Best Places In The World To Retire

The dress code in San Miguel de Allende, in general, is relaxed but at the same time, we Mexicans like to dress well when the occasion calls for it. So we do not just wear Fit Flops or Birkenstock anywhere.

 

If you are going to a party, you go nicely dressed; usually you wear something smart casual. If you are going to dine in restaurants, the dress code depends on what kind of restaurant you’re going to but in general, restaurants here have a relaxed...

The dress code in San Miguel de Allende, in general, is relaxed but at the same time, we Mexicans like to dress well when the occasion calls for it. So we do not just wear Fit Flops or Birkenstock anywhere.

 

If you are going to a party, you go nicely dressed; usually you wear something smart casual. If you are going to dine in restaurants, the dress code depends on what kind of restaurant you’re going to but in general, restaurants here have a relaxed and cool atmosphere. Mexicans like dressing up to the occasion. If you are here on vacation and you go to a nice restaurant wearing shorts and Fit Flops, depending on the restaurant, they might not give it much attention. But if you’re going to a private party and you show up like that, then people might think that you’re not respecting the hosts.

 

If you’re coming from the US and you have never been to San Miguel de Allende before, you could pack some nice dress, but nothing fancy. A little black dress is never wrong. You could also pack some nice heels and a shawl. It tends to be cool here even in summer. You could also pack shorts, jeans, white shirts and boots. For men, definitely a jacket is really nice. In general, you should have at least a couple of nice outfits, nothing overboard, and the rest of your clothes should be just very relaxed types of clothing.

 

It’s not unusual to see people wearing full on jackets here during November and December because it can be really chilly and you will be cold if you just wore shorts. However, there are some crazy days in the middle of December where it is sunny and in a few hours, it will be chilly again because of the breeze.   

 

(Jet Metier of Best Places in the World to Retire offered a glass of wine by patrons at the hacienda restaurant Rojo Vivo, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)

The minimum wage for a full-time gardener in Nicaragua starts at about US $260 a month including all benefits such as healthcare, an extra month payment in December, four weeks holidays, and a retirement fund.

 

You can hire a gardener for about $10 -$15 a day depending on how long the day is going to be and how specialized the work is. On average gardeners work for 6-8 hours a day.

 

I’ve seen gardeners in Nicaragua who just...

The minimum wage for a full-time gardener in Nicaragua starts at about US $260 a month including all benefits such as healthcare, an extra month payment in December, four weeks holidays, and a retirement fund.

 

You can hire a gardener for about $10 -$15 a day depending on how long the day is going to be and how specialized the work is. On average gardeners work for 6-8 hours a day.

 

I’ve seen gardeners in Nicaragua who just sat there browsing the Internet all day. On the other hand, I’ve also seen gardeners who do an incredible job; more than I could even believe they would do in a day.

 

Getting good service in Nicaragua takes finding a good person, and usually finding the right people to work with starts with knowing the other expats around you.

 

My family and I live in a small complex with three homes. We have monthly fees included in our rent that pay for the caretaker who watches your property for security and does other things like cleaning the pool, gardening, etc. and stays in your home day and night.

 

(House and garden on  Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua,pictured.)

You can get everything, including American, Canadian, and any other radio stations through the internet here in Belize. I listened to my Canadian news stations through the Internet. Most people have Sirius XM satellite radio down here in Belize, too.

 

You can also use Pandora here in Belize. It is blocked in some countries, but not in Belize. We had Skype blocked here for a long time, but now it is all unblocked. Everybody has Pandora. A lot of people hook...

You can get everything, including American, Canadian, and any other radio stations through the internet here in Belize. I listened to my Canadian news stations through the Internet. Most people have Sirius XM satellite radio down here in Belize, too.

 

You can also use Pandora here in Belize. It is blocked in some countries, but not in Belize. We had Skype blocked here for a long time, but now it is all unblocked. Everybody has Pandora. A lot of people hook up their HD TV with Apple TV down here, too and they turn their Internet into smart TV and through your smart TV, you get Pandora. I listen to a lot of podcasts and I have TuneIn Radio as an app on my smart phone, so I can go to whatever you want and hear what I want.

 

People have data plans to pick up the Internet, but for the most part almost all resorts have hot spots and most of the restaurants have free Wi-Fi now, because they know that people will sit there all afternoon drinking coffee and ordering things because they've got Wi-Fi to use.

