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Your Passport To 2012's
Land Of Opportunity This beautiful little country with two long coastlines qualifies more than ever as the world's top retirement, investment, business, and tax haven...
The future down here in this tropical haven is as bright as the noontime sun...  Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,
Panama is the world's #1 retirement haven...an international tax haven...and a global banking center. Its pensionado program of special benefits for foreign retirees is the Gold Standard.
Flower-covered Mountainsides...
 In its interior, west of Panama City, Panama hides some of the world's best choices for highland living...towns and villages, mountains and valleys where the weather is spring-like year-round, the hillsides are covered with wildflowers, the streets are safe, your neighbors are friendly, and the cost of living is highly affordable... In fact, one beautiful hidden spot hides such an idyllic way of life we've named it the World's Top Retirement Haven. This special valley sits at about 2,000 feet...meaning its temperatures are never too hot. Its population of about 7,000 is made up of locals and expatriates. It's a community of Panamanians, Germans, Ecuadorians, Americans, Canadians--some retired, some indulging their entrepreneurial inclinations...others are businessmen who drive out on weekends to escape the big city... Beautiful...and welcoming. Those are the two words of description that come immediately to mind here. The expat community lives closely and happily as part of the community as a whole, with an active but not "separatist" social life. The focal point of activity is the covered market pavilion, where you can shop for fresh fruit and vegetables every morning. The town clinic is staffed 24 hours a day, and a doctor's appointment costs about US$2. You're 45 minutes away from more serious care and ambulance service to the city, where health care is on par with U.S. and European standards...but costs about half as much. In this hidden valley, you've got the best of clean mountain living...but you're only 45 minutes from the beach...and less than two hours from the shopping, the services, the infrastructure, and the nightlife of the big city...the most cosmopolitan city in the entire region... Two Long Coastlines...
 But maybe mountain living appeals to you not at all. Don't worry. In this country with two long coasts and myriad white sand-fringed islands just offshore, you're never far from a beach. Again, you're spoiled for choice for both dramatic, crashing Pacific beaches...and gently lapping Caribbean ones... Surfing, snorkeling, fishing, diving, boating...in all seasons (for Panama sits beyond the hurricane zone)...this little country is a water-enthusiast's dream come true. Plus The Most Cosmopolitan City In The Region...
Mountains...beaches...plus the most cosmopolitan city in the entire region. You've heard it before, but it bears repeating. Panama's capital is without peer in this part of the world. Nowhere else in these parts has the infrastructure, the shopping, or the nightlife to compare.
For more than 100 years, the Panama Canal has linked east and west, north and south. As a result, a multitude of nationalities have shaped the country that it traverses...meaning this little nation is a real melting pot, with the cuisine, the nightlife, and the culture to prove it. A Land Of Contrasts...
This is a land of unsurpassed outdoor adventures...where you can dive two oceans in a day, glide through the jungle canopy, ride the white waters, hike through a cloud forest, rappel off a rock cliff, and fish in waters teeming with marlin, tuna, wahoo, and sailfish. More sport-fishing records have been set in the waters off Panama's shores than anywhere else in the world.
With Something For Everyone...  Panama is also a world of cultural opportunity, with ballets at the restored National Theater...dances to traditional Congo music...historic Spanish forts...and world-class dining in atmospheric colonial buildings.
Outdoors-enthusiasts and nature-lovers are at home here...as are the savvy and the sophisticated. Panama is an open-minded, progressive place. The government offers investment laws far more beneficial than anything in the United States, for example...there is little racial tension...health care is available for both nationals and foreign visitors...the economy is strong...luxuries and comforts beyond reach in the U.S. are affordable here.
And A Land Alive With Opportunity
After over 25 years covering this live, retire, and invest overseas beat and more than a decade living outside the States, I could be living and doing business anywhere in the world right now. About three years ago, my husband and I relocated from Paris, France, to Panama City, Panama, because, frankly, right now, Panama offers more opportunity than any place else on the planet.
