In this report, I will explain why the Philippines are best in entire world for retired singles. But why should you trust my analysis about the best places to retire in the world?
I left the United States 15 years ago and I have lived in or visited 67 different countries. When in each country, I gathered data about retirement livability factors such as weather, visas, cost of living, rents, food, utilities, and things to do.
I have over 100 reports on VagabondBuddha.com that help people decide where to retire cheap in paradise based upon their lifestyle and needs. So I have been both single and in relationships over the last 15 years while traveling the world. So I know a thing or two about the best places in the world to retire cheap in paradise.
Now I will give you the top 8 reasons why the Philippines is the best place in the world for retired single people. I will give these reasons in reverse order so you have to wait until the end to hear the top 3 reasons. And after I tell you the top 8 reasons, I will explain three things that will annoy you about the Philippines.
Okay, here we go! But as I cover these reasons, many of you will realize that almost all of these reasons apply to both single men and women interested in retiring in the Philippines.
Top 8 Reasons Why the Philippines are best in entire world for retired singles.
Eight. Weather: The Philippines never seem to get cold. For example, we lived in Dumaguete in the Philippines for 8 months of 2020. Dumaguete has a wet and a dry season. June through November is wet, December through May is dry. The wettest months receive around 125 mm (5 inches) of rain. The hottest months are April and May, with daily highs averaging 88 to 89 F (31 to 32C), respectively. The coolest months are January and February, with daily highs of 84 F (29 C). But if that is too warm for you, you can run your air conditioning to stay cool, or you can move up the side of one of the larger mountains in the Philippines where the air is much cooler and breezy. There is somewhere in the Philippines that will make almost anyone happy so the weather is one of the top reasons people love living in the Philippines.
Seven. Beautiful Beaches: The Philippines have the most beautiful beaches in the world. No matter where you decide to live in the Philippines, you will never be more than a short scooter ride or a short ferry ride to one of the most beautiful beaches you have ever seen in your life. When we lived on Camiguin Island in the Philippines, we were just a short ferry ride from White Island and Mantigue Island. The amazing thing is that these are white sand beaches away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life on the larger island. So, the beaches are often empty and pristine during the weekdays when people are working. You often end up with wide-open beaches around you that you are not sharing with hoards of tourists and locals distracting you from your romantic time.
Six. Fresh Fruits, Vegetables, and Fish: Almost every village in the Philippines has a central market where locals come to buy and sell fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, and other meats at reasonable prices. So you can drop by these markets and have a never-ending supply of healthy foods that are often sourced locally. Some retirees struggle with the local foods when they first arrive in the Philippines, but if you learn to cook a few simple dishes using the fresh foods from the local markets, that will help give you a soft landing and help you stay within budget in the Philippines.
Five. English Language: There are 110 million people living in the Philippines 95% of which speak at least some English. So you can live in the Philippines without struggling to learn a new language in retirement when learning can be more of a challenge. You can slowly pick up a more local dialect over time as you develop more friends in the Philippines. Learning the slang will allow you to have more intimate relationships because Filipinos will begin to see you more as one of them as you begin to learn the nuances of their culture. That little extra effort will help life unfold for you as you tune more closely to their language and customs. But because almost everyone you meet will speak at least some English, you can wait until you arrive and learn as you go as you make local friends in the Philippines.
Four: Cost of Living: The Philippines has one of the lowest costs of living in the world depending on whether you decide to live in a larger city or out in the provinces. When we were living in the Philippines we got to know several ex-pats, both men and women, that were living joyfully on less than $1000 USD per month. On our web page, in the notes below this video, I will give you example budgets of people living on as little as $500 per month and as much as $1500 USD per month. These example costs of living in this range are shared by people retired in the Philippines. They include itemization of rents, utilities, groceries, entertainment, and various other costs of living in the Philippines. This webpage will be provided to you at the end of this video. Okay, now we are moving on to the top 3 reasons the Philippines are best for retired single people. Did you notice that so far, all of these reasons apply to both women and men?
Top 3 Reasons Philippines are best in entire world for retired singles.
Three. Visa: The Philippines have one of the easiest programs in the world for people that want to stay in the Philippines indefinitely when they arrive as a tourist. You can arrive in the Philippines as a tourist and stay for a total of 36 months by extending your tourist visa. The first few months you just extend for a month or two, but eventually, they have a process where you can extend for 6 months on each visit to the immigration office in the Philippines. If you stay out of legal trouble with the police in the Philippines, you will be able to stay in the Philippines for 36 months. You do not need a retirement visa, you just get extensions to your tourist visa. Then after 36 months, you fly to your home country or to any nearby country for a week or two, and then fly back to the Philippines to restart the whole process over again. It is called a visa run when you leave the Philippines after 36 months. Then you just return and the whole process starts over again. So, the process of staying in the Philippines for the rest of your life, without bothering to get a retirement visa, is one of the easiest in the world.
Two. Foreign Age Difference Relationships: The Philippines are full of some of the nicest kind-hearted people in the world. Plus, age difference relationships are quite common and accepted in the Philippines. So if you are single, it will be easier for you to find love in the Philippines. In fact, it will be easier than any other place I know about in the world. Because they speak English, and because there are many websites with English-speaking people interested in dating foreigners of all ages, it will be easy for you to find love in the Philippines.
One. Women: Have you ever noticed that the Philippines has won more than their fair share of the big four international beauty pageants around the world. That is because some of the most beautiful women in the world are from the Philippines and they take pride in showcasing their beauty. Beauty is not considered a negative trait in the Philippines. In fact, the Philippines have the longest winning streak of winning beauty pageants in the world with six consecutive wins of the big four international pageants in the world between 2013 and 2018. Link provided. Now beauty isn’t everything but that is not the only thing interesting about Filipina women. They also are very smart and are culturally more similar to Americans than some other parts of SE Asia. Americans have been part of their culture for decades. The US military presence in the Philippines has brought accelerated bringing western-style music, sports, and ways of thinking to the Philippines. So they are more likely to understand your silly jokes.
Okay, now I promised to share a few things that you may struggle with if you decide to retire in the Philippines.
What People Struggle With in the Philippines
Food. The traditional foods that you will find in the local style reasonably priced family restaurants in the Philippines will not be very familiar to you. You may find yourself eating out at more expensive ex-pat or tourist-style restaurants when you are in the Philippines. Those tourist-style restaurants will easily be twice as expensive as the local-style restaurants so paying extra for foods that are more familiar to you can get expensive. So we found ourselves cooking at home more when we were living in the Philippines.
Infrastructure: Some of the roads and sidewalks you will encounter in more rural parts of the Philippines might not be in very good condition. It is not unusual to find broken sidewalks and potholes in roads that are not repaired for weeks and months. This can be particularly dangerous if you decide to ride a scooter. So make sure to drive carefully, wear a helmet, and drive at speeds that allow you to adjust at the last minute.
Medical: In more remote and rural areas of the Philippines you might not be near a hospital that will be able to serve you in an emergency. The hospitals in the larger communities are more likely to have services that can help you through a difficult time, so keep that in mind when you are deciding how much risk to take in your lifestyle and where you decide to live in the Philippines. Time can be everything in an emergency.
So, that is the good, the bad, and the ugly of why the Philippines are best in entire world for retired singles. Please grab a free copy of my eBook, “How I Fired My Boss and Traveled the World for 15 Years.”
Thank you for watching. Visit VagabondBuddha.com if you would like to see our catalog of over 100 eBooks we have created teaching you how and where to retire cheap in paradise all over the world. This is Dan of Vagabond Awake, the Youtube channel for VagabondBuddha.com. The world is your home, what time will you be home for dinner?