Everything Alex writes, in one place

Oct 18, 2026

Moving to Greece as an American retiree starts with €3,500 a month, about $3,940. That's the income Greece's financially independent person permit asks for in 2026, one of the highest bars in southern Europe. Rent is cheap, a 7% flat tax waits for foreign pensioners, and the hard part is a health insurance rule that doesn't accept exclusions.

Oct 18, 2026

A €6 rail card, a 14-day return right and up to €600 for a late flight. The habits are American. The backup is European. Continue reading on THE BORDERLESS »

Oct 17, 2026

A 14-minute video on the ten countries where the average check clears the retiree-visa bar, plus the free spreadsheet to run your own numbers.

Oct 18, 2026

Moving to Vietnam as an American retiree starts with a gap: there's no retirement visa. The longest visa most Americans can get on their own is a 90-day e-visa, $25 for one entry or $50 for several. Prices are among the lowest anywhere, with a one-bedroom in central Ho Chi Minh City at about 15.2 million dong ($585). Staying is the hard part.

Oct 17, 2026

480,167 retired workers get their check outside the US. Where they live, which countries are growing, and what the check averages there. Continue reading on THE BORDERLESS »

Oct 16, 2026

Property registries in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Mexico and Greece, what each costs, and when to pay. Free country guide inside.

Oct 14, 2026

Moving to Colombia as an American retiree starts with a pension of 5,252,715 pesos a month, about $1,640. That's the pensionado visa's floor in 2026: three Colombian minimum wages. It's one of the lower bars in Latin America, but it jumped 23% this year, and the State Department rates the country Level 3.

Oct 16, 2026

Driving to buy milk, running the dryer, adding sales tax in your head. Continue reading on THE BORDERLESS »

Oct 15, 2026

FBI check, birth and marriage certificates: what six consulates ask for, and how fast each paper expires. Free checklist inside.

Oct 14, 2026

Ecuador's retirement visa requirements start with a pension of $1,446 a month. That's three of Ecuador's basic salaries, $482 each in 2026. You get paid in dollars, spend dollars, and never think about an exchange rate. The trade-off is security: parts of the coast sit at the State Department's highest warning level, and curfews came back more than once this year.

Oct 15, 2026

Two doors, and after ten years they cost exactly the same. The exemptions are written into the Social Security Administration’s own manual… Continue reading on THE BORDERLESS »

Oct 14, 2026

Social Security's own count by country, with monthly payments and 15 years of change.

Oct 14, 2026

Moving to the Philippines as an American retiree starts with $15,000, about 943,000 pesos, parked in a Philippine bank. That's the smallest SRRV Classic deposit, for applicants 50 and older with a pension of at least $800 a month. The Philippines doesn't tax your Social Security, and rent outside Manila is low. The hard parts are the parked money, health cover, and a travel advisory that splits the country in two.

Oct 14, 2026

Nearly 7,800 expats were asked one plain question: is it easy to make local friends? Continue reading on THE BORDERLESS »

Oct 13, 2026

Residence permit, permanent residency, citizenship: the official level at each step, and the hours it takes. A free spreadsheet is inside.

Oct 14, 2026

The income test is the part everyone knows. The files that fail usually fail on a date: a background check that turned six months old, a medical letter from four months back, a policy with a copay.

Oct 13, 2026

Ten countries where the average $2,088 check clears the retiree-visa bar, ranked by what it buys there. Then the margin that decides… Continue reading on THE BORDERLESS »

Oct 12, 2026

Where Spain, Portugal, Mexico, the UK and France publish local crime data, and how to read it calmly. A free checklist PDF is inside.

Oct 13, 2026

Moving to France from the US without a job usually means the long-stay visitor visa, and its income bar is the French net minimum wage: €1,477.93 a month (about $1,652) as of October 2026. That's well under Italy's bar. The harder numbers are Paris rent, a health contribution few people expect, and a renewal that comes back every year.

