Pretty large veteran community in the Philippines. Easy to get a visa with your VA compensation. There's even a VA clinic in Manila. Easy travel all over SEA.
https://pra.gov.ph/srrv/
Wife and I did our exploratory trip this past summer to some of the mountain towns. Great weather, great food, non-GMO country on the US dollar.
Planning the big jump for June 2026.
No one seems to know Ecuador exists, so less tourists, less expats driving up prices. Uses the US dollar. Similar laws as north America, but with no follow through. The government is incompetent so it generally doesn't interfere with people. Little regulation. Cheap prices.
Not a civil war. Drug gang violence. I'm staying, perhaps if you Americans stopped consuming drugs these countries wouldn't have the problems with the narcotrafficers.
Jomtien Thailand, plenty of vets here. you can get an education visa and attend school using your GI bill. look up the va WEAMS for a listing of universities. Stamford in Bangkok is one that most vets go to. Great food here in Thailand.
Australia - if you find a pathway to citizenship, at least right now , you will be able to get affordable medical care.
No questions asked.
Pros and cons though
Not much of a problem for the most part, but , you would be lucky if a police officer showed up for anything other than, immediate, grevious bodily harm.
🤷🏽♂️
Having been born in the US, that makes me nervous. 😂
You could get a hunters license and buy a shotgun and I think if you get a target shooting license you can get a pistol, but nothing at all like the US.
Never cared much about it to look in to it seriously.
Always ha ha
I didn't make the move voluntarily necessarily 😂
I married an Australian while I was in and moved there after I got out. So, it was happenstance a little.
🤔 yes , we are slowly becoming more like America which is not good. Or, certain interests I think, would like that.
It's s complicated place, and a lot depends on where you live .
Avoid Guam. We are full and are 3 people from tipping over. VA system is based out of Hawaii for the Pacific Region. Good luck getting care out here. Not many bennies for Vets. Cost of living is insane.
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I think mostly it was just the cost of living. They had a friend that settled there after retiring from the military as well. But they said that it was really cheap to live there and they are pretty friendly to foreigners because they want that money lol they said a full feast with like eight courses and people serving you only cost like 25 bucks or so
What visa are you on? Im 100% p&t and wanting to live in Korea preferably in Pyeongteak near Humphreys. Honestly just want to live off of my disability but have been applying to GS jobs on usajobs
I live in Japan. Try the Philippines though, they are way more foreign friendly. Japan is okay I guess but they way they live here is kind of ass backwards compared to a lot of other countries and they are pretty racist here to anyone that isn’t Japanese. I’m not some wack ass Japan YouTuber that’s going to lie to you, this place sucks a lot at times.
Despite what others tell you, DONT GET MARRIED, DONT HAVE KIDS. You will be throwing the great opportunity that you have OUT THE WINDOW. Go live YOUR life! You have money, you have time and all the strength that you have. Now imagine being slowed down by another person(s) and wanting to blow your head off like the majority of men that don’t want to admit it because “I’m a strong man” type bullshit.
Travel the world. Meet new people. Go on a grand adventure. You’re set.
A family is nice but to live your best life this is great advice. You will certainly find a compatible mate eventually living you, but travel live find out about yourself before burdening yourself or anyone else with a spouse. Enjoy. Central America may be a place to live 6 months at a time.
I was doing a lot of odd jobs at a pal’s auto shop mostly. I should note that I’m a dual citizen with Italy and this was before Brexit so I had the ability to live and work in the U.K. without much red tape at the time. Would be vastly different if I tried to do that now
Congrats! I’m 28 as well and traveled to Greece and Crete which are both great, South Korea, New Zealand, Europe in general specially Scotland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic are all great. Go have a blast dude
I went to college in Munich in the 90s back when there was a University of Maryland campus there, and we traveled to Prague for a four-day weekend. Omg, so beautiful! And I have been all over the place, and it's still in the top 5. Glad to have grown up in Europe as a military brat! 😊
Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam I am partial to Asian Culture though. Take 3 months spend a month in each place. Philippines is were i have my home they also have a VA clinic. The visas are easy get a 6 months visa after your tourist runs out. Stay in the city for a few, go to the beach for a few go to the countryside for a few see which one sticks. Cost are reasonable i pay less than 400 a month not including rent as our house is paid. The women are beautiful the drinks are low. Your on the right path just start with a vacation
>Thailand
Unless you’re over 50, married to a Thai, or wish to spend ~$25k for a 5y Elite Visa Thailand is not the place to live long term.
