Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,

You may think you know Panama, but I predict that, when President Martinelli's through, you won't recognize the place!

The Martinelli Plan calls for a First World Panama, and the new pro-business, pro-investor President has worked aggressively every day since taking office in July to progress that agenda. Martinelli's plan is all about cleaning house and creating competition, two ideas that aren't always welcome in this part of the world.

But Martinelli doesn't seem to mind ruffling feathers. He's laying off government workers who don't work and increasing the salaries of those who do. He's jailing corrupt government officials and fining developers and others who've refused to play by the rules of Panama's careful and conservative development protocols.

Fewer than three months into his term, already Panama's new President is traveling abroad to establish business allies and trading partners, all the while pushing hard back home for his ambitious infrastructure improvement programs (which call for two new international airports and a public transportation system for downtown Panama City...more on this in a minute).

The new-and-improved Panama is a work in quick and aggressive process, thanks to President Martinelli. We're here, in the country, watching the developments day-by-day, and we're having trouble keeping up ourselves.

Bottom line, down here in the Hub of the Americas right now, the future is looking as bright as the noontime sun.

President Martinelli, a successful businessman, didn't get himself elected President of Panama to line his own pockets. He doesn't need to steal government money; he's got plenty of his own.

President Martinelli's agenda is simple. He wants to clean up government corruption and use the public's funds for the public good.

What a concept! Especially down here in the Land of Fiestas and Mananas...

Martinelli ran his campaign and won the election on the strength on these Big Ideas. When he entered office, though, I have to say that, just like everyone else, I was skeptical. I wondered if we'd ever hear tell of these bold promises again.

In fact, we've heard of little else since President Martinelli was sworn in. His first week in office, the new President, in work shirt and blue jeans, appeared, unannounced, at the waterfront site where a wealthy local businessman who owed the state of Panama US$11 million in unpaid rent was building a new marina for himself, without approval, on land he didn't own but was leasing from the government. President Martinelli, with his own hands, tore down the wall surrounding the marina construction site. Then Martinelli posted a police guard, who was instructed to arrest anyone who attempted to continue construction efforts on the leased land.

Other business owners who owe back taxes and back rent are now scrambling to pay up.

What's Martinelli doing with these windfall revenues? He's plowing them into infrastructure improvements and public services. The landscape of Panama City is being transformed before our eyes, and the rest of the country is soon to follow.

Panama already boasts the best infrastructure in the region. But The Martinelli Plan calls for Panama to compete not regionally, but globally. President Martinelli is committed to building a First World Panama, a country to take its position on the world stage. Watching him at work is like watching time-lapse photography.

Every day, The Martinelli Plan makes more and bigger news.

Recently, the President showed up late to a meeting of investors, bankers, and businessmen, again in his work clothes. He offered his apologies, explaining that he'd been delayed handing out checks for his new "US$100 for 70's" program. Thanks to this new pension plan, the 11,000 of Panama's elderly population 70 years old or older who had not been eligible for any state pension previously are now receiving a monthly check for US$100.

Meantime, since taking office, Martinelli has donated all but US$1 of his own US$11,000 salary each month to local charities.

Day after day, we're watching along with everyone else in this country. And we, like they, are being won over. This guy is on a mission, and, after but a few months in office, already he's making dramatic progress toward realizing it.

Martinelli is a showman, no question. But he's making his point. He's not only putting on a show and making speeches; he's taking action. And the good people of Panama are taking notice. Their new President has taken a zero-tolerance position against fraud, corruption, and theft in government, and his constituents are cheering him on.

At a recent meeting of the UN General Assembly, Martinelli explained, "I have a vision of growth that rewards responsible business owners and requires business owners to be fair."

Soon, everyone in Panama will enjoy lower electric bills. Until recently, the hydroelectric suppliers were charging the same price as other producers of electricity--even though hydro power produces electricity much more cheaply than other methods. The new administration has moved to mandate that the hydroelectric producers sell their product at a fair rate, saving consumers money.

