I am going to show you pictures I took of my Top 15 Places in the Entire World to Retire Early for Cheap in 2025, as I tell you about them. But full reports of each place are available at VagabondBuddha.com.
To make my list of the Top 15 places, a frugal single person should be able to live on $1400 per month or less, and a frugal couple on $1800 per month, if they live more like a local than the average expat. Typical expats spend much more. Warm weather is also required for 10 or more months per year, and it must never snow.
So, why should you listen to me? My name is Dan, and I have lived in and visited 73 countries in my life. I left the United States 18 years ago at the age of 46 and began my search to find the best place in the world to retire early for cheap outside the USA.
I have spent a few hundred thousand dollars of my own money to put my feet on the ground in every single one of these places I share today.
I have traveled all over the world and written hundreds of reports about the amazing places I have been to, but only the top 15 are recommended in this report. Unlike other gurus, I am not recommending places I have never had my feet on the ground personally.
100% of this video was filmed by my girlfriend Qiang and me. There is no AI content or stock footage in this video. The video, the information, and the voices are 100% us.
But remember, this report is just a summary of the Top 15 Places. The full written report for each of these Top 15 Places, and hundreds of more reports, are available at VagabondBuddha.com. I will share these places in reverse order so the Top 5 places are last.
Top 15 Places in Entire World to Retire Early Cheap in 2025
Siem Reap Retire Cheap Report (15th): Siem Reap is famous because it is next door to Angkor Wat which was likely the most populated city in the world when the Khmer Empire fell in the late 15th century. Angkor Wat is the largest temple complex in the world, spanning 402 acres with 72 deserted temples to visit. The deserted Khmer Empire lasted about 700 years before it was abandoned in the 15th century. Siem Reap has a population of about 300k people and is growing at about 2.5% per year. Because of the temple complex next door, Siem Reap has an international airport and has developed faster than other parts of Cambodia in order to serve the 2.6 million tourists that visit each year. It is a very fun dynamic place with a nice mix of East meets West. Siem Reap has malls, restaurants, a beautiful walkway on the riverfront, arts and crafts, the nearby lake and its cultural aspects, a fairly diverse nightlife for a town this size, and so many locals that have learned English to serve the foreign public is likely to keep this town fairly interesting for a cultural explorer like me. The cost of living is one of the lowest in SE Asia and it has a simple residency visa that can be obtained for a few hundred dollars. If you enjoy Cambodia but would prefer a quieter town with fewer expats, check out the smaller cheaper town in the Battambang Cambodia Retire Cheap Report. If you would prefer to be in a more worldly capital city with more things to do, check out the Phnom Penh Cambodia Retire Cheap Report.
Arequipa Peru Retire Cheap Report (14th): Arequipa is a gorgeous colonial-era city in the Andes in the Southern Part of Peru. Walk along the cobblestone streets and you will find an endless array of both foreign and domestic foods. Central Park is a gorgeous place to spend an evening as the sun goes down as the city lights the cathedral built in 1566. I could live easily in Arequipa and the cost of living is reasonable. It is also a beautiful college town and has one of the highest per capita incomes and a large population of educated intellectuals. The only thing that makes me hesitate at all is its elevation which made it feel a little too cool in the afternoons. In the middle of the day, you can walk around wearing only a single layer year-round. But after about 4 pm, it gets cool fairly quickly, so carry a light jacket or sweater in the evenings. Consider our Cajamarca Peru Retire Cheap Report if you are looking for a more traditional Peruvian experience in a smaller more quaint colonial-era setting.
Antigua Guatemala Retire Cheap Report (13th): Antigua Guatemala is the most well-preserved colonial-era city in all of Central America. With 500 years of history, art, and architecture, along with an amazing array of foods from around the world to delight your senses, Antigua is one of the best places in the world for the integration of colonial culture, indigenous culture, and international visitors. Antigua is a place that many experienced world travelers call home after they have seen much of the world. Because of Antigua’s elevation, it remains relatively cool throughout the year. There are also many hiking trails around the city including an active volcano that erupts almost every night. You can take a tour there and watch the volcano light up the skies at night. If you are more of a mountain lake lover, check out our Lake Atitlan Guatemala Retire Cheap Report. This beautiful lake a mile high in the sky is surrounded by seven villages of varying character that would provide a home for people of many different kinds of interest including a hippie spiritual natural healing artist village, an ex-pat party animal village, several indigenous culture villages, and a large ex-pat community village.