In a world where markets are shrinking, businesses are downsizing, unemployment rates are rising, and investment opportunities are evaporating overnight...Panama pushes ahead. Thanks to its unique history and its enviable geographic position, Panama continues to offer what so much of the rest of the world just can't right now: a chance. A chance for the would-be entrepreneur abroad (like me)...a chance for the would-be global real estate investor (like my husband, Lief Simon)...a chance for the would-be retiree overseas (in the world's #1 retirement haven I told you about earlier)...
I've seen a lot of this world, and I know no other place boasting such diversified options, opportunities, adventure, and upside as we continue into 2012. My Panama is frenetic Panama City, where I enjoy wireless Internet and global telecommunications without interruption, an international banking infrastructure, top-notch attorneys and bankers when I need them, an educated and English-speaking labor pool, a low cost of doing business, zero currency-exchange worries, and all the support I could ask for as I work to build a business. My husband's Panama is a stretch of beautiful Pacific coastline in an until-now overlooked region of the country that is beginning to attract the international attention it deserves. He's reaping the benefits of a market that offers comprehensive resources for the property investor (not to mention some of the world's most primo property to think about investing in in the first place!)...plus the active, growing marketplace to make it all pay off. Indeed, despite slowdowns and meltdowns elsewhere, Panama's economy continues strong, expanding quicker than most any other in the world. The canal, the ports, and the Colon Free Zone have benefited greatly from regional and international trade expansion over the past several years. Meantime, the construction industry has boomed, and the financial sector has expanded. Unemployment has fallen to an unprecedented low. The country is mid-boom...there's just no other way to describe it. Its economy expanded by more than 11% in 2007...and that following an average annual growth rate of nearly 8% during the preceding three years. The surge continued through 2008 (in which the growth rate was 10.1%). Panama even finished out 2010 and 2011 with 7.5% and 9.6% growth respectively, global market and fiscal fiascos notwithstanding. As well, the outlook now for Panama is sunny and blue skies...the IMF recently projected steady growth into 2012, and the country has been recognized as "investment grade."  The Panama Canal expansion project is in full swing...a new highway is being built between the country's two main cities, Panama and Colon...and downtown in the capital is being completely reconfigured with a new, widened central thoroughfare, a city bypass system, and a broad, grassy stretch of parkland along the bay.
Lief and I are here to take advantage of unparallel business and investment opportunities. But perhaps you have another agenda entirely. Perhaps you're at a stage of your life where you'd like to slow down...to get away...to take time to smell the coffee each morning... Again, I can't imagine a better place to do that right now than Panama. Not Panama City. Many foreigners have retired to the Panamanian capital, but it's not a take-it-easy retirement of peace and quiet, for Panama City is the farthest thing you could imagine from peaceful and quiet these days. In other words, Panama City probably isn't your idea of an ideal retirement haven. But beyond its capital, the retirement options in this country are hard to beat. At this point in my life, I could be based anywhere in the world. Panama's pro-business, pro-growth agenda is making me feel very good about my decision to move to Panama, with my family and my business, over three years ago. We're benefiting every day from the advantages of living and doing business in this country. And we're taking great pleasure in watching this little country work so hard to continue along her path of peace, prosperity, and growth. We're not the only ones, of course. Land of Transformation
Transformation is a way of life in this country. Ask a hundred people from anywhere in the world why they moved to Panama, and you'll hear a hundred stories of new opportunities and dreams fulfilled.
A French Canadian woman and her Panamanian husband moved from her homeland to his, intending to retire. Elyse and Paul had enough of the cold, so they bought a house in one of Panama's most appealing mountain towns, within easy-access distance of Panama City. They created a lush Garden of Eden in their back yard, where Elyse dreamed they would finally relax together. But seeing all the new faces arriving in their corner of the world from all over the globe, Paul had a different idea. He had always dreamt of owning his own business. So, instead of retiring, Paul started a new venture, buying, roasting, and selling organic coffees from the mountains of Panama...