Increasing security was another big Martinelli campaign promise. The new President's first step to this end since taking office has been to raise the salaries of the country's national police officers. Where'd he get the money to pay these guys better? He cut the budget of the country's General Assembly. Didn't the General Assembly need the money? Not really. Maritnelli noticed that, over in that office, a bunch of folks were on the payroll and receiving salaries but not actually doing any work.

Obviously, this is all good news for the people of Panama. But why am I so excited about The Martinelli Plan? More to the point, why should you care?

Panama is a country loaded with potential. I've been making this point for years. The trouble in this part of the world is that potential is more often squandered than realized. Funds are misappropriated or misplaced. Money ear-marked for public services and infrastructure projects--everything from transportation to education and health care--often disappears before it can be spent. People look the other way, and usually no one is held accountable.

I'm not interested in doing business that way, President Martinelli is not only telling his countrymen...he's showing them.

"Law 49 of September 2009," Martinelli's reformation of the country's fiscal code, calls for a new tax on casinos and gambling. This is big business in this little country, and now the government's going to take a bit off the top. But, again, this new revenue stream isn't going into officials' pockets (as you might reasonably expect it would). Martinelli is making sure this new cash flow is being accounted for, because he has his own plans for it. His project list is long.

The infrastructure progress we're watching from our windows every day is hugely impressive for a country this size. The new Cinta Costera highway already has alleviated many of downtown Panama City's traffic bottlenecks. It's cut our daily commute time in half.

Meantime, this highway-expansion project has also made the center of this city a whole lot more pleasant. The new 10-lane road system is bordered by an expansive palm tree- and wooden bench-lined park area along the bay that's greener with every passing day. Green...and tidy. Crews are out every morning picking up litter and tending to the landscaping.

This important project, completed in less than two years, is just the beginning. President Martinelli has even more ambitious plans for easing Panama City's congestion woes as this city continues to expand and grow. The Martinelli Plan calls for a new city metro, and the President has sent delegations to Chile and Italy to study their systems and report back.

To help with growth beyond the capital, The Martinelli Plan calls for two new international airports (likely in David and Colon).

These mega-infrastructure expansion projects are exactly what this country needs at this important turning point in its history.

I say again, Panama is a Land of Opportunity. And with President Martinelli calling the shots, a whole lot more of it is about to realized.

At this point in my life, I could be based anywhere in the world. President Martinelli is making me feel very good about my decision to move to Panama, with my family and my business, a year 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. 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 the mountain town in the volcanic crater that we've named the world's #1 Retirement Haven. 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...

Another couple from the Netherlands tired of the stress of running businesses in the developed world. Lydia and Dennis decided to sell everything and move to quiet Bocas del Toro. They bought a house far out of town on a sleepy dirt road directly in front of the sea, where they looked forward to being lulled to sleep each night by the gently lapping surf. Quickly recognizing opportunity, though, their lazy days at the beach were cut short. The couple opened a bed and breakfast and today welcome guests from all over the world to their backyard botanical garden, complete with lily pond, night-blooming jasmine, a pet sloth, and red, green, and yellow frogs...

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 that doubles as an offshore haven, a place to protect and grow assets, 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.

Panama is also this hemisphere's most advantageous Offshore Haven, one of the top remaining offshore havens in the world. It's a tremendous place to protect and grow your assets.

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.

Panama is a land of transformation.

People come here to retire, certainly, but not only to retire. People in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond come to Panama to work, to start businesses, to connect, and to create. The city -- the whole country, in fact -- is chock full of entrepreneurs of all ages, from all over the world.

People come to Panama to transform their lives...to reinvent their circumstances. You can, too.

Why Panama, this tiny strip of land where North and South America meet in the center of the Bridge of the Americas, a slender strip of steel spanning the Panama Canal?

That's it, exactly.

For more than a century, the Panama Canal has made Panama the Hub of the Americas and served as the backbone of its economy -- an economy that grew by 8% in 2008, while economies elsewhere were beginning to spin out of control, and one that continues to grow today.