Boquete Panama Retire Cheap Report (12th): Boquete is a small town in the green mountain highlands of Panama with around 18000 people living there. About 3000 of the people living there are immigrants from all over the world including Americans, Canadians, Colombians, Venezuelans, and Europeans. Because of its elevation of 3900 feet (1200 meters) above sea level, it is much cooler than the towns at sea level, so very few of the homes have heating or air conditioning. Because of the rich soil and elevation, the area is ideal for growing coffee. Boquete is one of the most beautiful places in the world in terms of scenery. The lush green mountains surrounding the city have an almost unlimited supply of hiking trails that both locals and ex-pats love to hike. There is also a lively art and live music scene in Boquete that is well attended including the annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival that usually takes place sometime in March of each year. There is also a performing theater group, the Boquete Community Players (BCP). The BCP also hosts a weekly market on Tuesdays, that includes arts, crafts, and delicious local and foreign foods. Luckily, there are restaurants in Boquete that serve local traditional dishes that can easily cost less than half of what meals cost in international restaurants. If you are more interested in the Caribbean side of Panama check out the Bocas Del Toro Panama Retire Cheap Report.
Bangkok Thailand Retire Cheap Report: (11th): Bangkok is one of the best cities in the world even before you adjust for its low cost of living. The food choices are unmatched with the integration of East and West cuisines. It has one of the most modern and clean transportation systems in the world, so you will not have to waste your money on a car. The Grab taxis are so cheap you can get your groceries home for just a little more than public transportation. Riding the water taxis from Khao San to the King Taksin Bridge while stopping at all of the temples, the flower market, and the King’s Palace is probably the most interesting cultural experience you will find anywhere in the world. Thus, even before we talk about the crazy nightlife and shopping in Bangkok, it is one of the most interesting places in the world. Plus you are just a $50 flight to the best island beaches in SE Asia. But if you prefer a smaller mountain town that hosts the digital nomad capital of the world, check out our Chiang Mai Thailand Retire Cheap Report.
After I finish sharing the Top 15, I will share the three countries that were pushed out of the Top 15 and why. Plus, I will share one country that we really loved on our European tour this summer that would have been on the list if it hadn’t snowed there 2 years ago.
Boracay Philippines Retire Cheap Report (10th): Boracay Island is one of the most gorgeous white sand beach islands in the world. Boracay stands above the other white sand beach locations in the Philippines because it has a huge selection of excellent international restaurants within walking distance of anywhere on the island. Other white sand beaches in the Philippines, like El Nido, Siquijor, or Puerto Galera, are more typically in remote locations, which means your international restaurant choices will be much more limited. Boracay also has a large selection of nightlife entertainment choices all within walking distance. So, we would walk everywhere mostly and jump on tricycle taxis if we were in a hurry or to bring groceries home. We might even purchase bicycles but we would not need a car or scooter. There are only three downsides to Boracay or it would easily make it into our top 5 destinations in the world. First, we might get island fever eventually since it is a fairly small island focused primarily on tourism. Second, we would need to travel to a larger city like Cebu or Iloilo for healthcare, and third, the cost of living in Boracay is about 30 to 50% higher than many other parts of the Philippines, which we cover in detail in the full report.
Jomtien Thailand Retire Cheap Report (9th): Jomtien is a desirable place to retire. In my opinion, it is better than its neighbor just a few kilometers to the north, Pattaya. Jomtien is more relaxed, less noisy, and has slightly cheaper food in the night markets. Plus, you are only a 10 Baht Bus ride from Pattaya if you get in the mood for crazy. Thailand is one of the easiest countries in the world for ex-pats to adjust to overseas living. It has an easy cheap retirement visa, it has amazing cheap health care, and it has many possible apartments to rent for reasonable prices ranging from very basic to extravagant. Jomtien has foods from all over the world along with delicious local Thai food. If Jomptien is not your cup of tea, try going across the Gulf of Thailand and check out the Hua Hin Thailand Retire Cheap Report.