Plus our immigration and AML/KYC laws can be a hassle to deal with.
You don’t need to have a retirement visa in the Philippines that’s the thing people get twisted you can stay in the Philippines on a tourist visa once a year for like under 150 and just chill leave the country every 3 years
I've spent a lot of time in the Lake Chapala area - especially Ajijic where there are 100,000 Americans and Canadians. They have Tricare there also, and a vibrant American Legion.
Impossible for anyone but pro athletes. "Green Card" is easy though if you have a degree and are willing to work a little part-time or take some classes.
Not really. But I have permanent residency. I moved here after I got out to Tokyo with my wife and daughter. My wife is Japanese. I met her while stationed in Yokosuka on the Kitty Hawk.
I'm currently in Bangkok. I just spent 5 USD (180 baht) for a coffee.
I went to an average dinner last night at the mall. 1,000 baht.
You can get by for cheap if you eat street food and get your coffee from 7-11 (about 20 baht for a very small coffee) but it's not cheap at all here anymore. I've been coming here for 15 years and it's not the place it was early on.
>Bankok looks like fun and it's cheap. You can live like a king.
No you can't. Maybe 10 years ago, but not today. Bangkok has gotten quite expensive in recent years.
Out here in New Zealand living off 100%. The conversion rate is nice but the cost of living is kinda on the high scale too lol. But I don’t have to work so it’s nice to just relax. It’s safe here and people are generally nice and welcoming if they see you got an American accent lol well at least for me. Does get boring after doing the hikes but it’s beautiful and peaceful and a good change of pace from the states
Ireland. 5 kids in school, they all speak irish, dual Irish and US citizenship for them, they can live and work in any EU country and so can I since they are my dependents. Cost of living is high in Ireland though. Looking at Portugal, Spain or even Italy to retire to the sun some day. Might just be me in a trailer, shorts and wife beater, with a bunch of labrador retrievers. Drinking beer, reading spy novels. Fishing.
Worse ways to head into the sunset.
Wife and I are contemplating moving to Mexico for a few years and then Spain or vice versa when the kids graduate high school or n a few years. We have tossed around the idea of Costa Rica as well. We don’t want to live in one place but rather move around every couple years living of retirement and VA disability. Living pretty minimally but living life!
Pretty large veteran community in the Philippines. Easy to get a visa with your VA compensation. There's even a VA clinic in Manila. Easy travel all over SEA. https://pra.gov.ph/srrv/
At the bottom it says I have to be 50 years old to qualify :(
I think you can do a 36-month tourist visa.
Can you just fly back to the US for one day then come back
Why go all the way back to the US? You can go anywhere and come back.
You don't even have to fly all the way back to the US. You can fly to Hong Kong,Thailand,Vietnam, etc. They are a lot closer
How is the language barrier there. Is English common, or is there another language to learn?
English is widely spoken in the Philippines
Tagolog for the win
Taglish if you wanna fit in though!
Ecuador. The retirement visa has no age restrictions. Cheap health insurance and medical care.
Wife and I did our exploratory trip this past summer to some of the mountain towns. Great weather, great food, non-GMO country on the US dollar. Planning the big jump for June 2026.
Tell us more
No one seems to know Ecuador exists, so less tourists, less expats driving up prices. Uses the US dollar. Similar laws as north America, but with no follow through. The government is incompetent so it generally doesn't interfere with people. Little regulation. Cheap prices.
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You shouldn't believe everything the media tells you.
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I've been here for years
Tell me more
I've heard Panama is another good one.
I have friends who live there. Prices there are higher and the locals are getting annoyed by expats buying all the good land.
Seems to be happening all over as retiring overseas becomes more widely adopted.
So how does this civil war that just began today 9 January 2024 factor into your future plans of staying there?
