This is Dan from Vagabond Awake, the YouTube Channel for VagabondBuddha.com This is my Retire in Ho Chi Minh Vietnam Report.
In this video, I will discuss the cost of living, walkability, weather, food, Internet, things to do, expat community, real estate, and medical care. For the full report including where to stay, transportation, and tour information, click the first link in the first comment below this video.
I have been traveling around the world identifying the best retire cheap in paradise locations for 17 years. I have been to 67 countries so far. I have created hundreds of reports worldwide sharing what I have learned.
I am 63 years old now and I enjoy sharing what I have learned as I slowly travel the world. It gives me a sense of purpose.
Today, I am discussing my observations and data from my retire in Ho Chi Minh Vietnam report.
We last explored Vietnam from north to south in 2019. So, we came back in 2024 to update our costs of living and other data in Da Nang, Nha Trang, Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh.
Ho Chi Minh is in the southern part of Vietnam. You can access Ho Chi Minh via international flights originating all over the world arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport (TSN IA).
First I will discuss the cost of living and then my retirement desirability factors.
Estimated Cost of Living in Ho Chi Minh Vietnam
Here are our estimated costs of living converted into US dollars if the two of us moved to Ho Chi Minh year-round on a lower budget estimate. We also include more typical expenses we have heard from other expats in case you want more typical expenses.
Rents: We interviewed an American living in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) about 6 months ago. Since he rented his apartment rather recently for $320 USD per month, we will use his monthly rental payment as our base cost for our lower estimate below. Some of you may want a larger apartment so we will do a middle cost estimate of $600 per month for a larger apartment, maybe 2 or 3 bedrooms. I will give a line item estimate for each expense for lower and middle costs in the table below.
Here is the process we use to find great apartments. So, we will show you a table of all expenses in a moment. We will use $320 per month for our lower rent estimate and $600 per month for the middle cost of living estimate for expats who want more space.
Utilities: We estimate that the year-round average for our utilities would be about $50 USD per month. The utilities would be more for expats that rent the townhouse, or about $80 USD per month.
Groceries: We would shop mostly in the public market where vegetables, fruits, and rice are cheaper. We estimate about $275 per month for groceries.
Other expats are likely to buy more expensive imported foods and more meats, and there are more international foods in the grocery stores here to tempt you, so expats with higher pensions would likely spend around $400 per month on groceries.
Restaurants: We would go out to eat much of the time in the local restaurants averaging about $2-$4 per meal per person and an additional three times per week in the expat (tourist) restaurants for about $6-8 per meal per person. If we went out to eat 5 or 6 times per week, mostly at local Vietnamese restaurants, and three times per week in expat-style restaurants, we would spend around $75 per week or $300 per month in restaurants for the two of us.
Other expats are likely to eat more Western-style foods in expensive expat-style restaurants and less in Vietnamese restaurants, so they would likely spend $400 per month for 2 people.
Cell Phone Data: The cost to recharge our prepaid service is about $6 per month which includes 6GB of data per day. My Android phone will act as a hotspot so we can both be on the internet at the same time when we are out of the house together. Both Vinaphone and Viettel had good prices and reception.
Other expats are likely to buy two prepaid SIM cards so they would send $12 per month.
Laundry: We would look for an apartment that includes a clothes washing machine and people hang dry their clothes in SE Asia. Since the laundry detergent is included in our grocery bill, there is no additional expense for laundry.
Drinking Water: We used a water filter we carry with us and the replacement filters cost about $3 per month. We are using a common Brita filter you will find all over the world and online on Shopee.com.
Internet: 30 MBPS up and down is about $9 per month for in-home wifi. It is advertised at 100 MBPS but the realized speed is about 30 MBPS up and down.
Transportation: We walked almost everywhere near us in Ho Chi Minh, but take Grab Taxi when we need to go across town for something. We estimate about $60 month for Grab taxi. Stay away from scooters unless you are highly experienced riding scooters in SE Asia. Other expats might take grab taxis ten times per $120 per month.
Alcohol (Optional): Local beer is about $1.50 in local bars and restaurants and about $0.75 USD in stores. So, we would spend about $100 per month on alcohol for the two of us.
Many other expats would spend a higher amount for imported foreign or craft beers in expat bars for about $3-$4 USD each, so about $250 USD per month for 2 people assuming they are not into imported whiskey or wine.
