Panama has invited tenders for US$116 million worth of infrastructure works, including the repair, design, and construction of roads and bridges, in Veraguas province. 

This is what's referred to locally as the "Presidential Home Province Benefit." Current President Martinelli hails from Veraguas. 

Veraguas is also home to Los Islotes, our preferred private beachfront development community in this country (and a family project). Los Islotes, and all the other development efforts currently taking off along Veraguas' Pacific coast, look forward to the coming improvements!Continue Reading:

• Global Property Investing

• In Paris this month, I'm reminded that this is the closest thing to a recession-proof rental market as you'll find. France is perennially the world's most touristed destination. This season, thanks to the Greenback's strength against the euro, tourism in is way up throughout the country and especially in Paris. The rues of this city are crowded with camera-toting, guidebook-carrying visitors, many of whom choose short-term rental apartments over hotel accommodation. Our rental manager assures us that, right now, short-term rentals are in greater demand in the French capital than they've been in some time. 
  
  All markets cycle, including the Paris rental market. But, again, this city is as close to a sure-bet for this kind of investment as exists.
  
  

• Next, a rental property in a resort location. Right now, I like the Philippines for this.
  
  

• Then, a rental property in another active market. My top recommendations today would be Panama City and Buenos Aires. Neither is as recession-proof as Paris, certainly, but the Panama City rentals market continues to boom (I'm netting 12% per year from my downtown rental) and B.A. is a city that generally always attracts its share of visitors needing a place to lay their heads temporarily.
  
  

• In addition, your well-diversified international real estate investment portfolio should also include early-in development lots. For this, right now, look to Panama, Belize, and Uruguay. I let you in recently on one of the best early-in lot opportunities I know of right now, in Belize. 
  
  

• Then, raw land. For this, again, I like Panama. Frankly, if your property investment portfolio doesn't include some holding in Panama, you should look to fix that this year. This country's property markets (rentals in Panama City, development lots, and raw coastal land) offer both safe haven and serious upside.
  
  For raw land investments, I also like New Zealand and Honduras. 
  
  
• Finally, if you can find an opportunity for one, I recommend including in your portfolio a direct investment with a developer. This could be a straight equity investment in a development or what's referred to as a "hard money loan."
  
  Equity is self-explanatory. A hard money loan is when you lend cash to a developer who needs some (don't they all?). Usually, your loan is collateralized by land, and you are promised a return of your capital plus some premium typically great enough to make the undertaking worthwhile from your point of view. A developer might offer you a return of 25%, for example, within a specified period of time, say, 12 months. 
  
  This portfolio would give you 6 to 15 properties in perhaps 4 or 5 countries. It'd bring you diversification of market, of currency, of type of holding, and of exit strategy. 
  
  And it represents all four strategies I recommend you employ: buying wholesale, path of progress, crisis investing, and real productive assets.
  
  Lief SimonContinue Reading:
• Beachfront Real Estate In Panama 
• Retire To Gabian, France

"Kathleen, after receiving your e-mails for more than a year, I asked to be removed from your mailing list, as we decided we were content with our little abode on Vancouver Island. 

"Then, lo and behold, your letters started arriving again, after a year. I'm not sure why. At first, I was having them go into the spam folder. But I have now moved them into my e-mail inbox and again look forward to reading them each day. Thanks!" 

-- John P., Canada

Welcome back!

"Kathleen, I was reading your recent e-letter containing a letter from a reader commenting on her experiences with the costs of medical care in Panama, and I thought I would let you know about my recent experience going to the dentist in this country. 

"I found out at my exam that I needed not one but two root canals, so I made an appointment for the next day to have the work done. Keep in mind that I am 60 years old and have never had a root canal before. Now I find myself living in Panama and asking myself, 'Do I want to go to the dentist here or do I want to try to live with the pain and wait until I go back to the States to see a dentist there?'

"I chose to go to the dentist in Panama, and I am very glad I did. It was the best experience I have ever had at the dentist. The root canals took about two hours, and I have to say there was no pain. The hardest part was holding my mouth open for two hours. The best part was the bill. Each root canal cost US$400. 

"I talked to my sister in California last night, and she had just come from the dentist because she needed a root canal. It cost her US$1,200 for one. So my US$400 was a pretty good deal. 

"I found out that I need a crown, as well. It will cost another US$400, compared with the US$800 my sister had to pay in the States. 

"Bottom line, total cost for a root canal and crown in Panama is US$800. The total cost for my sister's root canal and crown in California was US$2,000. Not a bad deal. 

"Plus, my mouth has not felt this good in a long time. I can now eat ice cream without it killing me because of the cold!" 

-- Gary M., PanamaContinue Reading:

• Retire Overseas

Here's the truth: You can't afford not to retire overseas. 

I'm speaking both literally and figuratively. 

Let's begin with my literal point. You could retire to Cuenca, Ecuador, for example, and enjoy a comfortable life in a safe, pleasant colonial city on a budget of as little as US$700 per month if you own your own home. If you don't, you could rent a "local-style" apartment for as little as US$200 a month, making your total monthly nut as little as US$900 per month. 

This is a very scaled-back budget. You wouldn't be living the high life, but you'd be enjoying an interesting one in a pretty city where the weather is perennially pleasant. 