 

If you are nowhere near a hot spot, you can use your data plan, which can get expensive, but there is always a way around that with the new “Mifi.” Mifi is like a personal Wi-Fi, so you walk around with your own hotspot. It looks like a thick credit card. You stick it in your purse or your pocket. It is a lot cheaper than a data plan, but the charge could also depend on where you are. I have friends in Europe who pay a buck and get 4g. Here in Belize, I pay essentially more than a buck for it.

 

In comparison to many other countries within Europe, Portugal is cheap. However, salaries here are not as high in Portugal as they are in other European countries, so for the Portuguese or others working in Portugal, it is not as cheap. 

 

Compared with what you would pay in other countries, in Portugal is it cheap for excellent restaurants, very good wines and you can certainly eat very well inexpensively in Portugal.  Most people in Portugal...

In comparison to many other countries within Europe, Portugal is cheap. However, salaries here are not as high in Portugal as they are in other European countries, so for the Portuguese or others working in Portugal, it is not as cheap. 

 

Compared with what you would pay in other countries, in Portugal is it cheap for excellent restaurants, very good wines and you can certainly eat very well inexpensively in Portugal.  Most people in Portugal drink Portuguese wines.

 

Up until recently, the real estate market here in Portugal had been difficult. Recently, however, we’ve seen a big improvement because of the new laws introduced into Portugal, which has caused an influx of people coming into Portugal from the Schengen countries (European countries such as Sweden, France, and England, as well as many others). We’ve also seen a large increase in people coming to Portugal from non-Schengen countries such as South Africa and Brazil, whose citizens have been given Golden Visas. As a result of these factors and others, the real estate market has gone up and all of a sudden it’s like Portugal is being rediscovered. They’re actually calling Portugal "the Florida of Europe."

 

The prices for real estate in Portugal will depend on several factors, including location. The most desirable location now is Estoril or Cascais (west of Lisbon about 20 minutes), which has expanded a great deal. In this area, for a good 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment, you can pay €250,000 (about $264,900 / £176,000) or you can pay €400,000 (around $424,000 / £282,000) depending whether it’s in a condominium with a pool and security. 

 

Another hot market is for properties people buy for the rental market in which they make significant improvements.  They may purchase a a 2-bedroom apartment for €160,000 or €180,000 (about $170,000 / £113,000 to $191,000 / £127,000) and "do it all up" and either re-sell it for €300,000 (about $318,000 / £211,000) or keep it as a good rental. At the moment, to invest in that kind of thing here is a good idea because there’s less and less inventory.  There was a time we were saying, “Where are the clients?” Now we’re saying, “We need the products.”

 

Originally Cascais was a little fishing village and now it’s grown much larger to the point where it's quite a municipality. A lot of people would like to be in the center of Cascais, which is  walking distance to the train station, where you can take a train to Lisbon for about 25 minutes along the sea. Not everybody needs to take their car into Lisbon cause like anywhere else there’s always traffic in the morning that takes forever. 

 

Relative to food, you can spend per month from €120 - €150 (about $130 / £86   to $160 / £110) for general items in the supermarket for two people. There are a lot of people in Portugal who go to the local markets (individual stores; not supermarkets) here where you can get fish, meat, vegetables and fruit.  In Cascais the market is on Wednesday and Saturday, or you can up the coast, where the market is held over the weekend. The markets have products from all sorts of local farmers who get together and sell their produce.

 

If you went to a little family run restaurant for a very good meal for 4 people with wine, desert, and coffee you would probably pay anything from €40 to €60 (about $42 / £28 to $63 / £42). But then you can go to other restaurants which are along the coast and you can spend €300 (about $320 / £210) depending on the wine you get and which restaurant you choose. So there is a very good variety and selection of restaurants in which to dine. There is a variety and you do eat very well here. 

 

Relative to the cost for utilities, they have just privatized a lot of companies now and the electricity department, which was a state owned, now has a percentage of it owned by the Chinese. As a result, now you can put together your electricity and gas, for example.  The price for electricity has gone up to where, now, if you are in a 2-bedroom home, you would pay probably €78 (about $82 / £55). You don’t need to have your heater on all day long even in the winter. A lot of people will just have a fireplace or just put the heating unit on for a couple of hours. 

 

Compared to living in England, it is much cheaper to live in Portugal.  London is terribly expensive, so Portugal would probably cost half of what you would pay in England for living costs.

 

(Pictured: Cascais, Portugal )