not have transportation, when it rains we take tricycles to go anywhere we want.
For now public transportation is always easy to get too.
When we go to Davao city we get a taxi cab.
We have two scooters mine and my wife's she prefers to ride with me but saying one breaks down we have a back up. We will be purchasing a van sometime in the near future.

8) I refuse to eat just Filipino food, We go to Davao city to shop for American food once a month, I eat 50% Filipino food and 50% American food during the month.

I've said all this for one reason, If you're a person who is struggling to live in the United States trying to put food on your table and keep a roof over your head then you may want to explore the idea of relocating to the Philippines.
90% of The Philippine people speak English a big plus when moving to a new country.

[krr]

After hearing all the retirement videos, I always feel like this site is like coming home. You always get the straight info without the fluff. Again, thank you for all the hard work!

[Anthony-P.]

I guess I’m lucky I’ll have social security and my military pension when I retire.

[Kseniaramesh]

I’ve been thinking about retiring abroad to stretch my Social Security income, but I’m overwhelmed by all the options. How do you even decide where to go? Between cost of living, healthcare, and visas, it feels like a minefield.

[JenniferMillican-ncfb]

Water! I'm surprised at how few people are discussing this.
Even a quick search on YouTube about the Mexican water shortage can be quite the eye opener. I won't drink Coke, Pepsi or Heineken 😬
In the next few weeks more people will understand if it doesn’t start to rain 🙏

[bessmahaneypilates]

I’m on the verge of retirement. I traveled to Albania after seeing one of your videos. I’m on the way to Boquete Panama in January. I’m checking out cheap places to retire. Thank you for this video ❤

[philipem]

From time to time I deeply consider moving to another country for a variety of reasons. But finances not really one of them. I have more funds than just my social security but I find even here in Arizona, owning my home outright I live a very good life on my social security alone. My core essential spending is about $1, 300 a month. It helps that my healthcare comes through the VA, but even so I pay for Medicare (taken out pre SS so it doesn't get counted as core spending.) I doubt that I could find a much better lifestyle in another country, and the cost of living wouldn't be enough lower to tempt me; however I do have a deep longing to live on a beach somewhere. And I've had the opportunity to live on the Mediterranean a couple of times. So I'm thinking about Cyprus these days.

[Kevin-etzs]

Malta is an interesting choice, it IS an EU country. Valletta is my favorite city in the world, but it's VERY expensive to live there. Any time somebody says "Mediterranean climate" you should think "cold and DAMP" in the winter. Also, you showed the Azure Window in your graphics, which fell into the ocean a few years ago. Gozo is a bit cheaper, rent-wise, and Victoria is really nice. Plus it has the Citadel. Note: there is NO Ikea in Malta. One of my friends skipped it for that. IF you're going to Peru, stick to Miraflores or Barranco (both suburbs of Lima) which are great for expats. Peruvians are nice, and everything is pretty sensibly priced. Take the bus from the airport, they'll take care of you and the counter clerks speak English!

[prepperpublishing]

Having been to Belize, I can tell you that you don’t want to live in the places in these price groups mentioned. Crime is a serious concern. The better places that most Americans would want to stay are not any cheaper than living in most places in the US.

[familyoffive]

Yes! The Philippines 🇵🇭
English speaking and friendly people. Nice white beaches, mountains to hike, waterfalls to jump😊advanced medical facilities in big cities, low costs of living

[rose]

Needing current 2024 info please. Wanting to vacation in Europe for a month or so, I have never been there. Looking for a central, safe area to rent to use as a home base and visit other countries. Which countries are the most financially responsible, safe and centrally located? I’m thinking about Romania and Albania… ideas and approx rent for a nice but not extravagant place??? Thanks

[deansmallman]

Hi Kristin. Really enjoy your channel. Are there issues with Vietnam? I thought it may come in at #1. Other than the language barrier, it seems almost perfect. Thanks

[RobertIsaacson-hisz]

They sure look better than Mexico
We're out of here. It's now gotten more expensive than a lot of places in the United States. Thanks.

[carolmartin]

Still too chicken to go 10thousand miles away.😮 Most important...as a senior with chronic health issues...no country is an option...maybe Mexico with quick access to American hospitals...just the way it is. Who expected 🇺🇸 to become such an expensive junk bond country.

[leemeyer]

We spend our summers in northern Wisconsin and our winters in the twin cities Minnesota. During the winter we decide to go south to see other warmer places like North Carolina or Texas or place in between

[Oceanofsand]

I have a big crush on this girl. She is quite pretty and I like the elegant way she speaks

[andrewbrann]

I've been to the Philippines and Thailand.. to me Thailand beats the Philippines in every category except for language religion add Visa situation. It is nice that they speak English in the philippines. A religion I am a Christian but I'm not a Catholic so I kind of look at Catholics like I would a different religion. You definitely get treated like a rockstar as soon as you get to the Philippines compared to Thailand. The language never bothers me because I literally just use Google translate and stay in areas that there's hardly any foreigners and have no problem. Infrastructure is so much better in Thailand. I mean you can get in a vehicle and I literally drive like you would in a small town America outside of town. The Philippines it can take like 3 hours to drive something that would take an hour in the United States.

[monkeyfinger]

Interesting that some of the south and central American countries you mention as retirement destinations are countries that citizens are fleeing to come to America claiming refugee status. Am I wrong?