Penang Malaysia Retire Cheap Report (8th) Hours will feel like minutes as you stroll around Georgetown colonial-era and spot colorful street art around every corner. The number one attraction here is finding the best Mama’s restaurant in town for a $2-$3 USD meal. Once you taste the amazing local foods, you will have a hard time convincing yourself to pay $8 to $10 USD in tourist restaurants. As a former British colony, people are still required to speak English in many schools here. There are art galleries listed, things to do, music and nightlife, and arts and entertainment. The Canteen in China House Restaurant is still listed as the premier live music forum. Make sure to take our beach and Buddha tour, the street art tour, our old town walking tour, our nightlife tour, and try out our favorite restaurants. Most of our retire cheap in paradise reports include these types of tours.
Baguio City Philippines Retire Cheap Report (7th): One of the first things you will notice about Baguio is that it is never too hot or too cold there. It is a mile high in the sky so it has moderate highland temperatures. The next thing you will notice is the green and beautiful central area of Baguio. The sidewalks are well maintained, and there are plants growing everywhere which are maintained by Baguio City year-round. There is a very large central park full of manicured grass and picnic tables with a lake full of paddle boats you can enjoy with your family and friends. It also is one of the most creative cities in the Philippines, with college students dressing up in Japanese Anima costumes walking around, and drawing chalk characters on Session Road when it is closed to automobiles on Sundays. Because this is a college town, there seems to be a never-ending set of things to do and events to attend that often include cheap street food and fun arts and music. Plus, Baguio is one of the most walkable cities so if you decided to live close in, you would not need a car. If you like the cooler weather but would like to be in a smaller town only an hour from the best shopping in the Philippines, check out the Tagaytay Philippines Retire Cheap Report.
Dumaguete Philippines Retire Cheap Report (6th): Dumaguete is a quaint little city that you may not expect to find near the top of the retire early for pennies ranking. But the city has everything you need in terms of a public market, restaurants, and grocery stores with many international foods. Plus there is a central city area where you could live and walk everywhere. But I would prefer to live up the hill about 8 kilometers in a smaller city called Valencia. There are hot springs, waterfalls, and public markets, but you will need a scooter to get around (or a small car). The real fun starts when you hop on a ferry to one of the beautiful islands nearby like Apo or Siquijor. If you are a diver or love snorkeling, consider living in the suburb of Dumaguete called Dauin. Dauin has an enviable Marine Sanctuary that you can swim to every day from the public beach. The Dumaguete city center has just enough people and businesses to make everyday life a little easier and more diverse without feeling overwhelmed. Plus it is a university town which has influenced the dynamic nature of the city and has one of the best hospitals and medical schools in the islands, especially for a smaller town. If you prefer a larger city with better shopping, healthcare, and dating prospects, check out the Cebu City Philippines Retire Cheap Report.
Top 5 Best Places in the Entire World to Retire Early Cheap in 2025
Porto Portugal Retire Cheap Report (5th): Porto Portugal has a beautiful landscape and a romantic yet safe feeling to it. It is like living in a storybook. The central area of Porto is highly walkable. Porto has gorgeous ancient architecture. It is like walking through a living museum with single-lane cobblestone pre-vehicle streets. There are beaches, wine tours, a symphony, many food choices, hiking, biking, great day trips, weekend getaways, sports stadiums, sailing, water sports, cruising, parks, nature, etc. Porto has an old-world charm that you usually only find in more expensive cities. Plus, it has the LIDL grocery store chain which sells amazing gourmet foods for really cheap. Porto is the best cheap base to explore Western Europe. It is a little cooler than I normally like but it reminds me of San Francisco (California) weather near where I grew up and I love that place too. You may need to take the Porto Metro underground a little outside the city center to find cheaper rents to meet the $1500 USD total living costs, but isn’t it nice that you won’t need to buy a car? Consider reviewing our Coimbra Portugal Retire Cheap Report if you would prefer to live in a smaller less congested college town in Portugal or Sintra Portugal Retire Cheap Report if you would like to live in a small Portuguese mountain town enchanted with famous castles.
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Retire Cheap Report (4th): Kuala Lumpur is a large modern city with all the conveniences that implies. It has several of the most beautiful and modern malls, hotels, resorts, and public transportation in SE Asia. All the famous movies from all over the world play in multiple languages and all of the most famous expensive brands in the world have stores in the malls. If Singapore and Bangkok had a baby, they would name it Kuala Lumpur. It is not as gritty as Bangkok nor as boring, expensive, or antiseptic as Singapore. It is not for everyone, but if you like a large, organized, clean, and safe city, you will love it here in Kuala Lumpur. If you would prefer a smaller town at a slower pace, check out the Ipoh Malaysia Retire Cheap Report with excellant food, culture, and arts.
