In 2026, retirement visa income requirements run from $1,000 a month in Costa Rica and Panama to $4,510 a month at Mexico’s consulate in San Diego. Both ends show up on lists of affordable places to retire. The average American retirement benefit, $2,086 a month in July 2026, passes the test in seven of the eleven countries below that set a monthly income floor, and misses in four.
Most of these floors work like formulas: a share of a minimum wage, a multiple of a national index, or an amount in euros or baht that turns into a different dollar figure every morning. Learn the number and you’ll be out of date by January. Learn what it’s tied to and you’ll see the change coming.
This page puts thirteen countries in one table, with what each floor is pegged to and what you can show instead of income. Every figure was checked on an official page in September 2026. Where a country has its own page on this site, the name links to it.
The retirement visa income requirements, side by side
One applicant, per month unless noted. Dollar figures use late-September 2026 rates: €1 ≈ $1.14, 17.2 Mexican pesos, 33.48 baht and 3,329.61 Colombian pesos to the dollar.
| Country | Visa | Income floor | Tied to | Instead of income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | Non-Lucrative Visa | €2,400 (about $2,740) | 400% of IPREM, a public index stuck at €600 since 2023 | Savings for the year: €28,800 (about $32,800) |
| Portugal | D7 | €920 (about $1,050) | 100% of the minimum wage | Funds covering 12 months: €11,040 (about $12,600) |
| Italy | Elective Residence | €31,000 a year, about €2,583 a month ($2,945) | No figure in law; consulates publish it | None listed; a salary never counts |
| Greece | Financially Independent Person | €3,500 net (about $3,990) | A 2024 ministerial decision | Bank deposits, assessed yearly: €42,000 a year (about $47,900); ask how many years’ worth |
| France | Long-stay visitor | €1,477.93 net (about $1,685) | The net minimum wage, SMIC | Not stated on the official pages |
| Mexico | Temporary Resident | $4,200 (New York) to $4,510 (San Diego); Houston: 680 UMA days | UMA, Mexico’s reference unit | $71,500 to $75,950 average balance over 12 months |
| Costa Rica | Pensionado | $1,000 lifetime pension | Fixed in dollars | Rentista: $2,500 a month guaranteed for two years ($60,000 in all) |
| Panama | Pensionado | $1,000 lifetime pension | Fixed in dollars | $750 pension if you own Panamanian property worth over $100,000 |
| Colombia | M Pensionado | COP 5,252,715 (about $1,578) | Three monthly minimum wages | None: a lifetime pension only |
| Ecuador | Temporary residence, retiree | $1,446 | Three basic salaries (SBU, $482 in 2026) | None on this route |
| Thailand | Non-Immigrant O-A, age 50+ | 65,000 baht (about $1,941) | Fixed in baht | 800,000 baht in a Thai bank (about $23,895), or a mix |
| Malaysia | MM2H | No income test | Fixed in dollars | Deposit of $150,000 (Silver tier), or $32,000 at 50+ in the special zone, plus a property purchase |
| Philippines | SRRV Classic, age 50+ | No income test; an $800 lifetime pension lowers the deposit | Fixed in dollars | Deposit of $15,000 with that pension, $30,000 without |
Two rows need a footnote.
Malaysia’s cheap tier is narrow. The $32,000 deposit applies only in the special economic zone, and the MM2H program’s own page ties it to a home in Forest City, Johor. The Silver tier, open anywhere, wants $150,000 on deposit and a property of at least RM600,000, about $146,800.
The Philippines is a deposit visa with a pension discount. The Philippine Retirement Authority asks $15,000 from applicants 50 or older who can show a lifetime pension of at least $800 a month ($1,000 with dependents), and $30,000 from those who can’t. Between 40 and 49 it’s $25,000 and $50,000.
What $2,086 a month clears
Hold the average benefit against the table.
It clears Portugal, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia and France with room to spare. It clears Thailand by $145, which is closer than it looks when the baht moves.
It falls short in Spain by about $650 a month, in Italy by about $860, in Greece by about $1,900, and in Mexico by $2,100 to $2,400.
Four misses. Two are huge.
Mexico is the one to think about. The Social Security Administration pays 36,095 retired workers there, more than in any other country on this list. Mexico also accepts savings instead of income, $71,500 to $75,950 held over twelve months, and for anyone on an ordinary pension that’s the realistic door.
Most floors are formulas, and they move on dates you can circle
Only four countries on the list hold still for someone paid in dollars: Costa Rica, Panama, Malaysia and the Philippines. Everywhere else, the floor moves on a schedule, with the exchange rate, or both.
Mexico, every February. The statistics office sets the UMA each January and it takes effect February 1. For 2026 it’s 117.31 pesos a day, 3.69% above 2025. Houston writes its floor in those units: 680 UMA days a month, which is MXN 79,770.80, about $4,640 at 17.2 pesos. Same visa as New York’s $4,200. Different arithmetic.
Portugal, every January 1. The D7 follows the minimum wage, €920 in 2026. The government’s agreement with employers and unions targets €970 for 2027. If that becomes law, the floor rises to about $1,105, a 5.4% jump on one date.
Colombia, every January 1, and every weekday. The minimum wage is set by decree each year: COP 1,750,905 for 2026, so three of them make COP 5,252,715. Then the peso does the rest. On September 22 that floor cost $1,645. Three days later it cost $1,578. Nobody changed a rule.
