Best Places In The World To Retire

The price for food in Mexico is probably no different than prices for food in the US. In fact, I would say, that generally speaking, labor is cheap, while goods in Mexico are expensive.
 
There are ways, if one is willing, to buy quite locally at a central market.  I don’t think there’s a city in Mexico that doesn’t have its own central market. If you want to spend less money, you can certainly buy the basics–vegetables, meat, fruits–...

The price for food in Mexico is probably no different than prices for food in the US. In fact, I would say, that generally speaking, labor is cheap, while goods in Mexico are expensive.
 
There are ways, if one is willing, to buy quite locally at a central market.  I don’t think there’s a city in Mexico that doesn’t have its own central market. If you want to spend less money, you can certainly buy the basics–vegetables, meat, fruits– and some other small items –rice, beans, spices, milk, butter– those kinds of things, in the central market and you can get them at a better price. If you go to the big grocery stores, you’re probably actually going for the most part pay a higher price than in the US.
 
I’ll give you an example.  We now can buy Tide laundry soap here. The small Tide costs around $23 in Mexico. That same size Tide at Walmart in the US is $11.  Goods like that that are imported are expensive.  A block of Tillamook cheddar cheese (which we don’t get very often) is somewhere around $8 and it’s just the regular size; it’s not like a big chunk. So there are certain items that are quite pricey. And generally speaking, groceries here are about the same price. You’re not going to save any money, unless you want to go to the market and get those things.  
 
When you go into the market, you can buy purses, dresses, blouses, jewelry, silver, and aloe vera, and one whole section is just groceries. They have fresh meat.  The vegetables are fresh, as they are brought in almost every single day.  The fruits are the same way.  It’s not quite as good of variety as you might find in the grocery store, but I can tell you it’s a lot fresher.
 
I don’t actually go to the market because it’s just crowded and right now, it’s too hot. Sometimes in the winter, I’ll go.  I’m just not going to go walk around in that sweltering building.  Also, I’m by myself so 2 apples is enough. If I were buying for a family, that would be a whole different thing. You know, a small box of rice is good enough for me. I don’t have to go over there and scoop a handful or scoopful of rice and beans. And I don’t cook very much, so I’m fine just going to the grocery store.  Mostly, that’s what works for me.
 
The grocery stores do have versions of the brands I would buy in the US at lower prices, but generally, I don’t like them. And, of course, I’m like a lot of American expats living in Mexico in that I make at least two trips a year in my car to the US, so I bring back my own laundry soap.
 
Where I live in Mazatlan (and I have no idea if this is typical all over Mexico), our water is really hard. As a result, your clothes just don’t last as long, and I don’t like the laundry soap here. (I’ve tried several) and I’m not going to spend $23 for Tide, so I buy Tide when I go to the US in a great big jug. And it will last me a year. 
 
I live in Mazatlan, which is a tourist destination beach community.  I’ve also lived in other tourist destination beach communities.  Anywhere in the world where you have this, you’re going to find that prices are a bit higher.  If you want to live further inland, I suspect you could buy at cheaper prices.
  

(Fruit stand in the central public market, Mazatlan, Mexico, pictured.)

 

There are American-trained doctors in Coronado, Panama and there are great health facilities in Coronado. Because of the people who live there, it is a great retirement area. Because of all the retirees, you tend to have people who need or want more types of doctors. There are more and more clinics, more visiting doctors that come to Coronado and to Panama City all the time. 
 
Because Coronado is just an hour from the Panama City, you can also get anything you need, whether...

There are American-trained doctors in Coronado, Panama and there are great health facilities in Coronado. Because of the people who live there, it is a great retirement area. Because of all the retirees, you tend to have people who need or want more types of doctors. There are more and more clinics, more visiting doctors that come to Coronado and to Panama City all the time. 
 
Because Coronado is just an hour from the Panama City, you can also get anything you need, whether it’s cosmetic surgery or just something you think you need in the city for a fraction of the price of what it would cost in a First World country. For example, from the US, there are a lot of people who come to Panama for medical tourism. If they need to have dental implants, it would cost about 25% of what it would cost in the US, so you save 75%.
 
Many of the doctors that I’ve been to in Panama have had practices in the US.  They’re Panamanians. In order to be a doctor here, they do have to be Panamanian. Either they were born here and then went to medical school in the US, stayed in the US, and had a practice, or they did training in the US. Almost every doctor who I’ve been to or talked to in Coronado has either had some sort of training or actually had a practice in the US.

 

(Pictured: logo of Hospital Nacional, in Panama City, Panama.)

Nicaragua is a birder's paradise. Many people choose to go to the more remote areas of Nicaragua to search for the exotic birds, but only 30 minutes from Managua, there is Montibelli Reserve and its neighbor Chocoyero El-Brujo Reserve.

 

My husband, who is a wildlife biologist, and I have visited both sites many times, including one overnight stay.  In Montibelli there are 4 two-person cabins and some rooms in a small lodge. The birding from the decks...

Nicaragua is a birder's paradise. Many people choose to go to the more remote areas of Nicaragua to search for the exotic birds, but only 30 minutes from Managua, there is Montibelli Reserve and its neighbor Chocoyero El-Brujo Reserve.

 

My husband, who is a wildlife biologist, and I have visited both sites many times, including one overnight stay.  In Montibelli there are 4 two-person cabins and some rooms in a small lodge. The birding from the decks of the cabin is wonderful and you can join a guide to hike along the trails. Chocoyero is the site you need to visit at dusk to watch the Pacific Parakeets come back to their nests and roost in the waterfall in the reserve. (See the picture above.)  Each day at sunrise they leave their nests and fly to Masaya Volcano, returning each evening. Spectacular and worth the short hike to the waterfall. Bring your binoculars.