What's in a guide.
Six pages from real guides, and what each one is doing to help you plan your move.
Each Out & Found country guide is a single-country PDF of about 240 pages, covering 16 chapters: visas, healthcare, taxes, housing, community and daily life. Every guide is written for LGBTQ+ Americans planning to retire abroad. Below are six pages pulled from real guides, each with a short note on what it's for.
Every guide covers the same 16 chapters.
Once you've read one guide, you know exactly where to find any specific thing in the next — across all twenty countries. What changes isn't the shape. It's what each chapter has to answer for a specific reader in a specific country.
Every number has a source and a date next to it. Every currency figure carries the exchange rate we used and the day we pulled it. Every law is named. And when internet advice contradicts what the law actually says, we tell you which one is right.
The real income you'd need for Portugal's D7 visa.
Most articles about Portugal give you a single D7 income number. But if you're moving with a spouse or kids, the number you actually need is different. This page shows the math for your specific household. Every visa in every guide gets the same treatment — the numbers for the family that's actually moving, not for a hypothetical solo retiree.
The D7 Passive-Income Visa
FX imprint · €1.00 ≈ US$1.09 · pulled 21 July 2026.
€920 (primary) + €460 (spouse) = €1,380/month in demonstrated passive income, or approximately US$1,504/month at the July 2026 FX imprint. Portuguese consulates additionally require a savings buffer proportional to the household — the documentation checklist and passive-income definition (pensions, annuities, rental income, investment income qualify; active or employment income does not) are given at §§ 5.2.3 – 5.2.4.
Two ways to qualify for Thailand's retirement visa.
Thailand's retirement visa can be earned two ways — a bank deposit, or monthly income. It also requires health insurance that a lot of US insurance companies can't actually provide. This page shows both paths and the insurance rule side by side, so you know exactly what you'd need before you start planning.
Non-Immigrant O-A · Long-Stay Retirement
FX imprint · ฿33.49 = US$1.00 · pulled 21 July 2026.
The O-X 10-year long-stay visa is open only to nationals of 14 designated countries (US included), sets a materially higher deposit-or-income bar, and carries different insurance and continuous-presence conditions. The two routes are compared side-by-side at § 5.3.2.
The income Mexico wants, with this year's numbers.
Mexico's income requirements change every February, and the exchange rate changes daily. Most blogs quote outdated figures — sometimes years out of date. This page shows the current-year numbers, and it names the exact day we pulled the exchange rate. So you always know when you're reading fresh info, and when you're not.
Temporary Resident — Income & Savings Thresholds
The Temporary Resident visa income floor is indexed to the Unidad de Medida y Actualización (UMA), a Mexican-government inflation-tracking unit. The UMA reindexes annually with effect from 1 February. Every threshold below is expressed in current-cycle pesos with a same-day FX conversion.
| Item | 2026 cycle | USD equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| UMA cycle in force | 1 Feb 2026 — 31 Jan 2027 | — |
| Daily UMA value | MXN 117.31 | US$6.39 |
| Monthly income pathway (680 × UMA) | MXN 79,771/mo | US$4,570/mo |
| Savings pathway (11,460 × UMA) | MXN 1,344,373 | US$77,000 |
Source · Threshold multipliers · Instituto Nacional de Migración administrative criteria, Ley de Migración Art. 52.VII (Temporary Resident).
FX imprint · MXN 17.45 = US$1.00 · pulled 21 July 2026.
These figures are meaningfully higher than the round dollar numbers most 2019-era expat blogs still quote. Consular practice is to assess against the current UMA cycle at the time of application, not the year the pitch was written. Documentation package for either pathway is set out at § 5.2.5.
Common myths about a country, checked against the actual law.
Every guide has a Common Misconceptions section. It takes the things everyone repeats about a country — usually on retirement blogs, nomad forums, or expat guides — and checks them against what the law actually says. When the story doesn't match, we tell you what's actually true. So you can plan around facts, not folklore you found on the internet.
Common Misconceptions — Tax & Estate
Ecuador's tax picture is one of the most consistently misrepresented in the English-language retirement press. Three of the most common claims, checked against what the law actually says.
Ecuador — Tax & Estate Claims Held Against Statute
"Ecuador has no inheritance tax."
The statute. Ecuador applies a progressive inheritance tax with brackets from 0% to 35%. The first USD 78,527 of net inheritance is exempt in 2026 (adjusted annually for inflation). Amounts above the exemption are taxed on a graduated schedule reaching 35% at the highest bracket. The exemption is significant — many households will fall entirely inside it — but "no inheritance tax" is not the right phrase to plan around. SRI Resolución NAC-DGERCGC25-00000043 · effective 1 January 2026.
"Because Ecuador is dollarized, US retirees have no tax residency complications."
The statute. Ecuador's use of the US dollar as legal tender does not affect tax residency, which is determined by physical presence and permanent-home tests. Once tax residency triggers — typically at 183 days of presence in a rolling twelve-month window — Ecuador can assess income tax on worldwide income under Ley de Régimen Tributario Interno. Foreign-source pension income is treated differently from local-source income, but "dollarized therefore simple" is a shorthand that misses the residency rule itself.