Ecuador, every January 1. The labor ministry sets the basic salary each December. Three of them, $1,446, is the floor.
France, every January 1, and sometimes mid-year. The minimum wage rises automatically when prices climb at least 2% since the last increase. That happened on June 1, 2026.
Spain, whenever Spain passes a budget. IPREM has sat at €600 a month since the 2023 budget law, which keeps rolling over because no newer budget has passed. It could change in January. It could not.
Greece, Italy and Thailand have no schedule, but your dollar figure moves with the euro and the baht. Every 5% the euro gains adds about $200 a month to Greece’s floor in dollars, and about $137 to Spain’s.
My own rule, not the consulates’: if you clear a floor by less than 5%, assume it may stop clearing it on a date you can already name.
What counts as income, according to the pages that decide
Social Security is named outright in three places: Spain’s Washington consulate, Italy’s San Francisco consulate and Mexico’s Houston consulate. Everywhere else it’s covered by the word “pension.”
“For life” is a real condition. Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia want a pension paid for life. Panama accepts one from a foreign government, an international organization or a private company; Colombia, one granted by a State or a private pension fund.
Rental income is a smaller club. Portugal names income from property, and Italy’s Boston consulate names property income, trusts and investment funds. Greece’s decree doesn’t list rent for the monthly test.
Work income splits the list. Italy won’t count a salary at all, and Greece doesn’t allow work or business in Greece on this permit. Mexico’s Houston consulate, on the other hand, accepts pension or employment income.
Gross or net matters more than people expect. Greece counts net income. Mexico wants income after tax. Most US pension letters show gross. Check yours.
None of these official pages names a 401(k) or an IRA. Where the rule says lifetime pension, a withdrawal you control is hard to present as one. Where the rule accepts savings, the balance may do more work than the withdrawal.
Couples: every country has its own formula
| Country | Spouse or partner | Each child or other dependent |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | +€600 a month (couple: €3,000, about $3,420) | +€600 |
| Portugal | +50% (couple: €1,380, about $1,570) | +30% (€276) |
| Greece | +20% (couple: €4,200, about $4,790) | +15% |
| Mexico (Houston) | +220 UMA days, about MXN 25,808 ($1,500) | the same |
| Panama | +$250, and spouses can combine two pensions | +$250 |
| Ecuador | +$250 | +$250 |
| Philippines | covered by the deposit, up to two dependents | +$15,000 each beyond two |
Italy’s consulates phrase it per applicant (Boston) and per person (New York). The cautious reading for a couple is twice the figure, €62,000 a year (about $70,700), until your consulate tells you otherwise in writing.
Three things people get wrong about these floors
“The floor is what it costs to live there.” It’s a legal minimum, not a budget. Spain’s floor is above what a single person needs in Valencia; Portugal’s is below the rent on a Lisbon one-bedroom. The floor is the line the state draws. The life costs what it costs.
“Savings count everywhere.” They don’t. Colombia, Ecuador and the pensionado routes in Costa Rica and Panama want a pension that arrives every month. A balance shows what you have. An award letter shows what arrives, and those routes want the second.
“If I clear it once, I’m done.” Most of these permits come up for renewal, and the test comes back with them. Spain’s renewal now also requires that you lived in the country for more than 183 days of the year. Panama’s pensionado is the exception: the permit is indefinite from approval.
What the table can’t show you
The requirement is a number. The process is a queue, and the queue is where files come back.
Documents expire on their own clocks. Spain won’t take an FBI check older than six months or a medical certificate older than 90 days, and the apostille alone can use up five of those weeks. The order matters, and it’s laid out in the documents to apostille before you leave.
The same national rule gets read differently by different consulates. Mexico’s sheets differ by $310 a month for the same visa in the same year. Italy has no figure in law at all. Use the page of the consulate that covers where you live, not another one.
And the first permit is the easy gate. Several of these countries test the language later, at permanent residence or citizenship; Portugal’s nationality law, in force since 19 May 2026, now asks Americans for ten years of residence and knowledge of Portuguese language, history and culture. That’s covered in language requirements for residency and citizenship.
Plenty of people file alone. If your income is mixed, paid from a trust, or near a floor, an hour with an immigration lawyer before you file costs less than a refusal. I don’t have an arrangement with any lawyer or agency.
How to check a floor yourself
It takes about ten minutes a country.
- Open the page of the consulate that covers your address. Not a relocation blog, not another consulate.
- Write down the peg, not the amount: “400% IPREM,” “680 UMA days,” “3 SMMLV.”
- Look up today’s value of the peg where it’s published: Spain’s official gazette, Portugal’s labor ministry, Mexico’s statistics office, Colombia’s presidency decrees, Ecuador’s labor ministry.
- Convert at the official rate on the day you check, not the one you remember.
- Look for an announced change. Portugal’s €970 is the one on the table right now.
- Compare it with what your pension letter will actually show, gross or net, whichever the page asks for.
Step 2 is the one people skip.
The guides in this section
- Latin America retirement visas: Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Colombia side by side, including which one lets you use the public health system.
- Documents to apostille before moving abroad: the FBI check, state certificates, and how fast each one expires.
- Language requirements for residency and citizenship: what ten countries test at each step, and what changed in 2026.
Country by country, with the full file and calendar: Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama. If you’re still deciding where your money goes furthest, start with retiring abroad on $2,000 a month.
I’ll recheck these rows when the indices reset in January. Before you file anything, confirm the current figure with the office that will actually read your file.