The top destination for American retirees abroad isn’t a beach town — it’s Japan
Ask most Americans where retirees go when they leave the U.S., and you’ll get the same three answers every time: Mexico, Portugal, Costa Rica. Sun, palm trees, a beach chair with their name on it. The Social Security Administration’s own numbers tell a very different story, and it’s not the one anyone’s vacation Pinterest board is selling.
About 712,000 Americans currently collect Social Security benefits at a foreign address, according to the SSA — roughly 1% of all beneficiaries. The single most popular destination isn’t anywhere near the equator. It’s Japan, home to around 108,000 American retirees drawing benefits there. Canada comes in a close second at 107,000.
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Where the money actually goes
Europe pulls in about 38% of Americans collecting Social Security overseas when you count the whole continent together — more than any single country manages on its own. But no individual European nation gets anywhere close to Japan or Canada’s numbers. Spread that wide, and the “everyone’s moving to Portugal” narrative starts looking a lot smaller than it sounds online.
Mexico is the real head-scratcher. The State Department estimates roughly 1.6 million U.S. citizens live there, and at the typical American age breakdown, that should mean close to 290,000 retirement-age citizens. Only about 58,000 actually collect Social Security at a Mexican address. My guess: a lot of that gap is people who never updated their address with the SSA, not people quietly rejecting Mexico. Paperwork follow-through isn’t anyone’s idea of a fun retirement task.
Wanting to leave versus actually leaving
A 2025 Harris Poll found 44% of U.S. adults say they’ve seriously considered retiring abroad, and 14% are actively planning or contemplating a move in the next two years. So why isn’t everyone already on a one-way flight?
Among boomers open to moving abroad in the next two years, 71% cited a lower cost of living as their reason. Political dissatisfaction and healthcare access weren’t far behind. It’s not hard to see why: the average retired U.S. household spends about $5,000 a month, while the average Social Security check was $2,071 as of December 2025. That gap doesn’t close itself.
The paperwork nobody warns you about
Unsexy, I know, but this is the stuff that actually decides whether a move happens. Medicare doesn’t follow you overseas — Social Security does, but Medicare generally stops paying the moment you leave the country, so private coverage becomes non-negotiable.
Then there’s the reporting. An FBAR kicks in once your combined foreign account balances top $10,000 at any point in the year, which catches almost anyone with a local account for rent and groceries. FATCA adds another layer on top: Form 8938 for single filers abroad with more than $200,000 in foreign assets at year-end.
Most retirement-friendly countries want proof of steady income rather than a job offer, and a growing list of countries will grant residency on exactly that basis. The catch is those income minimums keep climbing, and the rules can shift fast. Portugal closed the real-estate path on its Golden Visa back in 2023, and Spain scrapped its Golden Visa entirely in 2025 — which matters a lot if Portugal was part of your plan.
So why Japan and Canada, really?
Here’s my take: it’s not about beaches at all. Existing family ties, healthcare systems that actually function, and infrastructure that doesn’t require a six-month learning curve probably matter more to real retirees than a fantasy sunset ever will. A hammock is a vacation. A functioning hospital ten minutes from your house is a retirement plan.
If you’ve been picturing a beach and a hammock, it might be worth widening the list. Where would you actually want to spend the next 20 years — someplace that photographs well, or someplace that just works?
