I just got back from a month long trip in Asia and I had a great time visiting a few countries there. I was impressed with so many things and my expectations were exceeded in many ways but the most impressive was how safe many places were during my visit.
One of the reasons I was in Asia to begin with was because many of the safest countries on Earth on in Asia. You can review the full list here on Numbeo.
The Asian countries in the top 10 list are Taiwan (4), Hong Kong (7), Singapore (9), Japan (10). China is 15, South Korea 17, Thailand 50, and Vietnam 55.
Malaysia is 88 which is one point higher than the United States at 89.
Safety First
Our primary criteria for selecting a country to retire or semi-retire in safety. The list above is for crime statistics but there are other factors as well. The biggest issue for me in the United States is the endless gun violence. It seems a week doesn’t go by where there isn’t a mass shooting somewhere in the country. There have been mass shootings in schools, churches, malls, restaurants, parks and anything else that you can think of over the years and there seems to be no will to deal with the problem.
Safety however also extends beyond crime. Access to affordable healthcare is another major issue. Just about every Asian country has far cheaper healthcare than the United States. An x-ray in Asia runs about $10 to $50 but in the U.S. it is easily 10x or more than that and there is zero reason for it except for all the greed and graft. Again, this is an issue that Americans don’t seem to want addressed or solved.
Numbeo is a good site to start gathering data if you are interested in moving or retiring somewhere else. In addition to crime stats, there is cost of living, property prices, quality of life and some premium features. I am not affiliated with the site in any way.
The next step for me is to live in some of these countries for at least a couple of months to make sure it’s a great fit. Visiting as a tourist is great but living there day to day is an entirely different experience.
Share The Wealth
Have you thought about retiring outside the U.S? Let me know in the comments below.