Da Nang Vietnam Retire Cheap Report (3rd): Vietnam is now clearly near the top of my places to retire cheap in paradise for pennies. Da Nang in particular, and specifically, the An Thuong neighborhood ranks very high in Vietnam. Qiang Hui and I both fell in love with a little community called An Thuong about 15 minutes south of central Da Nang on the beach. I would love to live here. Everything you need like restaurants, expensive and cheap, foreign and domestic foods, wet markets, and a gorgeous beach, would be extremely walkable. If you eat all three meals per day in restaurants (like we have), you can easily stay under $5 per day, per person if you eat the local food. The apartment we found we found in our favorite neighborhood was $260 USD per month plus utilities. Utilities (water and electricity) were $33 USD per month and the Internet, included in the rent, was 30 MBPS up and down. The beautiful My An beach was just 3 blocks away and all of our favorite restaurants were walkable from our house. We didn’t even rent a scooter. There was even a great gym just a few blocks from our house for $20 per month, no contract. All of this is in the report. If you love life in Vietnam but would like a higher energy place for singles, try our Nha Trang Vietnam Retire Cheap Report.
Nha Trang Vietnam Retire Cheap Report: (2nd): Nha Trang is the most cosmopolitan city in Vietnam if you consider international food choices, clean parks and beaches, neighborhoods that still feel like Vietnam (despite international tourism), and less visible pollution in the air (it is a city on the ocean). It doesn’t have the breadth of historical culture you will see in Hanoi or Hue, but it makes up for that with modern cultural amenities that cultural explorers expect. You will read that some people do not like Nha Trang because it has a large tourist industry near the beach. But I wouldn’t live in tourist areas if I moved there. I would live in a beautiful neighborhood that I showcase in my retire cheap report. What surprised me the most about Nha Trang, was how cheap it was to live there once you get to know where the locals shop and eat. If you love life in Vietnam but would like to be surrounded by more English-speaking Western Expats, try our Da Nang Vietnam Retire Cheap Report, or check out our Dalat Vietnam Retire Cheap Report if you would prefer a hill station with cooler year-round weather. Vietnam currently has no retirement visa, but the expats we met in Vietnam were excited because Vietnam is allowing people to do back-to-back 90-day eVisa runs, which means they may only need to do 4 Visa runs per year. There are other visas available but that seemed to be the most common one used there.
Koh Samui Thailand Retire Cheap Report (1st): You may have had the impression that the Island of Koh Samui was only a playground for the rich and famous looking for expensive white sand island beach vacations. But on our most recent visit to Koh Samui just a few months ago, we found perfectly respectable places to stay in safe neighborhoods where locals live for relatively cheap rates. We also found local markets and local family-owned restaurants with absolutely delicious foods that would not break the bank. So we now understand that we could live an amazing everyday life in Koh Samui. We would live, eat, and shop more like the locals. So, now we could just pack a lunch and jump on our scooter to visit the most beautiful white sand beaches in the world whenever the mood strikes without paying tourist prices. So after 17 years of coming to Thailand, I now know that I could stay on budget in one of the most beautiful and exclusive places in the world. That makes Koh Samui our first choice to retire cheap in Thailand now. If you are looking for more of a hippie island vibe in Thailand just a 30-minute ferry ride away, check out our Koh Phangan Thailand Retire Cheap Report.
The full reports for each of the above Top 15 places are available on a webpage at the first link in the description below for this video. Those reports include the cost of living and the retirement factors for each place including walkability, internet, food, weather, things to do, social considerations, expat resources, real estate, visa, safety considerations, and an overall retirement desirability score for each place.
Mexico dropped out of the Top 15 this year because they increased the income required to obtain residency too high to be considered cheap anymore. But if you don’t mind doing visa runs every 6 months Mexico is still a great choice.
Bali Indonesia also dropped out of the Top 15 this year for increasing residency income requirements by an excessive amount. But unlike Mexico, visa runs are not a practical solution in our opinion.
Tirana Albania Retire Cheap Report: We really loved Tirana Albania when we visited this summer, and we wanted to put it on this list, but it snowed there in 2023, so it didn’t make this list. But check it out if snow every few years won’t kill you. It is an amazing place.
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