But the Canal's effect is much more far-reaching than its economic impact, tremendous as that is in this tiny country. Just as it transports goods from one ocean to another, from one side of the world to another, really, the Canal draws people from Europe, Asia, North, and South America. Where do they meet? In Panamá, as the capital city is known. They meet up for a drink on the Causeway, one side overlooking the mouth of the Canal and the green mountains beyond, the other offering clear views of Panama City, both the ancient one of stone and the modern one of glass and steel. Spectacular.

"I wish to congratulate you for the quality of your reports. The plain, matter of fact, but essential and wise information we all need to take vital decisions, especially in these extremely difficult times." -- Peter L., United States

Or they rendezvous for dinner in Casco Viejo, the colonial part of Panama City. Maybe choosing an outdoor table on the brick terrace in the shadow of the ruins of a centuries-old colonial church. Or a table beside a peaceful, green plaza that could be in Spain or Italy.

They go to symphony concerts in the restored splendor of the historic National Theater, with its ceiling mural of heroic figures pictured in bright and lavish swirls. Plaster cherubs peer down from the elegant boxes, where today you can occupy a velvet seat with a perfect view of the intimate stage, just as the city's noble families once did.

"Congratulations. Your reports are wonderful. I'm a completely satisfied customer of yours." --Alberto R., Brazil

From all around the globe, people who've made their way to this little country with such an important geographic position meet, do business, celebrate, and take weekend excursions to the beaches and the mountains. They walk along the brand-new Cinta Costera I told you about, the city's coastal park and beltway bordering the bay that links the modern central city with Casco Viejo.

There is a buzz in Panama City that has to be felt to be understood. It's a hum of constant activity, the birthing of new ideas, chance meetings, common interests, collaboration, partnerships, production...

People come to Panama to leave the stress of their work-a-day world behind.

Of course, if you are ready to retire, relax and slow down...the city might not be your ideal environment.

Not to worry, drive a half-hour outside the city, and you're in serious slow-down territory.

Ah, the Panamanian countryside. Or I should say countrysides, because Panama beyond Panama City hides many different regions, each home to distinctly different cultures.

For many years, the most accessible Panama coastline was the strip of Pacific beach towns within an hour-and-a-half drive of the capital city. These Pacific beaches are still nearby and available for quick weekend escapes, but they're hardly the only (or the best) beaches this country has to offer. For such a little country, Panama boasts an enviable abundance of coastline, Pacific and Caribbean, north-facing, south-facing, and, on the Azuero Peninsula, facing west and serving up some of the most beautiful sunsets anywhere on earth...

Beyond the beaches are the mountains, the spine of cool, lush and rugged highlands that cut through the center of the country...

Then there's the just-emerging, ocean-ringed Azuero Peninsula, much of it, until recently, relatively remote and little-visited. Here's where you find Panama's best beaches (and, as I said, sunsets), still available in some cases for bargain prices...

The Pacific side of Panama is grounded in a culture planted centuries ago by Spanish colonists. The traditional dance and music harkens back to the days of doñas in lacy ruffled dresses courted by caballeros in traditional straw hats. In this interior of the country, it's still common to see men riding horseback and using burros to transport produce to market.

Then there's the other Panama...the one to be discovered on this country's aquamarine Caribbean coast and islands. Here, the culture is even more relaxed. During the digging of the Panama Canal, Afro-Antillean immigrants from the Caribbean islands came to lend their hands to the effort. Their descendents settled along the white sands and turquoise waters of this coast, where the culture, the cooking, the music, the clothing, and the brightly painted houses all continue to reflect their Caribbean origins. Many of these Panamanians speak the English of their ancestors, brought with them from the English colonies of their origins.

From luxe new seaside condos to peaceful beach homes where you could retire to a hammock on the terraza...from city high-rise apartments to mountain villages where life centers around the daily market...

But this is only the beginning of what this country offers. In addition, Panama boasts...

• Generous incentives for investors...
   
