Best Places to Retire Abroad in 2026 (Visas, Taxes, Healthcare, Costs, Safety)

Monthly income will also not be authenticated by the US consulate in Thailand. Same problems.

Something not many channels explain is the weather. Not just the climate but for allergies and asthma sufferers. I'm Aussie, when I spent some time in Tasmania over spring/summer I was surprised by my allergy flare ups. Doctors all said the same thing that it's high pollen there because of the environment, so even though I was in the city of Hobart it really affected me. I have also been cautious when visiting Thailand during their burn off (rice farms?).

Explanation on malaysian visa :
1. There are currently 4 long term visas in malaysia.
MM2H peninsula, MM2H sarawak, MM2H sabah, SEZ special economic zone between singapore and johor state.
Of course other visas are education, medical tourism, digital nomad visa. Malaysia does not give citizenship easily (naturalisation). So most are PR level.

For language, try time kettle.

Would you trade lower taxes for safer streets + better healthcare – yes or no?

I hate to be down on Europe, but the whole continent is in a bit of a mess economically. There is also growing resentment in Portugal towards expats, which is where I have been mainly based. It wasn't like this five years ago. The common theme is locals being priced out housing.

What about Ireland?

Kristen, we love your content, but please stop putting Portugal in these top lists.

In reality, Portugal is a nightmare, it's an extremely dysfunctional country. I moved here 3 years ago with a dream to make Portugal our new home, set up a company here, but the happiness didn't last. It took me over 1 year to get my first residence permit, then family reunion was another horror story which again took over a year. Both times, I had to file a court case, "JUST TO GET A SIMPLE SEF/AIMA APPOINTMENT".

You mentioned Portugal has one of the most advanced healthcare, in reality, it's utter garbage, we pay a hefty amount each month for private health insurance because the public healthcare is simply non-existent. We had the opportunity to visit public hospitals a couple of times, each time it was late night in the ER, there was no rush, hardly any patients, yet the waiting time was over 8 hours in both cases, and this was in the kids ER.

Hate against immigrants is on all time high, government is changing the citizenship laws from 5 years to 10 years, but in reality considering the sluggish systems here, 10 years would actually mean 14-15 years if someone's lucky! Plus the hate from the government level is so extreme that they've now even refused to count the time 'From residence permit application to first residence permit issuance" towards citizenship. It means AIMA can take 1 year or 3 years to issue your first residence permit, but this delay, which is a complete failure and incompetency of AIMA, will not be counted in the citizenship clock, which makes the actual citizenship even 14-15+. See how unfair this country is. There is not even any grandfathering clause in the new nationality law, RIP legitimate expectations!

The justic system and law & order is another joke, so many immigrants have faced the worst violent crimes yet most never get any justice. Police knows no one is going to raise any voice in the favor of immigrants, so they simply ignore it, a lot of crime is simply not recorded in order to keep the crime rate figures low, so Portugal can keep attracting more tourists posing as 7th safest country in the world. It's not a safe country.

There is a whole Facebook group called 'Portugal Propaganda' where people share their real life horror stories in Portugal, I wish I had found this group before moving to Portugal.

I would never want anyone to go through what we and countless other immigrants are going through. So, it's my humble request, please stop promoting Portugal, anyone who follows your advice and moves there will regret.

Bureaucracy is another nightmare.

Long story short, after wasting over 3 years and a TON of money in taxes, social security, rent and so much more, we're now in the process of leaving Portugal and start from scratch.

11:00 Great video as always. 😊 Re Spain, you’re right to point it out as a desirable place to live (retired or not!) but it’s important for retirees thinking about Spain to know that a few things are a bit different than described here. (1) Healthcare is not free for anyone, foreign residents included. Private health insurance isn’t optional, it’s a visa requirement, so you’ll need to pay a year’s premiums up front for a full-coverage Spanish policy with no copays or limitations. After one year, you can optionally buy into the public health system with the ‘convenio especial’ which costs less than 200€ per month, but is not ‘free’. Spanish health insurance (public or private) also does not cover prescriptions, so you’ll pay full price for them at the pharmacy. Most are inexpensive, but some are very pricey. (A friend paid over 800€ per month for one medication!) So you’ll need to research that carefully before committing to Spain as a retirement destination. (2) Tax rates are up to 47% and that threshold is relatively low by US standards, 60K€/year and up. But it’s very important to know that just like the US, Spain has a graduated tax system. If your income is over 60K€ per year, you’ll pay the top rate only on the portion over 60K€. (3) The “wealth tax” wasn’t mentioned, but high net worth folks need to know that there are two: one national, and one regional. The national (‘solidarity’ tax) applies to everyone with over 3M€ in worldwide assets. The regional (‘wealth’ tax) has a threshold that varies depending on region, and some regions have none at all. Both taxes are pretty low %, so only people with very large asset portfolios will pay more than a few thousand a year … but you’ll need to decide if the Spanish lifestyle is worth that for you personally. (You must at least visit. Some people find it a paradise, others can’t stand the slow pace of life.) I’m sure Kristin will go into all these details in the coming video series! Muchas gracias Kristin! 🇪🇸 Viva España

19:21 As someone who has lived in one of the ‘dangerous’ banlieus for three years, please do not believe this line about France having become a very unsafe place and Paris being some kind of crime-ridden hellscape. It’s laughably untrue. (OTOH the cost of living is very off the mark, unless you’re in a small village or an outer suburb — 3000 will not even cover rent plus food in some parts of Paris.)