Nov. 2, 2009
Chiang Mai, Thailand
PLUS:
- Panama Paused Until Easter...
- Life At The Beach And Other Fairy Tale Wishes...
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Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,
With the current issue, out this weekend, we embark on our second year of publishing my
Overseas Retirement Letter. I propose a resolution:
If you haven't yet taken action toward realizing your dreams of a new life in retirement abroad, I say now, get moving.
Many
Overseas Retirement Letter readers have taken off for new and exotic lives in the overseas retirement havens that called their names (and we share some of their stories with subscribers in the current issue). What's holding you back?
I can imagine many things. Over the years, we've struggled with our own Reasons Not To Move Overseas. In fact, we've probably had more reasons than most
not to push ahead with our various international escapades, for our situation has been complicated.
Lief and I met in June 1997 on a real estate tour of Ireland (that I was leading). We both happened to be on that fated expedition as part of research in advance of moves to the Emerald Isle that we both, coincidentally, planned to execute by the end of the year.
At the time, Lief was living in Chicago; I was based in Baltimore. We were engaged to be married in September and wed in November. All the while continuing with our relocation plans for December.
Who couldn't talk him- (or her-) self out of an international move under those circumstances? Certainly, nearly everyone we knew thought we'd taken leave of our
senses.
Including my then 9-year-old daughter. Kailtin wanted no part of any life other than the one she'd been enjoying in Maryland, where she had friends and family, including a grandmother she visited nearly every day.
The grandmother (my mother) wasn't big on our international relocation plan either. When, the day before our departure, she stopped by my house so I could give her the foodstuffs and other things I'd packed into a couple of boxes for her, she remarked, tearfully, "Oh, how can you give away all your teas? Can't you take these with you?"
I was more concerned about leaving my antique furniture behind, so I invested in shipping a container load of it to Dublin, where it then had to be stored for a year before we were ready to take delivery of it in Waterford.
Lief wasn't able to sell his house in Chicago before our December move date, so we had to continue paying the mortgage on it the first several months we were living in Ireland.
The morning we were to take off for our grand newlywed adventure overseas, Kaitlin lay on her bed, holding her grandmother's hand, and sobbing. "Please don't make me leave," she pleaded. "I'm an American. I belong in America." Her cries continued for our first full year abroad.
Lief and I pushed ahead, in the face of Kaitlin's reluctance, in the face of my family's misgivings, in the face of financial complications and setbacks, in the face of our own uncertainties. We organized the shipping of my furniture and the sale of Lief's. We sold both our cars. We researched Waterford schooling options for Kaitlin. We parted with personal belongings, longtime friends, family, and co-workers. On the face of it, we abandoned everything...except each other and our dream.
It was not easy. Life in Waterford was not perfect. Some of our friends and family still don't understand, all these years later, why we ever made the move, and I can't, even now, articulate a response that makes sense to them. Perhaps you will understand. We wanted to see what we might see. We wanted to glimpse how people live somewhere else. We wanted a chance to understand how life in a new place would be different and the same from the lives we'd
known.
We perceived so much benefit from that first move from Baltimore to Waterford that we enthusiastically embraced a second one, about seven years later, this time to Paris. Then, last summer, we relocated again, to Panama.
Looking back now, I see many points along the way when we easily could have talked ourselves into staying put. We've gotten tired. We're worried about the children. We've been overwhelmed by frustrations resulting from the different ways people do things in different places around the world. But this is the point, isn't it, we've had to remind ourselves...to discover how the rest of the world works.
We've addressed all the questions one must address when undertaking these kinds of adventures: What stuff should we ship? Which health care plan is best for our family? Where should the children be educated? Should we rent our new home or buy one? What about the pets? Are we doing the kids a disservice by taking them so far from their extended families? What if they don't like their new home? What if we don't?
Here's the lesson I've learned as a result of all the research and planning that's gone into all our globe-trotting over these past dozen years: You can't over-think this. Thinking has its place, but then action is called for. You'll always be able to second-guess your plan and to rationalize walking away from it.
Moving to a new country--on your own, with your family, whatever your circumstances--requires courage and conviction. It means ignoring the nay-sayers and your own doubts. Practically speaking, it demands persistence and high energy levels.
More than anything, though, executing a move to another country requires a naïve faith in your own ability to work things out and to make things work. You can't possibly imagine and plan for all possible contingencies and eventualities. You've got to trust that you'll be good on your feet.
So, again, I propose a resolution: Start now. Put the planning, the research, and the thinking aside. Muster the self-conviction to follow your heart. Your new life overseas won't be easy, and it won't be perfect. It will come with a set of challenges and frustrations that you can't begin to imagine right now. So stop trying.
