Best Places In The World To Retire

First of all, when buying a house or other real estate in Portugal, you need to know what sort of property you’re looking for. Is it low maintenance? High maintenance? Do you want a garden? Do you want a bit more land? So it depends on the size of the property. If you’re looking to live in the city center or close to the city center, the properties tend to be smaller because there’s no space. There are a lot of people who want to live in the city or close to the city, so...

First of all, when buying a house or other real estate in Portugal, you need to know what sort of property you’re looking for. Is it low maintenance? High maintenance? Do you want a garden? Do you want a bit more land? So it depends on the size of the property. If you’re looking to live in the city center or close to the city center, the properties tend to be smaller because there’s no space. There are a lot of people who want to live in the city or close to the city, so the properties there tend to be smaller.
 
If you move out of the city center like I am, in Cascais, about 30 kilometers (about 18 miles) away from Lisbon, it used to be an old fishing village, so the houses have gardens and pools. If you go inland to the Alentejo area, there are a lot of farms and agricultural land. Do you want a small property in the city center in the middle of the buzz and museums and theaters and shopping centers or you want a taste of the rural life? So we have a bit of everything in Portugal.  
 
Real estate has been booming in Portugal.  We came with a new law a couple of years ago called the Golden Visa Law. Under this law, if you purchase a property over €500,000 (US $558,300) in Portugal, you get the right to have a Golden Visa so you can enter in and out of Europe as many times as you like. For instance, Asians, Indians, and Russians are dying for these visas, which has created a lot of interest in the real estate market in Portugal. So when there’s a lot of interest in the real estate market, there’s a lot of competition between real estate companies, and real estate companies have to improve their service.
 
There is a study survey for every single region of Portugal which will tell you how much is the selling price per square meter of construction and how much it costs the price of square meter of land.  With this information, you know exactly how much a particular property is worth in the market. And then you just have to compare it with the purchase price or the price that the person is asking for, so there’s not this difference and potentially overpaying.  A seller can try to price their property above market, but if a buyer is interested, he or she can just Google the area and search for price per square meter of that region and it tells you exactly not to pay between this amount and that amount, not over, not under; this is the right price to pay. And then you just have to confront the seller and try to get the right deal.  

 

(Alentejo, Portugal, pictured.)

If you have an interest or signature authority over foreign financial accounts that have a total balance exceeding $10,000 at any point of the year, you are required to file the FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report – Form TD F 90-22.1). The FBAR is separate from your income tax filing, and the due date for filing (starting in 2017) is April 15. To complete the FBAR, it is advisable to maintain records of your monthly account balances. Otherwise, the...

If you have an interest or signature authority over foreign financial accounts that have a total balance exceeding $10,000 at any point of the year, you are required to file the FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report – Form TD F 90-22.1). The FBAR is separate from your income tax filing, and the due date for filing (starting in 2017) is April 15. To complete the FBAR, it is advisable to maintain records of your monthly account balances. Otherwise, the paperwork may become a difficult exercise. Account balances need to be converted to U.S. dollars, using the F/X rate as of the last day of the year. Failure to report (non-willful) carries a penalty up to $10,000. Willful non-compliance potentially raises the penalty up to $100,000 or 50% of the taxpayer’s foreign assets (whichever is greater).

 

As of July 1, 2013, the FBAR has gone electronic, and is now called FinCEN 114. BTW, the acronym FinCen stands for Financial Crime Enforcement Network. The information required to be submitted remains the same.

The doctors in Corozal are typically trained in neighboring countries like Guatemala and Mexico. Often, they would have done residency in the United States, but this doesn't apply to all doctors in Corozal. As far as basic medical care goes, I feel like doctors in Corozal are reliable and as good as any primary care physician that you would get in the United States.
 
Drugs are available in Corozal that you might need for high blood pressure, diabetes, or any of the common...

The doctors in Corozal are typically trained in neighboring countries like Guatemala and Mexico. Often, they would have done residency in the United States, but this doesn't apply to all doctors in Corozal. As far as basic medical care goes, I feel like doctors in Corozal are reliable and as good as any primary care physician that you would get in the United States.
 
Drugs are available in Corozal that you might need for high blood pressure, diabetes, or any of the common illnesses that we start to see in older folks. The doctors are well versed in the treatment of illnesses and utilization of drugs. 

 

(Dr. Steven Wells, Dr. Amore Forde, Dr. Claudia Barnett, Camilla Leviste  and other volunteers from Belize Diabetes Association of New York visiting Belize, pictured. )

Certain areas of Panama are cheap.  Panama City itself is getting a little higher priced, in large part as a result of the influx of people coming in from places like North America who are used to paying higher prices.  Some of the better restaurants, for example, have increased their prices accordingly.  However, if you go to other places, for example, to Boquete, where I used to live, or other areas outside of the city itself, the prices are still very reasonable.
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Certain areas of Panama are cheap.  Panama City itself is getting a little higher priced, in large part as a result of the influx of people coming in from places like North America who are used to paying higher prices.  Some of the better restaurants, for example, have increased their prices accordingly.  However, if you go to other places, for example, to Boquete, where I used to live, or other areas outside of the city itself, the prices are still very reasonable.
 
Where we are now, in Tucan in the area called Arraijan (just over the Interamerica Bridge from Panama City), the prices are less than in Panama City.  Basically, when you cross over the bridge (which goes over the Panama Canal), you’re in the country.
 
The prices for food in Panama City are about the same as in Toronto, Canada, which is where I’m originally from.  Once you get out of Panama City to the rural areas, you can buy from smaller stores and vendors, where the prices drop down quite a bit.
 
Relative to housing, my experience is with new construction.  If you’re looking for a home, for example, in an existing, Panamanian area, the prices are a lot less than in Canada or the US.  The price for a home in a gated community such as Tucan or the other areas that are being built around here is about comparable to the prices for a gated community in Canada, but less than for a gated community in the US.
 
The homeowners insurance is quite cheap here in Panama because many of the homes are 100% concrete, so there’s not much of a fire hazard.  And tax-wise, for the new homes, the government is still offering the tax exemption for 20 years.
 
Electricity is reasonable.  For the unit we’re living in here, with the air conditioning running basically 24 hours a day, our hydro bill is running about $120 - $130 a month.  (For those who are not acquainted with the term, a “hydro bill” in Canada is an “electric bill” in the US.)  If you live up in the mountains, for example, in Boquete, there’s no need for air conditioning, because it’s cooler.  A friend of mine in Boquete pays $50 per month for electricity.