Best Places In The World To Retire

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Recently Answered Questions

What’s it like to live in Mexico? What’s the lifestyle?

Yvon Marier - Travel Info Mexico

Yvon Marier enjoying the beach with his dog and a friend, Mexico.jpg – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

Mexico is home to different kinds of lifestyles. If you want to be a beach bum and just sit on the beach, have fun and enjoy the ocean, you can do that. Mexico has miles and miles of beach you can enjoy. If you want to be involved in animal rescue, orphanages and whatever you desire, you can definitely get involved in those activities.

Here in Mexico, what matters is what you really want to do. If you want to sit down and read a book,...

Here in Mexico, what matters is what you really want to do. If you want to sit down and read a book, that’s fine. I love doing activities with animals, so that’s what occupies my time. Some people like to be with children or going to the church and that’s what they do.

In Canada, to a certain extent you can do anything you like, too, but it’s not as easy as it is in Mexico. In Canada, everyone has their own home and people usually stay at home unless they go to special occasions and meet other people. Here in Mazatlán, we expats and snowbirds all know each other so everybody ends up talking to each other. We’re a community more so than in Canada because everybody knows each other, and people do a lot of things in groups.

I was in the military for 21 years. I had a very bad parachute accident that injured my spine. I broke my neck during the accident, and I was in a very bad shape for many years. I soon suffered from arthritis that affected my entire body- from my nose down to my toes.

I started coming to Mexico because of my health. I was so sick in Canada and had to take morphine and lots of painkillers. When my family and I started coming to Mexico roughly fifteen years ago, I started feeling so much better. I spoke to my doctor who said I should come back to Mexico, and that’s why I kept coming back. I would come to Mexico once, twice or thrice a month, and eventually because of coming to Mexico I was able to get off all of my painkillers, and I was able to relax. I can enjoy life so much better now.

Life is so much better in Mexico because the temperature is much more stable compared to Canada. In Canada, you can have four seasons in a single day. That’s one of the things that makes a big difference for me.

(Yvon Marier enjoying the beach with his dog and a friend, Mexico, pictured.)

How corrupt are the police in Nicaragua? Do I need to bribe the police in Nicaragua?

Carlos Roman Gutierrez Solis - Casa Granada Properties

Granada, Nicaragua – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

Police corruption in Nicaragua is like everywhere else in the world. It is less in this country than in Mexico and Guatemala, but there is police corruption. The police in Nicaragua are not extremely crazy, but they ask for bribes all the time, especially when you get a ticket while driving.

However, when you start a business, you don't need to worry about the police asking for payment. They mostly ask for bribes for traffic violations. They only...

Where do the expats in Portugal meet? Where are the Portugal expat communities?

Ana Ferraz

Shops with English signs, Sintra, Portugal – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

Most of the expat communities in Portugal are in Cascais, just west of Lisbon proper.

Cascais is a well-known retirement destination for the English people because of the connection that we have with England in the last century. Portugal is the oldest ally of England. We had a Portuguese Queen who married and English King. It is also popular for expats because of the golf courses. There are quite a lot of English clubs in Cascais such as the Rotary Club, the Women’s Institute Club, etc. They even have a daily newspaper that is in English. There is also one in the Algarve as well, which is called The Portuguese News.

We have three English high schools in Cascais: Saint Julian’s, Saint Dominic’s, and the international school. These are all big schools so you would see that there is really a big expat community here. My daughter went to St. Dominic’s. The schools here start from primary and finish up and then they leave for the universities.

Another reason Cascais is a top choice for expat communities because it is very near to the airport and it has always catered to expats very well. Cascais has a beautiful landscape and a very nice weather. It’s a beautiful town by the coast. It used to be a fishing village, which has now turned into a tourist town. It’s a very appealing and very nice. It is also about 20 kilometers directly west of Lisbon, which is the capital of Portugal.

There are also lots of expats in the Algarve, the majority of whom are also English. The reasons include the golf courses, the beaches, the weather, etc.

