The Best Retirement Havens

We found spots offering good health care, culture and affordability.

Forbes cannot promise retirees "paradise on $30 a day." Quite the opposite. We promise seniors wishing to move out of the U.S. that they will not find paradise anywhere. Each country is unique -- with assets and liabilities -- and the key to successful retirement as an ex-pat is carefully matching your own personal priorities and finances to the country that has caught your eye.

To help matters along, Forbes has compiled its own list of the 10 best retirement havens, based on a wide variety of criteria ranging from safety to retiree-friendly visa requirements to decent medical care. The countries on our hit list: Austria, Thailand, Italy, Panama, Ireland, Australia, France, Malaysia, Spain and Canada.

No place is perfect. Some countries rank high in one area but lower in others. Australia is, by one well-regarded rating, the Country Brand Index, the most livable place in the world. But if you plan to return to the U.S. frequently, Australia makes for a long slog. Canada is No. 2 in the Country Brand ratings and certainly convenient for Americans, but its harsh winters are well-known. Italy scores high on quality of life, medical care, and even cost of living and climate for retirees residing in the Southern parts of the country. But its complicated taxes and bureaucracy require patience.

So, the key to any decision: Know yourself and do your homework.

If you're a sun-worshiper determined to protect your assets from overreaching Western governments, consider countries like Panama or Malaysia.

If you are solidly middle-class with a taste for high culture, then there are pleasant surprises to be found in Europe. Who would have known, for example, that France is so friendly to American retirees? Or consider Ireland. Its top personal income tax rate is 43 percent. That's not terribly appealing on the surface, but a couple over 65 is entirely exempt from Irish tax on any income below $59,000.

Are you eager to live abroad but totally tone-deaf to foreign languages? That's a fine argument for Australia, Ireland or Canada. The key to lowering costs and receiving first-rate medical and other services in foreign countries is the ability to "work the system," and to do that, you have to speak the local language passably well. Sheila Trifari, an American who had cancer while retired in Paris, says she received excellent medical care precisely because she was fluent in French and could work her way through the local medical establishment.

On the other hand, going totally native can bring on unexpected and powerful bouts of homesickness. Kathleen de Carbuccia, president of the Association of Americans Resident Overseas, recommends that prospective retirees seek out cities, towns or villages where there is an existing American or English-speaking ex-pat community. Fellow ex-pats will be of great help during those inevitable moments when cultures clash, and they'll perhaps help you see the humor in the situation.

Decent and affordable medical care is a key issue for retirees, of course. Most nations, when a retiree applies for a visa at their consulates, require proof of income, such as private or public pension payments and bank account statements, as well as proof of private medical insurance. They don't want seniors who haven't paid into their health care systems to become a burden on the locals who have been paying into the system all their lives.

Don't panic. Finding coverage is eminently doable, and we have laid out how to go about it.

But listen to Donald Johnson, an 80-year-old American retiree in Paris, when he says, "The largest advantage we have is our health care [in France.] We are not sure we could afford to return to the U.S., where health care costs are completely out of control." In short, factor the costs of medical care into your overall analysis, because in many cases even the costlier E.U. countries become attractive when the quality and cost of medical care is included in a retiree's projected budget.

Look for the unexpected snafu in your plans: Most American retirees abroad receive their income in U.S. dollars; their expenses are in a foreign currency. Managing this currency risk is one of the most difficult elements of living abroad, and it is likely to be a growing issue, as we enter a period of prolonged dollar weakness.

So, be wise. If you calculate you'll have to live month-to-month on your pension and Social Security payments while in a European city, then consider village life, or one of our lower-cost alternatives, like Thailand, where you'll have enough income to maintain a cash reserve and a fine quality of life. No one, after all, wants to be forced home when the dollar drops 25 percent, as it can sometimes do in a period of just a couple of years.

But there is a means, on our list, to eliminate even the currency risk, if that is your priority. Exotic Panama, that sunny nation in Central America, gateway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, has adopted the U.S. dollar as its official currency. Move there and your assets and liabilities are matched.

So, retire abroad, by all means, for it can be richly rewarding. But do so with eyes wide open.

Best Retirement Havens

© Inti St. Clair/Getty Images

1. Austria

Elegant architecture, classical music, trams that run. Vienna offers the highest quality of life on the globe, according to Mercer, and medical insurers say its private clinics are world-class. Salzburg, Graz and Kitzbuhel and surrounding hamlets have much to offer those who love mountains and the outdoors. Look at Austria as a lower-cost Switzerland.

Downside: No Mediterranean-style love of life. Icy reserve.

© Simon McComb/Getty Images

2. Thailand

Warmly welcoming of retirees and ideal for seniors on modest budgets, Thailand has everything from bungalows on Phuket's blue lagoons to urban living in bustling Bangkok. Considered Asia's best buy for quality health care at reasonable costs. But the good private hospitals are in Bangkok, so make sure your retreat on the water is within three hours of the capital.

Downside: Unpredictable politics.

© Adrian Weinbrecht/Getty Images

3. Italy

Grilled leeks in olive oil and homemade pasta, savored while surrounded by ancient ruins and chatty neighbors: This image of Italy is well-known. Less known is the fact it has one of the world's best health care systems, and great bargains in the Southern parts of the country. Look in provinces like Puglia or Sicily, or in cities like Sorrento, an overlooked urban center on the Amalfi Coast.

Downside: Exhausting and continual bureaucratic opera.

© Digital Vision/Getty Images

4. Panama

Panama has almost everything: year-round sun, low taxes, massive discounts for seniors, first-world amenities, quality private hospitals, bird-filled rainforests, a dollar economy and easy flights from the U.S. Panama City is considered safest of all Central American cities, with worldly buzz because of the canal, and a World Heritage Site.

Downside: Pockets of corruption.

© Andreas Kaspar/iStockphoto.com

5. Ireland

Worth considering now that Ireland's overheated economy is correcting itself. World-class financial hub in Dublin, surrounded by stunning countryside and dramatic Atlantic coastline in the west. Cultural affinity, low taxes and many rebates for seniors make Ireland attractive. Overpriced Dublin reachable in a couple hours from anywhere in the country, so look for housing inland.

Downside: Grappling hard with economic downturn.

See the full list of the Best Retirement Havens