Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Valletta, Malta N ext month, Matt Palmer, 60, and Lisa Barr, 63, a retired couple from Quincy, Mass., and Penni, their six-year-old retired racing greyhound, are moving to one-half of a two-family house they are renting with a contract to buy in Lucca, Italy, a lively Tuscany town on the Ligurian Sea. A mechanical engineer and business traveler to Italy for 35 years, Palmer already speaks fluent Italian, which Barr plans to learn.
They fell in love with Italy a quarter-century ago and have visited together 26 times since, giving them a chance to see the entire country with an eye towards where to settle. They chose Lucca (the birthplace of opera composer Giacomo Puccini) for its temperate climate, cultural scene and proximity to art mecca Florence, a 75-minute train ride away. “We are making our dream happen,” Palmer says.
No, retiring abroad doesn’t have to be the culmination of decades of dreaming and planning. But it does require extensive research, planning and yes, some boring, but necessary paperwork. Start by consulting the Forbes list of the Best Places To Retire Abroad .
In 2024—featuring 96 recommended spots in 24 countries, on four continents and several islands. Each country’s description includes the sort of practical information we considered in making our picks, including cost of living, healthcare costs and quality, taxes, natural hazard and climate change risk, the difficulty of getting permission.
