On March 31 the Wall Street Journal ran an article called “Distant Shores: Affordable living is drawing retirees to Southeast Asia.”
You can’t link to a WSJ article–online subscribers only–but someone has pasted it in on this early retirement message board . (Which looks pretty useful in general actually.)
The gist of the article is, no surprise, retiring in Southeast Asia is pretty darn cheap. Mercer’s annual cost of living study, which really looks at business expat costs, put Kuala Lumpur at #114 out of 144 cities. Bangkok was #127 and Manila was #141. Those aren’t exactly pleasant places to retire, but it gives you an idea what overall costs are like in comparison to say, London, and things are even cheaper in the countryside. The article highlights a man living the good life on Penang (Malaysia) for $1,500 a month.
Malaysia’s My Second Home program has been a big hit. They issued 1,500 retirement visas in 2005 and there was “a big increase” for 2006.
Thailand’s visa situation has gotten to be a royal pain if you’re trying to stay put there for a while without working, but you can get a year-long visa if you register as a retiree. This isn’t an official page, but here’s the scoop .
The Philippines aims to have one million retirees by 2015, so they’ve stepped up their incentives. “The Philippines now requires $10,000 per registered retiree, including a spouse. Retirees must also show a monthly pension of $800 for a single person or $1,000 for a couple.”
You’ve got to admit, even if your means are limited, that’s a pretty low bar to clear. Set aside some bucks for plane tickets though. It’s a long way from Southeast Asia to the U.S. or Europe.
Related posts:
Cheapest Places to Live, Part 3
Cheapest Places to Live, Part 2
Tag: International Living and Working
