| Country | $2,086 is worth | Healthcare / year | Residency floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | $7,039 | $270 | no retirement visa |
| Thailand | $6,750 | $106 | 800,000 baht in a Thai bank, or 65,000 baht a month |
| Malaysia | $6,587 | $535 | a $150,000 deposit (Silver tier), or $32,000 at 50+ in the special zone |
| Bali | $6,479 | $129 | no retirement visa |
| Philippines | $5,761 | $249 | a deposit of $15,000 to $50,000 |
| Colombia | $5,511 | $250 | about $1,640 a month |
| Turkiye | $5,452 | $337 | no retirement visa |
| Ecuador | $4,633 | $382 | $1,446 a month |
| Panama | $4,082 | $1,342 | $1,000 a month |
| Mexico | $3,535 | $564 | $4,200–4,510 a month over six months, or $71,500–75,950 held for twelve |
| Greece | $3,455 | $1,185 | €3,500 a month |
| Portugal | $3,449 | $1,371 | €920 a month |
| Costa Rica | $3,275 | $465 | $1,000 a month |
| Spain | $3,275 | $1,029 | €2,400 a month |
| Italy | $3,083 | $1,151 | €31,000 a year |
| Dubai | $2,989 | $360 | no retirement visa |
| Uruguay | $2,863 | $536 | no retirement visa |
| France | $2,688 | $622 | about €1,478 a month |
How much does it cost to move abroad?
The visa and paperwork cost a few hundred dollars; deposits and the first months turn a move into several thousand. The number that decides whether you can stay is monthly, not one-off — and against published price levels the average US retirement benefit of $2,086 is worth $7,039 a month in Vietnam and $3,449 in Portugal. Of 66 countries measured, all but two return more than the same money does at home.
This site prices that question country by country. Every figure names the dataset it came from — World Bank price levels and health spending, the Social Security Administration's own payment counts, the income floor each immigration service publishes. Where a number is an estimate rather than a measurement, the page says so.
I'm Alex Carter. American, living in Spain. The country guides below are written and fact-checked by hand, with every figure tied to its official source and the date it was checked. How I check the numbers
Full country guides
Visa, real monthly budgets, healthcare and taxes, each checked against official sources.
Spain
Visa: €2,400 a month
The visa asks for more than the life costs. Three real budgets, the public door at €157, and taxes from day 184.
Portugal
Visa: €920 a month
The easiest visa in Western Europe, Lisbon rents level with Madrid's, and citizenship now ten years away.
Mexico
Visa: about $4,200–4,510 a month
Each consulate sets its own number. The treaty leaves your Social Security to the US.
Costa Rica
Visa: $1,000 lifetime pension
A low bar fixed in dollars, filed in San José, with the Caja compulsory and pensions untaxed.
Panama
Visa: $1,000 lifetime pension
Permanent from approval, discounts written into law, and the dollar as currency.
Colombia
Colombia's pensioner visa asks a pension of about $1,640 a month in 2026, up 23% in pesos in a year. Rent in Medellín and Bogotá, healthcare and safety.
Ecuador
Ecuador's retirement visa asks a pension of $1,446 a month in 2026, three basic salaries. Rent in Cuenca and Quito, IESS healthcare, taxes and safety.
France
France's long-stay visitor visa asks €1,477.93 a month ($1,652). Public healthcare after 3 months, how Social Security is taxed, and Paris vs Toulouse rents.
Greece
Greece's retirement visa asks €3,500 a month (about $3,940) in 2026. The 7% pension tax, the insurance rule, and rent in Athens and Thessaloniki, checked.
Italy
Italy's elective residence visa asks about €31,000 a year per person, all passive. The 7% southern tax, healthcare fees and 2025 citizenship rules, checked.
Philippines
The Philippines retirement visa (SRRV) asks a $15,000 deposit at 50+ with an $800 pension. Rent in Manila and Davao, PhilHealth, taxes and safety in 2026.
Thailand
Thailand's retirement visa asks 800,000 baht (about $23,900) in the bank and $100,000 health cover. What rent, taxes and the five visas look like in 2026.
Vietnam
Vietnam has no retirement visa. Americans stay on a 90-day e-visa ($25 or $50). What rent in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, taxes and healthcare cost in 2026.
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Start with your question
One page each. The answer is in the first two sentences, the figures are underneath it.
- How Much Does It Cost to Move Abroad? The Fees Are Small. The Deposits Aren't.Government fees to move abroad run about $190 a person in Spain and $660 in Mexico in 2026. Deposits, insurance and shipping make up the rest of the bill.
- How Much Money Do You Need to Retire Abroad? Two Numbers, and the Visa Usually Sets the Higher OneRetirement visas ask $1,000 to $4,510 a month in 2026. The income floors for Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama, and what a month costs there.
