"I've also witnessed a mass migration of expats from Costa Rica into Nicaragua and Panama after they lost their life savings with "The Brothers" , or the pensionado visa requirements changed."
These are exactly the kind of things I'm talking about. They can change any of the rules at any time. It isn't something that happens in countries like the USA, Canada, Oz, etc. Most first world countries aren't attractive to people looking to retire in a foreign country. Most people make the move to a cheaper country, not one that is more or less the same cost wise.
Consequently, some countries have large influxes of 'wealthy' retirees and may even cater to them with things like 'retirement visas' etc. However, if you are one of those people, you need to think of yourself as a cash cow. That's why they are letting you in after all, not because they want to increase the number of old people in their country who are dependent on their social services. As cash cows, you are only as welcome as your money makes you. You may also find yourself in a situation where if your money runs out, you get the boot. After all, when a cow stops giving milk, the cow becomes useless to the dairy.
If people spent a little time thinking about, 'why do they want me to move to their country?', they could figure it out pretty easily. They could also figure out that anything that increased the amount of money that could be squeezed out of you would probably be approved of. So rules change overnight that have a huge impact on foreigners in the country but little or no affect on local citizens. You're fair game.