Entertainment (Optional): We would budget about $200 per month for entertainment for the two of us. We generally enjoy doing more do-it-yourself kinds of entertainment so expats would spend a little more, maybe $300 per month, for 2 of them?
Retire Early $1023 Month Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) Vietnam
| Ho Chi Minh (Estimates) | Lower (USD) | Medium (USD) |
| Rent | 320 | 600 |
| Utilities | 50 | 80 |
| Groceries | 275 | 400 |
| Restaurants | 300 | 400 |
| Cell Data | 6 | 12 |
| Laundry | 0 | 0 |
| Drinking Water | 3 | 3 |
| Internet | 9 | 9 |
| Transportation | 60 | 120 |
| Basic Total | 1023 | 1636 |
| Alcohol (Optional) | 100 | 250 |
| Optional Total | 1123 | 1886 |
| Entertainment (Optional) | 200 | 300 |
| Optional Total | 1323 | 2186 |
The above lower estimated cost of living would be if the two of us lived in Ho Chi Minh on a tight budget. The higher above estimate is just an example of what other expats might spend if they moved here and were easy come easy go with their money.
To understand what it would cost you to live here, you must put your feet on the ground, see how you would choose to live, and add it all up.
To get a better understanding of things you should add to our estimated cost of living watch this video: 9 Reasons You Can’t Retire on $1000 Month Overseas.
But many of you will likely be unable to retire on so little here. I give example reasons why in this report. This next report explains how to avoid coming home early with your tail between your legs. Also, if you are going to try to retire cheap offshore, make sure to read my report, the Two Biggest Risks of Retiring Early for Cheap Offshore, which explains why you should have emergency funds available for unexpectedly large expenses.
You should also add anything to the above table that you spend money on in your home country that is not listed in the above table. Presumably, you find those things necessary in life. To do that, visit the Numbeo Ho Chi Minh and add anything not mentioned in the table.
Never move anywhere until you have visited first personally to verify the living costs for your lifestyle and needs. I am not guaranteeing these prices. These are just my notes and estimates from the time of my visit and this post. Your costs will likely be drastically different depending on your lifestyle and the time since this post.
Many of the expats we meet living overseas are self-insured for medical care. That means that not everyone buys health insurance when they move overseas. I didn’t carry medical insurance overseas for the first 17 years living overseas.
Last year I bought medical insurance. If you are wondering what it costs and what it covers, watch my medical insurance video at this link. This is not an affiliate link.
More typical ex-pat living costs in Vietnam range from about $1400 to $3000 per month. But people spending that much often have higher savings, incomes, or pensions. They often report spending more on entertainment, eating out more, traveling, and alcohol. Many also have more expensive cars, houses, or apartments.
Ho Chi Minh Livability Factors
Here is why many people consider retiring in Ho Chi Minh (HCM) for Cheap, But as I continue, I will explain why I would not choose to live here for more than a few months or years.
Walkability: Medium. If you live in Zone 1 you should be able to just walk around to get all your needs satisfied. You can use Google Maps to find the public bus to get anywhere outside Central for very little money, including the international airport. Ho Chi Minh is not a good place to first learn how to ride a scooter in Asia, so walk, take buses, and Grab taxis.
Internet: High. The Internet is great in Ho Chi Minh unless you are one of many people on a shared WIFI router. We use our smartphone as a hot spot when we end up somewhere with unstable Internet, which doesn’t happen often.
Food: High. Local restaurants in HCM are about 20% more expensive than local restaurants in midsize and small cities in Vietnam. Tablecloth restaurants serving foreign food in HCM can be 50% more than in other parts of Vietnam. But it is still a large savings overall as compared to many other parts of the world. There is also a large diversity of foreign foods and regional Vietnamese foods as you would expect in an international city.
Weather: Medium. Average highs (days) range seasonally from a low of 87F/31C in December to a high of 94F/35C in April. Average lows (nights) range seasonally from a low of 70F/21C in January to a high of 78F/26C in April. The rainy season is May through October when at least some rain falls in 18 or more days of the month.
Things to Do: High. Museums, fine dining, art galleries, live entertainment, Symphony, Opera, Tai Chi, Yoga, Bike riding, martial arts, bar hopping, cooking classes, arts and crafts and classes, park exercising, large malls, libraries, ballroom dance, sports, boating … just about everything you would expect in an international city of 8+ million people.
Social Considerations: High. You should be able to find all sorts of people that love what you love to do for fun. Just Google what you like to do for fun and you will see what I mean.
