A few days ago, I posted the results of International Living’s 2010 Annual Retirement Index. Topping this prestigious list are

1. Ecuador
2. Panama
3. Mexico
4. France
5. Italy

Today I’m looking at a very different list: this one includes the 10 Most Suitable Countries for American Expatriates.



According to the website Expatify.com, they considered these important criteria:

• How receptive is the local culture to Americans?

• How popular is the country for American expats already?
• Can you manage speaking only English?
• Is there overlap between local and American customs?
• Ease of finding jobs and affodability?

If you truly want to immerse yourself in a very different culture, this is not the list of countries you should consider. But if you want to go someplace where you can fit in fairly easily, consider the following countries:

1. Argentina

2. Thailand
3. Czech Republic
4. Australia
5. Italy
6. Brazil
7. Spain
8. Mexico
9. South Africa
10. Costa Rica

News Release from International Living

Ecuador tops IL’s Annual Retirement Index for the second year running

For Kent and Christina Zimmerman, leaving Colorado for Cuenca, Ecuador felt like making a huge jump without a net.

But after a year in the country that tops International Living’s 2010 Retirement Index, they’re loving their new lives in Ecuador.

They pay just $300 monthly rent for a rooftop apartment with panoramic views across Cuenca, a colonial center steeped in rich history that earned it a spot as a UNESCO World Heritage city. In fact, say the Zimmermans, they are exactly 55 steps from the city’s colonial heart, the picturesque and lively Parque Calderon, putting them at the hub of every festival that this renowned “City of Festivals” celebrates.



“The pleasure of being in this vibrant city keeps us feeling energized, fit, and young,” says Kent. “Our place has a wonderful penthouse deck looking straight across the street at the sparkling blue-tiled domes of the huge cathedral that anchors the park. The deck has become our outdoor dining room, because the temperature is 70 degrees Fahrenheit all year.”

The healthy, relaxed, and friendly lifestyle the Zimmerman’s found in Cuenca is just one of the reasons Ecuador tops International Living’s Annual Retirement Index for the second year running.

“Ecuador is simply the world’s most affordable retirement haven,” says Eoin Bassett, editor of International Living magazine, which published the complete 2010 Retirement Index in its September issue.

“In Ecuador, there’s something for everyone,” says Bassett, “beaches, rural highlands, jungle escapes, colonial cities. You can find a four-course lunch for $2. A taxi ride in the capital, Quito, costs $1. You can stay in a nice hotel for less than $20 or get a 30-minute massage for $15.”

In addition, says Bassett, Ecuador offers the best-value real estate in Latin America. “You can find a brand-new two-bedroom, two-bath condo—with city or ocean views—for less than $50,000. A hacienda-style home in the mountains lists for $90,000. A high-end home with floor- to-ceiling windows on two acres of hilltop overlooking the Pacific Ocean goes for $83,000.”

But as the Zimmermans and hundreds of other North American expats have found, the real draw is the climate. The beaches are tropical, but in the Andes Mountains, the weather is mild and spring-like. And because Ecuador lies on the equator, the weather is constant year around. In Ecuador you chose your ideal climate simply by choosing your elevation.

In addition to the ideal weather and low cost of living, Ecuador also offers top-notch health care and some appealing benefits for retirees, including half-price airfares and other transportation costs, and big discounts on a variety of other expenses like taxes, utilities, and entertainment.

All these qualities combined to earn Ecuador the #1 spot on International Living’s 2010 Annual Retirement Index.

To determine the Annual Retirement Index, Bassett says 25 countries are analyzed and ranked in categories including real estate costs, special benefits offered to retirees, culture, safety and stability, health care, climate, infrastructure, and cost of living.

“We give top priority to those things that matter most to retirees, such as special retiree benefit programs that include tax breaks and discounts,” says Bassett. “Ecuador first won the top honor in 1999, and it has been high on the list ever since.”

