A decade ago anyone who announced plans to spend their golden years beyond U.S. borders was often looked at askance as a bohemian adventurer—or worse, someone with something to hide. But the crash of 2008 is still having a transformative effect.

It’s no secret that “retirement” is a touchy subject nowadays. Costs are up, savings are down, and the public is generally pessimistic according to the 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey. As a recent SmartMoney article relates, one increasingly popular solution, although it might not be an easy one, is to escape domestic problems and costs by going global and retiring abroad. It’s hard to say just how many retirees are living offshore. They aren’t counted in the census, and many go to great pains to fly below the radar, but according to the Social Security Administration the number of retirees taking…

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