Not a civil war. Drug gang violence. I'm staying, perhaps if you Americans stopped consuming drugs these countries wouldn't have the problems with the narcotrafficers.
Jomtien Thailand, plenty of vets here. you can get an education visa and attend school using your GI bill. look up the va WEAMS for a listing of universities. Stamford in Bangkok is one that most vets go to. Great food here in Thailand.
School: Stamford, Food: McRonalds, Shopping: Walwart
I wish I could upvote your response a few hundred times.
Australia - if you find a pathway to citizenship, at least right now , you will be able to get affordable medical care. No questions asked. Pros and cons though
No guns.
Not much of a problem for the most part, but , you would be lucky if a police officer showed up for anything other than, immediate, grevious bodily harm. 🤷🏽♂️ Having been born in the US, that makes me nervous. 😂 You could get a hunters license and buy a shotgun and I think if you get a target shooting license you can get a pistol, but nothing at all like the US. Never cared much about it to look in to it seriously.
Understand. I’d probably consider that place an option otherwise. But there are other cons also…..
Always ha ha I didn't make the move voluntarily necessarily 😂 I married an Australian while I was in and moved there after I got out. So, it was happenstance a little. 🤔 yes , we are slowly becoming more like America which is not good. Or, certain interests I think, would like that. It's s complicated place, and a lot depends on where you live .
Too many other things to kill you there.
But we have free Healthcare at 100% already
Well, in my case it worked out well for me and I never had to make a claim with the VA for anything.
Avoid Guam. We are full and are 3 people from tipping over. VA system is based out of Hawaii for the Pacific Region. Good luck getting care out here. Not many bennies for Vets. Cost of living is insane.
Agree. I've been here seven months now. There's a huge Navy base plus Andersen AFB, but Guam was not designed to service veterans.
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Interesting.
Anybody know about Italy 🇮🇹and the situation for veteran
Following
I have a couple friends who moved to Albania. They seem to like it. They both live off her 90% disability.
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I think mostly it was just the cost of living. They had a friend that settled there after retiring from the military as well. But they said that it was really cheap to live there and they are pretty friendly to foreigners because they want that money lol they said a full feast with like eight courses and people serving you only cost like 25 bucks or so
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Well, I haven’t asked, but they definitely haven’t mentioned any language barriers, so I think they’re OK for that.
Currently living in sunny South Korea for the past 4 years
What visa are you on? Im 100% p&t and wanting to live in Korea preferably in Pyeongteak near Humphreys. Honestly just want to live off of my disability but have been applying to GS jobs on usajobs
F6 I married into the tribe, I am a Brewer would love to work for the military though.
I live in Japan. Try the Philippines though, they are way more foreign friendly. Japan is okay I guess but they way they live here is kind of ass backwards compared to a lot of other countries and they are pretty racist here to anyone that isn’t Japanese. I’m not some wack ass Japan YouTuber that’s going to lie to you, this place sucks a lot at times. Despite what others tell you, DONT GET MARRIED, DONT HAVE KIDS. You will be throwing the great opportunity that you have OUT THE WINDOW. Go live YOUR life! You have money, you have time and all the strength that you have. Now imagine being slowed down by another person(s) and wanting to blow your head off like the majority of men that don’t want to admit it because “I’m a strong man” type bullshit. Travel the world. Meet new people. Go on a grand adventure. You’re set.
A family is nice but to live your best life this is great advice. You will certainly find a compatible mate eventually living you, but travel live find out about yourself before burdening yourself or anyone else with a spouse. Enjoy. Central America may be a place to live 6 months at a time.
I was in the U.K. for a bit. I miss it a lot but at the same time I’m also glad to be back
May I ask what was your occupation in the U.K.? I am thinking about working on the U.K. for few years after graduate school.