Expats: High. There are a few Facebook groups for HCMC Expats. That should help you find whatever and whoever you need as you establish your new society here. You can start asking questions on these Facebook pages before you make a final decision of whether or not to do a site visit here. Facebook 1. Facebook 2. Facebook 3.
Real Estate: High. I do not recommend buying real estate in Vietnam as I describe in this report. The rents are too low here so if you had to rent it out for any reason, you would not get a good return. Better to keep your real estate in your home country and rent that out. Use the higher income from rents in your home country to live internationally. Then you could hand the keys to your Vietnamese landlord if you ever decide to move to another country or go home. I am ranking this high because it is easy and cheap here to rent compared to much of the world.
Medical: High. I have been to the FV Hospital in Ho Chi Minh before and my trust level is high.
Visa Requirements: Medium. There is no retirement visa in Vietnam. The expats we have met mostly just do a visa run once every 3 months to renew their visas. I just read a comment on one of the above Ho Chi Minh Facebook pages that an expat was excited that you can now get a 3-month eVisa for $25 USD, every time she does a visa run.
We also ran into a few expats on the street who recognized us from our YouTube channel. They both mentioned that their agents take care of the visa run for them for $100 per month, so they don’t even go to the border. That is probably not legal, so be careful. .
None of the expats we have chatted with have said that they had any trouble doing visa runs, one after another, over the last few years. According to them, it is an accepted practice in Vietnam, like it was in Thailand a decade ago.
But I know a few people who left Vietnam over the last 3 years because they were tired of doing visa runs every month. That is why people are so happy about the new 3-month eVisa for $25 USD.
But we may have more good news for you soon. We just did the new 3-month eVisa and it works great. Now we are just waiting to hear from other expats, whether or not Vietnamese immigration is letting people use the 3-month eVisa for back-to-back visa runs.
Once we have more data that Vietnam is routinely accepting the 3-month eVisa for visa runs without objection, it will mean people can stay in Vietnam indefinitely by doing only 4 visa runs per year at $25 each. That would be amazing.
Transportation: Almost everything we needed in Ho Chi Minh was in walking distance. We did use the Grab taxi to go to a few places that were beyond 2 kilometers. I would not recommend driving scooters here unless you are highly experienced. Walking is a great way to stay healthy as you age.
Ho Chi Minh Desirability Score: Medium. Despite so many positive aspects of living in Ho Chi Minh, I would not seriously consider moving here long term. The air quality is too low for everyday life. If I moved to Vietnam, I would live in Nha Trang, Hoi An, or Da Nang. I’ll be doing a final ranking of the best place to live in Vietnam soon. Subscribe so you see it when it is published.
The only thing that annoys me about Vietnam, in general, is that they do not offer any retirement visas. Luckily they have no trouble allowing people to do multiple back-to-back visa runs and it has been that way for years.
If you would like more information about the tours we took, including free walking tours, restaurants, where we stayed, or to see the full report in writing, click the first link in the first comment below this video.
Where We Stayed in Ho Chi Minh
We spent three nights in the Kim Hotel for $24 per night before flying to Malaysia to visit Qiang’s family for Chinese New Year. When we are staying longer, here is the process we use to find great apartments. We use Skyscanner.net to find the best flights worldwide but we often book direct with the airline once we find the best deal.
NightLife
Chill Skybar (Expat Upscale View) 350k ($14.17 USD) entry includes first a drink.
Bui Vien Walking Street: 20k ($0.80 USD) local beer
86 Pho Tay: Beer local 91k ($3.68 USD) – Dancer on the street in front of this place. Never go to this bar, just choose the bar next to it where the beer is 20k ($0.80 USD), and the view of the dancers on the street is just as good.
Restaurants
Restaurants (2024 Visit)
Pho Viet Nam (Michelin): Beef noddle 60k ($2.43 USD)
Okkio Le Loi: Best coconut coffee 75k ($3.00 USD), honey earl grey cake 75k ($3.00 USD), croissant 50k ($2.00 USD).
Like Coffee – Banh Mi: Best coconut coffee 55k ($2,23 USD), Avacado with coconut ice cream 70k ($2.83 USD).
21 Grams Vegetarian – Bếp chay Central Market: Food court with AC – hotpot 89k ($3.60 USD), Japanese curry 80k ($3.24 USD)
Restaurants from our 2019 visit and other data is below.
