№ 722. End Game: Retirement

Tanseco

But of course, retirement is only common in the middle class in the Philippines, where you’d need at least P5 million to live comfortably in retirement. Most Filipinos work until old age, but big family units make it easier to pull back from working in your later years.

Big 7 Travel ranked its Best Places to Retire list based on a number of factors, namely: quality of life, cost of living, rent index, restaurant price index, average annual temperatures, the easiness of obtaining a visa or residency, healthcare, hospitality, language barriers, and the range of things to do.

The Philippines, surprisingly, ranked higher than Luxembourg, Ireland, and New Zealand. Meanwhile, the best countries to retire in are Slovenia, Portugal, Estonia, Spain, and Paraguay. But you won’t have to fly halfway across the world for a cozy retirement community when you can find it right here in the Philippines.

№ 721. May 1 is Labor Day

Pablo Baen Santos, Labor and Monkey Business, 2010,

Oil on canvas, 6 x 7 ft