Nov. 25, 2009
Las Tablas, Panama
PLUS:
- Here's The Long And Short Of It If You're Planning To Obtain Legal Residency In Your New Country...
- "What Happened To Ecuador That You Sold So Heavily?!"...
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Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,
You don't move to the little beach town of
Las Tablas on the eastern coast of Panama's Azuero Peninsula to enjoy the trappings of luxury. You come to Las Tablas to relax, to slow down, and to plug into a simpler way of living.
Once you do that, you won't believe how little your new life at the beach can cost. Neither will your friends back home, especially when you tell them you're renting a comfortable house within a few minutes walk of the beach, for example, for US$200 or US$300 per month...
Panama Editor Rebecca Tyre, a resident of Las Tablas for the past three years, brought some recent receipts into the office this week. Here's an idea of what it's been costing Rebecca to live among the Tableños:
| Bread (loaf) |
US$1 |
| Coca Cola (2Lt) |
US$0.95 |
| Milk (gallon) |
US$1.15 |
| Steak (1lb) |
US$2.78 |
| Chicken (1lb) |
US$2.05 |
| Ground Beef (1lb) |
US$1.80 |
| Tomatoes (1lb) |
US$0.65 |
| Garlic (sleeve of 8) |
US$0.75 |
| Carrots (1lb) |
US$0.30 |
| Onions (1lb) |
US$0.65 |
| Rice (5lbs) |
US$2.37 |
| Local Coffee (1lb) |
US$3.11 |
| Local Beer (6pk) |
US$2.70 |
| Local Rum (1lt) |
US$5.81 |
| Man's Haircut |
US$3 |
| Local Newspaper |
US$0.35 |
| Electricity (per month) |
US$35 |
| Internet (per month) |
US$30 |
| Gas (for cooking, monthly) |
US$2 |
| Cable (per month) |
US$30 |
| Full-time Maid (per month) |
US$150 |
What would it cost you to live in Las Tablas? I'm increasingly reluctant to answer questions like that, because there is no answer.
I met a retired American the other day who is living in Panama City on US$750 per month. He's renting a small, non-air-conditioned house for US$500 per month and managing all other expenses for about US$250. It wasn't clear whether this is out of necessity or because he enjoys the challenge. Regardless, he's making a point. He walks everywhere (to save taxi fare). He shops only where the locals shop for groceries and dines only at home.
It's not an extravagant life. I can tell you that I wouldn't last long living similarly and that I know no other expat in Panama City surviving on such a modest budget, but this guy is managing.
On the other hand, you could easily live on US$750 per month in Las Tablas. Your rent could be as little as US200 per month (that's the amount Rebecca pays each month for the house by the beach that she's called home for three years). That'd leave you US$550 per month, which, in this rural town of fishermen, would go a long way. You could even afford a full-time maid if you wanted one.
What would your life in Las Tablas be like? That's the point, isn't it? Not only what it costs to live some place, but what in the world, living in that place, you'd do with yourself.
Rebecca, a Canadian expat who had to be dragged, nearly kicking and screaming, from Panama City off into the hinterland three years ago, is preparing a full report on the life in Las Tablas she's grown to love.
Why did Rebecca move from this country's cosmo capital to the edge of nowhere in the first place? And why is she begrudgingly back in Panama City these days?
Rebecca tells all soon. Watch this space.
Kathleen Peddicord
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"I'm legal!" writes Central America Correspondent Michael Paladin. "I have just received, finally, my
resident's visa for Guatemala, which means no more worries about the 90-day tourist visa extensions.
"The process went fairly smooth, with the help of good advice from other expats in Antigua. They recommended a specific attorney in Guatemala City who specializes in immigration and who has a long track record with gringos. The process took 10 months, but 2 months of this were my fault, because I made a critical mistake at the outset.
"I didn't obtain a copy of my police report prior to moving to Guatemala. If I had, I could have saved money and time.
"To get a police report in the States, you need fingerprints. Because I was already in Guatemala and didn't want to make a trip back to the States simply to have my fingerprints taken, I had them taken in Guatemala. The document then was sent to an agent of my attorney in San Francisco. Even with a notarized statement explaining that I was living outside the country and giving my authorization to use the fingerprints to search my police record (or lack thereof), I ran into hassles. It took an extra couple of months to process things, and, in the end, I had to find a pliable clerk in a different county.
"Here's the long and the short of it: Obtain your police report before you leave home if you intend to take up full-time legal residency in your new country."
"What happened to
Ecuador that you so heavily sold but that now doesn't appear on your
Top 10 For 2010 list?"
-- A.C., United States
I'd include Ecuador on a Top 20 list, but, unless you're looking for ultra-cheap and that is your single driving agenda in relocating to another country, you have better choices.
Ecuador is probably the most affordable retirement haven in Latin America (some places in Asia could be cheaper, but Asia can seem too far away and too exotic). Most affordable...but not best. Ecuador is more Third World than any of the other Latin America countries I did include on my list--more Third World, less developed, and less accessible. If things like telecommunications infrastructure, ease of coming and going, and mitigating the "hassle factor," as I refer to it, of living in the undeveloped world matter to you, again, you have better choices than Ecuador.
On the other hand, parts of Ecuador are beautiful, and capital Quito is a bigger, more interesting city than you might imagine. All things considered,
colonial Cuenca is probably the best retirement spot in this country.
.
