Dec. 28, 2009
Baltimore, Maryland
PLUS:
- Fireworks And Mortars...The Holiday Season In Guatemala...
- Three Important Pieces Of Advice If You Think You Want To Retire Overseas In 2010...
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Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,
You've got your list. (If you missed yesterday's issue, catch up
here.)
Now you need another, shorter one...a list of the countries that might support the lifestyle you seek. Here are the world's top 10 overseas retirement havens as we move toward New Year 2010:
- Argentina
- Belize
- Chile
- Croatia
- Dominican Republic
- France
- Malaysia
- Panama
- Uruguay
- Vietnam
And here are my top 10 runners-up:
- Colombia
- Cyprus
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Ireland
- Malta
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Philippines
- Thailand
The truth is, right here, right now, I can't take this conversation much further. You've got your list of what matters to you...and now you've got a list of the world's top retirement havens today.
Given all this, should you retire to Panama...or to France? To Uruguay...or to Thailand? I have no idea.
I'm not copping out. I'm being honest. You've got to do the work of considering the 20 countries on my World's Top Havens list in the context of your personal preferences and priorities. You've got to connect your own dots.
For example:
If you're looking to retire on a limited budget, look into
Ecuador,
Nicaragua, Thailand, and
Uruguay, the world's most affordable retirement havens.
If you want a temperate climate, put Argentina (in the north), Ecuador, and Panama (in the mountains) on your list. If you want four seasons, think about Uruguay (on a budget) or Paris (the most romantic place on earth but not necessarily a budget choice).
Want to pay no local income tax? Think about retiring to Belize, Panama, Malaysia, or Uruguay.
Get the shakes at the thought of life without reliable Internet? Take Nicaragua off your list and probably Ecuador, too. And if you're interested in any of the other Latin American or the Asian countries on my list, reconcile yourself to city living. You can't count on regular, reliable Internet in the "interiors" of these places.
Don't like bugs? Don't retire to a tropical beach.
Get sad without sunshine? Don't move to Ireland.
Want to start a business? Come to Panama,
the most business-friendly jurisdiction in the world today...or perhaps Malaysia if you want to be on that side of the planet.
Travel a lot? Come to Panama in the Americas or France in Euro-land. From Tocumen you can get anywhere in North or South America with ease...and from Charles de Gaulle, you're no more than a couple of hops away from anywhere, period.
Value regular nights of culture? Consider Buenos Aires (on a budget) or Paris (not).
Want to be far away from the troubles of the world right now? Think about Cafayete, Argentina...the coast of Uruguay...Granada, Nicaragua...or maybe New Zealand.
"Retiring" with children? Education becomes your number-one priority. In this case, consider France, Panama, or Uruguay.
If you have an ongoing health concern, medical care facilities are your top priority. Put, again, France, at the top of your list if money is not another key criteria...and consider Panama and perhaps Uruguay if it is.
Panama is an international banking center...Nicaragua is not.
You can't own your own home outright in Thailand, if that matters to you.
Argentineans enjoy drama--in their politics, in their economic policies, in their cocktail party conversation. Will you find that entertaining or unnerving?
France is one of the most legislated places on earth. The French, though, simply ignore the rules and the restrictions as suits them. Could you?
Taxis in places like Panama City, Panama, and Managua, Nicaragua, often come minus things like door handles, air conditioning, and tail lights. Will that bother you?
Over to you, dear reader. You'll have to continue this line of thinking for yourself.
Meantime, of course, we'll do everything we can to support your connecting-the-dots efforts in these dispatches. We'll begin our "
Make 2010 The Year You Retire Overseas" series later this week.
Kathleen Peddicord
P.S. Step #3 in this How To Find Your Own Personal Retirement Haven Overseas process? Get on a plane. Once you've identified a handful of countries that capture your interest, you've got to go to see them for yourself. A place can make great sense on paper but just not feel right. You can't spreadsheet your way to a new life in paradise. You can start with verifiable facts and figures, but I strongly suggest that you make your final determination not with your head but your heart.
