Best Places In The World To Retire

I have a dermatologist, an eye doctor, and a heart doctor and they are all first class. The University of Guadalajara and the National University have world-class medical schools. In fact my dermatologist in studied skin cancer in Havana, Cuba for 5 years.
 
I’m renewing my driver’s license so I have to have a certificate of health.  In order to get it, I went to the chain of drugstores here called Farmacias de Similares. They really sell generic drugs and they...

I have a dermatologist, an eye doctor, and a heart doctor and they are all first class. The University of Guadalajara and the National University have world-class medical schools. In fact my dermatologist in studied skin cancer in Havana, Cuba for 5 years.
 
I’m renewing my driver’s license so I have to have a certificate of health.  In order to get it, I went to the chain of drugstores here called Farmacias de Similares. They really sell generic drugs and they have doctors. I just got my certificate, which cost me 50 pesos, or about US $3.
 
My wife and I have Seguro Social. There are hospitals here where you can pay around US $600 a year, they will give you a little book, and you are good anywhere in Mexico. We use that if we were to have a serious illness because our private medical health and private medical clinics are so much less expensive than up north so we just go to a private doctor and pay around 600 pesos, or $35 per visit. The young doctors who are doing internships are required to spend a certain amount of time in the social medicine hospital.
 
There are different levels of care here. The very bottom is Centro de Salud, which is for Mexicans who do not have any money. In Mexico, anyone has access to healthcare even if you don’t have any money. If you have money then you buy the book and/or if you want to choose private clinics and private doctors, you can do that without a lot of expense. When I travel, I would not go to the United States or Canada without buying a health policy but here in Mexico, I don’t need one.
 
The hospitals in Los Cabos and La Paz are all great. In Cabo San Lucas, they just built a magnificent new hospital with all the in-house laboratories, state of the art equipment, and a hotel beside it with a view of the Sea of Cortez.  The hospital is for the use of family members who would want to be near their family members when they are in the hospital for long term illness.
 
Most of the medical staff and doctors from there come from Mexico City and about 90% of them are bilingual. The hospital a terrific addition to the community and encouraging to the people who want to come down to Los Cabos and La Paz but aren’t sure about running into a medical problem, as well as for other people who are already living here.
 
In comparison to the hospitals in the US or in Canada, the hospital in Cabo San Lucas would be equal or even better. Mexicans are very passionate and very big on personal care. The doctors just don’t get as many patients as they can pass through in a day. They take individual care of their patients. The doctor I just came back from talked to me about where we came from and chatted a little bit. If I were in Vancouver, Toronto, or in Seattle, for example, the doctor wouldn’t have time to talk to me about anything other than getting you in, doing their work, getting you well, and getting the next patient and another dollar.

 

(Farmacias de Similares logo, pictured.)

Retirement in Panamá

 

Rather than concentrate my ideas of retirement in Casco Viejo, I will concentrate in the city of Panamá, in general, as Casco Viejo is only a very small neighborhood inside the city.

 

Panamá is a fine place for retirement.  It offers it all, if you are seeking a relaxing  way of life, and at the same time, a better option for a quality life at a lower price, even in you live on Social...

Retirement in Panamá

 

Rather than concentrate my ideas of retirement in Casco Viejo, I will concentrate in the city of Panamá, in general, as Casco Viejo is only a very small neighborhood inside the city.

 

Panamá is a fine place for retirement.  It offers it all, if you are seeking a relaxing  way of life, and at the same time, a better option for a quality life at a lower price, even in you live on Social Security.  At the same time, you have the opportunity to experience, first hand, the biodiversity and abundance of exuberant vegetation and nature.

 

Even though the city of Panamá is a very modern and cosmopolitan city, with high rise buildings everywhere (especially in Punta Pacífica, Punta Paitilla, San Francisco, Marbella, Cangrejo and Costa del Este, similar to New York or Miami Beach), it offers unique things, like a combination of culture between old and modern.   Panamá is like a nest...where all the chickens can live together hand in hand, in harmony, and under any budget.  There is a complete acceptance of different races, creeds and beliefs.   Seniors are respected and laws protect them from abuses, as well providing seniors with various discounts on the major and basic needs, like restaurants, movies, hotels and  airline tickets.

 

Due to the thousands of people who has settled in Panamá lately, prices have risen quite a bit inside the city, especially in Casco Viejo, which is considered under special law due to it's colonial architecture.  But still, Panamá remains as a tremendous attraction for a living experience.  Several international organizations have named Panamá as the #1 destination in the world.

