🇸🇬Singapore
World-class healthcare and safety — at a premium
Singapore offers arguably the best healthcare and lowest crime on earth, in an English-speaking, ultra-modern city-state. It's expensive and hard to get residency, but unmatched for safety and medical care.
Residency & visas
Hardest on this list — no dedicated retiree visa. Most settle via long-term family ties or significant investment; many retirees instead visit long-term rather than relocate permanently.
Healthcare
Consistently ranked the best in the world — pristine, efficient hospitals (e.g. Mount Elizabeth, Singapore General) with English-speaking, internationally trained doctors.
Your U.S. benefits & taxes
Social Security can be paid to U.S. citizens here. Cost of living is high; Medicare doesn't apply. Best suited to retirees with substantial savings.
Climate
Tropical — hot and humid year-round, frequent rain, but no hurricanes or earthquakes.
Safety & stability
Among the safest places on the planet, with very low crime and excellent infrastructure.
Welcome, community & culture
Small but cosmopolitan international community; English is universal. A smaller Black population, but a multicultural, generally welcoming and orderly society.
Getting back to family
Singapore Changi (SIN) — the world's best airport — has direct ultra-long-haul flights to NYC, San Francisco, LA, and Seattle.
Run your numbers first
See exactly how much income you'll need, and how to protect your Social Security before you go.
Open the calculators →