Oct 13, 2026

Every relocation guide tells you to learn the language. This one starts from the truth: most people over fifty never will. Here is where… Continue reading on THE BORDERLESS »

Oct 11, 2026

The US, your new country, or both: what each tax treaty actually says about your benefit. A free country-by-country spreadsheet is attached.

Oct 13, 2026

Moving to Italy from the US without a job runs through one visa, elective residence, and Italy's consulates put its bar at about €31,000 a year per person (about $34,700), all of it passive income. As of October 2026, here's what that buys, what the country charges once you land, and what changed for Americans with Italian grandparents.

Oct 12, 2026

Two of them break French law. Continue reading on THE BORDERLESS »

Oct 10, 2026

Who can join, the yearly cost, and the waiting periods and exclusions, from official sources. A free fee table is attached at the bottom.

Oct 13, 2026

Moving to Thailand as an American retiree comes down to one number: 800,000 baht, about $23,900, sitting in a bank account. That's the money test behind the retirement visa. Rent is cheap, Social Security stays untaxed in Thailand, and the hard parts are insurance and a 2024 tax rule.

Oct 11, 2026

The average check is $2,085.98. Mexico wants more than twice that before it will let you stay. France, of all places, wants less. Continue reading on THE BORDERLESS »

Oct 9, 2026

Deposit caps, minimum lease terms, notice periods and who pays the agent, straight from the law. A free comparison file is at the bottom.

Oct 13, 2026

The government fees are the small part: about $190 per person for Spain's retirement visa, including the FBI check, and about $660 for Mexico's temporary residence, as of October 2026. The real bill is housing deposits, health insurance, flights and shipping, which for one person renting in Spain easily passes $7,000 before the movers send a quote.

Oct 10, 2026

The care is usually good. That was never the real question. Continue reading on THE BORDERLESS »

Oct 9, 2026

Every free checklist and spreadsheet from The Borderless, in one place.

Oct 13, 2026

To get a retirement visa in the five countries Americans ask about most, you need provable income of $1,000 a month (Costa Rica, Panama) to about $4,510 a month (Mexico, at the San Diego consulate), as of October 2026. Living costs are lower than at home in all five, so for Spain and Mexico the visa floor, not the price of groceries, sets the real minimum.

Oct 8, 2026

Residence cards, driver's licenses, the 183-day line and US tax dates for six countries. A free deadline calculator is at the bottom.

Oct 13, 2026

Yes. A US citizen keeps getting Social Security retirement benefits for as long as they live abroad, in every country except nine: Cuba and North Korea, where Treasury rules bar payment, and seven former Soviet republics where SSA restricts it. At the end of 2025, SSA paid 733,078 people outside the US, 480,167 of them retired workers.

Oct 7, 2026

Medicare, health cover, taxes, credit and state residency, with the real deadlines. A free printable checklist is at the bottom.

Oct 13, 2026

By the World Bank's 2024 price levels for household consumption, the cheapest countries to live in the world are Egypt (15.3% of US prices), Nigeria (18.0%), Pakistan (23.3%) and India (23.8%). Of 163 economies with usable figures, 158 were cheaper than the United States; only Vanuatu, the Bahamas, Iceland and Switzerland cost more.

Oct 6, 2026

VAT rates for 25 countries, why residents lose the tourist refund, and a free converter that puts any foreign price tag next to a US one.

Oct 13, 2026

On World Bank price levels, Thailand, the Philippines, Colombia and Ecuador stretch a dollar furthest: consumer prices run 32% to 44% of US levels. Weighed against visa income floors, Ecuador ($1,446 a month), Colombia (about $1,644) and the Philippines ($800 pension plus a $15,000 deposit) are the budget countries where a modest pension clears both tests.

Oct 5, 2026

Money, healthcare, visa, distance, tax treaty, climate and language, scored and weighted. The free worksheet is at the bottom.

