Best Places In The World To Retire

It is not safe to drink the water from the faucets in the Yucatan Peninsula. We only use the water from the faucets for washing clothes, washing the dishes and bathing. For drinking water, most people buy what is locally called garrafon, which is basically the blue, 5-gallon bottled water that you see in offices. They have delivery service. They bring it to your house and set it up on your water dispenser. I do know some local people who drink water right off the tap. Evidently their...

It is not safe to drink the water from the faucets in the Yucatan Peninsula. We only use the water from the faucets for washing clothes, washing the dishes and bathing. For drinking water, most people buy what is locally called garrafon, which is basically the blue, 5-gallon bottled water that you see in offices. They have delivery service. They bring it to your house and set it up on your water dispenser. I do know some local people who drink water right off the tap. Evidently their system is used to it. For me, it’s not worth taking a chance. A garrafon of water costs only US $2, anyway. 

 

When I first moved to Mexico, I lived in Playa del Carmen, which is one of the more developed beach areas of the Yucatan Peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo.  One day I woke up after having a lot of fun the previous night, and I went to kitchen and made myself a cup of coffee using tap water. I was only in Mexico for a week then. Within minutes after I finished my cup of coffee, it came to me, “Oh my God, you just drank the faucet water!” 

 

I called a friend of mine, who lived very nearby and I explained to him that I drank a cup of coffee made from tap water. He asked me, “How long ago was it?” I said, “About 20 minutes to half an hour ago.” He said, “Do you feel sick?” I said, “No.” And he said, “Have you been to the bathroom?” I said, “No.” And he said, “Then you’re okay. Don’t worry about it.” And I was okay. Nothing happened. 

 

So it’s not like you’re going to die if you drink tap water here in the beach areas, but for me, it’s not worth a gamble. For $2, if I could get a 5-gallon bottle of purified water brought to my house, why roll the dice? 

 

I’ve had workers come over to my house to do some cement work for me who I saw them drink water out of the garden hose and they showed up for work the next day. So the quality of water here might not be that terrible. 

 

The restaurants here around Merida (the largest city in the state of Yucatan in the Yucatan Peninsula), make their ice using purified water. As far as rinsing vegetables, I personally rinse mine using tap water and never had a problem. There is also a little bottle of liquid that you could use to purify the water. You put four drops of this liquid in a pan of water and it totally disinfects and purifies the water. Some people that I know who have moved here need to do that. My wife and I do not use that anymore because we don’t need to because our system is used to living here in Mexico. 

 

Most of the time, when I boil potatoes, I boil them in tap water. But when I’m having company over, such as someone from the United States who is not used to Mexico, then I would boil potatoes in purified water just to be sure that they won’t get sick while they are visiting because different people have different systems.

 

(Hotel and club with an image of the bottled water [garafon] of Castilla in  Playa Mujers,  Mexico, pictured.)

When renting a house or apartment in Nicaragua, it is good to hire an attorney as an adviser, but hiring one is not required to write up and finalize the contract. The attorney would help you understand the rental contract, especially if it is written in Spanish, to determine if everything makes sense so you can go ahead and sign it. The rental contract is a private agreement between the renter and renting parties, in which the contract states the rental period and cost.

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When renting a house or apartment in Nicaragua, it is good to hire an attorney as an adviser, but hiring one is not required to write up and finalize the contract. The attorney would help you understand the rental contract, especially if it is written in Spanish, to determine if everything makes sense so you can go ahead and sign it. The rental contract is a private agreement between the renter and renting parties, in which the contract states the rental period and cost.

 

Even though rental contracts in Nicaragua are usually written in Spanish because this may be used in court when there are disputes, make sure that you are given a version in English so that you know what you are signing. 

 

There are no fixed rates for hiring an attorney to review a rental contract and the cost may range from US $20 to $50. You are being ripped off if an attorney charges more than $100 to review a rental contract.

 

(Entry way in a home in the colonial city of Granada, Nicaragua, pictured.)

Whether or not Panama is cheap depends on what you are buying. I would say “no” for the most part, but there are some things that are still less expensive here than in other places.

 

Things that are less expensive would include things like your personal cleaning lady, or similar personal services, which you still can pay them very basic minimum wage. As far as good food and clothes, it’s just the same as he US. If you go to a place with...

Whether or not Panama is cheap depends on what you are buying. I would say “no” for the most part, but there are some things that are still less expensive here than in other places.

 

Things that are less expensive would include things like your personal cleaning lady, or similar personal services, which you still can pay them very basic minimum wage. As far as good food and clothes, it’s just the same as he US. If you go to a place with less quality food and clothes, you get it for less expense. If you go to restaurants, it’s right on par. At the mall, you’d find the shops that have the same prices.

 

Panama is cheap if you are “coming up” to Panama. If you’re “going down” to Panama, it’s not. So for example, if you’re coming from the United States or Canada, you’re going to see very similar prices. But if you’re coming up from Colombia, it’s half price… from Venezuela, it’s a fraction of the price. From Brazil, it’s a third of the price. So it depends on who you are or where you’re coming from and you’ll have an idea how cheap it is.

 

 The reason its cheaper here for people coming up is because the taxes are so high in these other places. People from South America get off the plane with empty suitcases because Panama is cheap. But from North America, though, it’s the same price.

 

It is very expensive to live, for example, in Panama City.  For example, butter is four times the price it is in the United States. If you go out into the interior, however, where there much less goods and services, the prices are very, very cheap.  It’s the same dynamic comparing Manhattan to Kansas.

 

I would say, basically, the cost of living in Panama is a little less just because cost of living includes everything like your cleaning lady and your health care and those type of things, bring the cost of living down just a bit. But otherwise, the cost of living is very, very similar. There’s not as much as a difference as it was five years ago.

 

(The City of Pesé in Herrera Province in the interior of Panama, pictured.)

I’ve lived in several locations that would be considered ideal retirement locations such as Florida and I have little doubt that the Algarve is the best, if not one of the best locations in the world. Here are some of the reasons:

I’ve lived in several locations that would be considered ideal retirement locations such as Florida and I have little doubt that the Algarve is the best, if not one of the best locations in the world. Here are some of the reasons:

Here are some of the not so good things:

(Beach on the Algarve, Portugal, pictured.)