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Yes, Taiwan is ridiculously low crime. Not just underreported, but it's simply very safe. It's depressing to come back to the USA and have the nightly news dispassionately report local homicides every day, after living in Taiwan where the national news is reporting on scooter wrecks or getting all breathless and upset about drivers failing to yield to ambulances on the freeway.
Definitely makes me think twice about raising my kids in the USA. It feels like the wild west here, in comparison. Lots of money to be made and lots of literal and figurative bullets to be dodged. I'd like to pre-tire to Taiwan until the kids finish High school, then move back and send them on a gap year while we establish residency in the state where we want them to go to University.
Aren’t you bothered by the scooter wrecks and the ambulance being blocked by traffic? And the pollution and the awfully demanding high school? These things in Taiwan bother me to no end.
Taipei and Japan sounds amazing. Patrick, is your wife from Taiwan? Is that why you live there? I don't know any expats who live in Taiwan unless their wives are from there. Still, splitting your time between Taiwan and Japan sounds great. Which city are you in in Taiwan? I assume Taipei.
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Now live in Hsinchu. My wife is Taianease but I originally moved to Taiwan on an expat package. I know several westerners who set up businesses in Taiwan on their own and became residents that way.
The one insurmountable hurdle in Taiwan is the educational system. It's brutal on kids so if you have school aged children I wouldn't recommend it for that reason. Otherwise I've solved all the usual lifestyle dilemmas by splitting my time between Taiwan and Japan.
Most posts emphasize on COL, but for retirees, crime (and health care) is more important especially if you are not fluent in the local language. Some recommendations suggested may not be good choice:
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Malaysia (15)
Mexico (32)
Ecuador (36)
Thailand (41)
US (44) -- for reference
Philippines (62)
Most retirement destinations suggested have worse crime than U.S. in general.
Countries that have least crime:
(1) Singapore
(2) Qatar
(3) Taiwan
(4) Austria
(5) UAE
(6) Japan
(7) Hong Kong
(8) Georgia
(9) Denmark
(10) Switzerland
Crime is very important. Unfortunately some of the least crime list are either extraordinarily expensive (Denmark, Switzerland), and/or not conducive to foreigners living there without work visas (Qatar, UAE).
I think at a certain point, if a person could afford a UAE or Denmark, than they could definitely afford a gated community in somewhere like the Philippines, that equally gives a sense of security.
Yeah I totally got that feeling when I was there. Prior to that trip I had been to Macau maybe 4 times but every instance was for just 24 hours kinda stopping by on my way to HK or China. This was my first extended stay as we were seriously considering relocating to Macau (wife is PR) and I was struggling to imagine how I would be able to do 183 days/year for 7 years to get my PR.
Although I think I would survive and enjoy it, it would feel a bit limiting. I hung out in HK with an American expat who had lived in Macau for 2 years and he felt the exact same way. HK has been much better for him.
In any case my wife has chosen a different life path which, at least for the next three years, is not going to involve Asia. So the can has been kicked down the proverbial road.
There are definitely worse places to be. It helps, like anywhere, to be working a lot. I don't have much time to really appreciate the city fully, or to be bored of the city fully either.
There are also tons of neighborhoods that are very tourist-free, that when I show visitors them, they are quite surprised and impressed. Some areas look like Hong Kong with high-rise residentials everywhere, and tons of shops down below, etc.
I don't believe Singapore offers retirement visas to foreigners. It's possible to get Permanent Residence if you have unique work skills that benefit the country or very large amounts of cash to invest into the local economy. It is also offered to foreigners married to Singapore citizens.
The Permanent Residence program has been structured to favor Mainland Chinese immigration because of historically low Singapore birth rates and also to keep a Chinese majority in place to counter a growing population of Malay citizens in the country.
I'm aware of several Americans of retirement age or below in Singapore who started off as Permanent Residents because they are married to Singaporeans and later became citizens. One person I know from Michigan married a Singaporean, received citizenship and operates an eating establishment in a food court.
I think most Singaporeans who are thinking about having money for retirement, are often looking at retirement options over in Johor Bahru and others parts of Malaysia.
Singapore seems like a great place to work, but not very cost efficient. I just wish that somehow Singapore had been given a lot more rural lands attached to it. I'd love to live in a country like that, but with some reasonable-priced housing options.
