How Not To Outlive Your Retirement

Gran Pacifica, Nicaragua, American Community Abroad

Aug. 20, 2008, Panama City, Panama

Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,

Eight or nine years ago, I stood on a beach on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua about an hour outside Managua. Up and down the coast, as far as you could see, nothing. The jungle grew nearly to the sea’s edge. Cattle roamed the green hills all around.

Today, that stretch of coast has been transformed into a small but growing community of forward-thinking souls seeking an alternative retirement. These open-minded retirees have no interest in cutting back or making do at this important stage of their lives.

And they certainly don’t want to have to worry about outliving their nest eggs.

Indeed, their collective retirement agenda is ambitious. They intend not only to maintain the standard of living they enjoyed during their hard-working years…but to improve it. They want to enrich their lives…to find new ways to spend their days…to discover…to explore…to grow…

Gumption. These folks have gumption. As I explained, it wasn’t too many years ago that the spot where they’re settling was cattle land. Today, the community evolving here stretches over 3 miles of Pacific coastline. It includes 40 homes and condominiums…plus 50 more currently under construction. It looks and feels for all the world like the kind of small town we Baby Boomer Americans remember fondly from our youth. The kind of place where kids don’t have to think twice about leaving their bicycles unattended on the sidewalk…where it’s no big deal if you forget to lock your front door when you go out…where everyone in the community knows everyone else and looks forward to opportunities to chat and catch up on the local gossip each day…

A kind of Mayberry by the beach.

But better…because this 1950s-era Small Town USA comes with fiber-optic communications, an ocean-side clubhouse, and a golf course (under construction). Plus, the sidewalks are paved with handmade clay bricks…the streets with cobblestones.

The folks making a life here have spunk and foresight, no question…but they’re also hedging their bets…leveraging the infrastructure and the resources of what is emerging as the pre-eminent coastal development in this country. Gated living isn’t for everyone, and I understand the inclination to go it alone…to find your own private stretch of beach and to conceive and create your own private haven.

But, speaking as one who has done both things, there’s a lot to be said for piggy-backing your dream with like-minded souls who share it. This route to a retirement overseas comes with economies of scale, greatly minimized hassle factors, and the comfort of knowing that others just like you, going through the same things you’re going through, are always nearby and happy to commiserate over a glass of vino tinto at sunset.

The best part, of course, is that you can actually afford this exotic, sexy, romantic, exciting new life at the beach. You can afford to embrace it fully. Engage a full-time maid and a part-time gardener so your time in paradise is truly your own. No more chores…ever. Why not? The total cost today for full-time household help and part-time help in the garden is about $150 a month.

The place I’m describing is called Gran Pacifica. It’s more than 2,500 acres that, I have to admit, are being developed even beyond my expectations.

The developers behind Gran Pacifica, including longtime colleague and friend Mike Cobb, have had enterprising ideas all along and have made bold projections. I probably wasn’t the only one who was a little skeptical in the beginning.

But I’ve watched as the electrical and fiber-optic cables have been run underground…as the brick sidewalks and the cobblestoned streets have been laid…as houses have been built…then condos…

However, the really ambitious Gran Pacific projection had to do with a hotel. There would be a hotel on the property, Mike and his partners have maintained, a brand-name resort franchise.

This projection, especially, I took with a grain of salt. I’ve heard big promises from developers in emerging markets before…about roads and marinas and airports and hotels…

And I understand how this works. A hotel chain wasn’t going to build a hotel at Gran Pacifica…or anywhere. The hotel chain doesn’t build. The developer provides the funds…the developer builds the hotel…then the franchise lends its name to the property and allows the developer to use its systems.

In other words, I recognized that, if there were going to be a brand-name hotel at Gran Pacifica…Gran Pacifica would be building it. Meaning Gran Pacifica would have to come up with the dough.

Mike wrote yesterday to tell me that his group has, indeed, put together the funding required to move ahead with the hotel construction. He’s not in a position yet to disclose the name of the franchise that will be participating…but he says that he and his partners are ready now to deliver on the really big promise they’ve been making to investors and owners in the Gran Pacifica community.

What will the construction of the hotel do for property values at Gran Pacifica? Well, if I were an owner at Gran Pacifica, I’d be feeling pretty good right now. And, in fact, I’m regretting that I’m not an owner at Gran Pacifica…and I’m thinking that maybe I ought to become one before they break ground on the hotel.

What cost to become an owner at Gran Pacifica? 

Oceanfront condos start at $140,000. Homes overlooking the 18-hole golf course (under construction) start at $160,000.

Plus, right now, Mike has two spec houses available for sale. These are particularly interesting values.

The first, the San Carlos home, will be completed in 60 days. It’s about 200 yards from the beach and adjacent to the town center (which the hotel will anchor). It’s four bedrooms, three bathrooms, 2,259 square feet, all on one level. The price is $199,000, including all taxes and closing costs. Financing is available through the developer with as little as 20% down.

But, wait…there’s more. The second spec home is 950 square feet, and it’s also to be completed in about 60 days. This house has a vaulted ceiling, granite countertops, and decorative tiling in the kitchen and bath. The price is $129,999, again including taxes and closing costs. Again, developer financing is available.

You can see the two houses here.

And you can request more information here: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Kathleen Peddicord

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This Is Your Final Call

Uncle Sam is working quietly, behind the scenes, to put obstacles in place that will make it more difficult for you to broaden your horizons overseas. And much more difficult for you to be in the driver's seat of your own future.

It's not just the banking arena that's under threat.

In 2008, changes to the Veterans Act allowed for an "exit tax" on U.S. citizens who choose to leave the country and end their citizenship.

What other countries have done this in the past? Nazi Germany. Communist Russia. Apartheid South Africa...

This is your civil liberty at stake. How long before you just won't be able to get your assets out of the States?

I'm not an alarmist. I'm a pragmatist. And, as a pragmatic investor, I've seen the writing on the wall for some time. I've worked all these years and with an added sense of urgency more recently to take control of my own life, my own financial future, and, most important to me now, the future of my family.

Now I'd like to offer you a chance to do the same.

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