Markets and Malls
Ben Thanh Market: This is a public market with fruits, vegetables, grains, and meats, but also souvenirs, crafts, and clothing. Many neighborhoods have smaller versions of this you will need to find when you decide where to live in Saigon.
Saigon Centre: This is a high-end shopping mall with brands from around the world.
Ho Chi Minh Guest Star
2019 Ho Chi Minh Report, Tours, Restaurants, Etc.
Everything above this paragraph was gathered during our 2024 visit to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Everything below this paragraph is from our 2019 visit.
Best Area to Stay in Ho Chi Minh
Here are a few suggestions:
Hostel: Location and ratings
Where we stayed: Loved this place. The wifi worked great and hot showers, plus ours had a balcony. It is down an alley from a food court so is not good if you are trying to impress anyone. But that is not our thing so it was great for us.
Highly Rated Guesthouse: This one is more suitable if you need to impress someone.
Cheapest Flights to Ho Chi Minh
We almost always get our cheapest flights on this Skyscanner. They have a web crawler that is constantly looking for the cheapest prices all over the world. As usual, we found the cheapest flight to Ho Chi Minh on Skyscanner. We took a sleeper bus from Mui Ne to Ho Chi Minh for about $7 USD.
Ho Chi Minh Walking Tour
We took the bus to the first stop. To take the bus, just search Google Maps for Ngoc Hoang Pagoda and click the directions circle. Then click the bus icon. It will tell you where to catch the bus. It will cost about 12k dong/person ($0.60 USD).
Sorry, but the USB Flash drive I use to store pictures crashed and I lost 80% of my photos and videos. The photos and videos I used to create this guide, are what Qiang Hui photographed or copied from my flash drive before it crashed.
If the above video looks fun, click ==>this link<== or the below Google Map and start walking.
Ngọc Hoàng Pagoda (Jade Emperor Pagoda): This Pagoda was built in 1909 by the Chinese community in Saigon. In Chinese culture, the Jade Emperor is a representation of the first god. The temple was visited by US President Obama in 2016.
Pink Church (Tan Dinh Church): This beautiful church was built during the French colonial era. It is a must-see for Instagramers. The Pink Church is the second largest church in Ho Chi Minh, the largest being the Notre Dame Basilica, which we will see later in this tour. You can catch a bus here from the Jade Temple. You can also catch a bus to Independence Palace, the next stop. Once you are at Independence Palace, it is all walkable.
Independence Palace: I have no video or pictures of this. This was the home and workplace for the president of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was also the site of the official end of the Vietnam War when a north-Vietnamese tank crashed through the front gates on April 30th, 1975. That date is known as the fall of Saigon.
Just 3 weeks before, a pilot and officer of the South Vietnamese Airforce, who was an undetected spy, was unsuccessful at bombing this palace. When the north and south were reunited, the palace was renamed Reunification Hall.
There was a colonial-era palace on this spot until it was bombed out of existence on February 27, 1962, by two other undetected spy pilots from the Southern airforce. President Diem survived the bombing and built the palace you see today.
Nhà thờ Đức Bà Sài Gòn (Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon): This is the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Saigon. It was completed in 1880 and the bell towers reach 58 meters (190 feet). In 1962, Pope John XXIII conferred the status of basilica for this church. The status of the basilica gives this church the highest status in Vietnam for the Roman Catholic Church.
Saigon Central Post Office: The post office was completed in 1891 when Vietnam was part of French Indochina. Inside the post office are two maps painted on the walls from the time of the building’s completion: (1) Telegraphic lines of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia 1892, and (2) Saigon and its surroundings 1892.
Ben Thanh Market: Only one picture of this place survived. This is the largest traditional market in Saigon. Over the years it has transitioned from a traditional wet market where locals buy their food and consumer goods into a tourist market. Almost everything for sale here is marked up so high that only tourists can afford to buy them. It is okay for photos but I recommend spending your money elsewhere. To see a real wet market that serves the local population, visit Binh Tay Market.
The Cafe Apartment on Saigon’s Walking Street: This is an apartment building where every apartment has been turned into a cafe.
Mariamman Temple: No pictures of this survived. This Mariamman Temple is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Mariamman. It was built in the late 19th century by traders from Tamil Nadu known as Nagarathar. Mariamman means mother god. Her worship focuses mainly on bringing rain and curing deadly diseases such as cholera and smallpox.
