Oct. 28, 2008
Panama City, Panama

PLUS:

• Take Out A Piece Of Paper And A Pen...
• Letter From Goa...
• "We're Ready To Take Christian Up On His La Barra Find!"...
• Oil In Brazil...More Flights To Punta Cana...

AND:

• "I Doubt This Will Run As They Seem To Delete Anything That Is Remotely Probing For Truth"...

Are Your Investments Shrinking As U.S. And Global Economies Wither?
 
Discover a World of Current Opportunities Offering Annual Returns of 22%, 64%, and More
 
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• Gain up to 30% in one year with your investment underwritten by the developer...
• Earn annual yields of up to 15% and more -- above and beyond the annualized increase in your investment...
• Realize gains of as much as 100% and more with the long-term investments we'll bring to the table

This is the answer to how to save your retirement portfolio.

Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,

Take out a piece of paper and a pen and write down everything that's important to you in the context of an overseas retirement haven. Consider all aspects of your life, big and small:

• The cost of living. How much money do you have to live on monthly?...
• The weather. What do you like? Year-round sunshine? Four seasons? Low humidity? Minimal rainfall?...
• The infrastructure...are reliable Internet and cable TV important to you?...
• English-speaking doctors...
• First World hospital within a half-hour's drive...
• International-standard schools...high schools that prepare students for the International Baccalaureate (IB)...
• Surfing...boating...fishing...diving...international-standard golf courses...
• Educated and English-speaking labor pool...
• International banks...ATM's on the corner...
• Aunt Jemima, Betty Crocker, and other name brands you know on the grocery store shelves...and at what cost...
• The view from your bedroom window...the sounds outside at night...
• Fellow English-speakers (maybe you want to be among them...maybe you don't)...
• Local distractions...restaurants, theater, first-run movies, shopping malls, bridge clubs, tennis teams...
• Access...how far to the nearest international airport...
• Restrictions on foreign-ownership of property...
• Taxes--sales tax, property tax, transfer tax, income tax, rental income tax, capital gains tax, import tax for your personal and household goods...where does your income come from and what taxes, therefore, would you be liable for?...
• Public transportation and how you get around...do you need a car? Can you walk to the newsstand each morning?...
• Crime (we consider all the places we recommend to you to be safe)...
• Stability of the government (we're a-political as a rule but recognize that, sometimes, hard as we try to co-exist peacefully alongside whoever happens to sit in the power chair, politics affects us as we move around and can't be ignored entirely)...
• Rate of exchange between the local currency and your own...
• Rate of local inflation...
• Cost of an airplane ticket back home...
• How quick you could get back home if you needed to...
• Availability and cost of household help, nannies, caretakers, drivers...
• Ease of forming a company...opening a bank account...
• Requirements for gaining foreign residency...visa hurdles...opportunities for eventually obtaining second citizenship...

That's how you begin.

You make a list.

More tomorrow,

Kathleen Peddicord

6 Best Value Overseas Retirement Picks For 2009!

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Discover six top-value destinations...places where you can:

• Live well -- including a maid, a gardener, a driver -- even on a Social Security budget...
• Enjoy free medical care or health insurance for $200 a month or less...
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Where to Go Overseas in 2009 -- Best Values Special Report Free, here.

----------

TODAY:

Brazil has found big new oil reserves off its coast, enough that the country could be transformed into a petroleum exporter.

***

Delta is expanding service to one of our favorite Caribbean outposts. Starting in December, they'll be offering a second daily flight to Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic.

***

Ever-roving Correspondent Paul Terhorst, still on the road in India, checks in this morning:

"I'm at the Hotel Lucky Star on Colva Beach in South Goa. Here are photos taken from my balcony and on the beach. There are squatter's shacks also on the beach, here and there, on some of the world's most beautiful real estate. The last is a picture of my hotel, taken from the beach."

FROM THE MAILBAG:

"In your opinion, where is the least-humid climate? Where is it temperate year-round?"

-- Jill F., United States

Ecuador in the mountains. Salta province in Argentina (it's a desert, after all). Mendoza province in Argentina, as well. And Boquete in the interior of Panama.

The Uruguay coast has humidity but a generally temperate climate year-round--not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter; though it definitely has four seasons.

***

"I am a subscriber to your Overseas Retirement Letter and really enjoyed the first letter.
 
"We are looking to retire soon, and, after reading Christian MacDonald's article and looking at several websites, we are ready to take him up on his La Barra find. We are planning to move in March '09. Two of us and a cat!"
 
-- Bruce K., United States

Buena suerte, dear reader. Please stay in touch to let us know about your new life in Uruguay.

Meantime, subscribers to the Overseas Retirement Letter, watch your e-mailbox. Christian has filed a follow-up report on the La Barra rentals market, which we'll get out to you asap.

***

"I'm not quite sure why Kathleen Pedicord (sic), mere weeks after touting La Vida Buena Wine Estates as the next Napa Valley and exhorting investment in Argentina, has done a 360 and has an article about bad news from the land of Malbec, tango, and financial crisis. She now touts the benefits of Nicaragua with its socialist/communist Daniel Ortega-led government.

"I doubt this will run as they seem to delete anything that is remotely probing for truth."

-- Cliff S., United States

Never fear, dear reader. I'm still touting La Vida Buena Wine Estates (great opportunity in a beautiful country that enjoys drama in everything, especially its politics)...and the country of Argentina itself (with its pension-poaching Cristina-led government)...and, no question, Nicaragua (with its never-say-die Sandinista Ortega-led government)...and Venezuela (with its ever-on-his-soapbox Chavez-led government)...and Ecuador (with its Quechua-speaking Correa-led government)...and Uruguay (with its physician Vázquez-led government)...and France (with its mistress-marrying Sarkozy-led government)...and Thailand (with its "I will not resign" Sundharavej-led government)...and Panama (with its "We will build this new road before the end of my term or else" Torrijos-led government)...