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Retirees looking to stretch their pensions might consider spending their golden years in Ecuador, Panama or Mexico, where cost of living is low and the weather is warm, according to a new index.
International Living Magazine rated the three Latin American countries the top destinations in its Retirement Index 2012, followed by Malaysia, Colombia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Spain, Thailand and Honduras.
"The proposition is that you can live better for less, and not sacrifice anything, if at all, in quality of life and still live on half or less of what your cost of living would be in the United States or Canada," said Dan Prescher, special projects editor for International Living.
"As the world economic situation deteriorates that's becoming more important," he added in an interview.
Prescher, an American who now calls Ecuador home, said he and his wife live comfortably on about $1,300 a month -- for everything.
Honduras, Thailand, Panama, Nicaragua and Mexico offer similar lifestyles for comparable prices, according to the magazine. Meals in some of the index countries cost as little as $3, local beers sell for $1.50 and there are discounts for retirees on public transport and utilities, among other perks.
The magazine assessed the nations in eight categories -- the price and availability of property, special benefits for retirees, cost of living, integration and assimilation into the local population, entertainment and amenities, health infrastructure, availability of high-quality healthcare and climate.
"You can go almost anywhere outside the US and live for less right now but there are some places that are easier to assimilate in," Prescher explained.
Apart from New Zealand, which was No. 6 and Spain at No. 8, all the other nations were in Latin America or Asia, largely because of the low cost of living and the integration factor.
"Most of Latin America is close to the United States. It is easy to get to, easy to get back and almost everybody has some English, which makes integration good. And the cost of living throughout Latin America is incredibly low," said Prescher.
Although security was not among of the categories assessed in the index, Prescher said most of the countries in the index are statistically safer than the United States.
想更好地利用养老金的退休人员可以考虑到厄瓜多尔、巴拿马或者墨西哥度过晚年，据一项新指数显示，那些地方的生活成本低，而且气温宜人。
《国际生活杂志》将这三个拉丁美洲国家评为2012退休指数最高的地方，紧随其后的是马来西亚、哥伦比亚、新西兰、尼加拉瓜、西班牙、泰国和洪都拉斯。
《国际生活杂志》的专案编辑丹•普雷舍尔说：“我们的主张是用更少的钱过更好的生活，但不会牺牲任何的生活品质，即使生活品质有所下降，生活成本却只有在美国或加拿大的一半甚至更低。”
“在全球经济恶化的形势下，这一点变得愈发重要。”他在一次采访中补充道。
现在把厄瓜多尔当成家的美国人普雷舍尔说，他和妻子每个月花1300美元就能过得很舒服，包括所有开销。
据该杂志称，在洪都拉斯、泰国、巴拿马、尼加拉瓜和墨西哥也能以差不多的价格过上类似的舒适生活。在一些有指数排名的国家里一顿饭只需花3美元，当地啤酒只卖1.5美元，退休人员在乘坐公交和使用公共设施时还能享受打折优惠和其它特权。
该杂志从8个方面衡量一个国家的退休指数：房产的价格及可用性、退休人员的特殊福利、生活成本、与当地人口的融合度、娱乐和便利设施、卫生设施、高品质医疗服务以及气候环境。
普雷舍尔解释道：“出了美国你哪儿都能去，马上生活成本就降低，但是有些地方是更容易融入的。”
除了第六位的新西兰和第八位的西班牙，其余的国家均位于拉丁美洲或者亚洲，主要是因为这些国家生活成本低且易于融入。
普雷舍尔说：“大多数拉丁美洲国家离美国较近。美国人来去自如而且那里几乎每个人都懂点英语(论坛)，这样融入当地生活就会很容易。此外拉丁美洲的生活成本低到让人难以置信。”
尽管安全并未被列为指数测评的一个方面，但普雷舍尔说从统计结果看指数排名里的大多数国家都比美国安全。
