Last February the Wall Street Journal published something that stopped a lot of people mid-scroll.

The headline: Americans Are Leaving the U.S. in Record Numbers.

Not a travel blog. Not a YouTube channel. The Wall Street Journal.

The data they compiled was staggering. For the first time since the Great Depression more people moved out of the United States than moved in. An estimated net loss of 150,000 people in 2025 alone — a number the Brookings Institution expects to grow in 2026. In nearly every EU member state the number of Americans arriving to live and work is at a record high. Portugal's American resident population jumped over 500% since the pandemic. Ireland welcomed 10,000 Americans in 2025 — double the year before.

One in five Americans now says they want to leave permanently. In 2008 during the Great Recession it was one in ten.

Something has fundamentally shifted.

The Journal interviewed dozens of American expats across Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The reasons kept coming back to the same things.

Cost of living that keeps climbing regardless of how hard you work. Healthcare that costs a fortune even with insurance. Crime that has made entire neighborhoods feel unsafe. Political division so exhausting that people describe it as a daily drain on their mental health. And a growing sense that the American dream — the house, the car, the comfortable retirement — has become structurally out of reach for most people no matter how long they save.

A Gallup poll found 40% of American women aged 15 to 44 would permanently move abroad if they could. Relocation companies that used to serve adventurous young professionals are now fielding calls from Midwestern small business owners, middle-aged divorcées, and retirees trying to stretch their Social Security checks.

The new American emigrant is not who most people picture. They are ordinary people who finally ran the numbers and decided the math no longer works at home.

The Journal focused heavily on Europe — Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Germany. And Europe has real appeal.

But here is what the article did not cover.

While Americans are flooding into Lisbon and paying prices that have doubled in five years, while Barcelona locals are spray-painting "Digital Nomads Go Home" on city walls because housing costs have become unaffordable for locals, while the euro has actually strengthened against the dollar making Europe more expensive than it was a year ago —

The Philippine peso just hit an all-time low of 61 pesos per dollar.

Your dollar goes further in BGC right now than it has in years. And unlike Lisbon or Barcelona, BGC has not been overrun. The rental market has not been inflated by waves of American remote workers. A quality one-bedroom in the heart of the city still runs $980 to $1,250 per month. The infrastructure is modern. The hospitals are world class. Everyone speaks English. And the community of Americans who have already made the move is established, warm, and genuinely glad you are there.

Europe offers affordable healthcare and walkable cities. The Philippines offers all of that plus something Europe cannot match — a cost of living so dramatically lower than the US that your retirement income does not just cover expenses. It funds a genuinely premium life.

A private driver on 24/7 call for $480 per month. A live-in housekeeper for $250 per month. World class hospitals charging $40 for specialist visits. Restaurant meals for $8 to $15. Weekend flights to Palawan or Bali for under $100.

The Americans in the Wall Street Journal article are discovering that life is better abroad. The Americans who have already moved to the Philippines are discovering that life is not just better — it is completely different. The retirement they were promised in America and could never quite afford is available here right now for a fraction of the cost.

The data says Americans are leaving. The only question left is where you are going.

Click here to start your move to the Philippines the right way

Travel Well,

Evan Lorezca

The Savvy Expat