What’s my best strategy for health insurance for retiring in Mexico?
Michael Keller - Guardian Insurance Mexico
If you plan on retiring and living in Mexico full time, it would be best for you to purchase a private, year round Mexican health insurance policy.
Depending on the company, they all have waiting periods that you need to be insured with them before you can get coverage for certain illnesses and diseases. For example, you have the wait time is two years for HIV and AIDs. Some companies need you to have stayed here for 60 days for anything else. Some companies need you to have...
If you plan on retiring and living in Mexico full time, it would be best for you to purchase a private, year round Mexican health insurance policy.
Depending on the company, they all have waiting periods that you need to be insured with them before you can get coverage for certain illnesses and diseases. For example, you have the wait time is two years for HIV and AIDs. Some companies need you to have stayed here for 60 days for anything else. Some companies need you to have stayed here for a year for you to be covered for cancer.
So if you’re coming here at a certain age or if you’re planning on retiring down here in Mexico, it’s best to buy the policy 6 months a year and start ahead of time so you can start knocking out some of those waiting periods before you get down here for anything that could possibly happen.
It important to know that Medicare is not accepted at all if you are outside of the US. What some people do is to get insurance with a health insurance company here in Mexico that we work with that will also insure them in the United States so they are not paying for two policies. I know one person who has a US $1,200 premium in Mexico, which is half of what he was paying in the States to get the coverage in the US and in Mexico. So sometimes, when people know that this option is available and they are carrying two insurance policies – one for the US, and one for Mexico, they cancel their US health insurance and just stick with the one they have for Mexico and everywhere else in the world.
(Pictured: Michael Keller talking with expat retiree about health insurance.)
How’s the kayaking, rafting, or canoeing in Portugal?
Juan Matias - BLUE Boutique Hostel & SUITES
We have three or four beautiful rivers that cross Portugal. Further south from Lisbon we have the Guadiana River, where I have rafted. Up north we have Mondego River and further north close to Porto we have Douro River, which is where the Porto Wine comes from. And this area Douro; the Douro River and the cliffs surrounding the Douro River, is where they plant the grapes to produce the world famous Porto Wine or “Port Wine” as you call it in America. We do not have the...
We have three or four beautiful rivers that cross Portugal. Further south from Lisbon we have the Guadiana River, where I have rafted. Up north we have Mondego River and further north close to Porto we have Douro River, which is where the Porto Wine comes from. And this area Douro; the Douro River and the cliffs surrounding the Douro River, is where they plant the grapes to produce the world famous Porto Wine or “Port Wine” as you call it in America. We do not have the very extreme classes of river rafting but we do have some mild intermediate class areas. People raft here in Portugal in the winter and spring. You can go in summer but the rivers are very low and it becomes a bit boring for people looking for some excitement.
We have sea kayaking in Portugal. I provide an excursion for my clients that is basically just a beautiful tour around our coastline around Cascais (near Lisbon) in a kayak. There are two levels of sea kayaking. You have the sea kayaking just to wonder around and you have the surf sea kayaking, which is on waves, which is for another level of expertise. You have to have a lot of experience to do that. But for the first timer, you have to do the traditional sea kayak and you’re only allowed to go when the sea is really, really calm. Portugal is close by the Atlantic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean is quite rough. So 80% throughout the year we have waves in Portugal. The only two months of the year with light waves are July and August. You can go out throughout the year but then you have to go to protected bays, of which there are many throughout the country. The Algarve is the perfect place to do this because the Algarve gets the Mediterranean Sea so it doesn’t get as rough as it gets on the west coast, which faces the Atlantic. The southern coast is much more calmer than it is in the west coast.
(Sea kayaking provided by Blue Hostel and Suites, Cascais, Portugal, pictured.)
Many of the expats in Nicaragua are Americans and Canadians, with a few from Europe. Many are in what we would call in Nicaragua, their “third age”; between 50’s and 60’s. Many are professionals who have come here to retire but have found also other ways to spend their time doing something useful.
For example, some of the expats to Nicaragua have created businesses, perhaps in Granada, or purchased houses to rent to...
Many of the expats in Nicaragua are Americans and Canadians, with a few from Europe. Many are in what we would call in Nicaragua, their “third age”; between 50’s and 60’s. Many are professionals who have come here to retire but have found also other ways to spend their time doing something useful.
For example, some of the expats to Nicaragua have created businesses, perhaps in Granada, or purchased houses to rent to tourists. Some of them have created cafes. Many of the expats are people who came and fell in love with Nicaragua and decided to stay, and who then decided to do something additional with their time.
Nicaragua is a very friendly country. Some of the familiarity with foreigners comes from the history of Nicaragua. We have had three American interventions in the country, so we are very used to Americas in Nicaragua since our early history. Mark Twain was here and wrote some beautiful things about Nicaragua in general and specifically about the region he visited. Cornelius Vanderbilt had this famous transport route here when the Americans were looking for gold and couldn’t cross North America, so he found this route to cross from one coast to the other in the US through Nicaragua using the San Juan River.
