Newly widowed, Kay McCowen quit her job, sold her house, applied for Social Security and retired to Mexico. It was a move she and her husband, Mel, had discussed before he passed away in 2012.
“I wanted to find a place where I could afford to live off my Social Security,” she said. “The weather here is so perfect, and it’s a beautiful place.”
She is among a growing number of Americans who are retiring outside the United States. The number grew 17 percent between 2010 and 2015 and is expected to increase over the next 10 years as more baby boomers retire.
Just under 400,000 American retirees are now living abroad, according to the Social Security Administration. The countries they have chosen most often: Canada, Japan, Mexico, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Retirees most often cite the cost of living as the reason for moving elsewhere, said Olivia S. Mitchell, director of the Pension Research Council at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
“I think that many people retire when they are in good health and they are interested in stretching their dollars and seeing the world,” Mitchell said.
McCowen’s rent in Ajijic, a community outside Guadalajara near Mexico’s Lake Chapala, is half of what she was paying in Texas. And since the weather is moderate, utility bills are inexpensive.
In some countries, Mitchell said, retirees also may find it less expensive to hire someone to do their laundry, clean, cook and even provide long-term care than in the United States.
McCowen has a community of other American retirees nearby and has adjusted well.
But for others there are hurdles to overcome to adjust to life in a different country.
Viviana Rojas, an associate professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, says the biggest obstacle is not speaking the language or knowing the culture.
“Many of the people we interviewed said they spoke Spanish, but they actually spoke very little Spanish,” said Rojas, who is writing a book about retirees in Mexico. “They didn’t have the capacity of speaking enough Spanish to meet their basic needs like going to the doctor or to the store.”
Access to health care also can be a challenge. While retirees still can receive Social Security benefits, Medicare is not available to those living abroad, Mitchell said.
Joseph Roginski, 71, says that while the cost of living is higher in Japan, access to health care is not. “Things are very expensive here. It is impossible to live off Social Security alone,” said Roginski, who was stationed in Japan in 1968. “But health insurance is a major factor in staying here.”
The former military language and intelligence specialist said he pays $350 annually to be part of Japan’s national health insurance. His policy covers 70 percent of his costs. The rest is covered by a secondary insurance program for retired military personnel.
Japan experienced the biggest growth of American retirees — at 42 percent — and more than any other country between 2010 and 2014, according to data from the Social Security Administration. The large U.S. military presence in the country may be a factor.
There are more than 50,000 U.S. military servicemen and -women stationed in Japan. The presence is so large that in the island of Okinawa, the U.S. military occupies about 19 percent of the area, according to Ellis S. Krauss, professor emeritus of Japanese politics and policy-making at the University of California, San Diego.
Roginski, who volunteers for the Misawa Air Base Retiree Activities Office, said he helps connect more than 450 retirees and their families living in Northern Japan with resources. He said he would never move back to the United States.
“We have a real strong sense of security here,” he said. “I can leave my door unlocked and no one will take anything. When I go to another country I feel nervous, but when I come back I feel like I’m home.”
Mexico has become home for retired firefighter, Dan Williams, 72, and his wife, Donna, 68. The couple has been living near the same retirement community in Lake Chapala for 14 years.
“The climate and the medical services are very good,” Williams said.
Williams teaches painting to adults and children and puts together a monthly magazine for the local American Legion. He is also a member of the Lake Chapala Society, which offers daily activities for American retirees.
It was those same services that attracted McCowen to the region.
“Before moving, I found out how many widowed and divorced women lived here,” she said. “There is comfort in numbers.”
She says she loves being in a lively community.
“I see older people walking year round. I see them all over the place, even in their wheelchairs. If they were in the U.S., they would probably be in a nursing home,” she said. “I don’t think I could move back.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
I am now 72 yrs.and thinking about moving to Mexico. I have visited there many times in the past and I love it and the people are so compassionate and have never had any problems. Also the cost of living is so much better and the health care much better. My only hang up now is that I love horses and have some very nice quarter horses and would like to take them with me and not sure how to do that, but am checking and have a lawyer friend in Guadalajara and has said he will check and help me. I am almost sure I will lease my farm out here and move soon.
