The Scores and How Our 2012 Retirement Index Works

This is a qualitative assessment, based on real-world data gathered on the ground. For each category in our Index, we looked closely at what matters most to you when you’re considering an overseas retirement spot—everything from the price of bread to how easy it is to make friends or stay in touch with family.

We considered a vast range of data points, from the average humidity to the cost of a taxi. And with costs in mind, we examined prices for real estate, rentals, and utilities like water, electricity, and cable TV. We looked at costs for groceries, eating out, even specific medical procedures. We took into account what kind of discounts retirees can get on travel, taxes and entertainment. And we cons

Country	Real Estate	Special Benefits	Cost of Living	Inte.	E&A	Health	Infras.	Climate	Final Scores
Ecuador	97	98	100	95	90	85	80	83	91.1
Panama	95	100	95	96	96	91	82	68	90.4
Mexico	94	91	88	96	96	88	75	89	89.6
Malaysia	94	79	95	95	96	87	91	66	87.7
Colombia	93	76	60	92	96	93	84	75	83.7
New Zealand	87	72	69	90	93	84	86	89	83.6
Nicaragua	92	79	94	89	85	78	63	70	82.6
Spain	79	68	78	90	93	76	94	81	82.1
Thailand	90	68	71	91	97	83	76	75	81.4
Honduras	82	89	76	95	96	78	67	63	80.7
Uruguay	91	76	81	87	57	81	83	87	80.4
Italy	69	74	60	71	98	80	90	100	80.3
Brazil	81	87	68	81	99	85	69	71	80.2
Ireland	70	90	57	99	91	70	85	79	80.2
France	68	75	57	82	100	90	88	90	80.1
Costa Rica	88	79	65	97	94	83	74	60	80.0
Belize	80	84	84	100	83	82	70	57	79.9
Chile	90	73	77	80	93	81	84	61	79.8
Dom. Republic	93	68	60	85	89	72	75	72	76.8

*E&A = Entertainment and Amenities; Inte. = Integration; Infras. = Infrastructure