Aussie retirees advised to move to Malaysia

Mar 6, 2015

Two book authors have advised retirees from Australia to move to Malaysia since the country offers retirement visas, good health care and lower cost of living.

Colleen Ryan and Stephen Wyatt are authors of the book “Sell Up, Pack Up and Take Off” which discusses how retirees from Australia can live comfortably for less in Europe and Asia.

In an article in The Age, they compared the cost of living between Sydney and Penang based on user-generated cost-of-living statistics website Numbeo.com.

They noted that consumer prices in Penang are 54 percent lower than in Sydney, while groceries, restaurant prices and rents are 50 percent, 65 percent and 85 percent lower respectively in the Malaysian state.

“Malaysia and Thailand are the standout retirement destinations for healthcare, with excellent medical facilities,” wrote Wyatt and Ryan in the article titled “Stretched? Try calling Asia home”.

“Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines offer retirement visas. Malaysia and the Philippines represent the gold standard in visas. A Malaysia My Second Home visa will provide a 10-year visa,” stated the authors.

In Malaysia, Australian retirees can also receive the age pension, said Wyatt and Ryan.

Recently, Malaysia was listed as one of the top five retirement destinations by International Living in its 2014 Global Retirement Index.

In January, it was reported that the country was also ranked first among Asian retirement destinations as it offered low cost of living and high quality of life.

Malaysia’s Tourism Ministry launched the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme to provide services to expatriates looking to invest or retire in Malaysia, like visa permit applications, property sourcing and even domestic worker applications.