A successful businessman from the U.K. sold his business at age 50, bought the top floor of a new high-rise apartment building in Panama City, and settled into a new life. Four years on in Panama, Edward has discovered that this tropical paradise suits him perfectly. Edward enjoys improved health, a wide circle of new friends, and a new business endeavor, which he has undertaken with renewed energy and enthusiasm... People come to Panama for many reasons. To retire to a mountain hacienda, a condo on the golf course, or a seaside retreat... To start a new business in a free market where capital goes far... To protect and grow assets in one of the world's few remaining safe havens... All excellent reasons...but they may not get to the heart of what really draws folks here from all over the world. In fact, sometimes, those who seek out this land of opportunity may not understand themselves the true Call of Panama.  Simply put, people come to Panama to build better lives than they could live anywhere else.
You don't have to look far to find solid and logical reasons for why you should think about spending your time and your money in Panama. You've heard me say it many times...Panama is the world's #1 Retirement Haven, offering the best program of retirement benefits available anywhere in the world, bar none. And, no question, this country is the best place on earth to start and run a business right now. The costs of doing business are low. The labor pool is impressive and affordable. And the government is pro-business, meaning you, as an employer, are left alone to run your business. The facts of this place are overwhelmingly positive. Financial incentives. Steadily growing economy (despite the uncertainty, slowdowns, and worse that other countries around the world are struggling through right now). Both turquoise Caribbean and crashing Pacific coasts, now just a couple of hours apart by car via a brand-new, smooth-as-silk toll road. Plus lush and cool mountains, with quaint villages and easily accessed hiking trails, where monkeys and toucans are common sights. But beyond all that, there's something else that makes Panama unlike any other country in the world. One you have to experience to appreciate truly. How Do You Reap the Benefits and Realize
How do you begin to take advantage of everything this Land of Opportunity has to offer? How do you navigate the opportunities for retiring, investing, launching a business, or reinventing your life in Panama?
the Opportunities? How do you get started? You break the adventure down into steps...with the help of our new Panama Starter Kit. This is our new-and-improved Panama Total Support Package.  Whether you're looking at Panama as a place to invest, to retire, to start a new business, or to launch a new life, you need help. Our Panama Kit was designed to provide that support, to help you make the leap from home to here, from novice expat to resident expert.And now, our primary Panama resource, our Panama Starter Kit, has been expanded to include even more essential information. You need a helping hand from others who are already in place, in country, ready with advice and counsel. You need to know who to call, where to look, and how to operate. Our expanded Panama Starter Kit gives you all that...and much, much more... Your Bridge to a New Life
Building a new life in a new place has its challenges and its frustrations, especially if you have never lived in a foreign country before. Relocating overseas, the first thing you realize is that nothing works the way you expect it to work. This new place has its own ways of doing things...from how you check out your purchases at the electronics store to how you price produce in the supermarket...from how you open a bank account to how you pay your electric bill...
Not a big deal...if you know what you're in for in advance...if you're prepared.  That's where our expanded Panama Starter Kit comes in. This Total Support Package shares all the information and insider know-how my team and I have gleaned over 12 years of doing business, investing, and now living in this country. No matter how much research you do in advance, you don't really know your way around a place until you live there. Meaning that's who you want to take advice from about the opportunities for living anywhere in the world...people who've already invested their own time and their own money. Who else is going to be able to tell you...
Six Best Places to Live In Panama
Panama is a tiny sliver of a country that boasts a tremendous variation in landscape, climate, and culture. The lifestyle options in this country are all over the board--21st century, Old World, Caribbean, Pacific, mountain, riverside...
