Overseas Retirement Can Change Your Life…We’ve Got 40 Years of Proof

This year, International Living is celebrating 40 years in business. For four decades, we’ve been extolling the virtues of a retirement overseas. And there has never been a better time to discover how living, working, and retiring abroad can change your life for the better.

You have more (and better) options for an overseas retirement today than ever before. From Latin America to Europe to Southeast Asia, we have systematically gown our network of on-the-ground expats and experts, which has allowed us to dig deeper and extend our reach more widely across the globe…all in the name of seeking out the best destinations on the planet for travel, comfortable living, and retirement.

In this, our 40-year anniversary issue, we revisit Ecuador in our cover story—a destination that’s long been a favorite among our editors and readers. Winner of IL’s Annual Global Retirement Index eight times, Ecuador boasts more than an affordable cost of living and year-round, spring-like climate. It’s a place whose character can radically improve your life. As IL Correspondent Donna Stiteler says, in in the U.S., “I had no joy in my life and I was on the express lane to death.” But her decision to move to Ecuador changed everything. “Ecuador showed me I could rebuild myself. Restore my balance. Be healthier and happier.”

Of course, life transformations happen all over the world. For Kevin and Patty McGoff, France started out as a destination for annual vacations but has, over the course of many decades, turned into a part-time home. They bought an apartment in the historic center of the lively town of L’Isle-sur-la-Sourge in Provence. Kevin says, “We are now seven years into owning property in France and have no regrets.” Read their story here.

When John Powell set off on an exploratory trip of Southeast Asia in 2013, he says, “That trip opened up a whole new world for me.” Today he calls the thriving Vietnamese city of Hanoi home. John lives comfortably on a budget of $2,700, which includes travel. Of his overseas retirement home he says, “I like living here. It’s fun, it’s fascinating, and there’s lots of things to do. I don’t see myself ever moving away.”

No matter where in the world you want to transform your retirement and your life, we’ll be on hand, with our 40 years of experience, to guide you every step of the way…