# What is a good 3rd world country to 'retire' in **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592 "2004-06-10T03:22:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592/21 "2004-06-10T07:13:43Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > New Zealand sounds like it might be good too. NZ is definitely not a third world country. They’d never let you in if you even suggested such a thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592/22 "2004-06-10T08:15:43Z")
Belize requires you to prove you have a guaranteed income of $2K USA per person per month before you are allowed to retire there. I haven’t looked into Costa Rica requirements as yet, but it is on the list. Parts of Mexico look good, but water and electricity are issues. You might find a house with a swimming pool, for instance, but having water available to fill the thing is problematic. As I understand it, local restrictions on depth of wells and use of water are often serious hurdles. And, because a house has AC ductwork and a central air unit doesn’t mean that electricity is available to operate the AC when you want it. Or the lights, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592/23 "2004-06-10T11:04:50Z")
NZ is not a third world country. Their toilets are indoors and they don’t buggar the sheep much anymore . 🙂 Wesley Clark, just cave in and go into one of those retirement communities in Florida. Plaid pants. golf cart. black socks and sandals. You know, secretly, you want to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592/24 "2004-06-10T12:42:12Z")
My first thought was ‘rural Ohio’. My first REAL idea was Costa Rica. Nice place…loads of hummingbirds…relatively stable politically…low cost of living… Did I mention the hummingbirds? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592/25 "2004-06-10T13:41:41Z")
I know NZ isn’t third world but in post #9 i realized that real estate was just as affordable in the developed world as it is in the 3rd world. Only difference is the location, size and age of houses is a little better in Brazil than in places like Ohio. So i’m open to moving to developed nations as well as developing nations. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592/26 "2004-06-10T14:05:34Z")
I’ve gotta second Belize. There is a huge American retiree community, the national language is English, you can take your car in tax free, no taxes on your pension. It’s where we talk about retiring. Check out [www.belize.net](http://www.belize.net) for forums and listings about retiring in Belize. They are very keen to attract retirees and their hard currencies and make it very easy. Plus the place ROCKS. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592/27 "2004-06-10T14:20:29Z")
I too have heard great things about Costa Rica. Lot of Americans down there. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592/28 "2004-06-10T14:29:17Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > NZ is not a third world country. Their toilets are indoors and they don’t buggar the sheep much anymore . This is true. Though we do provide a service for those tourists making sheep jokes. Our biggest and best rams are standing by at the airport. It is said they enjoy doing cavity searches. (p.s we never buggared the sheep…some hard up South Islanders might have buggered them though) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592/29 "2004-06-10T14:38:33Z")
Another vote for Costa Rica. Large American community (10,000 plus) with its own newspaper, low cost of living, big house for little money, and no taxes on pensioners. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-3rd-world-country-to-retire-in/249592.md?page=1)