International Living magazine is the best resource for you if you’re interested in the pleasures of a full- or part-time retirement overseas. In each issue we detail in-depth information on moving or retiring overseas, making money, saving money and learning all the ins and outs on buying property abroad. You’ll also hear from expats who have already made the move to the best havens abroad.
You see, when it comes to retirement, the message these days is too often: Work longer…scale back your plans…or never retire at all.
But it doesn’t have to be that way..
That’s according to Jackie Flynn, publisher of International Living—the well-respected organization which has carried out ground-breaking research over the last three decades on the subject of retirement. You may have seen their research in publications like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and AARP.
“You’ve got a lot more options than you may realize,” says Flynn. “In fact, there are seven towns in particular where you can reclaim your retirement and live very comfortably, no matter how much savings—or how little—you have.”
You could have a cottage on a quiet beach…an apartment in a vibrant city with a great café culture…a mountain hideaway where the air is crisp…and live the good life on a Social Security check alone.
According to Flynn, in the following seven places, you’ll likely find the climate is better…there’s more to do…and you can make your retirement dollars stretch much further than where you’re living right now.
1. A Pacific-Coast Beach Town
How would you like to live on the coast where the surfing is good or where you can snorkel and sail?
This is a place where the long, wide stretch of sand comes complete with excellent restaurants and well-appointed high-rises—you can rent a condo for $450 a month. And you can own a spacious three-bedroom home for just $120,000—right across the street from the sand.
2. An Outdoorsman’s Dream Retreat
Maybe you’d prefer a sunny mountain hideaway where the hiking is spectacular and you can garden, bird watch, ride horses, raft and fish in the rivers, and simply enjoy the great outdoors.
This place is remarkably affordable…$3 will buy you lunch…you can walk out of the market with a sack of fruits and vegetables for just $5…and you can rent a home for $300 a month.
3. A Vibrant University Town
Or maybe you like the idea of a college town…a place where there are plenty of cultural offerings like concerts and museums.
This is the kind of community where you can take a cooking class or learn to make cheese. Where the little stores and markets sell lovely items produced by local artists…and there are great cafes and top-notch restaurants.
4. Laid-Back Lakeside Living
This is a lakeside community where the weather is heavenly year-round. With average highs in the 70’s, it’s perfect for an active lifestyle.
Along the lake shore a few minutes from the town center there’s a well-established gated community planted with hundreds of fruit trees. There’s a yacht club there, too…and an enormous community garden. And you can own a half-acre lot in this oasis for just $64,000.
5. A Cosmopolitan Escape
There’s a place where so many restaurants exist you couldn’t eat in all of them if you went out every day for two years. It’s a world-class destination that in-the-know celebrities like Michael Douglas, Angelina Jolie, and Martha Stewart visit.
Yet property is remarkably affordable. There’s a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment right in the thick of things on a high floor with a water view from the balcony and with a pool, gym, and 24-hour doorman in the building. It comes with all the appliances and with a parking space, too—for just $185,000.
6. The Grace of Old-World Elegance
This is a place where the pace of life is slow and attention is paid to the ceremony of food and wine.
In the little community I have in mind, a shady park wraps around the town walls…and from there you have views of vineyards stretching right up to the mountains.
In this town you could live very comfortably for $1,600 a month.
7. Exotic Island Living…for Less
If you think living on an island is expensive, think again. In fact, on this island you can expect to slash your expenses by about three-fourths.
You’ll keep all that extra money in your pocket…yet you won’t sacrifice anything when it comes to your quality of life. The weather is great, the beaches are perfect, and there’s a lot to do—from sailing to diving to museums and concerts.
The point is, if you know where to go, you don’t have to be rich to retire well…to retire with the confidence that you won’t outlive your nest egg.
In the right towns, you can enjoy a retirement where you have the funds to relax, to travel…to trade in that $600-a-month golf club membership for $200 country-club dues.
It seems like all we hear in the news is how people aren’t saving enough to retire on comfortably…how, with interest rates so low, it’ll be impossible to recoup losses…how health care costs and taxes are rising…while Medicare is on the chopping block.
But according to Jackie Flynn, there still exist towns that offer the perfect solution. You don’t have to be wealthy to take advantage of it. In some of these towns, the living is so affordable, it means you could even retire early.