Best Places In The World To Retire

Because of the very narrow streets and difficulty finding parking in San Miguel de Allende, it seems easier to me to walk everywhere.
 
However, I don’t always want to hike up a high incline street if I've done some shopping. Finding a cab is no problem for 35 pesos (less than US $2) daytime and 40 pesos (slightly more than US $2) after dark. I can take a bus across town for 6 pesos (about 33 cents).
 
I don't miss having to gas-up, buy insurance or worry about...

Because of the very narrow streets and difficulty finding parking in San Miguel de Allende, it seems easier to me to walk everywhere.
 
However, I don’t always want to hike up a high incline street if I've done some shopping. Finding a cab is no problem for 35 pesos (less than US $2) daytime and 40 pesos (slightly more than US $2) after dark. I can take a bus across town for 6 pesos (about 33 cents).
 
I don't miss having to gas-up, buy insurance or worry about any vehicle maintenance. Life seems less complicated without all that. 

 

( Steep streets of San Miguel Allende, Mexico, pictured.) 

I'm not technically allowed to give tax advice because I am not a licensed accountant, CPA, or tax attorney but I can comment that there are some generally well-known schemes.
 
For Americans, the bottom line is we're required to pay taxes on worldwide income regardless of where we live or for how long we lived there. You can move out of America and for never come back, but you still have to pay taxes. You still have to declare your taxes in America and pay whatever you owe.
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I'm not technically allowed to give tax advice because I am not a licensed accountant, CPA, or tax attorney but I can comment that there are some generally well-known schemes.
 
For Americans, the bottom line is we're required to pay taxes on worldwide income regardless of where we live or for how long we lived there. You can move out of America and for never come back, but you still have to pay taxes. You still have to declare your taxes in America and pay whatever you owe.
 
This is not the case for other countries.  In Spain, for example, if people want to change their tax domicile to a different country, they can do that. They wouldn't have to pay taxes and fees anymore. It's not like that in America. A lot of people think if they leave America that they don't have to pay taxes but that’s not true. You definitely need to hire a licensed person to look at your exact situation and give you advice. There are a lot of expats who are accountants out there. Qualified tax advice for expats is definitely something that's becoming more in demand as more people move and technology gets better and becomes easier and cheaper for people to travel and move around.
 
For US citizens, there’s also an income tax exclusion.  Over the years it has increased to now it’s over $100,000 per year.  There are a few different ways to qualify for it. One of the ways that people talk about it a lot is being outside of the country for 330 days a year. There are other ways to qualify for it. Any accountant who deals with these international matters would know.
 
Another thing to be aware of is that you have to declare your accounts. It's a pretty big topic. It's very complex and our tax code is very complex. There's a lot to think about. For this reason, I have never done my taxes on my own. It just gets complicated especially if you're living and working in more than one country. 
 
There are, perhaps, ways to reduce your US tax liability.  I know of a lot people who didn’t even file their taxes for 3 years or 5 years. Make sure you're on top of it so that you don't run into any sort of problems or penalties or things like that down the road. It's better to be upset about filing and paying now and get through it the right way than to avoid it and just assume that you don't have to pay anything and get in trouble later.

 

(Pictured: Kristin Wilson working in Costa Rica in a hammock.)

You will find lots of beautiful plants and trees in the Algarve. One example is the carob, which is the same fruit that exists in the Caribbean.  (The name of the region “Caribbean” comes from the word “carob”.) The carob bean in the Caribbean is longer and flatter, so the carob bean in Portugal is a shorter version of the Caribbean version of the carob. It’s kind of a scimitar-shaped bean around 15 centimeters long. Most of it is green and when it...

