• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Countries Panama

Is Panama A Country In The Third World? Not Really, Here’s Why

Nothing Third World About This Place

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Feb 16, 2022
in Panama
0 0
0
A panoramic image of Panama City, Panama

Adobe Stock/Dr. Jürgen Tenckhoff

344
SHARES
4.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“Kathleen, I’ve been thinking about making a move overseas, specifically to Panama, for years… but my wife… not so much…

“She grew up in a Peace Corps family. “I’ve lived in the Third World,’ she says… “I don’t want to do it again.’

“But I keep trying to tell her that Panama isn’t the Third World…

“Would you agree?”

So asked an attendee at this week’s Live And Invest In Panama Conference, which kicked off bright and early this sun-drenched morning here on the isthmus.

You’re darn tootin’ I’d agree, I told him.

Why We Don’t Consider Panama A Country In The Third World

-The Lifestyles Panama Offer

This little squiggle of a country packs tremendous lifestyle diversity within its borders… from cosmopolitan boom town Panama City to Boquete in the highlands, home to one of the biggest communities of expat retirees in the world…

From the City Beaches area within weekend-commuting distance of Panama City to the western Azuero coast with its dramatic cliffs and crashing surf…

From the islands of Bocas del Toro in the Caribbean to small towns in the interior like Chitre and Santa Fe…

Cosmopolitan and country… coastal and mountainside… island luxury and village basic… Panama offers it all.

And, no question, much of it is anything but Third World.

No city in the region compares with Panama City, as the speakers participating in our opening panel discussion this morning confirmed.

Get Your Free Panama Report Today!

Simply enter your email address below and we'll send you our FREE REPORT - 101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About Panama.

Panama’s Revenue And Infrastructure

The Panama Canal generates US$2.7 billion annually… and the Cobre mine another US$500 million. That’s a lot of cash flowing through the economy of a country with a population of just over 4 million people.

Panamanians prioritize infrastructure. When other countries in the region say they’re going to pave a road or build a bridge, you shouldn’t hold your breath for the finished product. When Panama promises a new highway or an expanded airport terminal… you can bet on it.

Not only Panama City benefits. Recently, Lief and I visited Chitre on the Azuero Peninsula, which we hadn’t seen in more than a decade. We remembered Chitre as a small traditional town, charming but not impressive.

When we returned earlier this month, we were gobsmacked by how this town has grown up. Freshly paved highways and roads, wide sidewalks, one of the best hospitals in the country, and U.S.-style grocery stores and shopping make life in Chitre about as convenient as life gets.

“Nothing Third World about it,” agreed Dusty Tubbs, one of our opening session panelists.

“Ten years ago,” I told the crowd assembled in the room with us here in Panama City this morning, “Dusty was just like you. He sat where you’re sitting now, at one of our Panama conferences.

“Dusty and his wife Carolyn were looking for an escape hatch. They’d realized that they wouldn’t be able to afford to stop working anytime soon if they continued living in Hawaii. They wanted to slow down… to embrace retirement lifestyle… but the dream seemed unrealistic…

“Until they opened their minds and their eyes to possibilities beyond U.S. borders.

“Their search for options overseas led them to us… then to one of our Panama conferences… and then, finally, to a new life in Panama. Dusty and Carolyn have been happy residents of Chitre for nearly nine years now.”

No, Panama is not a country In the third world…

Though I’m happy to be able to report that, if you’re looking for an escape from the troubles and the stresses of the First World… you can still find that here, too.

Way down at the bottom of the western coast of the Azuero Peninsula, for example, where Lief and I are creating a community at Los Islotes?

It’s remote, yes…

But the road down the coast has just been rebuilt and repaved…

And a gas station, a restaurant, a bar, and a small grocery store have recently opened just a kilometer from our front gate.

Los Islotes

The plan calls for underground utilities and central wastewater treatment. High-speed Internet is already available. Los Islotes will be the preeminent private residential community not only on this coast but in all Panama. Nothing else in the country will compare.

The vision for Los Islotes is not a development, but, again, a private community that will carry on for generations to come. Los Islotes is your chance to take a position in safe haven Panama while also securing your place in the country’s premier coastal community.

We at Los Islotes value beauty, history, and tradition. As a result, we also prize privacy, security, freedom, independence, and elbow room. And, yes, we like to be comfortable. If these ideas appeal to you, as well, we invite you to join the community at Los Islotes, the second-to-none private beachfront community on Panama’s Azuero Sunset Coast.

In conclusion, The First World is approaching.

We hope it takes its time.

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

Tags: is panama a third world countryLife In Panamalive in PanamaPanamapanama third worldretire in panamathird worldthird world country
Share150Tweet81
Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

Related Posts

Los Islotes, Panama
Lifestyle

Starting A School In Panama Near Los Islotes

by Kathleen Peddicord
December 14, 2022
0

This is the time of year to remember, recalibrate, regroup, and reset your sights. Where have you been... and, more...

Read more
Trekking Barefoot To Los Islotes Through The Jungle

Trekking Barefoot To Los Islotes Through The Jungle

December 13, 2022
A map of Panama

Invest In Panama For Low-Risk, Fast Profits

November 25, 2022
Panama City, Panama skyline with green grass and flag flying.

Why Panama City Continues To Be A Great Place To Invest

November 7, 2022
Man surfing in Playa Venao, Panama

Panama’s 6 Top Spots For Surfing

November 4, 2022
Celebrating fiestas patrias in Panama

Experiencing The Fiestas Patrias In Quebro, Panama

November 3, 2022
The beautiful Red Frog Beach, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Why Bocas Del Toro Provides Panama’s Best Coastal Caribbean Living

November 2, 2022

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

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 Today.







Get Your Free Panama Report Today!

​​Simply enter your email address below and we'll send you our FREE REPORT - 101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About Panama.
 

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2023

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

The World’s Best Places To Be In 2023?

Discover Them Here…

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY

Get Your Free Panama Report Today!
 

​​Learn more about ​​​PANAMA and other countries in our free, daily Overseas Opportunity Letter​​, as well as our ​In Focus: ​Panama ​newsletter​​​​​​. Simply enter your email address below and we’ll send you our FREE REPORT – ​​​101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About Panama.