Because, I tell you, it's worth it. I can't articulate an explanation that satisfies my family back in Baltimore, but I can tell you that I don't regret one day or one move of the past dozen years. Our experiences have been broad, our lives and those of our children have been enriched, and our memories are diverse and comforting. Each step executed (successfully or sometimes not) has given us the confidence to take the next one.
From Baltimore, Maryland, on the East Coast of the United States to the Irish countryside. From there to the City of Light, then, last summer, back across the Atlantic to the Hub of the Americas, where we now reside in a 150-year-old Spanish-colonial house in this city's old town, Casco Viejo.
Where from here? I couldn't tell you with certainty, but I can't wait to find out.
And I believe that you'll enjoy the same sense of childlike anticipation and delight as you make your way down your own path overseas...wherever it leads you.
So what are you waiting for?
Kathleen Peddicord
P.S. Whatever's holding you back can't possibly be concern over whether or not you could afford to retire overseas, certainly not after you've read this month's issue of my
Overseas Retirement Letter, in which we introduce you to one of the world's most affordable retirement havens,
Chiang Mai, Thailand, where you could enjoy a comfortable, full, and interesting life on a budget of as little as US$775 per month. If you're an ORL subscriber, you should have received your current issue over the weekend. If you haven't yet signed on,
go here now to read Correspondent Wendy Justice's complete report on super low-cost living in the beautiful and welcoming Land of Smiles.
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As I write, the streets of Panama City are eerily calm and quiet, and Lief and I sit alone in our offices of the Banesco building in the center of the city's banking district. Our staff is off with the rest of Panama City's general population, enjoying the holiday.
In fact, though, today is not a holiday. Tomorrow is. So are Wednesday and Thursday. Why not take off Monday, too, they figure. Some will call Friday a holiday, as well, meaning this is a lost week, the first of several over the coming five months.
As resident Editor Rebecca Tyre puts it, "Panama is now on pause," meaning that, between now and Easter, don't count on taking care of much business.
Specifically, tomorrow, Nov. 3, Panama celebrates its independence from Colombia. Wednesday this week, Nov. 4, is Flag Day, followed by Colon Day on Thursday, Nov. 5. Government offices and banks open on the 6th, only to shut their doors again Nov. 10 to celebrate the first call for independence from Spain. Nov. 28 celebrates actual independence from Spain.
Dec. 8 is Mother's Day, a very big deal in this country. Government offices, banks, and most private businesses close so everyone can spend time with Mom.
The week between Christmas and New Year's is a write-off, then Jan. 9 is Martyrs Day.
The biggest party of the year, Carnaval, takes place Feb. 13 to 16. The holiday season wraps up on April 2 with Good Friday.
"If you plan to apply for a visa or to open a bank account in Panama during this extended holiday season," Rebecca explains, "expect the process to take two to three times longer than usual."
And, if you happen to be in Panama over the coming few months for any reason, please stop in at our offices to say hello. I fear Lief and I may get lonely.
"Kathleen, I have a fairy-tale question. I'm a subscriber to Live and Invest Overseas, and I've been reading every article closely. I would like to retire to a beach that has some privacy and fantastic weather year-round. Low or no taxes. Would like to purchase a piece of property and eventually build a house. Have been kinda looking at Belize, Ecuador, or Panama. Seems like they all offer cheap beachfront property and great weather. Any thoughts on these? Can expats buy property in these countries?"
-- Ron W., United States
Ecuador boasts some of the cheapest beachfront anywhere. And you could find stretches of it that'd be super private. Beachfront along the coast of mainland Belize could still be considered cheap, though that's not how I'd describe beachfront on Ambergris Caye. Similarly, beach property within commuting distance of Panama City is no longer a great bargain, but coastal buys a little farther from the big city sure can be. And, again, some pieces of it are luxuriously private.
Fantastic weather year-round is hard to come by in a coastal region (unless by "fantastic weather" you mean hot). Cooler climes are found at higher elevations. All three countries you name offer more temperate mountain climates within a couple of hours of the steamier sea-level ones. If you want beach, you may have to settle for hot with the chance for regular escapes to the highlands.
Ecuador, Belize, and Panama are all favorable tax regimes from the point of view of the foreign retiree or resident. Belize is perhaps the most user friendly in this regard, thanks to its Qualified Retired Persons program (
details
here).
The countries you name impose no important restrictions on foreign ownership of real estate. Note, though, that in Ecuador foreigners must apply for permission to purchase coastal property. This is usually a rubber-stamp approvals process (unless the piece of coast you're interested in buying is part of the Galapagos Islands). You can hold property with fee-simple title in all three jurisdictions you're considering. The usual caveats and cautions when shopping in unregulated markets apply.
