Best Places In The World To Retire

The reliability of electricity in Chapala and Ajijic depends on the area where you live. Some areas in Chapala and Ajijic are new developments and gated communities and I refer to some of them as very well constructed and they’re my favorite places to live and are located in west Ajijic.

 

We have different neighborhoods where you have ups and downs in electrical current but that doesn’t mean that your devices will be damaged. You just need to...

The reliability of electricity in Chapala and Ajijic depends on the area where you live. Some areas in Chapala and Ajijic are new developments and gated communities and I refer to some of them as very well constructed and they’re my favorite places to live and are located in west Ajijic.

 

We have different neighborhoods where you have ups and downs in electrical current but that doesn’t mean that your devices will be damaged. You just need to have a surge suppressor. I have a surge suppressor for my TV and for my refrigerator but I don’t use it for other appliances in my house. My microwave oven, washing machine, and dryer do not have surge suppressors.

 

The people who come in for maintenance on my appliances told me that these appliances that don’t have surge suppressors need more maintenance because the electricity is unstable in this area. If you buy a house in a gated community, since the whole community is newly-constructed, they do have a stable electric supply. That is also one of their selling points. These developments have transformers from the Comision Federal de Electricidad (Federal Electricity Commission) and these transformers protect the whole area of the developments so they do not have power surges. These transformers are not something that the developers buy but they are installed by the electrical company in order to accommodate all the houses that will be built in the community. If you live in an old house, you need to really check that the electric installation is good in order to have a stable power supply.

 

I have been living in my house here in San Antonio Tlayacapan, which is a suburb of Ajijic, for two years and I don’t remember ever using a candle. We don’t have a lot of blackouts in this little town because this is an independent neighborhood. But if you go to the western part of Ajijic, some areas there do have better electric systems because of the gated developments that are built there, but overall, I haven’t heard complaints about the electricity here in Ajijic.  

 

(Home in a  gated community overlooking Lake Chapala, Mexico, pictured.)

There are five major shopping centers in Managua where you can find stores such as Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Chanel, Swatch, Guess, and some local stores that sell high-end merchandise. You will find almost every popular brand of clothes here in Managua. The price of clothes imported into Nicaragua is a little more expensive in Managua than in Panama or Miami, but it is cheaper than shopping in San Jose, Costa Rica, or in El Salvador. We have very competitive prices here in Managua.

There are five major shopping centers in Managua where you can find stores such as Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Chanel, Swatch, Guess, and some local stores that sell high-end merchandise. You will find almost every popular brand of clothes here in Managua. The price of clothes imported into Nicaragua is a little more expensive in Managua than in Panama or Miami, but it is cheaper than shopping in San Jose, Costa Rica, or in El Salvador. We have very competitive prices here in Managua.

 

There are also a lot of stores here in Nicaragua that sell knock-offs, where, for example, one pair of Levi’s jeans costs only US $10. It is obviously a knock-off, but that is what ordinary people buy. You can go to a real Levi’s store and pay $30 to $40 for a pair of jeans.

 

Nicaragua has anything that your pocket can afford. You can choose between going to a knock-off store or to a store that sells the more expensive brands.

I have an international medical insurance policy that follows me anywhere in the world that I use for emergencies. I pay out of pocket for everything else because the costs are usually so much lower.

 

You can't use your Medicare outside the US because Medicare will not pay any healthcare facility that's not in the US. What some people do (because it’s relatively inexpensive) is to maintain Medicare part A in the US if they ever need to use it so...

I have an international medical insurance policy that follows me anywhere in the world that I use for emergencies. I pay out of pocket for everything else because the costs are usually so much lower.

 

You can't use your Medicare outside the US because Medicare will not pay any healthcare facility that's not in the US. What some people do (because it’s relatively inexpensive) is to maintain Medicare part A in the US if they ever need to use it so they can always come back to the US.

 

It's important to be covered anywhere you are. Any type of basic insurance you can have when you're in US is definitely ideal to have. I have never had a problem. I always had good experiences with medical facilities in different countries. I injured myself once in Czech Republic. No one spoke English in the hospital but the care was good and it all worked out and I got my insurance to cover it.

 

I've been to medical facilities and hospitals in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Canada, Thailand, Australia, and probably a few other places. If you don't have anything that's an expensive, ongoing serious condition, you’re in overall good health and you just need to go for a checkup, it's generally pretty affordable to pay out of pocket. My insurance has a multi-country travel and medical insurance option. It’s only US $300 to $400 a year. It includes my baggage, emergencies like life flighting, death or dismemberment. 

 

I ended up having to go to the emergency room in Costa Rica twice in a week. I had to get an IV and it cost around $1,000. In the end, because I had to get so many things done in two different days I had my insurance cover it. If I just wanted to go to a normal checkup, it would cost way less. A dental cleaning can be $20 -$50 in most places outside of the US. I was in North Carolina recently and was told that it would cost $500 for a dental cleaning. When you’re overseas, you can definitely pay out-of-pocket for anything like that.

 

When I was in Nicaragua I had an ear infection, so I went to the public clinic. I had to pay for my prescription for my infection.  However, the actual cost of going to the clinic (and they gave an itemized receipt), was the equivalent price in US dollars of around one penny.  I was there for a couple of hours. Pretty much anything that you need to get done, even if you go to the hospital when you need to see a doctor for something specific, is not usually not going be more than $40 or $50. It's usually cheaper to pay out-of-pocket and you can go to a private doctor, a private hospital, or a private clinic in places like Panama, compared to paying for some really expensive insurance that's going to cost more than going to the doctor, anyway.  

 

(Kristin Wilson, traveling for The World Series of Poker, pictured.)

It is not easy to earn money in Panama. The government has laws that protect its citizens, so a citizen of another country cannot just come to Panama and work. Even doctors cannot just come over to Panama and practice as a doctor. Panama protects its own doctors that way.

 

On another related topic, as a US citizen, you are liable for taxes on worldwide income to the US government, regardless of where you live or where the money was earned.

It is not easy to earn money in Panama. The government has laws that protect its citizens, so a citizen of another country cannot just come to Panama and work. Even doctors cannot just come over to Panama and practice as a doctor. Panama protects its own doctors that way.

 

On another related topic, as a US citizen, you are liable for taxes on worldwide income to the US government, regardless of where you live or where the money was earned.