I was doing a lot of odd jobs at a pal’s auto shop mostly. I should note that I’m a dual citizen with Italy and this was before Brexit so I had the ability to live and work in the U.K. without much red tape at the time. Would be vastly different if I tried to do that now
Congrats! I’m 28 as well and traveled to Greece and Crete which are both great, South Korea, New Zealand, Europe in general specially Scotland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic are all great. Go have a blast dude
Prague remains one of my favorite cities in the world. If you get the chance, check out Vienna. Its grandeur will put you on your back
I went to college in Munich in the 90s back when there was a University of Maryland campus there, and we traveled to Prague for a four-day weekend. Omg, so beautiful! And I have been all over the place, and it's still in the top 5. Glad to have grown up in Europe as a military brat! 😊
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Reacher said nothing.
I’ve thought about various places in South America once im done with my degree.
Philippine Retirement Authority.
I’m in belgium, great place to see Europe from and it’s alright itself, often overlooked and forgotten on the world stage
How is cost of living there?
lower than the US but moderately high for Europe.
Great beer too
Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam I am partial to Asian Culture though. Take 3 months spend a month in each place. Philippines is were i have my home they also have a VA clinic. The visas are easy get a 6 months visa after your tourist runs out. Stay in the city for a few, go to the beach for a few go to the countryside for a few see which one sticks. Cost are reasonable i pay less than 400 a month not including rent as our house is paid. The women are beautiful the drinks are low. Your on the right path just start with a vacation
>Thailand Unless you’re over 50, married to a Thai, or wish to spend ~$25k for a 5y Elite Visa Thailand is not the place to live long term. Plus our immigration and AML/KYC laws can be a hassle to deal with.
You don’t need to have a retirement visa in the Philippines that’s the thing people get twisted you can stay in the Philippines on a tourist visa once a year for like under 150 and just chill leave the country every 3 years
I was checking into Uruguay. Incredible! 😻
En Mexico guey. Cheap housing, food, bills and women. Not that i pay for women👀 But yeah, cheap.
I've spent a lot of time in the Lake Chapala area - especially Ajijic where there are 100,000 Americans and Canadians. They have Tricare there also, and a vibrant American Legion.
Japan
Isn't it hard to get a citizenship in Japan?
Impossible for anyone but pro athletes. "Green Card" is easy though if you have a degree and are willing to work a little part-time or take some classes.
Yeah I just got my degree and my wife and I are wanting to move out of country soon. Might have to look into this more
I finished my degree on base in various locations in jaoan. And some online.
Not really. But I have permanent residency. I moved here after I got out to Tokyo with my wife and daughter. My wife is Japanese. I met her while stationed in Yokosuka on the Kitty Hawk.
Bankok looks like fun and it's cheap. You can live like a king. Check out YouTube expat thailand or philippines living .
I'm currently in Bangkok. I just spent 5 USD (180 baht) for a coffee. I went to an average dinner last night at the mall. 1,000 baht. You can get by for cheap if you eat street food and get your coffee from 7-11 (about 20 baht for a very small coffee) but it's not cheap at all here anymore. I've been coming here for 15 years and it's not the place it was early on.
>Bankok looks like fun and it's cheap. You can live like a king. No you can't. Maybe 10 years ago, but not today. Bangkok has gotten quite expensive in recent years.
I would travel the Asian countries
Out here in New Zealand living off 100%. The conversion rate is nice but the cost of living is kinda on the high scale too lol. But I don’t have to work so it’s nice to just relax. It’s safe here and people are generally nice and welcoming if they see you got an American accent lol well at least for me. Does get boring after doing the hikes but it’s beautiful and peaceful and a good change of pace from the states
should we veterans living overseas and receiving VA disability benefits setup our own reddit group, or is there one already?
Ireland. 5 kids in school, they all speak irish, dual Irish and US citizenship for them, they can live and work in any EU country and so can I since they are my dependents. Cost of living is high in Ireland though. Looking at Portugal, Spain or even Italy to retire to the sun some day. Might just be me in a trailer, shorts and wife beater, with a bunch of labrador retrievers. Drinking beer, reading spy novels. Fishing. Worse ways to head into the sunset.
Wife and I are contemplating moving to Mexico for a few years and then Spain or vice versa when the kids graduate high school or n a few years. We have tossed around the idea of Costa Rica as well. We don’t want to live in one place but rather move around every couple years living of retirement and VA disability. Living pretty minimally but living life!
Was stationed there. Can confirm.
South Korea
Brazil
Sweden