Best Places In The World To Retire

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How's the surf and surfing in and around Los Cabos - La Paz, Mexico?

Pepe Acosta - Ventanas Hotel and Residences

Poster for The Los Cabos Open of Surf, sponsored by Ventanas Hotel & Residences, Baja California Sur, Mexico – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

Surfing is amazing in Los Cabos. If you like to surf and you live in Los Cabos, you will be in heaven because on one side is the Pacific Ocean and on the other side is the Mar de Cortez.

Last March 30th, I went to Cerritos beach where we have another project. The waves were amazing. There were a lot of people surfing. In winter, the high season of waves is in the section of the Pacific Ocean. In summer, the waves are in Mar de Cortez.

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Surfing is amazing in Los Cabos. If you like to surf and you live in Los Cabos, you will be in heaven because on one side is the Pacific Ocean and on the other side is the Mar de Cortez.

If you live in Los Cabos, it will take 20 minutes to go to both surf locations. For people who live in Los Cabos and surf, it's amazing because they can surf all year round and the water's warm all year round.

We have Los Cabos Open of Surf, which is a 6-Star women's pro tournament. It's the first one in Latin America and we have it here in Los Cabos. It is in one of our communities. We host the VIP area for the athletes and the press. The beach is a public area so everyone can watch the contest. It's a very important tournament. Last year, we had Keala Kennelly. She's the number one in the world for big waves. We also had Alana Blanchard and a lot of very professional and important surfers.

If you've got little kids and you don't want to go to the beach with big surf, there are some beaches in Los Cabos where you can go to that's great for swimming. For example, in the Medano in Mar de Cortez (Sea of Cortez), which is the bay of Cabo San Lucas, there are beaches with public areas where you don't need to spend much and you can just bring your own food, chairs, and umbrella. If you want to be more comfortable and not bring a lot of stuff with you, you can go to a beach club where you can enjoy some beer and food at very affordable prices.

(Poster for The Los Cabos Open of Surf, Baja California Sur, Mexico, pictured.)

Does Panama quarantine pets, such as dogs or cats?

Jackie Lange - Panama Relocation Tours

Golden Frog pet relocation service, Panama City, Panama – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

You can apply for a HOME quarantine in Panama for a fee. It is best to work with a Panamanian company to help you with this process. I recommend Golden Frog. Jose will handle all the paperwork and meet you at the airport. Your pet will need to be inspected by a Panamanian vet so make sure to schedule your arrival flight in Panama during normal working hours. And Jose can take you to a pet friendly hotel in Panama City and then transport you and your pet to your...

What’s the cost to rent a home in Portugal?

Luis Teixeira da Silva - Algarve Senior Living

Rental a Algarve Senior Living, Algarve, Portugal – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

The cost of rent a home in Algarve varies based on what kind of home you are renting, how many bedrooms it has, whether it is an apartment or a villa, and so on. It also varies depending on the length of time that you intend to stay.

There are two types of rentals in the Algarve. One is the summer, short-term rentals similar to the ones they have in Florida, California, or anywhere that is a holiday spot. In the summer, a two-bedroom apartment, which is probably the most common type of apartment to rent, would start between €500 (US $550 or £360) a week to about €1,250 (US $1,375 or £900) a week, depending if you have the views and other amenities. A three-bedroom villa would start you at about €750 (US $825 or £540) a week to around €3,000 (US $3,300 or £2,175) a week. The price depends on where the villa is located, the views, and the amenities. The price range is very large because there is a huge range of real estate products here in Algarve.

The second category of rental is the winter, long-term stay or permanent rentals. The average rule for this type of rental is that one week of summer rental would be slightly less than one month of winter rental. That is the rule of thumb that we use all the time and it works very well. A two-bedroom apartment in the winter, per month costs around €500 (US $550 or £360) to €900 (US $990 or £650) and a villa in the winter would cost you €1,200 (US $1320 or £870) to €2,000 (US $2,200 or £1,450). The reason why it is lower than the high end in the summer is because many of the very expensive villas in the summer would not be target market for winter rentals because they would be too large or too expensive for most of the winter lets.

