Best Places In The World To Retire

Reasons to retire overseas?

Reasons to retire overseas?

• Health insurance.  Panamá has great medical care, with all kind of professionals at all budgets, from walk-inn clinics at US $15.00 per office visit, to "expensive" surgeries and treatments; some of them as particular as reconstruction, dental implants, plastic surgeries or even organ transplants.  Panamá offers all that, and more.  Panamá Is connected with recognized hospitals in the United States like the John Hopkins that work hand-in-hand with Hospital Punta Pacífica, situated in the city of Panamá.

• Medical care. Complicated X-Rays, trauma procedures, thermal mammograms, or surgeries guided by a radiologist  through computer, among others, are specific medical services offered in Panamá, as well as all kinds of natural, homeopathic or other kinds of alternative medicine.  And talking about spas... make your choice.  Spread out within the city and the "interior" (countryside) you just have to pick one in the many little towns, or the modern resorts.

• Lower taxes is another great benefit.  Not only property taxes, but sales taxes, and, best of all, great discounts for legal resident retirees for airline tickets, restaurants, medications, movies, metro, among others.

• Investing in Panamá is a plus.  With the worldwide crisis, Panamá´s growth is the envy of many countries, even those much larger and considered within the major developed world.

• Weather, for many is an  extremely important issue.  While there are all this crazy snow storms in the past years breaking records, and Panamá has beautiful sunshine all year round.  Also, Panamá has no earthquakes, no tornados, no tsunamis, or those kind of natural disaster. Panamá is truly blessed.

• Another issue to consider is nutrition.  Panamá offers a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, full of vitamins.  Grocery prices, in general, are very inexpensive.  Food prices are especially low if you have the ability to grow your very own in your back yard, or go to the various "public fairs" where grocery prices are ridiculously low, for example, a bag of 20 pounds of white rice is $6.50, or a bunch of beautiful celery is 75 cents.  What a delighted life!

• And last, but not least, is the overall environment.  Very friendly people, beautiful beaches, mountains, excellent social life (no matter what your budget is), rivers,fishing, golfing, relaxation, restaurants in every corner, and on and on. And if you like shopping, by all means, this is your place.  Panamá has the most modern malls with merchandise from all over the world, at prices that you never imagine.

• Negative things...?  Absolutely.  No country is perfect.  But if you are willing to change your way of thinking, in order to live a better quality life, and take the time to try to understand the language... your retirement  in Panamá will be the best decision you ever made.

Yes, you can get a good caregiver in Portugal. But the way to do it in Portugal is not to just put an advert and wait for people to knock on your door and expect someone who is brilliant. You have to to have references like any other country in the world. Even in America, if you want a babysitter, you want references. You want someone who knows that person and that’s exactly the same here in Portugal.
 
In Portugal there’s no difficulty in finding in people because...

Yes, you can get a good caregiver in Portugal. But the way to do it in Portugal is not to just put an advert and wait for people to knock on your door and expect someone who is brilliant. You have to to have references like any other country in the world. Even in America, if you want a babysitter, you want references. You want someone who knows that person and that’s exactly the same here in Portugal.
 
In Portugal there’s no difficulty in finding in people because the unemployment rate in Portugal at the moment is 18%. So a lot of people, the unemployed, when they cannot find jobs, they apply for either taking care of children or elder people, so it’s actually quite easy to find that sort of help. You get people who would really take care, bathe the elder people, cook them a proper meal, all of this. But if the elder gets sick or has a stroke or something, they would not be prepared to help them medically. They would have to call 112, which is our version of 911. 
 
You can hire more sophisticated help such as nurses, but then the price increases a lot. You can have an average healthcare worker with no medical experience full-time working for you for €700 to €800 (US $780 to $890) a month. A live- in person would cost around $1,000 a month.  If it’s a person with medical expertise and a degree, it will cost you triple.
 

 

(Portuguese women at work, pictured.)

In general, Panamanians speak Spanish. Spanish the main language here but there are some people who do speak English. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, people find ways to help you and if they can’t, then they will find someone who can help. The locals here are not very good in speaking English but they are very willing to learn.
 
Also, there are a lot of expats in Coronado who teach locals how to speak English. There are a lot of expats in Coronado so most foreigners...

In general, Panamanians speak Spanish. Spanish the main language here but there are some people who do speak English. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, people find ways to help you and if they can’t, then they will find someone who can help. The locals here are not very good in speaking English but they are very willing to learn.
 
Also, there are a lot of expats in Coronado who teach locals how to speak English. There are a lot of expats in Coronado so most foreigners do not worry about coming here because they know that they would easily bump into somebody who does speak English.
 
The people in the service industries really try to speak English if they are serving foreign guests even if they do not know a lot of English words. Overall, you don’t have to worry that you won’t get by if you don’t know how to speak Spanish because in Coronado, there will always be someone who knows how to speak Spanish and English and they’re usually willing to help.

 

(Vasco Nunez de Balboa, conquering Panama for Spain, pictured.)

As the saying goes: the contract is only as good as the people who sign it. There are elements of trust involved. Whether in English or Spanish, they are both equally legal as long as they show the will of the parties. However to me, the importance of contracts is the answer to this question: what happens if someone breaches contract?

 

In that regard, you have to look into the enforceability of the document. As a fellow contributor said, English documents have one...

As the saying goes: the contract is only as good as the people who sign it. There are elements of trust involved. Whether in English or Spanish, they are both equally legal as long as they show the will of the parties. However to me, the importance of contracts is the answer to this question: what happens if someone breaches contract?

 

In that regard, you have to look into the enforceability of the document. As a fellow contributor said, English documents have one more step (translation) to enforce it, than those in Spanish. In Spanish, you can have private documents or Public Deeds signed before a Notary, with the latter the more easily enforceable, as notaries have Public Faith. And since we are talking Real Estate, if it affects Real Estate rights (promises of sale, leases, mortgages, etc.), you should be able to register a Public Document in the Public Records. This way it´s not only an obligation between the parties, but it is also of Public Knowledge, so no one can claim that they were not aware of your rights over certain Real Estate.

 

Public Deeds before a Notary and registration increase your expenses, but it also helps you sleep better at night - you´d pay more for a comfy bed than for sleeping on the floor!