When it comes to real estate, they always say location, location, location; and retirement isn't any different. Where you choose to retire influences four things that you need to think about before you retire.

Cost of Living

If you choose an expensive country, of course, everything else will be more expensive. Conversely, you choose a cheaper country, things will be cheaper.

The cost of living includes things like food, shelter, clothing, and transport. Which country you choose will definitely impact how much your food is going to cost, how much your rental or if you buy your own house, how much your clothes are going to cost, as well as the accessibility of public transport.

Medical Services

By medical services, I mean a few things: the level of medical technology, the cost of medical technology, and the accessibility of medical services.

Depending on the country you choose to retire in, there could be universal health care or not. This will influence how much you have to pay for medical services. And of course, depending on the country, you choose, the level of technology that they have may vary. If you choose to retire in a rural area, medical services may or may not be as accessible.

Taxes

Will you be taxed on your retirement income? What are the sources of your retirement income? Would you be able to set up retirement income streams when you're there? These are the things which may or may not be taxable. Of course, if you’re taxed, your overall retirement income will drop. Depending on the country you're in, you may not be taxed on certain sources of income. For example, in certain countries, capital gains on investments are taxed, whereas dividends may not be taxed, and vice versa in some of the other countries.

Climate

Do you prefer hot tropical climate? Or do you prefer slightly cooler temperate climate? With some people I know, they love the cold freezing temperatures. So it very much depends on you.

In our earlier blog post, we spoke about the two phases during retirement, the active and passive phases. During your active phases, you might be doing a lot more in terms of your hobbies. And for some people, you might not be able to ski in a tropical country, although I've heard different things.

Climate also influences your health. Some people can take the cold some people can. Some people can take the heat some people can.

So to recap the four things that you want to consider when choosing the country of retirement, either cost of living, medical services, taxes, and climate.