The winter rental is slightly different than the 12-month rental. A winter rental is a rental for people who would be looking to stay in a warmer place like the Algarve during the coldest months in places like Canada, the US, England, Sweden, and Germany. They would typically stay here between October and November and maybe around March to May. Those would be your typical winter months. We are getting an increasing number of people who are looking for these winter months because of recently approved legislation called the non-habitual resident status, which allows pensioners from abroad, newly-arriving and resident pensioners to receive their pension tax free in Portugal. To do so, they have to remain in the country for 183 days or more. Of course, most people do not want to be in the cold countries during winter so they spend their winters abroad with a tax advantage and they come over to Portugal to rent for 6 to 8 months. This way, they get their tax benefit and spend their winters in the sun.

The year-long resident with a12-month contract would typically pay more than the winter let rate because the rate would include the very expensive summer months, and so the monthly rental price would be higher than the monthly price for winter let. Using the same example as above, on a year round basis, a two-bedroom apartment would cost between €1,000 (US $1,100 or £725) and €1,500 ($1,650 or £1,088). For a two-bedroom villa, it would cost around easily €1,500 (US $1,650 or £1,088) to €3,000 ($3,300 or £2,175) a month. These rentals are located in the nicer areas of Algarve with the top end being in the nicest areas. There is enough nice quality stock of rentals in the Algarve so that no one needs to feel as though they were living in a very basic, bare bones location. Even our cheapest stock, which is a one-bedroom apartment and costs around €350 (US $385 or £254) a month in the winter, are fully furnished and within walking distance to shops, restaurants, and sometimes even to the beach. Not all rentals are like that but there is no lack of quality, fortunately, in the Algarve.

(Rental a Algarve Senior Living, Algarve, Portugal, pictured.)

What are the worst places in the world to retire?

Neil Stein - Panama Paraiso

Neil Stein riding a bike in El Valle de Anton, Panama – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living I have not been back to Europe for many years. But when I was there, it was already expensive and I think it is even more expensive now. Many places are expensive. I have also lived in Australia for five months and in New Zealand for two months and both these places have gotten expensive now. I think it also depends on your budget but I love Australia and New Zealand.

For me, the worst places to retire would be any place that is cold; any place where the weather drops below...

What is the culture of Belize?

Frik De Meyere

Mayan compas, Belize – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

Belize has a very diverse culture. It is a country that is very open-minded and where everybody can do his own thing. That is true for almost everything such as tradition or religion.

There is no original Belizean culture because Belize is a small place left over from colonial times where people from all over the world went. We have a lot of Mexicans, Hispanic groups, Guatemalans and Mayans. We also have African groups who came to the Caribbean from...

What's retirement in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua like?

David Smith - Nicaragua Sotheby's International Realty

For me, San Juan del Sur is the best option for retirement because there’s a variety of things to do and an increasing variety by going outside of San Juan del Sur. I have a number of clients who moved from Granada. They had originally decided to settle in Granada and subsequently moved to San Juan del Sur because here you’re closer to golf courses and ocean activities—sailing, boating, fishing—and yet at the same time we’re close to everything,...

Recently Posted Expat Stories

Two Squished Dogs, Some Quick Kennel Assembly, and a Cruise Through the Sea of Cortez on the Baja Ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan

Deck of the Baja Ferry as it approaches Mazatlan – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

Even though we thoroughly enjoyed our six-plus weeks in Baja (my wife, Jet Metier, wanted to buy some land there immediately), it was time for us to move on to experience new things. The desert and relative isolation we enjoyed as newbies in Baja would have to be gently placed into the past as we ventured forward to new experiences, also in places we had never been-- the jungles and more populated areas of mainland Mexico.

If you’re driving, there are...

Learn Step by Step

Ahhh, Panama, you have been sitting wherever for months trying to learn as much as you can about this place, finding some great info and some downright lies, I bet.

How you can retire here and live like a king for around $1,000 per month? That one always makes me laugh.

It is true some things are cheaper here, but overall a gallon of gas costs what it costs, right?

Now let’s say you’re getting older like me, not in too great of health and you see...

Anne of the Wild and Sea

Not many little girls who love animals grow up to be animal trainers in films, but as Jet Metier found out about Anne Gordon de Barrigón, that was one of her earlier steps to do what she really wanted to do: swim with dolphins and whales as a way of life. And along the way she married a man from a native Panamanian tribe and opened a B & B on Contadora Island that offers studies for those interested in spiritually connecting with dolphins and whales.

This interview...