Yes, Taiwan is ridiculously low crime. Not just underreported, but it's simply very safe. It's depressing to come back to the USA and have the nightly news dispassionately report local homicides every day, after living in Taiwan where the national news is reporting on scooter wrecks or getting all breathless and upset about drivers failing to yield to ambulances on the freeway.
Definitely makes me think twice about raising my kids in the USA. It feels like the wild west here, in comparison. Lots of money to be made and lots of literal and figurative bullets to be dodged. I'd like to pre-tire to Taiwan until the kids finish High school, then move back and send them on a gap year while we establish residency in the state where we want them to go to University.
Too bad that's somewhat infeasible in my line of work.
Not only Taiwan, but much of Asia is completely safe for both kids and adults. In Japan, it was not uncommon to see small little kids walking alone to school, or going on the bus unaccompanied. That still seems wrong to me, but a sign of just how different things are in different places.
Family. I'm raising my kids in Asia. No way I'd go back to the U.S. and raise kids. Plus they are raised with the values of appreciating their parents. It still takes me back when teenagers or young adults talk about how much they love their parents, and how much they miss them. Back in the U.S., it seemed to be a rites-of-passage to trash talk your parents at that age, and/or even hate them. Not all Americans, but that elements exists, where it doesn't seem to exist at all anywhere in Asia.
I could go on and on, both with family and safety; and Asia almost always lands up on top (with a few exceptions).
I'm a permanent resident of Taiwan and own property in rural Japan. Taiwan has a good business climate and quality, low cost healthcare. Whenever I need to get away I pop up to my farm in Japan. Takes about four hours by air. Both places are friendly and low crime. Doesn't get any better in my experience.
How is it owning land in Japan? I would be interested interested in something like that myself. What are the visa issues with that? It seems to me that public transportation alone is so expensive in Japan, how much does it cost you just to get to that land?
Any anything else you want to say about owning land in Japan, please share!
Macau is a pretty cool place, and I visit about 5 or so times per year, but its super quiet and not much going on. I'm not a huge partier at all, but it just doesn't seem like there is much there esp when you compare it to Hong Kong. Macau has some cools architecture and interesting small streets and alleys, but that might get old after a while. Only so much exploring you can do. Back in the day, maybe say 10 years ago, you could buy an apartment for like 1 million HKD and they also gave you residence which comes with healthcare and other benefits. Not sure if that's still available if you buy a place there, but of course like anything with real estate in China and its neighbors, prices have sky rocketed.
Macau. That's changed unfortunately. Those people though made a ton of money off of their apartments in recent years. Now Macau landlords are trying to charge near equivalent to Hong Kong prices.
Yeah, Macau isn't much of a party place either. The casinos kind of cornered that market, and its very touristic. They try to do things for locals, but the Chinese, in general, aren't very big drinkers, at least not in Macau. (Moreso in Hong Kong, they are).
Now live in Hsinchu. My wife is Taianease but I originally moved to Taiwan on an expat package. I know several westerners who set up businesses in Taiwan on their own and became residents that way.
The one insurmountable hurdle in Taiwan is the educational system. It's brutal on kids so if you have school aged children I wouldn't recommend it for that reason. Otherwise I've solved all the usual lifestyle dilemmas by splitting my time between Taiwan and Japan.
Businesses. That is something I really need to explore. It seems like setting up a small business is the way to go anyways for any 'near retirement'. Is that also an easier way to resolve visa issues at the same time?
I'm thinking more of Southeast Asia though, than Taiwan, but Taiwan, I suppose could be interesting as well.
Macau is a pretty cool place, and I visit about 5 or so times per year, but its super quiet and not much going on. I'm not a huge partier at all, but it just doesn't seem like there is much there esp when you compare it to Hong Kong. Macau has some cools architecture and interesting small streets and alleys, but that might get old after a while. Only so much exploring you can do. Back in the day, maybe say 10 years ago, you could buy an apartment for like 1 million HKD and they also gave you residence which comes with healthcare and other benefits. Not sure if that's still available if you buy a place there, but of course like anything with real estate in China and its neighbors, prices have sky rocketed.
Yeah you can't buy PR anymore. Fortunately my in-laws have a nice place there that goes unused most of the year so we could move right in if we wanted. For the price they paid, you can't even get a parking space anymore.
Somebody had advised me that if I could show it was necessary for business purposes to be away from Macau more than half of the year I could still get PR without being their the standard amount of time. Something I would look into more if not for the aforementioned decision by my wife which will keep us based in Miami for a few years minimum.
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