Retirement Overseas

I live in Australia. Basically, today everybody who reaches the age of 65 is entitled to a Government pension which is approximately 1/4 of the basic wage, it's adjusted twice yearly in line with the CPI. (Consumer Price Index). A persons assets at age 65 is taken into consideration before a pension is granted, however the asset test is very liberal. Pensioners also have free access to Public Hospitals and Medical care, in addition pharmacist prescriptions are Government subsidized and cost very little compared to the real price.
Ofcourse, today there are numerous compulsory super annuation schemes in existence to which worker and employer must contribute, which will ease the burden on the Government in future when the pension age of 65 is reached. Government pensions will probably eventually disappear because of the aging population and everybody is required to make their own contributions presently to ensure an income stream on reaching retirement age whenever that may be.
This is it in a nutshell but one could probably write pages on this subject as there are so many schemes in existence from workplace to workplace.

I'm friendly with a women who moved to Mexico because she could not afford to retire in the states. At the time I thought - who the heck moves to Mexico? Well, apparently a lot of people do, her town is 50% ex-pats. She started up a smaller version of her textile business and is doing very well. She lives in a lovely little house with a walled garden. She has a part-time housekeeper and gardener. She lives on about $1,000 per month. She now qualifies for their national health insurance (she had used their dental services in the past, saved her thousands and the results were excellent). She says, other than some electrical problems and her inablity to find a decent bagel, she is very happy and feels rich. The fact that she speaks fluent spanish, and was familiar with the country, was also a big plus in making the move successful.