This will upset a few here!

For me it is: Switzerland, Japan, US, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, UK, New Zealand.

The issue I have with this type of thing is that there are so many other factors that you (or I) would want accounted for. For example, cost of living. In your case, you would HATE living in Switzerland because the cost of living is VERY high, you may find a “cheap lunch” once or twice a week, but you won’t find it seven days a week. Nor will you find too many coupons of appreciable value. And you will rarely, very rarely, find working stuff in the street trash for the taking (and refurbishing). You will criticize the L&S there, and you will wonder why they hardly allow any immigration at all, even when certain segments have difficulty finding adequate labor. You will rail against the banksters that still wield inordinate power over nearly everything. Australia and New Zealand have similarly high COL, I was once shocked at the McDonalds prices described in Australia. Similarly housing is ridiculously expensive in Canada, even in relatively remote regions, and you can’t go too remote as you need to be in proximity to adequate medical care (despite universal care, quality varies from place to place). Sweden, you may like, but with your type of retirement, there wouldn’t be too much room in the budget for many “extras”.

The interesting thing is that the US is rapidly turning into such a place. My pet theory is that as govt comprises a larger and larger percentage of GDP, there is less and less available for the private sector (the “peons”) and prices of almost everything important (housing, medical care, education, etc) go up.

5 Likes