12 Steps To Your New Life In Paradise, Part 1
March 19, 2009
Panama City, Panama
PLUS:
- The World's Top 20 Retirement Havens...
AND:
- "Who Should I Believe? You Or The CIA?"...
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Panama 101--101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About
Panama
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your Free copy!
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Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,
Here's how to retire overseas:
Step #1: Know Yourself
There are a dozen good reasons, at least, to think about living or
retiring overseas. Your challenge is to make sure you're moving for your
reasons. Be honest with yourself...and with your significant other. What's
most important? Cost of living? The weather? Accessibility to your home
country so you can visit your grandkids on holidays? A reliable Internet
connection so you can manage your stock portfolio? Health care (if you have
an ongoing health concern)? The local school system (if you're moving with
children)? The language (are you willing to learn a new one?).
What are you looking for? And, critically, what are you willing to give up
and to live without?
Here are 12 factors to take into account as you work through the process
of shopping for a new country to call home. I list these things in no
particular order and leave it to you to prioritize according to your
preferences and interests:
- Cost of Living
- Cost of Real Estate
- Health Care
- Infrastructure
- Accessibility To Your Home Country
- Language
- Taxes
- Safety
- Special Benefits (or lack thereof) For Foreign Residents
- Education And Schools (if you're moving with children)
- Climate
- Culture, Recreation, And Entertainment
Step #2: Take Out A Map
Once you've taken inventory of your priorities and agendas, you're ready
to consider the geographic possibilities.
There are about 200 countries in the world. Some are cheap...many are
beautiful...some have sandy coastlines...others boast interesting
histories...
But not all of them are places you'd want to live. Here, then, are 20
countries worth considering right now:
Argentina
Belize
China
Croatia
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
France
Guatemala
Honduras
India
Italy
Laos
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Malaysia
Mexico
Panama
Philippines
Thailand
Uruguay
The trick is to connect the dots.
Good health care...affordable cost of living...lots of sunshine...favorable
tax legislation for foreign residents...leads you...where?
I can't consider all 20 of the countries on our shortlist of The World's Top
Retirement Havens in detail here (we'll do that for you over time...keep
reading). However, I can offer some Cliff Notes, to help prompt your
thinking.
For example:
*** World's Cheapest Retirement Havens
India
is by far the cheapest place in the world to think about retiring right now.
Intrepid Correspondent Paul Terhorst reports that a couple could live in
this country for as little as US$735 per month, including rent. (We
recommend against buying a home in this country, at least for now, because
of political and legal problems related to getting and keeping clean title).
However, we realize that India is not everyone's idea of an ideal retirement
haven.
Our second choice for the world's cheapest place to retire right now?
Ecuador. You could live in this beautiful, safe country on as
little a $660 per month if you own your own home or on as little as US$1,240
if you rent.
Next most affordable is
Thailand, where you could retire on a budget of as little as
US$765 per month if you invest in a condo or apartment...or on a budget of
US$1,055 per month if you rent.
Also temptingly affordable right now (as well as beautiful and, yes, safe)
is
Nicaragua. Live well in the second-oldest city in the Americas,
Leon, a beautiful, historic city within 20 minutes of the beach, on as
little as US$954 per month if you invest in one of the city's grand old
colonial haciendas for yourself...or on as little as US$1,300 per month if
you rent.
Another highly affordable option is
Uruguay, where you could live comfortably on US$1,038 per month
if you purchase a home, on US$1,555 if you choose instead to rent one.
Plus: France. Yes, France. Not Paris...and not Provence.
But in the southwest of the country, north of Spain. This region serves up
the best of French country life...and is far more affordable a place to live
than you might ever imagine. Contributing Editor Lucy Culpepper details the
cost of living in Languedoc in the current issue of the
Overseas Retirement Letter.
*** Luxury Living on a Budget
You aren't going to live a "luxury" lifestyle in Belize, no matter how much
money you have. Even in Belize City, there's no fine dining, no great
shopping, no haute-couture.