"The US–Ecuador tax treaty prevents double taxation."
The statute. There is no bilateral income tax treaty in force between the United States and Ecuador — this differs from the US–Mexico and US–Canada positions and is often assumed by analogy. US taxpayers relying on Ecuador residency claim double-taxation relief via the unilateral Foreign Tax Credit on Form 1116, not via treaty. The mechanics are workable but they are not automatic, and the difference matters for high-income households.
A note at the top of every chapter, written for you.
Every chapter opens with a section called the LGBTQ+ Community Note. It's where we speak to you directly, about what the chapter you're about to read actually means for someone like you. A guide written for a straight couple isn't the same as one for a same-sex couple. Marriage recognition, safe neighborhoods, healthcare access, community — the picture looks different from where we stand. The Community Note is where we say so.
LGBTQ+ Community & Social Life — Portugal
Where the openness reaches.
Portugal's legal protections are among the strongest in Europe — marriage equality since 2010, adoption since 2016, gender self-identification since 2018. Statute is not the question. The question, if you are a person like us, is where the openness reaches.
Lisbon carries the visible, established community — the neighborhoods (Príncipe Real, Bairro Alto, Alcântara), the venues that have been running since the '90s, and the healthcare providers who have been seeing bodies and households like ours for two decades. Porto is smaller in scale but comparable in kind. The Algarve corridor from Lagos through Faro to Tavira runs a quieter, seasonal community with a substantial northern-European base.
The interior — inland Alentejo, Beira Baixa, Trás-os-Montes — is a different social climate. The statute reaches, the anti-discrimination law is real, and none of that is the same as the practical picture of building a life in a village of 400 people. Our read: choose the picture that matches what you are actually looking for. The next sections name the neighborhoods, organizations, and providers by name.
Chapter 12 continues with a catalogued list of 28 named community organizations, healthcare providers, and gathering spaces — with current contact information, verified July 2026 — organized by region. Section 12.3 covers Pride-adjacent seasonal calendars for Lisbon, Porto, and the Algarve. Section 12.4 covers the tenancy and neighborhood dynamics that determine whether a rental search will surface openly LGBTQ+-friendly landlords or require signaling on both sides.
The specific discounts you'd get with Panama's retirement visa.
Panama's retirement visa is famous for its "senior discounts," but most articles keep it vague. This page shows the actual percentages — 50% off hotels Monday to Thursday, 25% off flights, 20% off doctor visits — and it tells you which discounts businesses are legally required to honor and which they can skip. That's the difference between something you can plan around and something that might not happen when you show up.
Pensionado Statutory Discount Schedule
Panama's Pensionado visa comes with a structured schedule of discounts, written into law, applied when you present your Pensionado ID at checkout. Selected categories below. Full schedule and enforcement notes at § 7.6.2.
| Category | Notes | Discount |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital stays (private) | Where private insurance does not cover | 50% |
| Medical consultations | Private-tier providers | 20% |
| Prescription medications | Retail pharmacy | 10%–20% |
| Diagnostic and lab work | Private providers | 15% |
| Dental services | Preventive and standard care | 15% |
| Domestic airline tickets | Copa and regional carriers | 25% |
| International airline tickets | Departing Panama, participating carriers | 25% |
| Hotels · Mon–Thu | Full-service, non-boutique | 50% |
| Hotels · Fri–Sun | Full-service, non-boutique | 30% |
| Restaurants (à la carte) | Full-service dining | 25% |
| Cultural & sporting events | Cinema, theatre, ticketed sports | 50% |
Enforcement footnote · Categories marked in § 7.6.2 as "statutory" are enforceable against non-honoring providers via ACODECO (Autoridad de Protección al Consumidor y Defensa de la Competencia). Categories marked "voluntary" are honored at the provider's discretion — including several restaurant chains and international hotel brands. The distinction matters for planning.
The same four commitments, in every guide.
You can Google "how to retire in Portugal" and find five free blog posts in ten seconds. So what makes one of our guides worth paying for? Four commitments we make in every book.
- Every fact has a source and a date. When we say Portugal's D7 income requirement is €920 a month, we tell you which agency published that number and when we last checked. So if a rule changes, you know when your info might be stale.
- The LGBTQ+ side runs through everything. Not as a badge on the cover — as substance in every chapter. That's what makes these guides different from every generic retirement guide out there.
- When laws or costs change, we update the file. When laws or costs change, we re-verify and refresh the guide. Corrections to the edition you purchased are provided at no additional cost for 12 months.
- It's built to help you decide, not to be an encyclopedia. Each guide is around 240 pages — everything you need to make the move, nothing you don't.
The pages above are examples of what you'll find inside a guide, not excerpts from the current edition.
We publish country-by-country relocation guides for LGBTQ+ readers, researched to a stated standard, sourced to publicly nameable references, and dated so you know when the answer was verified.
Written for you, because we are you.