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      The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

      Super Cheap

      • Chitré, Panama
      • Santa Marta, Colombia
      • Phuket, Thailand
      • Dumaguete, The Philippines

      Cheap

      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Kyrenia, Cyprus
      • Hua Hin, Thailand
      • The Algarve, Portugal

      Affordable

      • Valencia, Spain
      • Cascais, Portugal
      • Las Terrenas, The DR
      • Pisa, Italy
      • La Rochelle, France
      • Mazatlán, Mexico

      Luxury

      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Kotor, Montenegro
      • The Panama City Beaches
      • Paris, France
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      • Home
      • Countries

        Top Destinations:

        Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

        • Spain
        • Portugal
        • Panama
        • Belize
        • Colombia
        • Cyprus
        • Mexico
        • France
        • Montenegro
        • Browse All Countries

        Best For:

        • The Best Places To Retire
        • Health Care Abroad
        • Cost Of Living
        • Investing in Real Estate
        • Establishing Residency
        • Gun Laws In The World
        • English-Speaking Countries
        • Safest Places For Retirement
        • Best Places In Latin America
      • Budgets

        How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

        The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

        Super Cheap

        • Chitré, Panama
        • Santa Marta, Colombia
        • Phuket, Thailand
        • Dumaguete, The Philippines

        Cheap

        • Medellin, Colombia
        • Boquete, Panama
        • Kyrenia, Cyprus
        • Hua Hin, Thailand
        • The Algarve, Portugal

        Affordable

        • Valencia, Spain
        • Cascais, Portugal
        • Las Terrenas, The DR
        • Pisa, Italy
        • La Rochelle, France
        • Mazatlán, Mexico

        Luxury

        • Ambergris Caye, Belize
        • Kotor, Montenegro
        • The Panama City Beaches
        • Paris, France
      • Resources

        Global Living

        • Living & Retiring Overseas
        • Raising A Family Abroad
        • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
        • Offshore & Diversification

        Making Money

        • International Real Estate
        • Banking
        • Employment
        • Investing

        Follow Us:

        • Meet Our Experts
      • Real Estate

        Join our Weekly Newsletter
        Overseas Property Alert

        Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive expert insights on the best international real estate investment opportunities.






          We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

          Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

          • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

          Explore Our Latest Posts

          • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

          Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

          • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
        • Conferences

          Upcoming Events

          • Explore Our Events Site

          International Property Summit

          Caribbean Virtual Conference

          Live and Invest In Spain Conference

          PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

          June 18-20, 2025

          VIRTUAL

          July 17-19, 2025

          Valencia, Spain

          Sep. 17-19, 2025

          LEARN MORE
          LEARN MORE
          PRE-REGISTER
          LEARN MORE
          PRE-REGISTER
          • MORE EVENTS

          Contact Our Events Team

          Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
          1 (888) 627 8834
          From Outside North America:
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          Working Hours
          Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

          Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

        • Store

          Unlock The World

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          Overseas Havens Reports

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          Lahardan Books

          • Titles on living and investing around the world
          • Explore Our Store
          Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

          Services

          overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
          The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
          Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

          Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

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        view of the skyline in Panama City, Panama,

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          Home Comparison

          Comparing Panama And Colombia: Living, Retiring, Investing

          by Kathleen Peddicord
          Jun 03, 2022
          in Colombia, Comparison, In Focus: Panama, Investing, Lifestyle, Panama
          0 0
          Panama City, Panama to the left and Medellin, Colombia to the right, comparison

          How does up-and-comer Medellín, Colombia, rate versus long-standing number-one retire-overseas choice Panama City?

          Here’s how I’d lay this out…

          Panama

          Skyscraper cityscape of Panama City, Panama. comparing panama and colombia
          Adobe Stock/ hanohiki

          Panama Pros

          • World’s top offshore haven
          • Bona fide tax haven, taxing income on a jurisdictional basis
          • Uses U.S. dollar, meaning no currency exchange risk
          • Specific countries visa program (which can mean a work permit)
          • Best infrastructure in Central America
          • Strong economy
          • Quality, affordable health care
          • Diverse lifestyle options, including Pacific and Caribbean coasts, islands, mountains, and Panama City
          • Top choice for entrepreneurs
          • Super accessible, with many direct flights daily to and from North America and Europe

          Panama Cons

          • Hot and humid in Panama City and on coasts
          • Traffic congestion in Panama City
          • Poor service standards
          • Panama City not suitable for walking
          • Strong mañana attitude

          Colombia

          A Colombian flag flying with city in the backround. comparing panama and colombia
          iStock/ABEMOS

          Colombia Pros

          • Top investment haven with enormous upside
          • Best health care in Latin America at a cost that can be 90% less than U.S. costs for comparable care
          • Strong economy
          • Welcoming locals
          • First-world, even luxury lifestyle options
          • Working hard to compete for foreign attention
          • Easiest and cheapest residency option in the world today; pensioner option requires income of only US$800 per month at today’s exchange rate… and you can process the application yourself
          • Many lifestyle options on offer, including sophisticated, Euro-chic city living, Caribbean beach, world-class colonial towns, rural landscapes, and the finca lifestyle
          • South America rather than Central America… and there is a difference

          Colombia Cons

          • Necessary to learn some Spanish
          • Less existing expat infrastructure
          • Not a low-tax jurisdiction
          • Air pollution in Medellín and Bogotá

          In the context of the issues most important to the would-be investor or retiree, here’s how these two countries stack up against each other…

          1. Cost Of Living Colombian flag

          Remember the exchange rate. Right now, thanks to the U.S. dollar’s continued strength versus the Colombian peso, Colombia can be the greater bargain by far.