In other words, luxe living has as much to do with opportunity as
it does with income. Where could you enjoy the good things in life on a
budget of, say, US$2,500 to US$3,000 per month?
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Panama City, Panama
Paris, France
I'll qualify my Paris pick a little. First, I'm assuming you're not paying
rent (or a mortgage). That is, you own an apartment. In that case, take my
word for it: Living in Paris is as luxe as it gets...and can be far
more affordable than you might ever imagine. A couple could have a hard time
spending US$3,000 per month in this city (again, assuming no rent). Many of
Paris' finest offerings come gratis, or nearly so, and transportation, too,
is almost free (1.10 euro to get from one end of the city to the other on
the Metro).
Telephone, cable, and Internet are a bargain. And, outside the tourist
zones, everyday things (haircuts, groceries) can be very affordable.
*** Kid-friendly
If you're moving with children, you're looking at city, probably capital
city living. That's where you'll find the international schools you need.
Right now, consider:
Montevideo, Uruguay
Paris, France
Panama City, Panama
Wellington, New Zealand
*** Entrepreneurs Welcome
Don't move to France to start a business. Instead, consider:
Argentina
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Panama
Thailand
*** Best Health Care
If health care is an important consideration for you, you'll want to choose
a big city, probably a capital city. Consider:
Paris, France (the World Health Organization
says France has the best health care in the world...and I'd agree)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Managua, Nicaragua
Panama City, Panama
*** Eternal Spring
Don't like it too hot...or too cold? Here are three places where the weather
is just right, all year-round:
Mountains of Costa Rica
Ecuador
Mountains of Panama
*** They Speak English
Don't want to learn a new language? Consider:
Belize
New Zealand
Roatan, Honduras
*** You're Connected
Don't want to go without high-speed Internet? Your best bets are:
Paris, France
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Panama City, Panama
*** Part-time Paradise
Don't want to leave the kids, the grandkids, or your old life behind
entirely? Think about seasonal living in:
Argentina
Costa Rica
Mexico
Panama
New Zealand
Uruguay
*** Quick Escape
Want to know you could return anytime to the States or Canada, quick and
easy? Choose:
Belize
Costa Rica
Mexico (you could even drive back and forth)
Nicaragua
Panama
*** Super Tax-friendly
Keen to mitigate your tax burden by moving abroad? Choose a country that
taxes you only on the money you earn or remit locally:
Belize
Malaysia
Panama
Uruguay
Tomorrow: Steps #3 through #12...
Kathleen Peddicord
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Everything You Need To Know To Retire To Panama
All
your questions answered by top experts.
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"Kathleen, I am backing up my previous statement that 4% of Belize's
population speaks English. Type in Belize on the Google
search engine. Then click on 'CIA--The World Factbook--Belize.' Then scroll
down to the languages part. It says 46% of the people in Belize speak
Spanish, 32.9% % speak Creole, 3.9% speak English, 3.3% speak German, etc.
"Now I don't know who to believe--you or the CIA World Factbook."
-- Martin G., United States
Don't believe either one of us. Go to Belize and find out for yourself.
Statistics are a funny thing...especially government statistics. I don't
know how the CIA has arrived at its 3.9% figure for English-speakers in
Belize. It's a little hard to imagine fewer than 4% of the population
speaking English in a country where classroom study (in all schools) is in
English...and where all documentation (contracts, etc.) must be in English
(for that is the language of government).
Remember, this is a former British colony.
And, again, anecdotally, I can tell you that nearly every person I've ever
met in Belize speaks English...or Creole, which is English with an attitude.
But, as I remind you often, dear reader, don't take my or anyone's word for
anything. The only way to know something for certain is to go see for
yourself.
Belize is worth the trip.
When you get there, tell everyone I say, "hello." Yes, they'll understand. |