Oct 13, 2026

Malaysia and the Philippines are the cheapest countries to live that speak English well: consumer prices were 33% and 36% of US levels in 2025, and they rank 24th and 28th of 123 on the EF English Proficiency Index. The Philippines is the easier door, with a retiree visa for an $800 pension and a $15,000 deposit.

Oct 4, 2026

State residency, Medicare Part B, Social Security, IRS Form 8822, your license and passport. A free countdown spreadsheet is attached.

Oct 13, 2026

If you're a US citizen, yes: you report your worldwide income to the IRS every year, wherever you live, once your gross income passes the filing threshold, which follows the standard deduction ($16,100 for a single filer for 2026). Many people abroad still owe little or nothing, because the foreign earned income exclusion ($132,900 for 2026) or the foreign tax credit cancels most of the bill.

Oct 3, 2026

The address question, the $10,000 FBAR line, Form 8938 and where Social Security lands. A free checklist file is at the bottom.

Oct 13, 2026

The visa is usually the easy part. The harder conversations are with your employer, who has to sign letters, and the IRS, which still wants a return.

Oct 2, 2026

Council tax, TV fees, church tax, trash tax and permit renewals in 8 countries, with official amounts. Free budget file at the bottom.

Oct 13, 2026

The first hard number in any move abroad comes from a consulate, not a cost-of-living site. Then the exchange rate quietly rewrites it.

Oct 1, 2026

Most floors are pegged to a wage or an index, so they move. I checked 12 on official pages. The free tracker file is at the bottom.

Sep 26, 2026

Costa Rica asks less of a retiree than almost anywhere: a $1,000 lifetime pension, fixed in dollars. What it asks instead is patience. The file is filed in San José, the wait is most of a year, and the public health system is universal but slow.

Sep 30, 2026

Visa income, Medicare, Social Security, taxes, pills, pets, tourist days. The official source for each, and a free file with 50 links.

Sep 26, 2026

Mexico is the closest of the popular retirement countries, in both senses: a short flight from most American cities, and a tax treaty that leaves US Social Security to the US. The catch is the visa, which asks for far more than a modest Mexican life costs.

Sep 26, 2026

Panama makes a retiree three unusual offers: a residency that's permanent from the day it's approved, a law that gives retirees discounts on doctors and dinner, and a currency that's already the dollar. The trade-off is heat, and a health insurance market that closes to newcomers around 65.

Sep 26, 2026

Portugal is still one of the easiest places in Europe for an American retiree to get residency. Three things changed around it: Lisbon's rents, the tax break that made it famous, and the wait for a passport.

Sep 26, 2026

I live in Spain, and the Spain in the videos is real. So is the other one: the one where the visa asks for more than the life costs, the tax residency arrives on day 183, and the first apartment is almost never the last.

Sep 26, 2026

Spain is cheaper than the US, and the videos are right about the coffee. They're wrong about the number that matters: what a whole month costs, and which city you can afford on the visa minimum.

Sep 26, 2026

Portugal's visa asks for €920 a month. Lisbon's average one-bedroom costs more than that before you've bought a coffee. The country is still good value, but only if you choose the city first.

Sep 26, 2026

Mexico can be very good value for an American retiree. Three lines decide whether it is for you: the neighborhood you rent in, the health insurance you can still get at your age, and how much air conditioning you run.

Sep 26, 2026

Most of these floors aren't fixed prices. They're formulas tied to a minimum wage or a national index, so the number you read last spring may already be wrong.

Sep 26, 2026

Portugal's income test is the lowest in Western Europe, and it's the easy part. The hard parts are the queue after you land, and a citizenship law that changed in May 2026.

Sep 26, 2026

There is no single Mexican income requirement. Each consulate publishes its own, pegged to a Mexican index, and in 2026 the same application can need $300 a month more in San Diego than in New York.

