Algarve named “best place in the world to retire” for second year
For the second year running, the Algarve has been named the “best place in the world to retire to” by the Live and Invest Overseas website.
“It boasts a low cost of living, great weather, an established expat community and a new retiree residency program,” writes Kathleen Peddicord, the website’s publisher, cited by Forbes magazine.
The travel expert stresses how a one-bedroom apartment near the beach can cost $100,000 (around €90,000) and that “you can get by speaking English only”.
“Thanks to a strong US dollar and recessed and depressed property markets, this is the best time perhaps in our lifetimes to be thinking about owning digs of your own in locations of particular interest to the retiree. Europe, especially, is a bargain of our age,” stresses Peddicord.
The ranking is based on numbers for 12 categories “that represent the most important criteria retirees must consider when shopping the globe for the best places to live out their retirement,” including cost of living, climate, health care, safety, taxes and the existence of an expat community.
The data is then “supplemented with on-the-ground reporting” from the website’s correspondents.
The top-nine list is as follows:
1- Algarve, Portugal
2- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
3- Cayo, Belize
4- Languedoc, France
5- Abruzzo, Italy
6- Medellin, Colombia
7- Hua Hin, Thailand
8- Chiang Mai, Thailand
9- Cuenca, Ecuador
Source: http://portugalresident.com