 

It is a phenomenon.....  everyone wants to come to Panamá, for one reason or another.  Women love to come for shopping, as there are several stores that offer anything and everything at ridiculously  low prices.  There are five major malls only in the city.   And we are not counting everything that is offered outside the city...like beaches, resorts, mountains, beautiful residential areas and nature.  Men love the corporate world, and investment opportunities.  Children do not change in this city for anything .... their social life is so amused.  And one thing here is that children remain with same friends from kindergarten through high school, and sometimes, they even go further...and maintain their friendships through attending the university.

 

The tropical and seasonal fruits and vegetables are delightful.  There are places everywhere where you can go and buy  them fresh every day, same as just made bread, at wonderful prices.

 

Of course, as a modern city, there are very expensive stores and other things, if you choose them.  You can always go for a special ride to a unique island, or a boat ride by the bay.  But, on a typical day, you can get up very early, smell the flowers, enjoy a gorgeous sunrise, go for walk or jogging at Parque Omar (a huge community park in the city) or by the "Cinta Costera" (the nicest boulevard by Panamá Bay), or just go to the beach, or have a BBQ on your terrace.....because every day is a beautiful summer day (except that some days when it rains from May to November).

 

Who doesn´t want to enjoy a place like this?  In addition, friendly people and wonderful visitors from all over the world are willing to enjoy with you everything that Panamá has to offer.  Besides, where else in the world can you go scuba diving in two oceans the same day, only 45 minutes apart?  Only in Panamá.

 

Returning to Casco Viejo, it is a colonial place, with narrow brick streets and beautiful old buildings, like the gold altar church of San José (St. Joseph), the Presidential Palace, other churches, government buildings, hotels, many picturesque  restaurants, cute arts & crafts stores, the French Embassy, the "Bóvedas" (a beautiful old Spanish fort with a marvelous view of the city) and some renovated two- story houses... others are still pending for renovation.  Parking is a little difficult here.

 

 

The best places in the world to live are those in which you can seamlessly adapt to the culture, weather, people, can ultimately feel happy and can as quickly as possible call it home sweet home. Panama is a great exploratory ground and I highly recommend viewing as much of the country as possible. 

The best places in the world to live are those in which you can seamlessly adapt to the culture, weather, people, can ultimately feel happy and can as quickly as possible call it home sweet home. Panama is a great exploratory ground and I highly recommend viewing as much of the country as possible. 

One of the nice things about the San Ignacio and the Cayo area in Belize is that it has a very diverse population. We do not have a predominant ethnic group. It is very, very diverse and there are a lot of expats here, too. It is very easy to come here to Belize, fit in, make friends, and locals generally welcome expats and visitors.
 
There may be some resentment between the haves and the have-nots but it is nothing that is out of the norm. There is a mixing of people here. When...

One of the nice things about the San Ignacio and the Cayo area in Belize is that it has a very diverse population. We do not have a predominant ethnic group. It is very, very diverse and there are a lot of expats here, too. It is very easy to come here to Belize, fit in, make friends, and locals generally welcome expats and visitors.
 
There may be some resentment between the haves and the have-nots but it is nothing that is out of the norm. There is a mixing of people here. When I was growing up, there weren’t very many expats here and so being that I am light-skinned it was a little bit difficult because I stood out. Nowadays, there are a lot of expats here so light-skinned people do not stand out that much anymore and they are accepted.
 
I had no problems growing up. I was accepted but it feels different that I was the only one who stood out. It’s not like that anymore. The expats here in San Ignacio, generally, fit in very well. They have friends and most of them have businesses like restaurants, coffee shops, and some of them do construction, real estate, and a lot of them are retirees.
 
Generally speaking, it is easy to get a work permit here in Belize. If you want to start a business, they won’t mind giving you a work permit because the Belizean government wants you to hire people once you get a permit. But if you are getting into something that they feel is going to compete with the locals, it is not as easy to get a work permit because they don’t encourage people to come and compete for the scarce jobs. They want people to come and create jobs.
 
Cayo is not an extremely wealthy area, so you will not see a lot of wealthy expats here. Cayo is one of the more affordable places to come so people who come here are the ones who are on a budget or the ones who are looking for a second home. That distinguishes the expats here from the expats in the more touristy areas such as Placencia. Out there in Placencia, the cost to get a condo is around US $500,000 while here in San Ignacio, you could get a cabin-style house for $200,000.
 
The type of expats that we have here are the ones who often are looking for a more affordable lifestyle than what they have in the US. San Ignacio is known to be one of the more affordable places to live in Belize. A lot of the people here are looking for a cheaper and more affordable lifestyle. 

 

(one acre of land starting at $15,000, outside of downtown San Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize, pictured.)