Chris and Renée Rodgers originally hail from the beachy neighborhoods of Southern California. Once Renée hit retirement age, they decided to make a move overseas.
Cris says, “At the time, I was living with my wife Renée in Los Angeles, California, and we had just been married for five years. So, we were also just five years into a 30-year mortgage, and Renée was retiring in two years. We thought we could not afford a mortgage there while being retired, plus two car payments, the property taxes of a house by the beach, and other bills.”
They started attending Live And Invest Overseas conferences, and traveled to several European destinations. Then, they went to our conference in Medellín, Colombia. “It was pretty immediate our love for Medellín. We just knew that was the place we wanted to be.”
Cris and Reneé in Medellín…
Chris and Renée seemed to be pretty content with their decision to make the coffee mountains of Medellín their new home.
So, how did they end up in Panama?
“We lived in Colombia for three years,” says Chris. “We loved it. However, Colombia taxes worldwide income. The first two years I was working remotely and had standard U.S. deductions. My attorney told me I was going to owe the Colombian government $20,000 for taxes.”
This was how much Chris had saved in his U.S. return, so he was not benefiting by getting deductions in the United States if Colombia was going to tax him. “Once that was clear, and I knew I needed to keep working, Colombia no longer made sense for us.”
Chris and Renée started to search countries to move to where they wouldn’t get taxed for worldwide income. Not many countries match this requirement, but Panama is one of the few that does. In Panama you’ll only get taxed on income generated in Panama.
Besides this convenient factor for this couple, they also enjoy other aspects of this country.
They moved to an apartment right in front of the Panama Bay and have beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean.
The view from Cris and Reneé’s window at night…
“I’ve found the people here are friendly and welcoming. The city doesn’t have nearly as much light or air pollution like other major cities, so you can actually see the stars if the weather is nice.”
Chris and Renée also enjoy the shopping choices and gorgeous malls. “Panama has the Canal, so you can find any imaginable product here that you maybe cannot find in Colombia.”
Chris also needed to stay within a two-to-three-hour time zone difference from California because of his work, and Panama fits the bill. Other modern conveniences such as high-speed internet, 4G cellular service, Amazon delivering straight to your door from the United States, and other mailing services were also attractive for the Californian couple.
For their moving process from Colombia to Panama, they had two options to move their belongings—by ship or by plane. By ship, it would’ve taken two to four weeks for their stuff to arrive. By air, two to three days. They chose the fastest option.
“What you need to be aware of is that by air, they ship your stuff in different boxes and it will get thrown around in the flight cargo area. So, we did end up with more broken things than when we moved objects from the U.S. to Colombia by ship.”
Another reason they chose Panama was for its great location and connectivity to other destinations. They can go to Cancún in a two-hour flight, Miami in under three hours, they can visit their previous home in Colombia in just one hour, and many other attractive destinations without issue.
Chris and Renée also find Panama to be familiar to the United States in terms of products and restaurant chains available. Renée loves her luxury items and frequently shops in Panama City’s Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, and more. She also finds all her luxury skincare and cosmetic items without needing to order them from abroad.
Chris particularly loves that he can have his taste of home at Olive Garden, T.G.I. Friday’s, Applebee’s, Cinnabon, Starbucks, and other familiar chains.
They also enjoy going to nicer and finer restaurants, which Panama has in abundance. Any type of culinary fare that you can think of, Panama has it. Italian, Indian, Mediterranean, American, Caribbean, Asian, and more… you can find options for any budget.
Their cost of living is also much more manageable than in the United Sates. “You can find chicken and meat a lot cheaper than in the States,” Chris says. Renée loves the fresh and affordable strawberries that you can find in any supermarket.
Because they live in the city, the decided to buy a car. In Panama you can find many brands that are familiar to Americans. But Panama also has Chinese brands with modern and affordable models. They chose a Jetour x70+, a 7-seater SUV that you would assume would be incredibly expensive, but the couple got it here for $25,000, which was within their budget.
Regarding health care in Panama, Chris and Renée had to visit the emergency room and were surprised with how affordable it was. “Renée needed to have her hip reset. The visit cost us $1,200 out of pocket with no insurance. We’ve had good success with doctors here. There’re a lot of young doctors, and most of them speak English.”
As for challenges, their Spanish is still not the best. In Panama, you’ll find that a portion of the population speaks English, but most people in the service sector will not. So, they recommend others learn the local language.
They also learned that financing is limited for buying property. A foreigner will need to put at least a 30% to 50% down payment, with a 7.5% interest for a 10-to-15-year term. However, if you’re buying pre-construction, developers may offer better financing terms.
They still miss their friends and family in the United States, but setting up base in Panama allows them to visit them easily.
“If you’re thinking about moving to Panama, I recommend you to do so. We’re happy here.”
Chris and Renée live a full and social life in the little isthmus.
They enjoy going out to Cigar Night at the private Club Unión and to rum and wine tastings with their new friends. They spend afternoons roaming Casco Viejo. They’ve already visited several of Panama’s beautiful islands. Chris loves sport fishing.
They feel secure in their new home and everything that Panama has to offer them.
Sincerely,
