Outsourcing American old age

Um, Walter Russell Mead … what?!:

Moving abroad for your autumn years can be a fresh lease of life. It can also be a lot more than a change of scenery and cost of living. Retiring abroad offers potential new settings for community, cultural, business and humanitarian involvement.

Government policy should advance this idea; I’ve written before and still believe that the US should work out arrangements so that medical treatment overseas could be covered by Medicare, and that foreign banks who meet tests of safety and soundness would be eligible for direct deposit of Social Security checks.  For cash strapped older Americans, it means a retirement closer to the one they have been dreaming of.  For the neighbors, it provides new sources of income and employment — without costing the US a dime in foreign aid.

I don’t think he’s being sarcastic. “Potential new settings for community”?! What’s wrong with the actual old settings? Why would we  want to encourage people to leave their children and grandchildren behind and emigrate to a foreign country? If living in a condo on the beach in Costa Rica sounds like a much better way to spend your golden years than being with your kids and grandkids, then you’ve got problems that go beyond the ability of the geographical solution to address.