Best Places In The World To Retire

One of the biggest advantages of living at the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area is the existence of Guadalajara less than an hour away.  Like many things in the Lake Chapala area, the existence of a 5 million inhabitant city close enough but not too close is just right.
 
Very fortunately, the airport in Guadalajara, Guadalajara International Airport (officially known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla) is located at the southern edge of Guadalajara, which is the edge closest to Lake...

One of the biggest advantages of living at the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area is the existence of Guadalajara less than an hour away.  Like many things in the Lake Chapala area, the existence of a 5 million inhabitant city close enough but not too close is just right.
 
Very fortunately, the airport in Guadalajara, Guadalajara International Airport (officially known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla) is located at the southern edge of Guadalajara, which is the edge closest to Lake Chapala.  This means that, in order to use the airport, residents from Lake Chapala don’t have to first drive through Guadalajara to get to it.
 

While a very small fraction of the size of an airport like LAX, or the airports in Chicago or Dallas, the airport in Guadalajara does have some direct flights to the US and Canada.  Flights to the US that are not direct usually have one stop-over.  If you’re flying to more exotic locations, perhaps in Europe, you could also go through the airport in Mexico City.
 
One of the great advantages of the relative size of the airport in Guadalajara is that it is quite manageable.  It’s easy to get in to and easy to leave.  There is parking right next to the terminal at very reasonable prices.

 

Another great advantage (and this goes for any airport in Mexico) is that travel from one airport to another airport in Mexico is extremely reasonable.  For example, you can fly from Guadalajara to Juarez (walking distance from El Paso) for about USD $30 one way (no; that's not a typo).
 
Interested in moving to Mexico?  Visit Best Mexico Movers.

Personally, I think the most compelling reason to retire overseas is that life here is so much more interesting.  Everything is different, so the mundane is actually a source of novelty.

 

Personally, I think the most compelling reason to retire overseas is that life here is so much more interesting.  Everything is different, so the mundane is actually a source of novelty.

 

As both a visitor and as an investor the straight answer is that yes, Nicaragua is cheap, very much so if you look beyond the larger resorts and development projects. There are areas of the country that have developed faster than others and where prices have risen more quickly but even in established places like Granada and San Juan del Sur it is still possible to find good value. Emerging destinations such as Ometepe, Leon and some of the smaller pacific coast communities offer...

As both a visitor and as an investor the straight answer is that yes, Nicaragua is cheap, very much so if you look beyond the larger resorts and development projects. There are areas of the country that have developed faster than others and where prices have risen more quickly but even in established places like Granada and San Juan del Sur it is still possible to find good value. Emerging destinations such as Ometepe, Leon and some of the smaller pacific coast communities offer excellent investment opportunities.

When I first came to Nicaragua in 2006 to look for land to develop my project I focused my property search on the more established areas along the pacific coast but was eventually tempted to invest in land on Ometepe island precisely because of the cheaper prices coupled with the obvious growth potential.

While prices for many goods and materials may not necessarily be that much cheaper than in the US, labor costs are low and help make it cheaper to build or to run a business. Typically a day-laborer on a construction project will cost less than  US $1 p/hr and you will struggle to pay more than $1.50 for a very decent local beer!

No, if you move or visit Portugal, you do not have to worry about diseases that are typical in tropical countries, which is not the case in Portugal. Although the climate is hotter than in most European countries, Portugal has a temperate climate (it has the same latitude as Virginia or Maryland), which does not allow such diseases to exist. There are no medical restrictions or warnings for travel to Portugal.

 

(Sao Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal, pictured.)

No, if you move or visit Portugal, you do not have to worry about diseases that are typical in tropical countries, which is not the case in Portugal. Although the climate is hotter than in most European countries, Portugal has a temperate climate (it has the same latitude as Virginia or Maryland), which does not allow such diseases to exist. There are no medical restrictions or warnings for travel to Portugal.

 

(Sao Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal, pictured.)

Then you have the area of Casco Antiguo proper, which runs from roughly 1^st street to 10^th street.  This is the traditional / core area of Casco Antiguo. Most of the historical monuments are in this area, including the church that was built in the 1700s.   It’s also where most of the restaurants and plazas are located and where most of the activities take place.