Top 7 Cheap, Easy Foreign Cities to Retire

With the recent turmoil over the debt ceiling debacle, U.S. debt downgrade and soul-sapping market drops, the idea of finding a cheap and easy country to retire, some might say hide, is a somewhat comforting notion.

(Find out what the Top 7 Foreign Cities are.)

International Living magazine has chosen seven “easy” and affordable foreign cities that make for great retirement destinations. The list, revealed in July, favors Central and South America, and outlines some of the costs retirees can expect to pay should they decide to make the move.

To determine which locales were easy to move to, International Living considered how far a city was from the United States, how easy it was to get many of the same goods and services retirees are used to, and whether it already had an established expat community.

The following slides show seven cheap and easy places for retirees to move to, either full- or part-time, with some sample expenses provided by International Living. Expanded sample budgets are available here.

7)  Granada, Nicaragua
Monthly Total:  $2,385

Housing in Granada, the country’s top tourist destination according to International Living, runs between $300 and $500 or a room for suite with a kitchenette. Furthermore, the magazine notes that while the national currency is the cordoba, U.S. dollars are accepted in most places.

Additionally, it’s not hard in Granada to find a doctor who speaks English, and medical care is cheap.

Some sample costs:

• Renting a luxury two-bedroom apartment): $700
• Entertainment (dining out eight times a month plus other activities): $275
• Health care (four $30 visits to a doctor per year for two people): $20

6)  Roatan, Honduras
Monthly Total:  $2,260

Roatan has over 5,000 foreign residents who spend at least part of the year in Honduras, International Living writes, and the past decade has been one of great growth for the country.

“Honduras has all the makings of an attractive retirement haven—lush countryside with beaches and mountains, a tropical climate, a developing economy, a stable government, international airports, safe cities, friendly people, and, most important of all, a very low cost of living,” according to the magazine.

Some sample costs:

• Rent on a two-bedroom, 1,076-square-foot house: $1,200
• Utilities (Electricity with air conditioner, gas and water): $300
• Health insurance for a couple age 55: $250

5)  Lake Chapala, Mexico
Monthly Total: $2,164

International Living argues that Lake Chapala may be “the easiest place in the world to adjust to life as an expat.” It is less than an hour away from Guadalajara, the country’s second-largest city, and only half an hour from Guadalajara’s international airport. As a result, about 15,000 foreign residents from the United States and Canada live there at least part of the year.

There’s a large rental market, so retirees who aren’t ready to buy a home outside the United States will have plenty of options. There are several health clinics that can cater to day-to-day health needs, but for major treatments, retirees would have to travel to Guadalajara.

Some sample costs:

• Rent on a two-bedroom home: $800
• Utilities (Electricity, gas, water, phone, cable TV, Internet): $200
• Health care (Two people on IMSS insurance, plus $70 per month for incidentals):  $112