France Tops 2008 List of World's Best Quality of Life Locations

Switzerland Takes Second, Followed by the U.S

Quality of Life is something we all strive to achieve but may define differently. Men might define quality of life as having complete control of the remote while relaxing in the Lazy Boy then entire month of March Madness. Women might define quality of life as the ability to attend a weekly spa session complete with facial, manicure, and pedicure. According to International Living, you cannot quantify something like quality of life, but they researched and ranked 192 countries to find the World's Best Quality of Life in 2008.

The 2008 Quality of Life Index released by International Living defined quality of life in countries based on cost of living, leisure, culture, economy, environment, freedom, health, infrastructure, risk, safety, and climate. Overall total scores ranked France on top, followed by Switzerland, United States, Luxembourg, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and the Netherlands as the top ten best locations in the world for quality of life.

Mexico, named by International Living as the 2007 World's Best Retirement Location, did not make the top ten list of countries with the best quality of life. Many other things go into making retirement decisions that may not necessarily be a quality of life priority. In individual quality of life areas, Mexico ranked higher than France in Cost of Living and Climate, two priority considerations for those aging populations considering retirement.