Best Places In The World To Retire

First of all, before you remodel in Mexico, ask a lot of questions. Talk to a lot of people, and get references. Ideally, if you can, even go and see houses that have been remodeled and who did the job. We were very fortunate in our remodel, partially by accident, in terms of the contractor we chose as well as, by a quirk of fate, that our friend in Cancun had an aunt who lived here in Valladolid and her husband happened to be an American Vietnam War Veteran, who was managing a small...

First of all, before you remodel in Mexico, ask a lot of questions. Talk to a lot of people, and get references. Ideally, if you can, even go and see houses that have been remodeled and who did the job. We were very fortunate in our remodel, partially by accident, in terms of the contractor we chose as well as, by a quirk of fate, that our friend in Cancun had an aunt who lived here in Valladolid and her husband happened to be an American Vietnam War Veteran, who was managing a small hotel close by.  (Valladolid is the town I live in, which is half way between Cancun and Merida.)  We talked him into being our construction manager and he managed the project on our behalf because my wife and I were still both living and working in Chicago then. So we couldn’t go down here to see how the job was going. 
 
If you are going to remodel, you have to do your homework in terms of seeing the work of the contractor you are going to hire. We also had an extremely good architect and there are a number of them here both in Valladolid as well as in Merida. Our architect happened to come from Merida.
 
There are a lot of very talented workers here. You will find good construction workers building and repairing walls, putting up new roofs, laying marble floors, and putting marble on the walls in the bathroom. We were paying about US $6 to $8 a day for some of those workers who basically got here a little after it got light because they like to work early especially during the summer and quit work at around 3 or 4 PM. 
 
Almost all of the furniture, (except the upholstered pieces in our house, which we bought from a store in Cancun), such as the end tables, chairs around the game table, my desk, our dining room table and chairs, and cabinets, were all built here in Valladolid. There are some very talented workshops here.
 
The thing that you do need to be sensitive to are the insects. Just like in Florida, insects here live all year round and termites can be a problem. So all the things and furniture that we had made out of wood are made of cedar, which is somewhat impervious to insects. You wouldn’t want to build something out of pine our any other kind of soft wood because they are more prone to potential problems with termites. Once every 5 years, we have a major fumigation at our house. Every 3 months, people come around and spray along the floorboards in all the rooms of the house to make sure that we don’t have any beetles or cockroaches.  

 

(John Venator's high-walled house in the state he found it before his renovation in Valladolid, Mexico, pictured.)

Portugal is divided into three regions—north, center, and south. The southern part of Portugal is more rural and is where we tend to get a lot of European expats from Germany, England, and France. The center of Portugal, where Lisbon is included, we tend to get other nationalities, such as Brazilians, we’re starting to get some Americans, Canadians, and even from Asia; Japanese. And then in the north of Portugal, we get a lot of expats from the the wine producing countries,...

Portugal is divided into three regions—north, center, and south. The southern part of Portugal is more rural and is where we tend to get a lot of European expats from Germany, England, and France. The center of Portugal, where Lisbon is included, we tend to get other nationalities, such as Brazilians, we’re starting to get some Americans, Canadians, and even from Asia; Japanese. And then in the north of Portugal, we get a lot of expats from the the wine producing countries, people from New Zealand, Chile, and South Africa because this region is very famous because of the Port Wine.  There are a lot of wine vineyards up north in Portugal and these people come to retire because of the weather, because of the lifestye, and many other factors. They tend to come straight to the north of Portugal.  There are also a lot of old beautiful palaces and villas for which the purchase price in Portugal is very affordable for people coming from these countries. So it tends to be divided. Europeans go more to the south of Portugal, the wine-producing countries go to the north of Portugal, and in Lisbon it’s a mixture of many cultures.
 
In order to make any generalizations about the expats in Portugal depends a lot on the age factor.  Several weeks ago the Portuguese Tourism Board released a brilliant video just with foreigners, expats talking about our country. In this video are shown people from all ages, from all sectors talking about our country. From a scientist to doctors, to architects—every single field is represented and there’s someone telling their story about Portugal.
 
The view of these people of Portugal is that it’s great living here.  When, as a country, we struggled economically a few years ago, we immediately understood that we’re dependent on every single penny that entered our country. So for a long time, 500 years ago when we started discovering the world, we’re all in contact with many cultures and we had to have a lot of public relations in our blood to achieve what we did. We negotiated with India, Asia, Brazil, and that made us a very easygoing culture. We’ve adapted through all these years and when we had the economic struggle a few years ago, we knew immediately that we had to treat foreigners very well coming here so they would remain and they would spend their money here and they would help us economically. So therefore, we got used to that way to exchange information with foreigners and the process had been like this for the last 20 or 30 years.
 
In Portugal we like foreigners because the foreigners have done a lot of good for us that helped develop our country. So we are very grateful for the foreigners; very, very grateful. And we all have open smiles, we open our houses to foreigners, we invite them with food because we’re so eager for them to get to know our culture that we receive them very well. Our opinion about foreigners is wonderful; it’s great, absolutely great. 
 
Recently, there have been a few issues because the European Union now is wide open, and because of all these problems with the Middle East and we have become a bit suspicious of some of the people from Middle Eastern countries, but with the rest of the world we are completely open-hearted.  

 

(Visitors at Blue Hostel and Suites, Cascais,  Portugal, pictured.)

You can receive your Social Security check benefits in Panama.  I feel the best way is through direct deposit into your Panama bank account.  It is easy, safe and reliable.  I can only receive Social security via direct deposit in Panama.  All other benefits need to come by wire transfer or a mailed check.  I use a mail service out of Miami, Florida which sends my mail to a location close to where I live.  Mail Boxes, etc. seems to be good...

You can receive your Social Security check benefits in Panama.  I feel the best way is through direct deposit into your Panama bank account.  It is easy, safe and reliable.  I can only receive Social security via direct deposit in Panama.  All other benefits need to come by wire transfer or a mailed check.  I use a mail service out of Miami, Florida which sends my mail to a location close to where I live.  Mail Boxes, etc. seems to be good and reliable in Panama.

Yes, there are poisonous reptiles, snakes and insects in Panama. As in any other part of the world, the more rural the area in which you are located, the more chances you will have to run into one of these. But most of the time these types of animals are hard to find, so don't go out into nature fearing that you will see one because most likely you won't.

 

On a side note, I have read that during dry season (January to April) snakes do try to wander around...

Yes, there are poisonous reptiles, snakes and insects in Panama. As in any other part of the world, the more rural the area in which you are located, the more chances you will have to run into one of these. But most of the time these types of animals are hard to find, so don't go out into nature fearing that you will see one because most likely you won't.

 

On a side note, I have read that during dry season (January to April) snakes do try to wander around wet areas like small rivers and ponds, so if you go out for walk in nature on a summer day, just be a little extra cautious but enjoy the trip. Most animals are afraid of humans and they will likely avoid any contact.

Starting a business is pretty straightforward because the government encourages it. All you need to show is a bank statement. It’s not a joke. All you have to show is a proof of your financial capacity, and you are welcome.  You will get your residency and work permit if you show a business plan and show that you are going to contribute to the economy; that is the only question that they will ask you. If you are going to come to Belize to retire or work, they will ask you what you are going to take and what you are going to give.

I am a guest in Nicaragua and have no comments on the politics. Nor should any other expat as far as I’m concerned.

I am a guest in Nicaragua and have no comments on the politics. Nor should any other expat as far as I’m concerned.