As America ages—and it’s really aging—America’s newspapers and websites are churning out lists of great places to retire. Sadly, these survey stories are meaningless for a large proportion of older folks because (as reported a few weeks ago) a staggeringly high percentage of Americans have only a pittance set aside for retirement.

According to the latest Wells Fargo retirement survey, “Three in ten people…in their 60s have saved less than $25,000 for retirement, possibly indicating they will rely heavily on Social Security.” (Every time we read the word “possibly” in that sentence, it astonishes; it seems to possibly indicate an absolute incapacity to make an honest assessment, which is troubling in a bank.) Among other things, the lack of savings tells us that few of us will be pulling up stakes to relocate in Walnut Creek, California (touted as “the greenest” place to retire, with a median home value of $411,000) or Pittsfield, Massachusetts (where the majority of people aged 55 and older are single). We will be staying put, scrapping along where we are.

Unless—and this is a radical notion for some older people, but it bears consideration—we leave the country.

Most of America isn’t cheap. And where it is cheap, it often isn’t safe. But there are places in the world where you can live cheaply, and safely, and with good food. You won’t be near your family or your lifelong friends. But you won’t have that anyway, because there won’t be much time or energy for socializing or bouncing a grandkid on your knee if you’re working 50-hour weeks at the Mobil station to pay the rent on that apartment between the vacant, windswept mall and the rumbling interstate.

So we read with interest what U.S. News and World Report offers as a list of six affordable places to retire abroad. And when they say affordable, they aren’t kidding: in these places, everything comes with a lower price tag, including rent, groceries, recreation, dinner and drinks. Oh, and in some places you’re still close to decent health care.

This is the part where you sit up straight: if you believe the numbers cited in this story, your social security check will cover most of your expenses. (FYI per the Social Security Administration: “The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker was about $1,177 at the beginning of 2011.”)

For example: a couple could set up in Las Tablas, Panama (“a long-established community of Panamanians and expats who savor their super-affordable seaside lifestyle”) or Chiang Mai, Thailand for $1,100-$1,200 a month, including rent. Leon, Nicaragua, comes in at $1,300 a month.

If the words “Nicaragua” and “AK-47-waving Sandinista” are inextricably linked in your mind, you haven’t been paying attention. Leon is a fair city, with lovely architecture, and while it is certainly warm it cools off in the evenings. Also, Nicaragua claims to have one of the lowest crime rates in Central America, which is a little like being the healthiest horse at the glue factory but is still worth noting. (For a passionate defense of the country’s safety, and a few choice swipes at Costa Rica’s very effective PR campaign, check this.)

None of this takes into account the cost of getting there and intermittent trips home (at holidays, say, or for special occasions). And that average Social Security check probably won’t cover all your needs; you’ll need some additional savings.  But the idea of expat living makes retirement seem maybe a little more possible, and certainly more of an adventure.

Painting: Lot and his daughter flee from Sodom; by Paolo Veronese and workshop; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, via Wikimedia Commons