Why Peg And Pat Are Retiring To Panama’s Beautiful Pacific Coast
“I’m a retired schoolteacher from Austin, Texas,” Peg Fairbairn told me yesterday. “I’ve got limited savings, and I’m on a fixed income. Those are my realities.
“However, I also had a dream. I wanted to retire to the Pacific coast. I wanted the good life at the beach.
“With my savings and my income, I knew I could never afford what I wanted in the States. But here in Panama? I’ve been able to buy it in full. I’ve found my dream in a turn-key package that fits my budget.
“Why am I in Panama? Because here I can afford my dream and back in the States I couldn’t. It’s that simple.”
Pat Kloosterman is also retired, though her husband is still working as an engineer in Ohio. Full-time retirement is a few years away for this couple still, but they’re putting their plan in place now.
“We started thinking about the big ‘where to retire’ question a couple of years ago,” Pat explains. “We took a survey online. Based on the criteria we entered, the recommended destination for us was Panama. It had everything we were looking for, including easy access back to the States and a tropical climate. Plus Panama uses the U.S. dollar. We liked that, too. So we decided to take a trip to see the place for ourselves.
“When we got to Panama, we fell in love with the land itself. The ocean, the mountains, the valleys…it’s just beautiful. We wanted to be on the coast. Los Islotes, where we’ve bought a lot and are just beginning construction of our house, is on the Pacific, but, where we’ve bought, we’re on a ridge that has views both of the ocean and of the mountains. We look one way and see the ocean. We look the other way and see the mountains. Really, we couldn’t imagine anything better. The whole situation…it’s just awesome…”
Lief and I spent the day yesterday at Los Islotes, checking in on progress of the Founder’s Lodge we’re building there. The foundation has been dug, and the footers are going in. The views, now that we can see them more fully, are even better than we thought. Just like Pat and her husband, we have ocean views to the front and mountain views in every other direction. I have to agree with Pat. It’s just awesome.
I’ve told you about Los Islotes before. This is a long-term personal project for Lief and me, part of our own retirement plan. We’re delighted to have folks like Peg and Pat joining us in creating the oceanfront community we’ve long imagined. Simply put, our goal is to layer 21st-century, luxury-standard amenities and services over a natural situation that is, we’d say, based on lots of experience, as good as it gets.
And now that the pieces are coming together, the first houses are underway (including five spec houses), and we’re getting to know new friends like Peg and Pat better, we are more excited about the proposition than ever.
You can find out more about what’s going on out at Los Islotes, on the western coast of Panama’s beautiful Azuero Peninsula, here.
And you can hear more from Peg and Pat, in their own words, here and here. The ladies were kind enough to sit down and video their thoughts on why Panama and, specifically, why Los Islotes.
Kathleen Peddicord
Continue reading: Reasons Not To Retire Overseas