• The world's Gold Standard program of special benefits for retirees...easy to qualify for and offering generous discounts on everything from medicine to movies, plus much, much more...
   
• A full range of 14 resident visa programs, so if you don't want to retire, you have other options for staying...
   
• Real-world infrastructure that, under The Martinelli Plan is pushing fast toward First World infrastructure...
   
• Zero tax on non-local income...meaning you could live here tax-free...
   
• First World health care at Third World prices...
   
• Great shopping, with more brand-name designers opening stores here every day...
   
• One of the biggest international banking centers in the world...
   
• One of the world's few remaining offshore tax havens (meaning you can live here tax-free)...
   
• A U.S. dollar-based economy (since 1904), meaning zero currency risk for dollar-holders...
   
• Highly advantaged tax legislation for foreign residents...
   
• A stable political system...
   
• A still-growing economy and a bright economic outlook, underpinned by the Panama Canal and the Colon Free-Trade Zone...Panama continues to side step the global near-depression...
   
• Safety and security...for you and your money...
   
• The international Hub of the Americas, with easy access to and from anywhere in North America, Europe, and South America, including many nonstop flights...
   
• A natural wonderland...

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?

How do you get started?

You break the adventure down into steps...with the help of our Panama Bridge Kit, 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 Panama Kit, like this country itself, has been transformed. Our Panama support program has been expanded and re-released. Our new Panama Bridge Kit, as we've dubbed it, includes even more essential information, from the latest, on-the-ground, from-the-scene insights into the Panama real estate market to current details (important changes have been made recently) on all 14 of this country's visa options.

The Bridge of the Americas, with its graceful silver arch spanning the Panama Canal, is perhaps the most recognized symbol of Panama. Like Panama itself, the bridge is the link between North and South America. Its center is the point where north and south, east and west all meet in the Western Hemisphere.

This bridge is an important part of what makes Panama Panama. And a bridge is just what you need to be able to build your new life in this fast-expanding land of opportunity and transformation.
 
 

What's New The expanded Panama Bridge Kit now includes the State of the Panama Property Market Teleconference convened by Kathleen Peddicord recently in our Live and Invest Overseas offices in Panama. This recording features the three people we trust most when it comes to making money from Panama real estate:  Resident global real estate investing expert Lief Simon, investor-friend Scott Taylor, and Editor Rebecca Tyre.  All were on the line with me recently for a candid, insider conversation. No spin, no color, no promises, just honest discussion about their personal experiences as property investors in this country over the past decade. Also new in the Panama Bridge Kit is our Panama Resident Visa Supplement, a fully detailed special report detailing not only what visa programs exist here in Panama (all 14 of them!), but all the details about how to apply for them. What documents do you need to bring for each one?  What are the application steps? Is a bank deposit or investment required, and if so, what are the details of how, where and for how long? We give you all the answers. PLUS all the valuable information of the original Panama Kit: Live and Invest in Panama 2009 Panama 101:  101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About Panama AND two bonuses which, frankly, include some of the most valuable information available anywhere on moving to Panama: Panama Rolodex -- Our own Black Book, not sold separately anywhere El Valle, Panama:  Country Retirement Report -- a US$13.95 value

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 Bridge Kit gives you all that...and much, much more... 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 Bridge 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...

• The most efficient way to get around Panama City as a newcomer (and how much you should pay for the service)...
   
• How to navigate Panama City's fast-changing apartment rental market...frankly, this intelligence is invaluable right now...what should you expect to pay for an apartment in a neighborhood where you'd want to live? Our insiders, all current residents in this country, tell you...
   
• Which of this country's many little coastal and mountain towns offer the greatest opportunity and the most comfortable living for the would-be expat retiree...
   
• Where to look in this country right now for the best real estate investment opportunities...
   
• The secrets of buying real estate in a country with no MLS and a completely different system of buying and selling than you're used to...including four things you absolutely must remember to do when buying real estate in this country...

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 Bridge 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.

