Best Places In The World To Retire

Living in Chapala and Ajijic is like living in the United States about 30 years ago. It is a less regulated society. You have more personal accountability. Mexico is not a very litigious society yet but I’m sure that will change over time.

 

Chapala and Ajijic are still Mexican communities so we still have the traditional comidas in the afternoon to take lunch when you will see families getting together for lunch between 2 to 4 PM. We also have a...

Living in Chapala and Ajijic is like living in the United States about 30 years ago. It is a less regulated society. You have more personal accountability. Mexico is not a very litigious society yet but I’m sure that will change over time.

 

Chapala and Ajijic are still Mexican communities so we still have the traditional comidas in the afternoon to take lunch when you will see families getting together for lunch between 2 to 4 PM. We also have a good-sized expat / foreign community so they hold breakfasts for the gringos. They also go to different places from noon to 1 PM to have lunch. Then, the Mexicans come for lunch from 2 PM to 4 PM. It is a really interesting community because it is a real blend of the cultures but it still is predominantly a Mexican culture, which is why many people like it.

 

The pace of life in the Chapala / Ajijic area is based around family. Families are very important here still and you see them together all the time. It is a very gentile and polite society. People in the street say “Buenos dias” and “Buenos tardes.” They hold the door open and there is a certain amount of respect for elderly people that you can see on the streets.

 

The lifestyle of people here is slow compared to the States and other parts of the world and less hectic.   We have a pretty substantial full time community (approximately 10-12,000 foreigners) but there are also distinct seasons as well.

 

During the Snowbird or winter season, you will experience lots of arts and music festivals like the Northern Lights Festival that is sponsored by Scotiabank from Canada. During the winter, there are a lot of part-timers here so the non-profit organizations hold a lot of galas to raise money for orphanages, student scholarships, medical care, etc. There are a lot of activities from November through April here in Chapala and Ajijic.

 

Then after Easter, things slow down until the Sunbird season. When our rainy season starts here in Chapala and Ajijic around mid-June, it cools everything down and you will see a lot of Texans and Floridians, and people from hot climates in the US like Arizona, coming in order to get out of the heat.

 

Chapala and Ajijic is an interesting community and very cyclical. It’s a little seasonal in the sense of activities and the amount of activities but the most important thing about life here is, depending on where you live, whether it is in Ajijic or in a little pueblo like San Antonio, or in Chapala proper, you will find that each one has their own characteristics. Each one has their own vibe and ambiance. Each geographic area is unique in some way, but overall, living in the area is a very relaxed lifestyle. It is the land of mañana so things do not always happen when people say they will. People just need to get used to it because it is part of the lifestyle here. A lot of people adapt to the lifestyle of Chapala and Ajijic quite well and enjoy it.

 

(Pictured: Poster for expat band, The TallBoys Band from Ajijic, Mexico.)

You can receive your Social Security check outside of the US directly to a foreign bank account. However, there is some paperwork that is required to do this. It's easier to have your Social Security check deposited into a US bank account and just access that money through a debit card. 

 

There is absolutely no US law that states that if you're living outside of the United States, you're not entitled to Social Security anymore. If you're...

You can receive your Social Security check outside of the US directly to a foreign bank account. However, there is some paperwork that is required to do this. It's easier to have your Social Security check deposited into a US bank account and just access that money through a debit card. 

 

There is absolutely no US law that states that if you're living outside of the United States, you're not entitled to Social Security anymore. If you're entitled to Social Security, where you're living is completely irrelevant because you paid into the system. 

 

A lot of expats who continue to work for US companies but live abroad still pay into the Social Security system even while living abroad. They may be able to avoid income taxes, but they'd be paying into Social Security. For self-employed expats, they're basically the employer as well as the employee, so they pay both sides of Social Security taxes—as an employer, and as an employee.

 

(Castillo de San Felipe, Rio Dulce, Guatemala, pictured.)

The only airport in Algarve is the one in Faro. Faro is probably the busiest airport in Portugal after Lisbon. It serves flights from many destinations. They have all year round flights into Portugal from many European destinations, including the UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, and the list goes on. There are also seasonal flights from as far away as Canada. There are times when there are direct flights into Faro from Toronto, Canada. It’s quite interesting to see that there...

The only airport in Algarve is the one in Faro. Faro is probably the busiest airport in Portugal after Lisbon. It serves flights from many destinations. They have all year round flights into Portugal from many European destinations, including the UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, and the list goes on. There are also seasonal flights from as far away as Canada. There are times when there are direct flights into Faro from Toronto, Canada. It’s quite interesting to see that there are already some companies in North America that have identified the opportunity of the Algarve for the North American market and they are putting up flights to address those opportunities. 

 

The population of the Algarve is about 300,000 and there are between 5 and 6 million arrivals at Faro Airport per year. It is a fairly substantial airport, which has undergone a number of renovations and expansions.

 

There are a couple of small airstrips in the Algarve as well, which are used for private planes, parachuting activities, and helicopters. The next closest airport is in Beja, which is the province above the Algarve and in Baixo Alentejo.

 

Many people drive in order to catch a flight to Lisbon and then rent a car and drive down to the Algarve or catch a bus going to the Algarve. Lisbon is 300 kilometers, or 180 miles more or less from the Algarve. There are many flights from the US into Lisbon and to Faro. The East Coast of the US is fairly well connected to Lisbon. We have flights from New York, JFK, Miami, etc. On the other hand, we don’t have flights coming from the West Coast. If you are going to Lisbon from the West Coast, you have to go to the East Coast first then take a flight from there into Lisbon.

 

(Airport terminal in Faro, Portugal, pictured.)

The economy in San Juan del Sur is growing rapidly. It’s encouraging to see the new stores we have. Everywhere you see tin shacks being converted to concrete homes and stores. Beautification is happening everywhere on sidewalks.

 

San Juan del Sur is growing and changing steadily. It’s not happening at an insane pace; it’s happening steadily, which is nice to see. 

 

We’ve just had a $4.5 million...

The economy in San Juan del Sur is growing rapidly. It’s encouraging to see the new stores we have. Everywhere you see tin shacks being converted to concrete homes and stores. Beautification is happening everywhere on sidewalks.

 

San Juan del Sur is growing and changing steadily. It’s not happening at an insane pace; it’s happening steadily, which is nice to see. 

 

We’ve just had a $4.5 million investment into a new marina and port for where the cruise ships dock. They just finished it. It’s a park, there’s going to be new restaurants, etc.   It’s very, very nicely designed and we can’t wait to go check that out. The economy continues to improve nicely.  

 

The economy in San Juan del Sur based on or mostly on tourism and people in construction as the result of people moving in, and commercial fishing. The ocean is right here and so all the restaurants serve fresh fish every single day and there’s got to be a fishing industry to provide all the restaurants in San Juan del Sur. We have fresh fish every day and the fish market is a great place to go to every morning if you’re up early. You can get the catch as the fishermen bring them in.  

 

(San Juan del Sur business district, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, pictured.)