Head to head · verified July 2026
Malaysia vs Panama
Malaysia scores 11 points higher on our balanced view — but that gap is small enough that your own priorities can flip it. The breakdowns below show exactly where each one earns and loses.
Malaysia
Southeast Asia
Malaysia buys you first-world private healthcare and an English-speaking daily life at Southeast Asian prices — and foreign income stays untaxed until at least 2036. The catch arrived in 2024: MM2H now demands a US$150k fixed deposit plus a RM600k property purchase held ten years, and the pathway to permanent residency was scrapped entirely. Care centres must register with JKM under the Care Centres Act 1993 — there is still no national searchable list a foreigner can check from abroad. Brilliant place to live; you'll always be a guest on paper.
Full Malaysia guide
Panama
Central America
Panama is the rare place where the paperwork is the easy part. The Pensionado visa needs just $1,000 a month of pension income, hands you permanent residency almost immediately, and the territorial tax system means your foreign income simply isn't Panama's business. Elder-protection law and MIDES licensing are named in search results; official pages did not open cleanly this round, so Panama stays unchecked — no facility register filed. You spend US dollars, you can own property freehold — the trade-off is distance, and local banking will test your patience.
Full Panama guideSide by side
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Showing the open fields. 17 more criteria — tax-residency day counts, capital gains, forced heirship, setup costs and processing times — need a free Thon account. Sign in to see the full table.
Why Malaysia scores 88
Why this number
Every point is accounted for. Nothing is hidden in a weighting you cannot see.
- Base country quality82Malaysia scores 82/100 before anything about you is applied — visa system, tax regime, healthcare, safety and property rights.
- Australian passport+6Better than average for Australian retirees: 8h + English + excellent healthcare + AU treaty
- Best fit for you88A decision aid, not a prediction. Two people with the same passport can rank these differently — that is the point of showing the working.
Why Panama scores 77
Why this number
Every point is accounted for. Nothing is hidden in a weighting you cannot see.
- Base country quality87Panama scores 87/100 before anything about you is applied — visa system, tax regime, healthcare, safety and property rights.
- Australian passport-10Worse than average for Australian retirees: ~30h from Sydney — brutal for grandkid visits
- Best fit for you77A decision aid, not a prediction. Two people with the same passport can rank these differently — that is the point of showing the working.
- No double-tax treaty — Panama has no tax treaty in force with Australia — the same income can be taxed twice unless you structure around it.