At Home On Heaven’s Mountain

Jan. 27, 2012, Medellin, Colombia: Monticello is a private mountainside development community less than an hour outside Medellin, Colombia.

Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,

Carlos Nieto is a Colombian American who returned home to his native Medellin about a year ago.

Carlo's family has a finca, a country estate, less than an hour outside downtown Medellin. Any Medellin family with the money to afford it would have a finca outside the city. There are 26 national holidays in Colombia. Paisas (as the people of Medellin are known) like to enjoy them at their country houses.

Carlo's family's finca is called Monticello (that is, Heaven's Mountain). It's north of Medellin, just past the town of Copacabana. Now that Carlos is back home, he's had an idea.

How Ed Is Reinventing His Life In Medellin, Colombia

Jan. 26, 2012, Medellin, Colombia: American Ed Bayer is reinventing his life as a foreign resident and investor in Medellin, Colombia.

Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,

"Years ago, when my son was young, I was the leader for his Boy Scouts troop. Working with the boys, I realized that none of them had been more than a few miles beyond the Pennsylvania town where we were living. So I decided I was going to take them to New York."

Speaking was Ed Bayer, one of the resident expats we're introducing to attendees at this week's Live and Invest in Colombia Conference taking place in Medellin.

"So," Ed continued this morning, "I took 65 10-year-olds to Manhattan. I only lost three or four.

"Seriously, we had a great trip. We toured all over the city.

Welcome To The City Of Springtime And Flowers

Jan. 25, 2012, Medellin, Colombia: Today is the first day of our first-ever Live and Invest in Colombia Conference taking place in Medellin, Colombia.

Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,

Twelve years ago, I sat around a table in a just-opened restaurant in a little-known mountain town in Panama called Boquete with a group of investors and businesspeople, in the country, as I was, to scout opportunity.

"I believe that the potential in this place for retirees is enormous," one of the gentlemen in the group (the one who had just invested in opening the restaurant where we were having dinner) prophesied.

"Right now, the opportunity here is for the investor and the speculator. Property prices are so under-valued. Apartments in Panama City are a screaming bargain on a global scale. Pacific beachfront, Caribbean, farmland, river-front...this country has it all, and it's all cheap.

Overcoming A Troubled Past

Jan. 24, 2012, Medellin, Colombia: There is a stark contrast between the world’s image of Medellin, Colombia, and the reality on the ground. The reality is that Medellin, Colombia, is one of the world’s most appealing cities and an emerging top retirement and investment haven.

Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,

"I get my information on the Internet, and it is available to you as well, and I am sure you are aware of it. In researching Medellin, I found stats relating to murder rates among the highest in Central/South America, which would be a concern for anyone considering Colombia unless they had been living in a cave..."

Poor Medellin. Will she ever be able to escape her troubled past?

For decades, this city was a drug-cartel capital. Pablo Escobar, the billionaire godfather of the Medellin drug trade, and his drug goons reigned over Medellin, terrifying this good city's other citizens.

Cuenca V. Granada—Two Of The World’s Cheapest (And Best) Places To Retire Overseas Compared

Jan. 23, 2012, Medellin, Colombia: Cuenca, Ecuador, and Granada, Nicaragua, are two of the finest colonial cities in the Americas, as well as two of the world’s cheapest places to retire.

Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,

Earlier this month I explained that this New Year 2012 we'll be investing a lot of virtual ink in the direct comparisons of the world's top retirement, living, and investment locations, each to the others, in an effort to help you work through and understand your best options in the context of your own circumstances.

That same evening, I got an e-mail from Latin America Correspondent Lee Harrison, offering to compare two of his favorite cities, both on our 2012 list of world's best "super-cheap" retirement choices: Cuenca, Ecuador, and Granada, Nicaragua.

Lee is a big fan of both cities and recommends both highly...but for different reasons.