We here at Live and Invest Overseas are moving a little slowly this morning. This week’s five days of conference presentations, meetings, workshops, seminars, lunches, and parties concluded last night with a Farewell Cocktail Reception featuring a troupe of Panamanian dancers twirling their flowing and brightly colored skirts and coaxing conference attendees out on to the floor to stomp and twirl right along with them.Â
Over our five days together, we covered Panama from end to end and every angle…
- Panama City’s top rental neighborhoods…and how much you should expect to spend to rent in each one…
- Options with HSBC and Scotiabank for local financing…
- Renting a house in the country’s interior…our own Rebecca Tyre told us about the two-bedroom house she rents on the beach, on the coast of the Azuero Peninsula, for US$200 a month…
- Architect Hildegard Vasquez updated us on the market in Casco Viejo and took us on a virtual tour of some of the Spanish-, French-, and “American”- (as she terms them) colonial buildings under renovation right now…
- Our Experts walked through a plan for living tax-free in Panama (yes, it’s completely compliant, with both Panamanian and U.S. tax law)…
- Lief Simon pinpointed the regions in Panama that offer the greatest opportunity right now for investing in undeveloped land (think Azuero Peninsula, Santiago, and Santa Fe)…
- Expat Richard Harris shared details of his Panama City pre-construction experience…which was very nearly an unadulterated disaster…
- Expat Cynthia Mulder told attendees about her adventures on the island of Taboga, where she and her husband have built a successful bed-and-breakfast and apartment rental business (and are loving every day of their new life)…
- Our Attorney detailed Panama’s top six options for obtaining foreign residency…
- Joseph Ennis and his staff from Spanish Panama pulled volunteers from the audience for a quick Spanish language lesson…
- Kevin Bradley talked about the difference between local Panama health insurance and international health insurance and helped attendees to understand which option might be best for them…
- The Medical Director for Punta Pacifica Hospital, Panama’s premier medical facility, affiliated with Johns Hopkins Hospital in the States, showed attendees the standard of care they could expect in his hospital and from his staff…
- Tour guide Claudio Carrasco delighted attendees with photos of this country’s flora, fauna, and landscapes, from the Caribbean to the Pacific, from the Panama Canal zone to the interior highlands…
- Real estate agent Giulia Gonzalez took attendees on a half-day tour of Panama City to introduce them up-close to the neighborhoods where they might most enjoy living…
Taxes, banking, financing, health care, health insurance, buying pre-construction, rights of possession property, title insurance, mail delivery, shopping for antiques, renovating a ruin in Casco Viejo, investing in a teak farm, investing in raw beachfront, starting a business, choosing a residency visa, reviewing a rental contract, engaging an attorney, dealing with culture shock, mitigating your tax burden, living 100% tax-free, shopping for health insurance, shopping for life insurance, taking a taxi in Panama City, shipping your household goods, helping your children adjust to a new life in Panama City, staying in touch with your kids back home…Â
This A-Z education under their belts, our attendees today are taking off and spreading out. Lief is escorting some for an overnight visit to his Los Islotes development on the west coast of the Azuero Peninsula. Other conference-goers are traveling today to Bocas del Toro, Boquete, El Valle, Darien (to see United Nature’s tree farm), Colon (in search of import-export opportunities)…Â
Some are shopping for apartments in Panama City or beach houses just outside the city…Â
Others have retired to the hotel pool, feeling the need for a day of relaxation and reflection, after the five high-powered days of information overload we’ve just completed, before planning a next move.Â
If you couldn’t join us this past week, don’t worry. You needn’t miss out entirely. Our staff is working now on a Live & Invest in Panama Conference Kit that will include materials, presentations, Power Points, photographs, videos, and more.Â
No, it’s not the same as being there. The breakfast round table, the lunch meetings, the cocktail party conversation…Â
The private introductions, the expert connections, and the one-on-one consultations…Â
The dancers, the drummers, the rum drinks, and the new friends…Â
We haven’t figured out any virtual way to package these things.Â
But the information…that we can bring you. With all the judgment, experience, authority, expertise, and savvy our powerhouse team of presenters brought to bear in the meeting rooms of the Veneto Hotel these past five days.Â
Give us a little more time, and we’ll package the mountain of information that we shared with attendees live and in person into a program that you can benefit from at home and at your leisure.Â
Full details later this week.Â
Kathleen PeddicordÂ
