These worldwide “greatest locations to retire” surveys sometimes level to heat, low-cost nations in Central and South America. However, in some ways, lovely northern locations like Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland could also be even higher.
That’s my conclusion after poring over the 2024 World Happiness Report, the Natixis 2023 International Retirement Index and the Mercer CFA Institute International Pension Index 2023, in addition to chatting with their creators.
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And after vacationing in Norway the place I talked with an outdated buddy who’s a semi-retired U.S. expat married to a retired Norwegian, I got here away much more persuaded that you simply would possibly need to take into account the Nordic area when you’re excited about retiring overseas.
Actually.
‘I’m glad to pay my taxes’
“To me, Norway is a magical place,” my pal Nina Berglund, a digital editor and former Californian, stated. “We have now good pensions and I really feel very nicely taken care of right here. However we even have contributed loads [in taxes] in fact.”
Added her husband Morten Most, a retired journalist: “You usually hear Norwegians say, ‘I’m glad to pay my taxes,’ and to a sure extent that’s true due to the expectation that your taxes might be value it.”
These steep Norwegian gross sales taxes, an annual wealth tax of 1.1% on belongings over $160,000 and the nationwide Norwegian Oil Fund assist pay for government-provided retirement pensions plus practically free well being care, long-term care and school educations. Employers should present pensions, too.
In Norway, Berglund stated, when you want dwelling care or a nursing dwelling, “all the things is roofed.” The copay for a health care provider’s appointment is round $25, she famous. Hospital stays, X-rays, MRIs and CAT scans are largely lined by authorities well being care.
Retirees residing in Norway solely pay taxes on revenue they earn there (22% to 39%). There’s no inheritance tax and property taxes are low by U.S. requirements.
“I don’t really feel burdened in any respect,” stated Most. “Time flies very quick. I’ve a great retirement.”
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Excessive rankings for retirement and happiness amongst individuals 60+
Certainly, Norway ranked No. 1 in Natixis’ International Retirement Index for the third straight yr. That index measures retirement safety by taking a look at well being, funds in retirement, high quality of life and materials wellbeing.
Norway was additionally the third happiest nation for individuals 60 and older within the World Happiness Report, based mostly on residents’ assessments of their lives. Denmark topped the World Happiness Report and the U.S. ranked No. 10.
Together with close by Sweden, Norway scored a B within the International Pension Index, calculated by crunching information on the adequacy, sustainability and integrity of every nation’s retirement revenue system. Denmark nailed an A.
Some Nordic nations are remarkably secure, too. In Numbeo’s 2024 International Security Index, Iceland ranked 18, Denmark 20, Finland 23, Norway 39; america is 88.
What makes the nations rating so nicely
Why do Scandinavian nations of Norway, Denmark and Sweden plus Nordic ones like Finland and Iceland constantly present up so nicely in a majority of these surveys?
International locations on the prime of the World Happiness rankings, stated John Helliwell, a lead researcher for that examine, are well-off and other people have “good connections, excessive belief and excessive caring for one another.”
“I are inclined to suppose that it’s the holistic view of issues they’ve,” stated David Goodsell, govt director of the worldwide analysis program, Natixis Middle for Investor Perception, which publishes the International Retirement Index. “When you’re not fearful about your healthcare or about desirous to [afford to] return to high school in retirement,” he added, “these issues are going to affect how you’re feeling.”
David Knox, who heads up Mercer’s International Pension Index, cites what he calls the “social compact” of those nations between their residents in addition to between the residents and their governments.
“Every technology expects to help, after which obtain from, the following technology,” he stated. “It’s a much less individualistic society” than in america, Knox added.
Two different components Goodsell cited: steady economies and small populations — mixed, Nordic nations have fewer individuals than Canada.
When setting retirement insurance policies, stated Knox, “I believe it’s simpler for a comparatively smaller nation to say: ‘That is what we’re going to do.’”
Employers are usually paternalistic in Nordic nations, too, which helps in retirement. “In Denmark, greater than 80% of the working-age inhabitants has a pension account,” stated Knox. “That’s a lot greater than in America.”
Good retirement methods, glad residents
Knox isn’t shocked that many Scandinavian and Nordic nations rating so nicely in each the World Happiness Report and his International Pension Index.
As individuals strategy retirement, he stated, if their authorities is underneath stress financially, “they might fear, ‘Will they lower the state pension and may I afford to retire?’ But when I’m in a system like Norway, which has the boldness of the Oil Fund, there’s a component of ‘I’m glad I’m going to retire right here’ and that there might be help from the federal government, whether or not it’s in pensions or well being care or no matter.”
Absent from ‘greatest locations to retire’ rankings
Apparently, the annual Finest Locations to Retire surveys from Worldwide Residing and Dwell and Make investments Abroad don’t even embody Nordic nations of their rankings. I requested their creators why.
Donal Lucey, head of digital content material at Worldwide Residing, cited the price of residing which, he stated, “could be prohibitive for retirees.”
It’s true that gasoline and groceries could be excessive in that a part of the world, however rents are considerably decrease in Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm than New York Metropolis, based on Numbeo.
Lucey referred to as visa and residency necessities in Nordic nations “stringent,” since these nations don’t have retirement visa applications like in Portugal and Mexico.
“U.S. retirees would want to navigate complicated immigration legal guidelines,” stated Lucey. “And with out important monetary means, securing long-term residency could be troublesome,” he stated. In Norway, it takes three years to develop into a resident.
Dwell and Make investments Abroad writer Kathleen Peddicord stated: “My fast, perhaps flippant, response is that we don’t speak about that area as a result of the climate is terrible and the price of all the things could be very excessive.”
“As a retiree procuring the world map for choices for the place to stay higher on no matter funds you’ve acquired,” she added, “you’ve acquired many higher selections than these chilly, darkish, overpriced nations in Northern Europe that don’t really need you there anyway.”
That’s one thing of an overstatement.
Chilly? Typically, however not in the summertime. “I really like the change of seasons,” stated Berglund. “We’re nonetheless very energetic. We go snowboarding.” However, she conceded, “winter for a lot of aged, and plenty of Norwegians, could be very onerous.”
Darkish? Sure, in some components of the yr, however not others.
Don’t need you there? That wasn’t my expertise as a vacationer, nor what I heard from my expat buddy and her husband.
It helps, nevertheless, to stay by what the Danish name “hygge” — having fun with the straightforward pleasures in life.
Recommendation for pre-retirees
World Happiness Report researcher Halliwell stated that as an alternative of in search of an ideal place on this planet to retire, go to a few of the happiest nations to see what explains that feeling after which attempt to emulate it after returning dwelling.
“Apply the Nordic classes the place you already stay,” he stated. “It shouldn’t be about the place you may get probably the most bang to your buck.”