I give you many other options for living affordably many other places around the world in these dispatches week by week...from Nicaragua to India, from the interior ofPanama to Malaysia. 

The real point to be made with regard to your cost of living anywhere in the world is that you can control it. Not completely but more than you might realize. You choose, for example, whether to import your previous lifestyle with you or to go local. I mentioned above that you could rent a "local-style" apartment in Cuenca for as little as US$200 a month. You could also rent an apartment in that city for many times that amount, depending on the kind of building, the level of services and amenities (a doorman, for example, or a swimming pool), and the location within the city you opt for. 

Here in Panama City, to take another example, you can shop for fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat at the local markets. The variety is tremendous, and the selections are fresh and organic. 

Or you can choose to shop at the big American-style grocery store called Riba Smith, where you can stock up on things like Aunt Jemima pancake mix, Texas steaks, prosciutto ham, Italian cheese, and French wine. Two overstuffed bags from the market might cost you US$20. Two bags of Riba Smith specialties could cost you US$100 or more. 

Wherever in the world you're calling home, you choose not only where you live and where you shop, but also which cable and Internet plans you sign on for, how you make international phone calls, how often you eat out in restaurants, whether or not you employ a maid, whether you invest in owning a car, and how often you run your air conditioning units. 

I say again, you control your cost of living, at least within broad ranges. And, bottom line, it is possible to live for very little many places around this planet. 

Now for my metaphorical point. 

You owe it to yourself to go find out for yourself just how affordable and, more important, just how fun spending time overseas can be. A new life in a new place isn't for everyone, and there can be, in fact, practical reasons why you couldn't or shouldn't reinvent your life in a foreign country. However, frankly, the only legitimate ones I can think of have to do with health issues. Otherwise, any obstacle you can imagine could be overcome. 

Maybe it won't be easy. The truth is, any move to another country is a lot of hassle and a lot of work. It's easier to stay put and to do nothing. But where would that leave you at the end of the day? What stories would you have to tell? What adventures to remember? 

Years ago, at a conference in the Dominican Republic, I met an American from Tennessee who explained that he had been researching opportunities in that country for two years. 

"I'm convinced the DR is a place I want to be," he told me, "but I'm just not sure the timing is right." 

"Have you considered other options?" I asked. 

"Well, before I started looking closely at the Dominican Republic, I researched Costa Rica for four years." 

"What did you end up doing there?" 

"Oh, I never did anything. After four years of looking, prices had risen so high that I figured it no longer made sense." 

"Ah, well, that happens," I offered. 

The truth is, it happens a lot. I have business associates who follow a strategy they refer to as, "Ready, fire, aim." I think it works for life, too. That is to say, as our own Intrepid Correspondent Paul Terhorst puts it, "You can plan to retire overseas...or you can retire overseas and then make some plans." 

Carry out your due diligence. But realize that, all the while you're researching, your life is passing. That gentleman from Tennessee I met in the Dominican Republic was so worried that another, better option might come along that he could never bring himself to carry through with any one particular choice. He was a smart guy, but he continually second-guessed himself, his thinking, the timing, and the options. He kept researching, investigating, and scouting, trying to identify the right time to move and the best place to go. 

There is no "right" time, and there is no "best" place. 

But there is a place that's best for you right now. You just need to get off your derrière and go find it. 

You can't afford not to. 

Kathleen PeddicordContinue Reading:

• Health Care And Medical Costs In Panama

"Kathleen, as you well know, many of the prices for health care that you quoted for Malaysia in yesterday's issueare quite similar to what we experienced living in Panama, also considered a destination for medical tourism.  

"There we could easily be seen by a general practitioner for US$5. I remember actually becoming bothered when one MD charged me US$10...until I realized that that cost covered all follow-up visits related to that issue, as well! 

"We had X-rays done for US$20 and lab work for around US$5. And these were things we could ask for ourselves. Not everything needs a prescription in Panama, including a variety of medicines attained only by prescription in the United States. 

"I loved not only being able to use common sense there, but being expected to. You can self-prescribe some things, but that's only the start. You are also expected to watch out for slippery floors and falling coconuts yourself! The country is not bogged down by the litigious craze found farther north. This is possibly the greatest reason for lower health care costs. 

"As a side note, while medical care is as good in Uruguay, where we're living now, it is certainly a different set-up. The Uruguay system uses mutualistas. Yet dentists are still highly accessible and skilled. During a recent urgent dental visit, my husband was charged only US$20 for the repair of a cracked tooth! It was a fast and fine job. 

"We recently joined a local mutualista, and I have been so relieved to find that, even during urgent visits, paperwork and forms do not get in the way of care. Recently, my daughter needed urgent care. She seemed to have appendicitis. Time was completely afforded to her care, rather than to the multiple pages of documentation. As a former nurse in the States, I know all too well how much such legally obligatory notes take away from holistic patient care. 

"Ultimately, while Malaysia may be a temptress of low costs, for those readers who wish to stay a little closer to home, there are similarly affordable options just to the south!"

-- Anne R., Uruguay

"We so second the thoughts of 'Bill.S. from Panama' in yesterday's e-letter. There is not a day that goes by that we do not have a "Kathleen' conversation. We just wish we had been privy earlier to your wisdom. It would have saved us the mistakes that we have lived to regret. Next time we plan to do it your way." 

-- Janet J., PanamaContinue Reading:

• Health Care In France