So, I say again, get on a plane. Come see just how exciting, exotic, adventure-filled, sunny, healthy, and affordable a new life overseas can be. Make 2010 the year you make it happen.
One more time: Get on a plane.
(If
Panama is a country you're considering, time your visit to this country so you can participate in our Feb. 24-26, 2010,
Live & Invest in Panama Conference. For this important and timely event, we'll convene every Panama expert and expat we know. Over these two-and-a-half days, you'll get it all--the good, the bad, and the ugly--everything you need to make your Panama decision.
Full details of the program we have planned here.)
P.P.S. We're in the States for two weeks this holiday season, our longest visit in a dozen years. Our impressions? You can live in this country right now super affordably, with a few important exceptions. We've bought two extra suitcases to carry back to Panama all the so-cheap-we-couldn't-not-buy-it stuff we've discovered already. Things like bath towels, bed sheets, Colgate toothpaste, and L'Oreal face cream are so affordable in places like Target and Wal-Mart that, as I said, it's impossible to resist the temptation to stock up.
"Remind me again why we're living in Panama?" Lief asked after our shopping spree at Target over the weekend.
My response tomorrow...
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Be Our Guest At The Live And Invest In Panama
2010 Conference
Attend for free!
Every Panama Circle Member is invited to attend our Live and Invest in Panama Conference in Panama City this February as our guest--and to bring a guest free, too. This is but the beginning of the value of membership in this special circle.
And, right now, for a limited time, you can reap all the rewards and enjoy all the benefits of full-fledged Panama Circle membership without paying full price--at least not all at once, up front.
During this limited-time New Member enrollment period, you can arrange to pay for your membership in installments.
If accepted as a New Member, you are invited to join us for our timely and comprehensive Panama event this February, and every Panama event we hold during your lifetime, as our guest. Like every other Panama Circle Member, you're also invited to bring a friend with you free.
This couldn't be easier. And the opportunities in Panama right now couldn't be bigger.
Go Here Now For Full Details
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"Here in Guatemala," writes Central America Correspondent Michael Paladin from
Antigua, "there is a strange fascination with fireworks, especially mortars. These are three-foot sections of metal pipe, perhaps four inches in diameter, with sturdy metal bases. The explosive package is dropped in the top and lit with a four-foot fuse. The sparks race along the burning length and then...whompf! Up in a cloud of smoke the now blazing pyrotechnic goes. Two-hundred feet later, a mighty blast...bam! White smoke is all that remains of the shot. Immediately, another round is readied.
"What any of this has to do with Jesus or Mary, no one has been able to tell me. All I know is that the antics have been going on since Dec. 7, the official start of the holiday season in this part of the world. On the 7th, the 8th, the 12th, the 15th, the 16th, the 17th, the 18th, the 19th, the 20th, the 21st, the 22nd, the 23rd, the 24th, and, then, again, finally, on Christmas Day, at the stroke of noon, more
bombas and firecrackers.
"According to the schedules I've found, we have a break now until the 31st. I think the lull is unavoidable, as, certainly, by now, they've used up all the fireworks in the city and must have to wait for another shipload to arrive from China!
"My ears are ringing...the church bells are ringing...and I'm taking advantage of the down time to try to wash the gunpowder out of my clothes."
"Kathleen, I have three pieces of advice for
Scott, whose letter you published on Christmas Day," writes Latin America Correspondent Christian MacDonald.
"One is to remember that you can always go back. When I was in Scott's position, one of the things that finally made me decide to move ahead with my plan was the knowledge that, if necessary, I could move back to the States and pick up just about where I'd left off.
"Two is that you can never, ever remove all doubt. No matter how much you research, you won't really know what it's like until you get there. I know a number of people who are waiting for 100% assurance that everything will be as they expect. These people will never make the move, because that kind of certainty isn't possible.
"Three is to remember the 'last five minutes' rule. In the last five minutes of your life, which version of 2010 would you like to remember? What memories of this time will bring a smile to your face? I use this test often when facing a decision about which course to take, and it works well."
