Once again, Malaysia came out as the best place to retire in Asia. International Living, a website and newsletter focused entirely on living overseas, produce an annual ranking of the best places to retire. Its primary audience is those Americans who wish to stretch their retirement dollars in countries which welcome foreign retirees and offer an attractive lifestyle at a reasonable price.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the top two places on their rankings went to Panama and Ecuador, which are both quite close to the United States. Malaysia, despite its great distance from the US, was ranked as the third best place in the world for retirees. The report cited the Malaysia My Second Home visa, the developed infrastructure, and relatively low cost of living as reasons for its high ranking.

Nearly 24,000 MM2H applications have been approved since the programme was launched in 2002. The number of applicants is fairly low considering the attractiveness of retiring in Malaysia, and the main reason for this seems to be the fact that applicants must show a net income of over RM10,000 a month equivalent and over RM350,000 in cash assets, excluding property, in order to qualify. Another reason is that the programme has not been aggressively marketed internationally.