- Can I Collect Social Security If I Live Abroad? Yes, Everywhere but 9 CountriesYes: US citizens collect Social Security abroad in all but 9 countries. Where payments stop, the 6-month rule for non-citizens, and direct deposit, 2026.
- The Cheapest Countries to Live In: 163 Economies Ranked by World Bank Price LevelsEgypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and India top the World Bank's 2024 price levels at 15% to 24% of US prices. What the index measures and where it misleads.
- The Best Countries to Live On a Budget, and What Each One Asks Before It Lets You Stay8 budget countries for Americans with 2026 visa floors: Panama and Costa Rica ask $1,000 a month, Mexico about $4,200. Prices, health rules, downsides.
- The Cheapest Countries to Live That Speak English, With the Visa Each One Asks ForMalaysia and the Philippines pair strong English with prices near a third of US levels. EF ranks, 2025 World Bank prices and the visa route for 7 countries.
- Do I Pay Taxes If I Live Abroad? Yes, a US Return Every Year, and Often $0 OwedUS citizens abroad still file once income passes $16,100 (single, 2026). The $132,900 exclusion, the tax credit, FBAR at $10,000 and the state trap.
Or start with a country
What $2,086 a month buys there, what a year of healthcare costs out of pocket, and what residency asks you to prove. Sorted by how far the money goes.
30 country pages in total. Each one answers a single question about a single place.
Or start with a topic
- Cost of LivingWhat your money is actually worth, country by country, against published price levels.Main page: Best Countries to Retire on Social Security: What $2,086 a Month Really Buys
- Visas & ResidencyThe income floor each country sets, what it is pegged to, and what else the file has to show.Main page: Retirement Visa Income Requirements in 2026: 13 Countries, From $1,000 a Month to $4,510
- Healthcare & InsuranceWhat care costs, what Medicare does not cover, and the age at which insurers stop selling.Main page: What Healthcare Actually Costs Abroad: Out-of-Pocket Spending in 56 Countries
- Money & BudgetsWhat a fixed budget buys abroad, where Americans actually go, and what the multiplier hides.Main page: Money When You Move Abroad: The Visa Number, the Real Budget, and the Exchange Rate Nobody Plans For
- Remote WorkRemote work visas, income thresholds, and the tax residency question that costs more than the visa.Main page: Working Remotely From Abroad as an American: Six Visa Income Floors, the $132,900 Exclusion, and the Employer Problem
- Settling InMaking local friends, feeling at home, and the month where it most often breaks.Main page: Where It Is Easiest to Make Local Friends Abroad, by the Survey Data
- TaxesTwo tax systems at once: what the US still taxes, what the new country taxes, and the forms that catch people.Main page: Retiring Abroad and Taxes: What the US Keeps Taxing, What the New Country Takes, and Four Forms
Where the numbers come from
Cost of living
Price level ratios published by the World Bank's International Comparison Program — actual prices for a comparable basket, measured by statistical agencies. Not a crowdsourced index of what people think they spend.
Healthcare
World Bank health expenditure series: out-of-pocket spending per person per year, and the share of national health spending that falls on individuals. The second number is the one that tells you how exposed you are.
The $2,086
The Social Security Administration's average monthly benefit for retired workers. It is used throughout as a fixed yardstick so that countries can be compared against each other rather than against themselves.
Visa income floors
Taken from each country's published requirement, with the index it is pegged to named — IPREM in Spain, the minimum wage in Portugal and Colombia, the Basic Unified Salary in Ecuador. They move when the index moves, usually every January.
This is journalism, not advice. Nothing here is legal, tax, immigration or financial advice, and requirements change without notice — check the official source before you act on any of it. More about how this is put together.
The books
The long versions: Spain's visa file document by document, retiring on $2,000 a month in 14 countries, and what happens in the years after a move.
Checklists and spreadsheets
All PDFs →The working files behind the guides: visa checklists, budget sheets, country tables.
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Moving to Spain: The Printable Checklist (2026)
Free 3-page checklist for the Spanish Non-Lucrative Visa from the US: every document the consulate checks, the three that expire, and a month-by-month countdown.
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Spreadsheet
How Far a US Social Security Check Goes Worldwide
Every country Americans move to, ranked by what the same Social Security check actually buys there. World Bank price levels, one spreadsheet.
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Spreadsheet
Healthcare Cost Abroad: What People Actually Pay
Out-of-pocket cost per person, total health spending and the share people pay themselves, for every country Americans move to. World Bank data.
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Spreadsheet
Best Countries for Americans to Move To in 2027: Resilience Ranking
60 countries Americans actually move to, scored on eleven public measures: whether a country gets through a bad year, and whether you'd want to live there in a good one.
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Verify Your Landlord by Country
How to check that a landlord abroad actually owns the place: the property registry in each country.
Get it freeA letter when a number changes
Visa floors move every January and insurers change their age limits without announcing it. About one email a week, sent through Substack. Unsubscribe with one click.