Nicaragua is very used to foreign people and Nicaraguans are very friendly with foreign people. As soon as foreigners come, they are warmly received and I think very, very few foreigners have had any problem situating themselves here, because most people, when they come, really fall in love with Nicaragua and are at peace in the country.
Does the ocean in Belize have dangerous animals in it?
Rubi Young - Altamira Residences
No, there are not dangerous animals in the waters of Belize. We feel very safe going into the water and having fun. We have a very nice sea and there are different areas where you could go to have an adventure such as the Blue Hole, which is one of the biggest sea holes in the world. You could go scuba diving in the Blue Hole and it’s a very nice adventure.
There are no sharks or eels that will harm you in the oceans around Belize. I have been here...
No, there are not dangerous animals in the waters of Belize. We feel very safe going into the water and having fun. We have a very nice sea and there are different areas where you could go to have an adventure such as the Blue Hole, which is one of the biggest sea holes in the world. You could go scuba diving in the Blue Hole and it’s a very nice adventure.
There are no sharks or eels that will harm you in the oceans around Belize. I have been here my whole life and I have not heard of anybody getting hurt by a sea animal here in Belize.
Another factor why the ocean of Belize is safe is because we do not get big waves here. We have the second largest barrier reef in the world, so the sea here in Belize is very flat. We never had to worry about being carried out to sea by big waves or rip tides.
Can I wear jewelry in Boquete, Panama and feel safe?
Georgina Chanapi - Lucero Homes Golf & Country Club
Yes, of course you can wear jewelry in Boquete and feel safe. People in Boquete do not worry about being mugged on account of wearing jewelry. Here in Boquete, no. Maybe in David (the closest larger city to Boquete) or in some other larger city, but I don’t know. The economy of Boquete is in part dependent on it being a safe area. So yes, of course you can wear jewelry and you will not have any problems with that.
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Yes, of course you can wear jewelry in Boquete and feel safe. People in Boquete do not worry about being mugged on account of wearing jewelry. Here in Boquete, no. Maybe in David (the closest larger city to Boquete) or in some other larger city, but I don’t know. The economy of Boquete is in part dependent on it being a safe area. So yes, of course you can wear jewelry and you will not have any problems with that.
The entirety of Boquete is safe. You don’t have to worry about going into any areas in Boquete. However, if you go to David, there are certain places you don’t want to go to because they are unsafe. This was the case for a certain area until recently, when it became safe. As an example, there is a place called Parque Cervantes in David that used to be unsafe. In the past, even the taxi drivers didn’t pick up people in that area of David, but now it is safe. However, in general, there are certain places in David that at 2 AM, you don’t want to walk around.
But in Boquete we never had that problem. I’ve been at parties with my friends and stayed very late and had no problems.
(Found in the cloud forest of Boquete, the jaguar,made here into a jeweled pin, pictured.)
What do I need to know about international pet shipping, international pet travel, and international pet transport?
Syl Michelin - Thun Financial
When shipping pets, one thing to be mindful of are the very specific requirements that can apply to travel crates and kennels. When we flew out of the UK with our cat, we arrived at Heathrow airport with our brand new shinny crate only to be told that they could not accept it because it did not have a "central locking mechanism" (the crate happened to lock in 2 places).
We were extremely lucky that day to be able to buy a crate from...
When shipping pets, one thing to be mindful of are the very specific requirements that can apply to travel crates and kennels. When we flew out of the UK with our cat, we arrived at Heathrow airport with our brand new shinny crate only to be told that they could not accept it because it did not have a "central locking mechanism" (the crate happened to lock in 2 places).
We were extremely lucky that day to be able to buy a crate from them directly, they had one available that day, which is apparently not always the case. Otherwise the cat would simply not have been allowed to fly.
As lucky as we were, the crate still ended costing us a lot more than it would have had we bought it in advance. So be careful with these requirements and don't let this happen to you (and your cat)!
You will probably be surprised that Tijuana has the most US expats of any city in the world.
The Tijuana metropolitan area has more than double the number of US expats compared to any other city or area in Mexico.
It is difficult to get true figures but according to US State Department figures, there are more than 1 million US expats in Mexico, more than any other country in the world. Data from the Mexican...
On a sunny Sunday morning, my husband and I walked into Boquete. We live about 2 miles away, uphill from the little town of Boquete. The walk is all downhill. We pass the three-story, bright yellow Tourist Information Center as we go towards the curve that takes us down to the streets below. We pass trees that are very old, very big and many are covered in plants, flowers and vines that grow on the trunks and branches that wind upward towards the deep blue sky and warm sunshine.
Just a short drive from the traffic and hectic city life of Panama City is the beautiful oasis called El Valle de Anton. This charming and picturesque community is a growing retirement community for many ex-pats and Panamanians as well.
A paved road winds its way off the Pan-American Highway towards the mountains. One can feel the air grow cooler as the road climes ever...