Best Places In The World To Retire

You will find different kinds of expats in Chapala and Ajijic. There are expats who came here because of the cheaper cost of living. There are expats who came here to learn more about Mexico, to learn Spanish, and to experience living the Mexican way. There are expats who came here for the nice weather.

 

And there are expats who are very happy to be here because they have friends here. There are people who never had so many friends in their life as much as...

You will find different kinds of expats in Chapala and Ajijic. There are expats who came here because of the cheaper cost of living. There are expats who came here to learn more about Mexico, to learn Spanish, and to experience living the Mexican way. There are expats who came here for the nice weather.

 

And there are expats who are very happy to be here because they have friends here. There are people who never had so many friends in their life as much as the friends that they have now in Ajijic because now they don’t live in a rat race. They don’t have to wake up early, go to work, come home, and repeat the same thing the next day. They now have time to meet people so they make friends.  Plus, they have the time and the money to do it.  

 

(The malecon, the boardwalk in Ajijic, Mexico, pictured.)

Typically for most Americans, Canadians and Europeans, the best reasons to retire involve having a less expensive lifestyle, and to do something different. They happen to be older, they want to see new things, to be able to experience new things, and they’re excited to be part of an adventure. Sometimes these two reasons come together in the same person. 

 

Moving overseas is an adventure. Whenever you move anywhere new, you’re learning new...

Typically for most Americans, Canadians and Europeans, the best reasons to retire involve having a less expensive lifestyle, and to do something different. They happen to be older, they want to see new things, to be able to experience new things, and they’re excited to be part of an adventure. Sometimes these two reasons come together in the same person. 

 

Moving overseas is an adventure. Whenever you move anywhere new, you’re learning new things. As far as the cost of living is concerned, I tell people that it is up to you. You can live inexpensively here in Panama, but if you want, you can also spend too much money. It really, really depends on the individual. If you have to have some sort of special food that has to be frozen or flown in from the United States, it’s going to be expensive. As an example, ice cream, brought down from the US.  We have plenty of it here but I don’t buy it. I buy local ice cream or ice cream from neighboring countries because it’s good and it’s a lot cheaper.

 

A lot of how much of an adventure you’re going to have and how inexpensively you live really depends on your willingness to try new things and look around.  For example, we have a lot of agricultural places to buy fruits and vegetables that are much cheaper than the big supermarkets in the city, but you have to find them and go visit them in order to take advantage of those lower prices.  If you don’t want to do that and you just want to go to the supermarket, your experience will be just like in the US, and you’re going to pay higher prices.

 

I find my assets to be very safe and protected in Panama. I can’t see any problems. In fact, the banks here are pretty stable. I’m with the BAC bank and I find them very, very good. They are an international bank and they actually give you interest on your current funds, as well as the bank account in the savings account.  They give you ATM cards.

 

If you get a 10 year CD here, depending on the amount, they’re offering you up to...

I find my assets to be very safe and protected in Panama. I can’t see any problems. In fact, the banks here are pretty stable. I’m with the BAC bank and I find them very, very good. They are an international bank and they actually give you interest on your current funds, as well as the bank account in the savings account.  They give you ATM cards.

 

If you get a 10 year CD here, depending on the amount, they’re offering you up to around about 4.2%. interest, tax free. They don’t charge you tax here on any income from abroad. They also don’t tax you on the interest you receive from the bank, either.

 

The constitution is very good here. It’s not like Argentina that would one day just decide to take my property away.

 

I am confident that anything I buy and any money I invest in Panama has legal protections. I‘m sure because I went over all these with the lawyer as well.

You don’t have to own a car in the Algarve but many people do own cars here.

 

The Algarve is a little tricky in the sense that the distances can be misleading. Nothing is very far in the Algarve. A lot of people say they want to be able to be close to the coast, which they will define as about half an hour away, but you can be anywhere in the Algarve in half an hour’s drive.

 

But it is where you want to be in 5 to 10...

You don’t have to own a car in the Algarve but many people do own cars here.

 

The Algarve is a little tricky in the sense that the distances can be misleading. Nothing is very far in the Algarve. A lot of people say they want to be able to be close to the coast, which they will define as about half an hour away, but you can be anywhere in the Algarve in half an hour’s drive.

 

But it is where you want to be in 5 to 10 minutes walking distance that becomes tricky. There are lots of these areas, residential suburbs in the outskirts of towns and cities, which are generally too far to walk into a town and just too uncomfortable for public transport, which is sometimes infrequent on these small secondary roads. We find more and more people requesting a place that is within walking distance to the town center, shops, and restaurants because in that sense, you can do without a car. If you are in a town like Lagos, Portimão, or Faro you will find that they have the bus networks that can take you anywhere in the city so you wouldn’t need a car.