I’m 63, retired government worker/Navy veteran with 40 years of total government service. I’m in the long slow tedious process of selling everything I own that I don’t need & don’t want at all in the Loser City Tucson, Mexizona(Arizona) metro area. Once that is all done, I’m Philippines bound for good. My heart is in the Philippines, always will be. My late wife of 31 years was from there, I have a girl friend that is 4 years younger than me there. As a Senior citizen & a veteran it’s better for me to live where my heart is.
Wasn’t it the majority of you so called Baby Boomer’s that implemented this mess and encouraged it, now you want to cut and run now that you have reached retirement age? Shame on you! These are the by products of your decisions, of your votes, of your unwillingness to do what was right but rather what was convenient for yourselves. It doesn’t matter where you go, judgment will follow. Abandoning ship now that it is sinking, but not lending a helping hand while it was filling with water, good riddance, don’t come back either.
Say what? We didnt shape this you moron. Most of these decisions were made by our parents. Many of todays financial decisions were made before we cold even vote!
Personally, I wish Obama would return to Kenya to retire. I’m quite sure at every turn, he will be ‘offering advice’, as bad as it will be.
His comment of being re-elected for a third term if he were allowed to run again, shows how far into dementia he has slipped.
On a personal note, as a retired senior on a fixed income, my latest C.O.A. (0.3%) resulted in a net decrease in my monthly retirement check due to an increase in Federal withholding tax (+ $1.25) as well as an increase in my Medicare premiums. (+$12.20/month) for a net loss of -$4.09/per month.
Meanwhile, back in the ghetto, the Obama’s are off to Hawaii for another $12 MILLION DOLLAR vacation!!!!! (Based on the $Eighty Five Million Dollar price tag for their first seven years of vacations)
I’m waiting with baited breath for the charges of “America is a Racist Nation” when his presidency is evaluated.
The economy is already surging based on the anticipation of President ELECT Trump’s term in office.
A comment on those moving to Mexico who don’t speak proficient Spanish to function there:
The illegals that move to this country are furnished with VOTING BALLADS in their native language so they can overcome such obstacles and to ensure they are allowed to establish THEIR culture in this country. GO FIGURE!!!!!!
No you go figure Don. Mexican culture has always existed in the America’s. Mexican’s are of Indian ancestry so we have every right to be here. We don’t even speak our own language. We speak two European languages: Spanish and English. Study your history because you show your ignorance. I am so tired of white people complaining about Mexican’s, and making stupid comments like “Before long there will be Mexican’s selling taco’s in every corner.” Well the facts are: it’s white people selling taco’s in every corner; for example, Taco Bell owned by white people and Chipotle’s owned by white people. I am so tired of white people getting rich off our culture. Almost every restaurant now has tacos and burritos in their menu. Hey make the food of your ancestors not ours. Even the Asians have cashed in on the taco and burrito craze: There are Korean and Vietnamese taco’s now. You also contribute to the demise of your own race by marrying all these Asian women and then blame Mexican’s for your low birth rate. World wide Hispanic’s (your term) are not the largest race in the world. Do you research.
Pathological serial liar. Obumba should be exile to his native country of Kenya. For him to say had he run again he will defeat Trump
Is reflection that he is probably depress now,delusional or already demented now due the overwhelming rejection of him by the
American people. Good riddance of that Kenyan Muslim.
May come back under Trump??
It’s refreshing to see that seniors are still in control of decision making, and enjoying life. This is special for me to read and I would say the world belongs to us. Hey, take all you can on this journey, once it ends thats it, Wishing you all a Happy and healthy New Year,
God bless us and America