You will find lots of beautiful plants and trees in the Algarve. One example is the carob, which is the same fruit that exists in the Caribbean.  (The name of the region “Caribbean” comes from the word “carob”.) The carob bean in the Caribbean is longer and flatter, so the carob bean in Portugal is a shorter version of the Caribbean version of the carob. It’s kind of a scimitar-shaped bean around 15 centimeters long. Most of it is green and when it ripens it becomes brownish or dark reddish. It’s a very interesting product because it can be used in a number of things. It has an enzyme that is used in the pharmaceutical industry and as an additive for the drinks industry. It is also used as a substitute for chocolate in producing a sort of cocoa-tasting product used in the making cakes. Portugal is the third largest European and North African producer and exporter of the carob plant. There is quite a lot of tradition in Portugal linking back to the land.

 

The best time of the year to come and see flowering plants in Algarve is just after the rains, around autumn and again in the spring. We have a flowering area in the western Algarve called the Costa Vicentina, which is a natural reserve of many square kilometers with very little construction. Costa Vicentina has millions of very pretty wild flowers. You will see myriad colors. It is a wonderful place to go to for walkers, cyclists, ramblers, or even if you are just driving through.

 

In the mountains, in traditional areas like Alte, Salir, and Monchique, these are places that because of their height, elevation, and humidity tend to get a lot of flowering plants. Algarve is generally quite consistent with the rest of Portugal but it has a very dry climate. We don’t have much rain or cloudy days. The type of shrubs that exist here are small-leaved plants because these plants tend to do well in less humidity because the evaporation from the leave surface is lower, so they tend to survive better in dry climates. Many of these shrubs are very pretty. Portugal also has the olive tree, which blooms and is fantastic. We also have the almond tree, which is very famous. Probably Japan is the most famous for its almond and orange blossoms but Portugal has beautiful pink, lilac, and white almonds. We also have citrus trees like the orange trees, and a range of other flowering plants, which are very pretty.

 

Among the most famous local plants in the Algarve are the carob plant, the orange, almond, olive, and the fig tree. These are the traditional fruits of the Algarve and they all flower in a different way, which is very pretty. I have all these trees in my own garden.

 

(Carob plant, pictured.)

Biking In And Around Panama City

 

I live in Panama City in the Punta Pacifica area. During the week early mornings it is common to see lots of cyclists riding to the Coast way. They are back by 6:45 AM -7:15 AM. I have seen cycling groups gathering in Via Italia around 5:00 AM. Then over the weekend, especially on Sunday, the most common route includes Costa del Este to Coast way. But you can also ride...

Biking In And Around Panama City

 

I live in Panama City in the Punta Pacifica area. During the week early mornings it is common to see lots of cyclists riding to the Coast way. They are back by 6:45 AM -7:15 AM. I have seen cycling groups gathering in Via Italia around 5:00 AM. Then over the weekend, especially on Sunday, the most common route includes Costa del Este to Coast way. But you can also ride to Gamboa. That's is a more hilly route and extremely beautiful. Sundays is the perfect day for your long rides out of Panama City. Biking in and around Panama city is a lot safer over the weekend.  

Food in Nicaragua is not always spicy, yet they always have a bottle of hot sauce on the table. The natives love beans and rice, but steaks, hotdogs, and hamburgers are very common here, too. We have a German restaurant, two Chinese restaurants, and one Japanese sushi restaurant in Granada. But in Managua, they have all kinds of restaurants.

 

When we moved here, we did not find the food that different. We love churrasco (grilled meat) and it’s great....

Food in Nicaragua is not always spicy, yet they always have a bottle of hot sauce on the table. The natives love beans and rice, but steaks, hotdogs, and hamburgers are very common here, too. We have a German restaurant, two Chinese restaurants, and one Japanese sushi restaurant in Granada. But in Managua, they have all kinds of restaurants.

 

When we moved here, we did not find the food that different. We love churrasco (grilled meat) and it’s great. It is a thinner steak than what you would find in North America. When we cook steak, we tenderize the meat a bit more because it is a little leaner here in Nicaragua, and therefore tougher than we like. The more expensive cuts of steak tend to be a rarity here in Nicaragua. The cows here tend to be a bit leaner because they are not corn-fed; they are grass-fed.