Then there's the retirement option that I'd say offers the best of everything: El Valle de Anton. This spot is so special that we've named it the world's #1 Retirement Haven. Not far from the city, this charming village nestled in the former crater of a long-dormant volcano is a lush, green, blooming, Garden of Eden. Bicycles and horseback are the primary means of transportation, and the open-air market selling fruits, vegetables, and local crafts is the center of town life. A happy expat community is integrated into the local community, which welcomes newcomers...

We'll include our complete Retirement Report, "El Valle de Anton, the World's Top Retirement Haven for 2009," as part of our new Panama Bridge Kit. In fact, we'll send it to you free when you take advantage of this special Just Launched offer. 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.

We're here to help you as much as we can with both, with the tips for daily living that only a resident expert like our own Rebecca Tyre could assemble. Our Panama Bridge Kit includes Rebecca's "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. To build a new life in a new country, you need lots of resources--attorneys, accountants, bankers, insurance agents...

Plus...hairstylists...handymen...dry cleaners...

Just as important (I'm sure you'll agree) are good references for ice cream parlors...movie theaters...gourmet food shop...

How do you find all these resources in a brand-new place? Our "Little Black Book for Panama." It contains our personal rolodex of in-country contacts, resources, and referrals. And it's only very privately circulated. You can't buy our "Little Black Book for Panama" anywhere -- not even in our online Bookstore!

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 Bridge Kit, we share it with you.

It'd take you many months, several trips to the country, and many thousands of dollars invested in travel and research to put together a rolodex like the one. And it's but one small piece of our expanded Panama Bridge Kit.

Our new Panama Bridge Kit includes all the information and intelligence you need to launch your new life in this country...including:

• How to hail a taxi and how much to pay for the ride...
   
• How to choose which of Panama's 14 residency visa options is the right one for you...
   
• What you need to bring your pet with you into the country (and which pets you may not be able to relocate with you at all)...
   
• What to bring with you from home...and what to leave behind...
   
• How much to pay to buy and to rent, region by region...
   
• Where to look for the best buys in Panama City (This market has boomed and is beginning to settle. Prices are soft and more negotiable than they've been in a decade. It's still not time to buy for investment in Panama City, but it's more a buyer's market now than you may realize, if you know where to shop.)...
   
• How to take advantage of investment incentives in the Panama City's colonial old town...
   
• How (and when) to lease to buy...
   
• How to buy to avoid paying property and other taxes...
   
• Four things you must remember to do when buying real estate in this country...
   
• Panama's seven top choices for expat living and how they compare...a clear look at the pluses and minuses in each case...
   
• Current employment options and opportunities...
   
• How to earn a living if you can't find a job...
   
• Important tips for the would-be entrepreneur...and top business opportunities to consider for 2010...
   
• When you shouldn't try to conduct business over a meal...
   
• What you'll need to open a personal bank account...and what you'll need to open a corporate one (first thing you'll need is an appointment...we tell you how to get one)...
   
• An emerging investment opportunity you may never have considered...but should...
   
• The one Spanish word you must learn before visiting the country (it's not por favor or gracias)...
   
• Top options for primary and secondary education in the country...
   
• Seven questions to ask when shopping for health insurance to cover you while in Panama...
   
• Top choices for med evac assistance...
   
• Where to find a 24-hour pharmacy...
   
• How to have your international mail delivered...

Specifically, the new and expanded Panama Bridge Kit includes:

• "Live and Invest in Panama," the complete, 221-page guide (a US$79 value)...
   
• "Panama 101: 101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About Panama" (a US$9.99 value)...
   
• Panama Residency Visas Supplement, containing fully up-to-date information on all 14 of this country's top foreign residency options (a US$9.99 value)...
   
•  "Little Black Book for Panama" -- our private Rolodex, not available for sale anywhere...
   
• The Special Report "El Valle de Anton, the World's Top Retirement Haven for 2009" (a US$13.95 value)...

