I'm not yet ready to retire just yet, but when it's time I'm going to strongly consider the Dominican Republic. Aside from the relaxed island lifestyle, which I love here, one of the big advantages is how easy it is to get your residency (while keeping citizenship, at least if you're Canadian or American).

It's really hard to find up-to-date info on all this. I found it really frustrating trying to piece it all together from the fragments scattered across the web. The only really comprehensive info I found was this online guide about residency, taxes and 2nd passports in Dominican Republic. Seems up to date too. I'd love to know if anyone else has found a good resource about this stuff.

Whether you're a retiree or not, having your full residency status brings lots of tax advantages and other perks.

Essentially, if you're considered an "investor", you can fast track to your full residency, which then shortens the time to get your citizenship—and your 2nd passport. So big plus there. As long as you can show you've got a regular income from some financial source (e.g. investments, pension) or have invested in property, you're considered an investor.