We've scouted them all and, in our new Panama Starter Kit, introduce you to the top options no matter what way of life you seek, presented in a format that makes it easy for you to compare and contrast each with the others and come to your own conclusions about what's best for you. There's the modern city, from which I write to you every day, with its Miami-like skyline, cosmopolitan nightlife, designer shopping, five-star restaurants, and new paseo of parkland fronting the Panama Bay...  There's the colonial city, Casco Viejo, whose red-tiled roofs, shuttered windows, wrought-iron balconies, and shady plazas are surrounded on three sides by the sea. This is the quiet, picturesque, historic part of Panama City, where, on a balmy tropical evening, sipping wine at an outdoor restaurant beneath the intricately carved stone steeple of a 300-year-old church, you can imagine yourself in Spain, Italy, Portugal, or maybe France (it was, after all, the French who built much of this quartier)...
Maybe you'd prefer a new life in one of the picturesque wooden houses painted a bright Caribbean hue and nestled on the coast of one of the islands off this country's Atlantic coast. Popular with Europeans, the most common way to get around this part of the country is by water taxi... But rain and heat are facts of life in Panama City and on the Caribbean coast. What if you prefer cool, fresh, mountain air? Or a place less traveled, and therefore more economical, where your retirement funds, even modest, could support you in comfort through a long and comfortable life...  We recommend a small town on the Continental Divide that's just now being discovered by outsiders. Known for its annual orchid exposition, waterfalls, and stunning mountain views, the town is located on a well-paved road. Accessible, but remote. Quiet, peaceful, local. Not an expat haven, but a real Panamanian village where life is simple, friendly, and downright cheap. You could enjoy a comfortable retirement in this idyllic retreat on a budget of as little as US$700 a month.
Property, too, in this emerging region of Panama can be a great bargain, and we'll tell you where to go and how to buy to beat the rush. Perhaps your priority, though, is an easy transition. Maybe you'd like to move into an established expat community and bring your current lifestyle along with you, with minimum hassle. Panama is home to a well-established foreign retirement community, where you could get around with a minimum of Spanish and meet your neighbors every morning for a cup of the local coffee and a chat in English. We'll tell where to find this and what it will cost to become part of one of the most thriving overseas retirement communities in the world. That's the Big Picture...
Deciding on an area to check out personally as your next home is one thing. Settling in and learning your way around is a different challenge.
What About the Day-to-Day Nitty-Gritty? We're here to help you as much as we can with both, with the tips for daily living that only residents like our Panama editors could assemble. Our Panama Starter Kit includes our "Panama 101: 101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About Panama." Tip, tricks, and insider secrets...everything you need to know for establishing your new life. Plus, Who to Call: For the Experts You Need or the Ice Cream You Can't Live Without
To build a new life in a new country, you need lots of resources--attorneys, accountants, bankers, insurance agents...
Plus...hairstylists...handymen...dry cleaners...
After more than a dozen years spending time, investing, and doing business in this country...we've assembled an impressive and far-reaching list of in-country contacts and resources. And, as part of our Panama Starter Kit, we share it with you.
Specifically, the new and expanded Panama Starter Kit includes:
Again, we're living here, and keeping up with the ongoing market changes is no easy thing, even for us. In all, our expanded Panama Starter Kit is a US$147.88 value--not accounting for the "Little Black Book for Panama," our private Panama rolodex, not available for sale anywhere at any price. However, for a very limited time, you can gain access to all elements of this new and expanded Panama Starter Kit for just US$97...that's nearly 35% off the full Panama Starter Kit price. Sincerely,  Order Now--100% Risk Free
This is the most complete and current resource to living, investing, retiring, and doing business in Panama available anywhere. I guarantee it. If you don't agree or if you are disappointed in any way with the information, insights, recommendations, and discoveries shared in our Panama Starter Kit, simply say so. Your full purchase price will be refunded, no questions asked.
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I appreciate everything I learn from you. Some of us poor guys have to get out of the States, before it consumes us. Keep doing what you're doing…you are saving lives in the U.S. (well, at least one for sure). Thank you.