For Steve Wilson, early retirement always felt like a distant dream.
At 17, he enlisted in the military and served for two decades, moving from base to base — including a posting in South Korea, where he met his wife. At 38, he retired from active duty and eventually took a job with the state after moving back to Colorado, where he’s from.
He never imagined spending retirement overseas, but over time, he warmed to the idea and began researching popular destinations, including Thailand, Malaysia, and Costa Rica.
“We looked at crime rates, we looked at real estate, we looked at expenses, but nothing really clicked. We didn’t want to jump into something that we weren’t comfortable with,” Wilson, now 59, told Business Insider.
He and his wife — who is Korean but became a US citizen — hadn’t initially considered retiring in South Korea, since the country didn’t offer a retirement visa. But after learning about the visa options for overseas Koreans and their spouses, they began to see it as a real possibility.
Their research shifted to the cost of living in South Korea, and Wilson realized that he could actually afford to retire early if he moved there. His wife, who worked for a nonprofit, was equally excited by the possibility.
“It was like, wow, OK, this is really doable compared to the US, where I would have to work until I was almost 70,” Wilson said. “It’s like retire at 54 or 70? I think I’ll go with the 54.”
When they shared the plan with their daughter, now 31, she was all for it. “She said it was awesome, and she was pretty happy for us,” he said.
It took about two and a half months for their visas to be approved and for them to receive their resident IDs.
Apartment-hunting in South Korea
It’s been about two and a half years since Wilson and his wife arrived in South Korea.
They live in Pyeongtaek — a city about an hour and a half south of Seoul — that’s home to a US military base, his wife’s family, and where they first met.
When it came to apartment-hunting, the couple knew they wanted to live in a newer complex that was walkable to grocery stores, bus stops, and restaurants.
“As we get older, if we end up not being able to drive, at least we have public transportation, and that walkability,” Wilson said.
They also wanted to be close to the military base, which is just a five-minute drive away.
“As a retiree, I have access to the military base, which has a commissary, a grocery store, and also PX — which is like a department store and stocks electronics and other home stuff,” Wilson said. “Those prices are less than what you would get outside, so we wanted that as well.”
They paid 355,000,000 Korean won, or about $260,000, for their four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. Before they retired, they lived in a 3,800-square-foot home they owned in a small Colorado town, which they sold when they moved.
In terms of the cost of living, Wilson says that almost everything in South Korea is less expensive than in the US.
His monthly utility bills in Colorado — including property tax, electricity, gas, internet, cable TV, cellphones, and car insurance — were usually around $870. In South Korea, he pays about $465 each month.
He has health insurance from being retired from the US military, which costs $300 yearly and offers medical coverage in the US, South Korea, and many other countries.
Since he lives near the military base, his apartment complex — which has about 900 units — is home to a mix of residents, including military personnel, their families, Korean nationals, and civilian contractors, he said.
There are over 900 US Army retirees living in South Korea, according to a Department of Defense report published in 2023.
“It’s really a diverse setting,” Wilson said of his neighborhood. “You kind of feel like you have a little bit of America but you are in Korea, so we get that good mix.”
Adjusting to retired life abroad
Wilson said his wife was happy about being closer to her family and looked forward to returning to South Korea, but she was concerned about how he would handle the transition.
However, because he had lived there before, Wilson said retiring in the country came with little cultural adjustment.
He speaks Korean, though he admits he’s not as fluent as he feels he should be. “I can order food, I can read menus. My vocabulary is limited, but I can say hello and ask people how they are,” he said.
Even so, with the help of technology and translation apps, navigating the language barrier is now far less daunting.
“People are always helpful. People are more respectful here in Korea, or Asia, as a whole, seems to be more respectful than in the United States,” he said.
That said, there are several things he misses about living in the US.
“I miss Home Depot, Lowe’s, and gun stores; my wife misses Walmart. We both miss parking lots in the US — there is more parking in the US than in Korea,” Wilson said.
A slower, but fuller life
Wilson says he is enjoying his retirement, especially since life has taken on a much slower pace.
“When we were in the United States, I was working full time and I was on call, which was really hectic and stressful,” Wilson said.
Now, their schedule is more flexible. He and his wife can stay up late or sleep in whenever they want, but they generally follow the same routine.
“We go to the gym three or four days a week, and then after that we’ll go out to lunch or go to a coffee shop before coming back home,” he said. “We also go to the open-air markets to get our fresh produce a few times a week.”
Even though South Korea is known for its fast-paced, high-energy lifestyle — especially in the cities — Wilson says that pace doesn’t apply to him or his wife.
“It’s a weird dynamic. Everybody’s bustling around in trains and everybody’s busy, and we’re just bebopping through,” he added.
Since retiring, he’s also found the time to pick up a new hobby — making miniature models.
“I hadn’t done modeling since I was seven or eight years old, and I’d seen people paint these models of soldiers and stuff, and I decided to give it a shot,” Wilson said.
His passion quickly grew, eventually leading him to explore 3D modeling. He also started a YouTube channel dedicated to his hobby.
“I knew that I had to take care of myself physically and then emotionally, and keep my mind engaged,” he added. “We can’t just sit around and watch TV. That’s just too boring.”
Apart from being able to spend time with his family — including his daughter, who was recently assigned to the nearby military base — Wilson says he really appreciates having the time to enjoy the hobbies he had put off for so long.
“My generation, it’s like you start work, and you put all those childish things away. You retire, then you do the fun things,” Wilson said. “It’s letting me experience different parts of myself that I knew were down there somewhere, but now they’re finally able to come out.”
Do you have a story to share about retiring in Asia? Contact this reporter at agoh@businessinsider.com.
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