On this year’s Annual Retirement Index, the world’s top five retirement havens are Ecuador, Panama, Mexico, France and Italy.

The United States moved up seven spots on the 2010 Index, reaching #15 for 2010 from a ranking of #22 last year. Total score for the U.S. was hurt by relatively high cost of living and high carrying costs for real estate such as taxes and insurance. The United Kingdom comes in at #22 this year, and Thailand takes #25.

Bassett says that to determine the index rankings, data is analyzed in eight categories from a huge range of sources.

“Then we run the results past our in-country experts for their judgments based on their first-hand experience,” says Bassett. “So it’s not a purely by-the-numbers, scientific call… it’s more nuanced. We’ve crunched the numbers, but we’ve also made adjustments based on what we know to be the reality on the ground.”

“No place gets a perfect score,” says Bassett. “Every place has pros and cons, pockets where living is easier, or cheaper, than another. But all of the countries in our Index have something to offer. Even if they score poorly in a specific category, they’re still the best places in the world to retire that we’ve found.”

The top 10 best places to retire, with possible points out of 100, are:

1. Ecuador – 81

2. Panama – 80

3. Mexico – 79

4. France – 78

5. Italy – 78

6. Uruguay – 77

7. Malta – 76

7. Malta – 76

8. Chile – 76

9. Spain – 75

10. Costa Rica – 75

This is the 18th year that International Living, founded in 1981, has compiled its Annual Retirement Index. See here for the complete 2010 Annual Retirement Index.

What kinds of people leave hearth and home for life in another country?

Here are a few categories I’ve come up with. I’m sure that many expats fit into more than one. I know I do! Let me know if you have a category I’ve missed.

Expats By Necessity

We won’t dwell on the first group — their reasons for expatriating are obvious.

• Military Personnel sent abroad
• Workers whose employers assign them to overseas positions
• Ambassadors and similar government employees sent to represent their country in another

Cultural Expats

The next group includes those who move to another country for what I think of as cultural reasons.

• Missionaries. In this category I include, not just religious missionaries, but anyone with a “mission.” This would include Peace Corps volunteers, people who start orphanages, and the literacy volunteers who try to teach indigenous peoples how to communicate with others around them.
• Students. The student category includes the hordes of college juniors who elect to take part or all of their year abroad as part of their school’s curriculum. It also includes those who wish to immerse themselves in another language or culture. Painters, musicians, writers and other artists who travel for inspiration or to learn how other cultures view the world would also be included in the student category.

Escapists

Next we find the escapists group. These are expats characterized more by what they are getting away from than by what they are moving toward.

• Geographic escapists. These folks want to escape from cold weather to the sunny tropics, from the mountains to the ocean, or from the farms to the cities.
• Social escapists want to break loose from uncomfortable family or social ties at home (or a lack thereof!) to create a new social network elsewhere.
• Economic escapists want to leave a more expensive country for a cheaper one. Many of these are retirees who, like myself, simply can’t afford to retire comfortably in their native land and don’t want to work until they drop. There are also many economic escapists who are still of working age, but want to pursue a career or vocation they might not be able to live on at home, but could afford in a less expensive country. Idealistists who work for non-profit organizations might fit into this category. So would those who believe there is more to life than work, and who feel they can better raise a family and have time for important activities outside of work, in a country where the cost of living is lower and the pace of life is slower.

Adventurers

Although the highest peaks have already been scaled, the Amazon has been explored by westerners, and the deserts have been mapped, there are still many who move abroad because it’s an adventure. While I think there’s a bit of the adventurer in anyone who willingly pursues an expat life, there are some for whom it is the primary reason they leave their home countries.

Opportunists

And, of course, there are always opportunists in any group.

• Business people who see a need they can fill, and/or a fantastic opportunity to make huge amounts of money in another country.
• Investors in real estate, businesses or farmland.
• Tax avoiders or evaders.
• Law dodgers, people who for legal reasons leave their home country to hang out in somebody else’s and hope they won’t be caught and extradited.