Top 10 Best Foreign Countries for Retirement: 2013

Many groups and publications offer help in finding the best place to spend those retirement years. Obviously, everyone has an idea of what makes for paradise, but there are criteria that can help with the decision.

Two years ago, we looked at the Top 7 Cheap, Easy Foreign Cities to Retire as enumerated by International Living magazine. This year, we are revisiting the idea of foreign locales, this time by country.

International Living has rated countries on eight categories: real estate, special benefits, cost of living, ease of integration for foreigners, entertainment and amenities, health care, retirement infrastructure and climate.

The magazine looked at cost for a variety of things from Internet connections to food and talked to foreigners who have made the move to measure out more subjective parameters like how easy it is to make friends.

Of the 22 countries rated, the Dominican Republic finished at the bottom with an average score of 71. To find out which countries were highly rated, check out the Top 10 Best Foreign Countries for Retirement:

10. MALTA: 80.1

Real Estate: 87
Special Benefits: 72
Cost of Living: 81
Integration: 100
Entertainment & Amenities: 68
Health: 82
Retirement Infrastructure: 77
Climate: 75

Boasting a climate typical of the Mediterranean, the 415,000 residents of the Maltese islands enjoy warm winters and hot, dry summers. Malta became independent in 1974, ending nearly two centuries of British rule. The nation joined the European Union in 2004. The economy is driven by tourism, industry and services.

9. THAILAND: 82.3

Real Estate: 82
Special Benefits: 57
Cost of Living: 97
Integration: 87
Entertainment & Amenities: 96
Health: 81
Retirement Infrastructure: 77
Climate: 81

Equal in size to Spain, Thailand is the only nation in Southeast Asia not to be colonized by the European colonial powers. Its 65 million citizens live by constitutional monarchy. Temperatures range from 66 to 100 degrees, and the year can be divided into two seasons: hot and cool. Exports account for 60% of the country’s GDP.

8. SPAIN: 82.5

Real Estate: 87
Special Benefits: 57
Cost of Living: 80
Integration: 83
Entertainment & Amenities: 96
Health: 80
Retirement Infrastructure: 93
Climate: 83

Spain, home to 50 million citizens, has three distinct climate zones: Mediterranean, semiarid and oceanic. This diversity offers weather to suit everyone. With nearly 5,000 miles of beaches, the country, ruled by parliamentary monarchy, has plenty of places to kick back and relax.

7. COLOMBIA: 83.0

Real Estate: 94
Special Benefits: 75
Cost of Living: 70
Integration: 90
Entertainment & Amenities: 82
Health: 84
Retirement Infrastructure: 83
Climate: 86

One thing Colombia has in common with the U.S. is that it has coasts on both the Pacific and the Atlantic, the only South American nation that can claim that distinction. Situated near the equator, Colombia has five climate zones inluding steppes, tropical rain forests, savannahs and mountain climate. The country lives under republican rule.

6. URUGUAY: 83.7

Real Estate: 87
Special Benefits: 72
Cost of Living: 69
Integration: 83
Entertainment & Amenities: 94
Health: 91
Retirement Infrastructure: 82
Climate: 86

Located on the east coast of South America, Uruguay is the size of Oklahoma. The country has 120 miles of Atlantic coastline, low plateau and a rolling plain. The constitutional republic has 3.3 million residents and variable weather with cool winters and warm to hot summers depending on location.