 

If you are going out of the town or the cities, having a car is definitely advisable.  

 

(The beach at Praia da Luz, Algarve, Portugal, pictured.)

The best reasons to retire in Belize would be the lack of stress, good neighbors, good weather, no heat bills, and the fun-loving community unlike anything I have ever experienced anywhere, and I am pretty widely traveled. That would be my top five best reasons. And definitively, for those coming down here, it is a much lower cost of living. 

 

Yes, it’s funny because I...

The best reasons to retire in Belize would be the lack of stress, good neighbors, good weather, no heat bills, and the fun-loving community unlike anything I have ever experienced anywhere, and I am pretty widely traveled. That would be my top five best reasons. And definitively, for those coming down here, it is a much lower cost of living. 

 

Yes, it’s funny because I get questions like, “Do you have central air?” I say, “No, we don’t have central air because we have no heating systems.”  In order to have a central air unit, you have to have heating ducts and down here, we don’t build houses that way.  In Michigan, where I came from, we used to catch a little bit of a break. We pay higher gas bills in the winter and the electric bills kind of drop back in summer, so it is a little less financially painful in the summer. I understand from people coming down on a regular basis that this is no longer the case and there is no more significant “recovery period” during the summer months. Now, it is just a standard drum beat of high bills. You pay the high heating bills in winter and now you pay the high electric bills in summer.  

 

Down here in Belize, I have not turned my AC unit on at all since October so the electric that I am paying right now is just my average amount for the house, the clocks, the fridges, TV, etc. We have nonexistent bills for heating and very low electric bills.  

 

My community is primarily expats. We do have Belizeans here. Those Belizeans who reside around us typically went to the States and made their fortune and then decided to repatriate. 

 

We have people from Scotland and from Britain, Belgium, and Germany. We have people from all over the globe who have chosen Belize for a lot of reasons. Belize is unlike anything that you would think of at home. We have a very small community where everyone knows everyone. Everyone recognizes everyone’s car. You go out, you walk your dog, you ride your bike, people stop you, and they chat. It’s just a wonderful place to be.  

 

When we go back to everything in America, it is all about “right now, right now, right now, got to have it right now.” When you first come to Belize, you struggle with that because it is a whole different mindset here and pretty soon you start to step back from that ledge a little bit and you find out that it really doesn’t matter if something does not get done right now. Unless there is a fire, “right now” doesn’t count.  

 

When you learn to do that, everything evens out. We always laugh when new people come down to Belize and say, “I called the plumber and he said he’d be here on Tuesday.” The first question out of my mouth is, “Did you ask him Tuesday of what week?”  You definitely learn to live with it.  

 

Most of us live in more rural communities. I live six miles outside the town of Corozal. Most of us collect rainwater. We were "green" down here before it was even fashionable. In my particular instance, in my own home, the water storage is 22,500 gallons and that is in a system that is under the floor of my garage. When it rains, I collect rain water so I have no water bill.  

 

On the other hand, a lot of folks are not comfortable drinking or cooking or utilizing system water for anything other than showers or laundry and they want drinking water. In our community, there is truck that comes down every Thursday that brings several things such as the local beer, the Coke products, and they bring water in 5 gallon bottles. All you have to do is put your bottles out on the curb and Mr. Felipe and company brings it back right into your house and pours it right where you want it. Water is US $1.50 for a 5-gallon jug. Coke is $19 Belize (US $9.50) a case. 

 

Mr. Felipe doesn’t deliver ice cream. That would be another man who brings wonderful US ice cream that he imports from the States. The ice cream he brings is a little pricey here in Belize. However, if you want frozen yogurt, a Snickers bar, or you want a one-gallon tub of ice cream, it all comes to your door. It is $42 Belize for one gallon of ice cream, which translates to US $20.50, but that is for a gallon. So if you were buying two half gallons of Briar’s, I think in the States they run about $8 for a half gallon, or $16 for a whole gallon.  So, we pay slightly more for ice cream. 

 

Generally speaking, whether you are in Placencia or Ambergris Caye, the weather here in Belize is great, compared to the snow and the blow of especially the northern quadrant of the States going all the way across. In Belize, you will never see another snowflake other than on TV. And when people ask me frequently, “Don’t you miss the change of seasons?” I say, “No. I don’t.” If I want to be reminded of why I came here all I need to do is turn on the TV and watch the snowstorms, especially this last year. It made me very happy that I was here. 

 

(Top picture: Picnic at Consejo Shores, Corozol, Belize.)