Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series on retiring abroad. To see all the articles in the series, jump to the end.
Boracay, Palawan, El Nido — this is the stuff of sophisticated travelers’ dreams, for their endless sandy beaches, colorful reef diving, turquoise waters teeming with marine life, secret coves, and limestone towers called karsks that rise from the Sula Sea. However, the Philippines, a sprawling archipelago nation located in Southeast Asia and home to 110 million people — the 12th most populous country on the planet — is also an affordable place to retire, with relatively low barriers to entry.
