Ecuador, the best place to enjoy retirement

According to a story published in Liberasion American and European retirees who want to run a quiet life should pack their bags and head to Ecuador. At least this is what proves the the Annual Retirement Index of the U.S. magazine International Living. France is in 6th position for one of the best places to retire and appears as the second ranking European country after Italy (5th).

The magazine has a story about how a one U.S. dollar can go a long way in Ecuador. "Everything is so inexpensive that no-one wants to deal with bills larger than ones. Using a $20 bill in Ecuador is akin to trying to use a $100 bill in Colorado to buy a candy bar; it can be done but it’s not easy. As for using $50 or $100 bills--don’t even try!"

Latin America seems to be a haven for retirees. Mexico comes second after Ecuador and is followed by Panama (3rd). Uruguay takes the fourth best place for retirement.

After Italy and France, Brazil and Argentina tie the seventh place in rankings. Much hyped Costa Rica shares the 8th place with Australia.

In Europe, only Italy (5th) and France (6th) manage to find a place in this Latin America plebiscite, writes the paper. The United Kingdom gets the 30th place. This is the last place in the rankings of best places for retirement that UK shares with South Africa, particularly because of the cost of real estate in UK.

This ranking of where to retire is based on a study of 30 countries and reviewed several criteria such as cost of housing, services reserved for pensioners, climate, security, health system and the cost of living.

Written by Armen Hareyan
Materials from Liberasion and International Living are used in this story.