Best Places In The World To Retire

WELCOME. WE INVITE YOU TO VISIT THE MAIN PARTS OF OUR SITE

Recently Answered Questions

How much do healthcare and medical services cost in Puerto Vallarta?

Antonio Trejo

Health practioner, Mexico – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

I deal with medical and healthcare situations all the time because I am in charge of the health and travel department at our insurance brokerage company. The healthcare costs in Puerto Vallarta are pretty affordable, especially when compared to the healthcare costs in the US or Canada.

You need to carry a policy to protect yourself if you are in an emergency. I’ve been involved in cases where our clients had to pay out of pocket, which could be...

What are the best opportunities to do volunteer and charity work in Nicaragua?

Marissa Gabrielle Lolk - Jireh Dental Care

Operation Smile, Nicaragua – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

There are a lot of opportunities for volunteer and charity work in Nicaragua. For example, there is Operation Smile. There is an organization for children with cancer. There is volunteer work at the hospitals. There is volunteering out in the rural communities. You can find it online. There is a website that we go to that lists volunteer programs in Nicaragua. There are NGOs and non-profit organizations that organize these programs and they tailor fit the programs based on the needs...

What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a Belize passport?

Christian Burn

I don’t think there are too many disadvantages in having a Belizean passport.

Some of the advantages to having a Belizean passport in particular is not only does it give you access to the British Commonwealth because the Belizean passport is a Commonwealth passport, but a Belizean passport also gives you access to the Caribbean, or the CARICOM nations. (At last count, there’s about 15 or so CARICOM countries.)

The British Commonwealth nations...

What's it like to drive in Pedasi, Azuero Peninsula?

Liatte Nicole Miller

Carretera a Pedasí, Azuero – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

Driving in Pedasi is quite good. Dekel invested a lot of money on infrastructure, roads and pavement. The roads are nicely paved all over.

Andromeda (a large development by Dekel) was responsible for the roads all through Pedasi to Venao Beach, which makes all these areas very accessible.

Can I use my Medicare outside the US, and if not, what are my alternatives?

John Ohe - Hola Expat Tax Services

medicare – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

For the most part, Medicare cannot be used outside the US by permanent expats. There is some travel coverage with the Medicare policy, but it is not a significant coverage level. As far as US expats are concerned, Medicare is really designed for coverage when you go back to the US and have routine checkups or you have a condition that you want to be treated for in the US. Medicare is not designed for coverage in another country.

For expats who live...

For expats who live abroad, the basic options are: 1) pay out of pocket; 2) pick up a health insurance policy that is local in nature and get into the "nitty-gritty" of what that coverage would be locally; 3) get international health plans that are out there with a few vendors like Cigna, Bupa, and a couple other smaller companies, but these policies tend to be very expensive; or, 4) evacuation insurance, which will only cover a US expat to get back to the US.

I have clients who rarely go back to the US. They have cancelled their Medicare coverage. However, Medicare is not that expensive. If you can afford the physician coverage, I would recommend keeping it. Part A is the hospital coverage. Part B is the physician coverage. Now there's also Part D, which is the pharmacy coverage. Drug costs are much lower outside the US. The fourth part of Medicare is the Medicare Supplemental, which fills in the gaps that Medicare has and that you buy from a private medical insurance company.

I would maintain the hospital and basic physician coverage on Medicare even if you live outside of the United States. Let's say you are a young retiree living abroad for a decade. Anything could happen. You might need to go back to the US. Healthcare costs are so expensive in the US. If you think about what you pay in premium for Medicare versus the benefits, it is a highly-subsidized insurance coverage provided by the US government, so why not take advantage of it?

How are the homes in Portugal different than in the US, Canada or the UK?

Ana Ferraz

House in Portugal with rooftop terrace – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

The construction of homes in Portugal is very different than homes in England because homes in Portugal are built with bricks and tiles. Homes here are not very as well insulated as in England because of the difference in the weather. Portuguese use a lot of ceramic tiling, large terraces, and big windows. Central heating was just introduced in Portugal in the last 10 years. Air-conditioning is not very common because it is not needed unless you are in Lisbon since Lisbon is hotter than...

Recently Posted Expat Stories

Hanging Around My Place In Limones Looking At The Ocean

It is 83 degrees in my bedroom with all the doors and windows open, the black beach dog is up to her neck checking the gillnet for fish as the tide comes and the endless cycle continues. The dogs don't realize that my watchman has already claimed the half dozen green jacks that were caught overnight

and probably eaten them already. Timing is everything on the beach, if you miss the tide you have to walk to my house and carry the groceries bought back in the world of grocery...

Nicaraguan Memories

This website is specially designed for people seeking to move to a different country, mostly for retirement, or for new adventures.

In that spirit, I would like to share beautiful memories of when I first visited Nicaragua, in my teens....and I´m a senior now.

I was probably 13, and very enthusiastic about the idea of visiting my family, and making new friends in Nicaragua. I became enchanted with the country of Nicaragua...

My life in Panama so far...

Many, many years ago, back when they still printed Newsweek and we managed to live without iPhones, I was leading a quiet existence in Geneva, minding my own business, when my friend Dr. César Pereira Burgos introduced me to Rita, a bright young diplomat and my future Panamanian wife. César, a prominent lawyer and politician, went on to become my compadre (my son's godfather) and Panama's Supreme Court president. Love at first sight; we married a few months later. The timing was a...