The main expat communities of Portugal are Cascais, Sintra, and the Algarve.

(Shops with English signs, Sintra, Portugal, pictured.)

What's the best strategy for asset protection and wealth preservation offshore?

John Gilbert - PanamaKeys

Beach in Panama – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

There are three overriding views for asset protection and wealth preservation offshore, and those are diversification, diversification, and diversification. You want to make sure that your asset classes are diversified- that all your eggs aren’t in one basket. It would be foolish for an investor to hold 100% of his assets in cash. It will also be just as foolish for an investor to hold 100% of his assets in stocks. I think just as stocks are an important asset class, just as an...

What's the overall cost of living in the Panama City, Panama suburb of Fort Clayton / Clayton?

Lourdes Townshend

Formerly called Fort Clayton, when it used to be a US military base, Clayton is now a nice neighborhood, inside Panamá City.

Most houses has been renovated and beautiful Spanish style single houses are part of this area, along with some residence complexes, the US embassy, the Social Security facility, commercial areas, and mainly, the City of Knowledge, where many educational institutions and international organizations like the United Nations...

What would my neighbors be like in Placencia, Belize?

Paul Smith - Placencia Mini Storage

Garifuna women, Belize – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

In Placencia, I would say the local people are generally kind hearted friendly people who will quickly lend a helping hand when you need it. My experience has been that they are easy to get along with. It is a good community in which to live. They also like to be hailed, that is to say "Good mornin, mornin," and done with a smile. They are not only friendly and caring but they are also generally a happy people. For those who are from the States, Canada or some other more well to do country, they may be considered poor. But only economically poor as far as I'm concerned. The qualities that make for good neighbors is where they are rich.

However, if you are living near ex-pats, that is to say, non locals who have come down here and brought with them their "I'm better then you are" attitudes, well then things may be different. Those kind of people may have a more difficult time getting along with these people. No doubt you will have a more difficult time getting along with those people, too.

I'd like to explain a little more. This is the exception but it is something that has happened and I think is worth knowing. Sad to say some have come down here and attempted to muscle or push their way in. They have an approach like... "Step aside... I'm taking over now". Some like this have come and taken advantage of locals who know little of those kinds of ways. The result makes for qualities that are not so good for neighbors. Qualities like "bitterness" and "animosity" towards foreigners who care only about themselves. I would like to say this! We should ALL remember the Golden Rule, "do to others as you would have them do to you". We should remember this is THEIR home! We are the foreigners! They have graciously accepted our presence in their country. If we consider ourselves as their guest we will be a good neighbor to them and ALL of us will be better neighbors.

(Garifuna women, Belize, pictured.)

Recently Posted Expat Stories

Hanging Around My Place In Limones Looking At The Ocean

It is 83 degrees in my bedroom with all the doors and windows open, the black beach dog is up to her neck checking the gillnet for fish as the tide comes and the endless cycle continues. The dogs don't realize that my watchman has already claimed the half dozen green jacks that were caught overnight

and probably eaten them already. Timing is everything on the beach, if you miss the tide you have to walk to my house and carry the groceries bought back in the world of grocery...

Becoming a Globetrotting Nomad at 58: Would You Pull the Rope?

(We thank the wonderful people and our good friends at Nextavenue.org, where this article was originally published July 28, 2016.)

I was at a lecture a few years ago where the speaker casually mentioned that most members of the audience were in the final third of their lives. As I looked around, I saw a lot of “old people,” so it seemed like he was right.

Then, I did the math relative to myself.

Oh, no! He was...

Rainforest and Summit Park in Panamá

Biodiversity in Panamá is well known worldwide. Case in point: Panamá's prime humid forests, especially in Darién, with one of the oldest jungle areas, as well as Gamboa, Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro. Rainforest tours are very popular, and many adventure tour operators offer them, in combination with bird watching.

But there is a place, almost unknown to visitors and foreigners, called the Summit Botanical Park, situated 30 minutes from the city, with an area...