And, for the first time, this Panama Total Support Package also includes our recent "State of the Panama Property Market" Teleconference, your key to making sense of what qualifies right now as the world's most enigmatic real estate market. Again, we're living here, and keeping up with the ongoing market changes is no easy thing, even for us.

Should you buy now in Panama City? And, if yes, what should you buy now in Panama City?  What about the rest of this country? Where does it make sense to be shopping right now for beachfront? For farmland? For a little home in the mountains overlooking a lazy river?

The Panama City market has turned, but some owners and sellers are in denial, sticking hard to last year's pricing. Others don't care. Investors from Venezuela, Colombia, and elsewhere who've put their capital into hard Panama City assets don't need to sell or even to rent. They're happy to have their money in a market they perceive as safe and stable long-term. They're not so interested in listening to offers.

But American investors are increasingly open-minded. In many cases, their portfolios have taken big hits. They're looking to their Panama holdings for some cash flow or capital return. They're ready to talk. This is true not only with rentals, as in the case of our Casco Viejo house, but also with sales. You see "Distressed Sale" and "Reduced To Sell" signs for the first time in 10 years in Panama City real estate agency windows now, and agents in this city are, again, for the first time in a long time, going hungry.

Meaning this is probably the best time in a decade to be a buyer in this market.

But is it time to buy...or just to look? Will prices fall further, for sales, for rentals?

And, again, what about Panama beyond the capital? What's the state of this country's coastal and interior land markets? Have values throughout the country softened as much as they have in Panama City?

Panama remains one of the most appealing real estate markets in the world, a recognized safe haven. The smart money continues to migrate here. But what, exactly, does it make sense to shop for today?

And what if you're looking not for an investment but a place to live? Should you, in that case, think about buying or renting?

To help us understand this fast-moving and still-expanding marketplace, I recently invited three people with long experience buying, selling, and renting in this country to participate in a candid, insider conversation. No spin, no color, no promises, just honest discussion among three of the savviest Panama property investors I know.

Specifically, I asked resident global real estate investing expert Lief Simon, who has been a buyer, a seller, and a landlord in Panama City for nearly 10 years; Scott Taylor, an investor-friend who has focused his attention on pre-construction opportunities in this city for the past four years; and Rebecca Tyre, a Canadian who took up residence in Panama about four years ago, to join me for a special "State of the Panama Property Market" Teleconference, and I recorded their conversation.

There's no shortage of information available on Panama's property market. Here's the thing: Most of it is unreliable. Because most of it is theoretical, reported from a distance. After 25 years scouting global property markets, here's the most important thing I've learned: You don't want to take your advice about what and when to buy from anyone but someone living in the country and currently buying himself. He (or she) is the only one you can trust to give you the straight dope on the insights and recommendations that will allow you to buy safely and to position yourself to make money.

You want to know, really, no spin, no color, no theory, what's going on in the Panama property market right now, both in Panama City and beyond? Have a listen to what our three insiders have to say when they speak among themselves. This "State of the Panama Property Market" Teleconference sells on its own for US$39; however, we'll send it to you at no additional cost as part of our new Panama Bridge Kit.

In all, our expanded Panama Bridge Kit is a US$151.93 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--the next seven days only--as part of this Just Launched offer, you can gain access to all elements of this new and expanded Panama Bridget Kit for just US$79. That's the same price as the original Panama Kit...and it's nearly a full 50% off the full Panama Bridge Kit price.

On Day 8 (Monday, Oct. 12), the price goes up.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, Live and Invest Overseas P.S. If you've purchased our original Panama Kit within the last 12 months, you will receive this new and expanded Panama Bridge Kit automatically and at no cost. This is a standard part of our service. For any Kit you purchase from us, you will receive all updates published over the next year with our compliments.

Panama is a lightning-fast-moving market. We're continually updating our coverage. When you purchase our new Panama Bridge Kit today, you're also purchasing all updates for the coming 12 months.

You have seven days from the date of this writing to do that and save nearly 50% off what will be the full price. On Day 8 (Monday,
Oct. 12), the price goes up.