          2. Cost Of Real Estate Colombian flag

          Again, thanks to the exchange rate, real estate in Colombia can be 60%+ cheaper, apples to apples.

          Also note that, while it’s possible to own luxury in both Medellín and Panama City, Panama City luxury now comes at a much higher cost.

          Start Your New Life Today, Overseas






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            3. Climate Colombian flag

            Way more comfortable in Medellín than Panama City, for example, but both countries offer many different climates.

            4. Quality Of Life Colombian flagPanamanian flag

            What are you looking for? Both countries offer city, coastal, mountain, and rural choices.

            5. Ease Of Residency Colombian flag

            Colombia is perhaps the world’s easiest place to establish residency right now. No lawyer is required, you don’t need to produce a background check, and we’ve known people to go through the process in one hour.

            On the other hand, Panama’s residency process requires using an attorney and at least two trips to the country unless you’re actually living there after you submit your initial application (you get a temporary stamp in your passport upon submittal of your application).

            6. Banking And Doing Business Panamanian flag

            Panama is the clear winner, thanks to:

            • Banking infrastructure
            • Lack of exchange controls
            • No currency risk
            • Much more English spoken
            • Available labor pool and possibility to acquire work permits for non-local labor

            7. Infrastructure Colombian flagPanamanian flag

            A tie.

            8. Taxes Panamanian flag

            Panama is the screaming champion on this score, a true tax haven, while Colombia qualifies as a high-tax jurisdiction, with, for example, a corporate tax rate as high as 35%.

            However, if you’re a retiree making a move with retirement income, you probably don’t have to worry about this. For the retiree, a move to a new country should be a tax-neutral event (except for Roth IRA distributions which may be taxed in some countries).

            9. Health Care Colombian flag. comparing panama and colombiaPanamanian flag. comparing panama and colombia

            Top-quality, international-standard care is available in Panama City. Outside the capital, the standard of care in this country falls.

            Eight of the top 35 hospitals in all Latin America are in Medellín. Other cities in Colombia have similarly top-standard facilities.

            10. Ease Of Settling In Panamanian flag. comparing panama and colombia

            Panama City is a kind of halfway house for expats, a very easy and comfortable first step overseas. Medellín is an emerging expat destination, though more discovered and therefore easier to navigate as an expat or foreign retiree all the time.

            Bottom line, though, Colombia is more challenging in this regard unless you speak Spanish.

            Start Your New Life Today, Overseas






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              A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas In .

              Which Is Right For You?

              Depends on your circumstances, personal preferences, and agendas…

              I say: Why choose?

              Spread your life around a little. Live or invest in both!

              Sincerely,
              Kathleen Peddicord signature
              Kathleen Peddicord
              Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter

              Tags: 'Colombia''cost of living''Expats In Panama'expats in colombiaLive in Colombialive in PanamaMove to ColombiaMove to PanamaPanama
              Share308Tweet158
              Kathleen Peddicord

              Kathleen Peddicord

              Kathleen Peddicord has reported on opportunities for Americans to live, retire, and do business overseas for 40 years. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 24, established businesses in 7, renovated and built properties in 6, and educated her children in 5.

              Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets from the east coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland, then to Paris, France, and finally to Panama City, Panama, where she has based her Live And Invest Overseas business. Peddicord and her husband, Lief Simon, now divide their time between Panama and Paris.

              Peddicord was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. She opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Waterford, Ireland; Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France. Peddicord launched Live And Invest Overseas group in 2008 and has built it into a successful multimillion-dollar business. Today, she shares her firsthand experience of expat life with more than 500,000 readers of her publications, including Overseas Opportunity Letter and Overseas Living Letter.

              Kathleen has been featured often in The New York Times, MSNBC, AARP, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, and more and writes monthly about expat matters, international real estate, and offshore diversification for Forbes and U.S. News.

              Kathleen has written several books including the memoirs “At Home In Ireland” and “At Home At Los Islotes” and her latest title “At Home Abroad,” all published by Lahardan Books. Her best-selling "How To Retire Overseas: Everything You Need To Know To Live Well (For Less) Abroad” was published by Penguin Random House in 2018 and her “Buying Real Estate Overseas For Cash Flow (And A Better Life)” was published by Wiley in August 2020.

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                    HOME

                    Top Countries

                    • Spain
                    • Portugal
                    • Panama
                    • Belize
                    • Colombia
                    • Cyprus
                    • Mexico
                    • France
                    • Montenegro

                    Best For:

                    • Health Care Abroad
                    • Retirement Living
                    • Cost Of Living
                    • Investing in Real Estate
                    • Establishing Residency
                    • Gun Ownership
                    • English Speakers
                    • Safety
                    BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

                    Budgets

                    How Much Will It Cost
                    To Live Overseas?

                    Super Cheap

                    • Chitré, Panama
                    • Santa Marta, Colombia
                    • Phuket, Thailand
                    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

                    Cheap

                    • Medellin, Colombia
                    • Boquete, Panama
                    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
                    • Hua Hin, Thailand
                    • The Algarve, Portugal

                    Affordable

                    • Valencia, Spain
                    • Cascais, Portugal
                    • Las Terrenas, The DR
                    • Pisa, Italy
                    • La Rochelle, France
                    • Mazatlán, Mexico

                    Luxury

                    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
                    • Kotor, Montenegro
                    • The Panama City Beaches
                    • Paris, France

                    Resources

                    Global Living

                    • Living & Retiring Overseas
                    • Raising A Family Abroad
                    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
                    • Offshore & Diversification

                    Making Money

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                    • Employment
                    • Investing
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