Best Places In The World To Retire

The crime rate in Yucatan is very low, and especially low against foreigners.
 
There were two foreigners who died here recently because each one had a heart attack.  One of them was doing some job in the north of the city and died in the hotel in the centro.  The foreigners who have died here generally die from natural causes.
 
I have heard about some houses on the beaches around Merida being robbed because they were not protected, but not around Merida...

The crime rate in Yucatan is very low, and especially low against foreigners.
 
There were two foreigners who died here recently because each one had a heart attack.  One of them was doing some job in the north of the city and died in the hotel in the centro.  The foreigners who have died here generally die from natural causes.
 
I have heard about some houses on the beaches around Merida being robbed because they were not protected, but not around Merida itself.  (Merida is a city of about a million people that is the capital of the state of Yucatan, in the Yucatan Peninsula.)
 
The people in Merida do have burglar bars on their windows.  I just finished building my home and I installed alarms, an electric fence, and strong windows, just in case because I suffered two robberies in the last 5 years, so I don’t want to get robbed to again.  That's my personal experience.  However, I know many people who have lived here for many  years who have never suffered a robbery. But in my case and in my home, I suffered twice in the last 5 years. 
 
Feeling safe walking the streets in Merida is not a problem. There is no crime on the street at night. No, that doesn’t happen.  I am not afraid to walk the streets at night in Merida by myself and I am not afraid to have my wife or children walk the streets, either.  
 
Cancun is different because Cancun is an area where the drug dealers are fighting. In Cancun and Playa del Carmen there’s a lot of prostitution, drugs and alcoholism, so it’s different. That’s why the government here in the state of Yucatan is always checking the vehicles getting in and going out of the state.  There is only two roads to access our state of Yucatan. The access from the state of Campeche and you can access from the state of Quintana Roo, which has Cancun, Playa Blanca and Tulum.  The government always has police people on those roads checking all vehicles arriving to Merida, just to make sure that it stays safe.

 

(Home in Cancun, Mexico, pictured.)

• The weather is superb. The Algarve has than 3,000 hours and 300 days of sunlight. The Algarve has more sunlight and more sunny days than California. The weather is very similar to Southern California—San Diego, Santa...

• The weather is superb. The Algarve has than 3,000 hours and 300 days of sunlight. The Algarve has more sunlight and more sunny days than California. The weather is very similar to Southern California—San Diego, Santa Barbara—that kind of area. The Algarve also receives very little rainfall. It doesn’t get very hot, and it doesn’t get very cold. Whatever heat we get in the summer is moderated by the Atlantic, which keeps things moderate.

• The cost of living is very reasonable, if not low—certainly low in European standards.

• The healthcare is good. We have a great public healthcare system, and one in which, under certain circumstances, expats can participate.

• The Algarve is very safe.

• Most people in the Algarve speak English.

• There’s a huge range of activities to do in the Algarve even in the winter, whether it be sporting, wellness, or cultural.

• There is an existing expat population in the Algarve so it’s quite easy to integrate and you’ll probably easily find someone of your nationality. And if you don’t like your own nationality you’ll find someone with somebody else’s nationality. So there are plenty of options there.

• Generally speaking, people just like living here. They like the Portuguese people and the way that they are; the friendly nature of the local folk. 

• Portugal is probably the most tax efficient country in Europe at the moment. It has no income tax on pensions for most pensioners. It has no inheritance tax. It has no wealth tax. So there are a number of advantages from a taxation perspective that draws many people to Portugal and to the Algarve in specific.

• Portugal is a fairly bureaucratic country, so as a retiree even though the system is being simplified, initially come prepared for a little bit of bureaucracy. It will take a little bit of time to get things organized.  Dealing with public bodies is not easy at all. I’m someone who lives most of my time outside Portugal and therefore when I’m here I always feel a little bit frustrated by having to deal with public sector bodies that take too long and many times they don’t give you the right answer at the first go, so you have to be very careful about the advice that you take from them and double check it. It helps to have someone on the ground to help you along if you’re moving to the country just to make sure you avoid any mistakes and make sure that the transition goes smoothly.

• Getting Internet connectivity may be a bit of an issue. Once it’s working, it’s great. But it just takes a little bit of time to get things set up and organized.

• If you are thinking of building, planning, or constructing something, there may be challenges. If you have a passion to buy a piece of land and build a house, take great care because it’s a fairly long process and you need to make sure that planning is in place that you are authorized and build and develop what you want. And it’s something to be handled very, very carefully.

• Another challenge here in the Algarve for some people is that there are certain items that are not competitively priced, for example, electronics, motor vehicles, and fuel. So shop around. This is not necessary a negative point. In every country there are expensive or less expensive things. When you move and retire to the Algarve, make sure that you shop around because by doing so you can cut your cost of living tremendously.

San Pedro is the town which is right at the center of Ambergris Caye, and that is where most of the businesses are run. You will find a lot of tourist shops, restaurants, bars, and hotels in San Pedro.
 
Just outside the town of San Pedro, you come into what people call the South Community. They have several restaurants and they have their own security there, too. We have local accommodation areas on the lagoon-side of the island like DFC, San Mateo, San Pedrito or San Juan where...

San Pedro is the town which is right at the center of Ambergris Caye, and that is where most of the businesses are run. You will find a lot of tourist shops, restaurants, bars, and hotels in San Pedro.
 
Just outside the town of San Pedro, you come into what people call the South Community. They have several restaurants and they have their own security there, too. We have local accommodation areas on the lagoon-side of the island like DFC, San Mateo, San Pedrito or San Juan where expats do not go very often because there is no reason for us to go. This is where the local Belizeans live. You will see some houses made of timber and on stilts. You will also find some well-build houses where an expat or a wealthy Belizean might have built a home.  
 
We also have Tres Cocos, which is where you will find the more expensive expatriate homes on the beachfront, just north of San Pedro town. Going on past there, you will pass through a row of resorts and lots of high-end houses going all the way up toward the end of the island.
 
So there are several communities here and as Ambergris Caye develops, these places become even more built up and become more affluent.

The good private schools are now extending up to the Pacific beach areas to the west of Panama City. There are at least two schools in the Coronado area. In Panama Pacifico, which is the new master planned community across the Panama Canal, across the bridge, you will find the new Panama Pacifico Academy. 

If you become a non-resident then no you do not have to file taxes.  Becoming a non-resident is a matter of selling all property and closing all personal accounts.  You can leave your RRSP's in Canada but no other ties to the country can remain.  Once you become a non-resident then you do not need to file yearly taxes.  If you are not a non-resident then you will need to file your taxes every year.  

If you become a non-resident then no you do not have to file taxes.  Becoming a non-resident is a matter of selling all property and closing all personal accounts.  You can leave your RRSP's in Canada but no other ties to the country can remain.  Once you become a non-resident then you do not need to file yearly taxes.  If you are not a non-resident then you will need to file your taxes every year.