Sep 26, 2026

Costa Rica's pensionado threshold is one of the lowest anywhere, and it's still fixed in dollars. The file is filed in Costa Rica, not at a consulate, and residency comes with compulsory enrollment in the public health system.

Sep 26, 2026

Panama's retiree visa is the only one on this site that's permanent from the day it's approved. It also comes with a 1987 law that gives retirees discounts on everything from doctors to restaurants.

Sep 26, 2026

The first months are hard in ways you expected. The low point tends to come later, when the setup tasks run out, and the country you picked decides how long it lasts.

Sep 26, 2026

Costa Rica is two countries at two prices: the Central Valley towns where retirees live on a modest pension, and the beach towns priced for tourists. Pick the country before you pick the house.

Sep 26, 2026

Panama removes the exchange-rate risk that every European move carries: it runs on the dollar. What it adds is heat. In Panama City the biggest variable in a budget is how much air conditioning you run.

Sep 26, 2026

Keeping Part B abroad costs $2,434.80 a year for coverage you can only use on visits home. Dropping it costs nothing until you come back. The two doors have exact prices, and the rules decide which one you're standing at before you do.

Sep 26, 2026

Premiums rise with age, and that part is only money. The entry age is the harder number: a birthday after which an insurer won't write you a new policy at all, and it often arrives before people get around to moving.

Sep 26, 2026

You don't arrive inside Spain's public system. You arrive next to it, on a private policy the consulate insists on, and the route in has a waiting year and a price that changes at 65.

Sep 26, 2026

Spanish tax residency arrives automatically on day 183, whether or not you noticed. After that you file two returns every year, and one Spanish form about your American money catches more newcomers than anything else.

Sep 26, 2026

Most lists rank the view. This one ranks what holds up in a bad year, then checks whether an American without a job offer can actually get in.

Sep 26, 2026

The deposit, the minimum term, the notice you owe and who pays the agent are set by law in most places Americans move to. The listing rarely says so.

Sep 26, 2026

On price levels alone, the four countries are nearly interchangeable. On health care, visas and who's already there, they're nothing alike.

Sep 26, 2026

Private insurance gets you through the visa. By year two or three the better question is whether you can get into the public system, how long it makes you wait, and what it leaves out.

Sep 26, 2026

In most places Americans retire to, the prices say yes. The visa income floor is the test that actually sorts the list, and two popular countries set it above the average check.

Sep 26, 2026

Your US accounts don't close because you board a plane. What changes them is the address you give the bank, and what follows you is a $10,000 reporting line.

Sep 26, 2026

None of these clocks knows about the others. Each office explains its own deadline, usually well. Nobody puts them on the same page, so here they are, from passport control to the second April.

Sep 26, 2026

The arithmetic is short and uncomfortable. It's also the most useful planning number most people abroad never work out, and the lever that moves it most isn't the one people reach for first.

Sep 26, 2026

Most retire-abroad budgets assume a couple. On your own, the country's openness matters more than the rent, and the first three months decide whether anyone would notice if something went wrong.

Sep 26, 2026

Some clocks stop while you're abroad, some keep running, and one follows you home and stays for life. No single office tells you about the others, so here they are in the order I'd deal with them.

Sep 26, 2026

The US keeps its claim on a citizen's benefit almost everywhere. Whether your new country adds a second claim comes down to one verb in one treaty paragraph.

Sep 26, 2026

Moving abroad doesn't end your US tax return. It adds a second one, or in some countries a very light one. Which of those you get depends on a treaty article almost nobody reads before they move.

Sep 26, 2026

None of these papers is expensive. What makes them hard is that each one expires on its own clock, and the fast ways to get them only work while you still live in the US.

Sep 26, 2026

There are three gates: the first permit, permanent residence and the passport. Most countries leave the first one open, and in 2026 several made the last one harder.

Sep 26, 2026

All four fit inside an average Social Security check. They split on the things that matter over twenty years: whether the floor rises, whether your dollars get converted, and whether you can use the public health system.