I mean, people who want to retire here CAN do it. Set up a one person company as per this thread: Forming a local company - process
Funnel enough money into the company, pay yourself a salary and pay enough tax to get your work permit renewed each year and you can get the APRC after 5 years and even citizenship if you want. There are probably a few people who have retired in Taiwan using this method to legalize their residency.
But of course living off a pension and social security won’t give you enough money to do this.
Luckily for jmw123 he has ROC citizenship so his wife can simply get a JFRV. If the worse were to happen and he was to pass away, the government has been known to be humane in this type of situation and use their discretion to allow a widower to continue their residency.