Tao Đàn Park: This is a beautiful park that is worth a visit. It is also where I ran in the mornings. We took Qiang Hui’s parents here also and they loved it. There is a bird cafe across the street where they had breakfast a few times. Qiang Hu‘s Father has hundreds of birds in his collection at home in Malaysia, and she brought him to the second floor of this bird cafe because other bird collectors bring their birds there in the mornings.
Best Mekong Delta Tour in Vietnam
If the above video looks fun, click this link to sign up. They pick you up from your hotel and return you. Tell them what language you want the guide to speak.
Ho Chi Minh Vietnam Cu Chi Tunnels Tour
If the above video looks fun, click this link to sign up. They pick you up from your hotel and return you. Tell them what language you want the guide to speak.
Ho Chi Minh Nightlife
If the above video looks fun, click ==>this link<== for a map of the walking street, or click ==>this link<== for the location of the bar in the skyscraper.
Digital Nomads Ho Chi Minh Life and Food Experiences
We only list restaurants here if we love them.
Chicken Rice (Quán Gà Ta Phương Loan): 35k Dong/person ($1.50 USD). This was the favorite restaurant for both Qiang Hui and her parents during their visit to Ho Chi Minh. It is 1 block from the Jade Temple on the must-see tour of Ho Chi Minh.
Vegan Restaurant Near Jade Temple (Nhà Hàng Chay Giác Duyên): There is also a vegan restaurant near the Jade Temple which costs 35k dong/person ($1.25 USD). Whenever you see the word “Chay” that is a vegan restaurant in Vietnam.
Fast Pho (Pho 24): This restaurant had vegetable, pork, chicken, or beef pho for about 70 Dong per person ($3 USD). We ate here several times during our visit to Ho Chi Minh. It was simple, easy, and clean.
Whole Fish (Quan Am 33): Dinner for 4 here including 2 kinds of fish and 3 vegetables was $25.00 USD. They all loved the fish and I loved the vegetables.
Cyclo Resto: This restaurant has partnered up with ricksha drivers to give you a tour of the city followed by a nice lunch or dinner for $11 USD per person. You should tip the ricksha driver too. The vegetarian dish was so-so but the meat eaters loved the food. Click this link to get the package.
Bird Cafe (Quán Ăn, Cà Phê Công Đoàn): This is a cafe where Qiang and her parents would enjoy breakfast while I ran around the park across the street in the mornings. People bring their birds to the second floor and talk about birds there.
Vagabond Buddha’s Kitchen: The vegan restaurants are all over Vietnam plus they are cheap. So I haven’t cooked many meals while touring Vietnam for the last 3 months.
Grab a free copy of my E-book.
Ho Chi Minh Facts and History
Here are some interesting facts about Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam.
HCMC is the largest city in Vietnam with 8 million people and 13 million including the surrounding metro area.
Many still refer to HCMC as Saigon. The city was renamed HCMC to honor Ho Chi Minh after the fall of Saigon shortly after the Vietnam War ended in 1975.
Ho Chi Minh died before the war ended.
This HCMC area of Vietnam was known as Prey Nokor when it was part of Cambodia during the Khmer Empire. At that time, the Khmer grew cotton so the city name of Prey Nokor means cotton stick.
Before the Khmer Empire held this ground, it was under the control of the Cham Empire until the 11th century. There are records of people living here since the 4th century AD.
The King of Cambodia allowed Vietnamese fleeing the Trinh-Nguyen civil war to settle here in the 17th century. Eventually, the Vietnamese were the dominant population in the area and the Khmer and Cambodians living here assimilated into the larger population.
In the late 17th century, Nguyen Hu’u Canh was sent by the Nguyen rulers of Hue to establish administrative control. The Nguyen rulers renamed the city Gia Dinh and later renamed it Saigon in the 18th century.
In the mid-19th century, Vietnam was colonized by France. By 1929, 10% of the population of Saigon was French. Eventually, the Vietnamese pushed the French out of Vietnam in 1956, after an intervening period when Vietnam was under the control of the Japanese.
During the Vietnam War, South Vietnam was a capitalist regime supported by the United States and North Vietnam was a communist regime supported by Russia and China. The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, when Saigon fell to the north. The North Vietnamese called the same day the liberation of Saigon.
Although HCMC is surrounded by rivers flowing from the Mekong Delta and not far from the ocean, it is 19 meters (62 feet) above sea level. This should provide some protection as sea levels rise.
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This is Dan of Vagabond Buddha. Thank you for your interest in our 1300 USD Month Retire Ho Chi Minh Guide. The world is your home. What time will you be home for dinner?