Best Places In The World To Retire

There are all sorts of expats from all over the world who come to live here in Chapala and Ajijic. Many are European and North American from a huge variety of social and economic backgrounds. A friend of ours, who is a retired teacher from Florida, used to live here 10 to 15 years ago. She just made it back here to retire again and she is very happy. 

 

Some expats tend not to interact much with the local...

There are all sorts of expats from all over the world who come to live here in Chapala and Ajijic. Many are European and North American from a huge variety of social and economic backgrounds. A friend of ours, who is a retired teacher from Florida, used to live here 10 to 15 years ago. She just made it back here to retire again and she is very happy. 

 

Some expats tend not to interact much with the local lakeside community.  Other expats are very engaged with the Mexican community and that’s a really positive thing.  You can however, and many expats do, live here with no ability to speak Spanish. Many of the Mexican population here are bi-lingual and fluent in English which makes life much easier for those visitors who have no Spanish language skills.  

 

It’s tough to make a generalization because the expat population is very varied. There are some great characters to be found.  We did have a wonderful retired lawyer who used to ride in a cart pulled by a donkey to the pub. Not just any donkey, an albino donkey with a hat full of flowers. He wore a cap with a feather in his hat and an Indian vest and made everyone he passed, smile. A local character indeed.

 

You never know who you are going to meet in Chapala and Ajijic. There's no way to generalize on expats. 

Depending on where you are located in Cayo, you could rent a home between $850 to $1,250 Belize (US $425 to $625). If you have a budget of $1,500 Belize (US $750), you can probably get a small three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with split air-conditioners in the bedrooms, located in a nicer area. Most of the rentals here in Cayo are either in town or close to town. There are very few rentals that are actually out of town.  If you would like a US quality home there are a few and...

Depending on where you are located in Cayo, you could rent a home between $850 to $1,250 Belize (US $425 to $625). If you have a budget of $1,500 Belize (US $750), you can probably get a small three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with split air-conditioners in the bedrooms, located in a nicer area. Most of the rentals here in Cayo are either in town or close to town. There are very few rentals that are actually out of town.  If you would like a US quality home there are a few and they can range anywhere from $1200US (2,400BZ) to $2,500US ($5,000BZ) per month plus utilities.  This would probably have a pool.

 

(Resort pool near Hummingbird Highway, Cay, Belize, pictured.)

I am not an accountant, but know from personal experience that, as Americans, if your income comes from a place other than the United States, we can use the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion in order to exclude income on our income tax up to a certain level.  For me, for example, I live in Nicaragua and I don’t generate income from the United States, so I don’t have to pay income tax on the excluded amount.

 

As Americans we do, however, still...

I am not an accountant, but know from personal experience that, as Americans, if your income comes from a place other than the United States, we can use the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion in order to exclude income on our income tax up to a certain level.  For me, for example, I live in Nicaragua and I don’t generate income from the United States, so I don’t have to pay income tax on the excluded amount.

 

As Americans we do, however, still have to file our income tax, regardless of how much money we make.

 

The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is only for active income.  If you’re living outside the US and generate income from buying and selling stocks, for example, you’re going to still pay income tax on that part.

 

Cerro Punta is a world-class agricultural community where not a lot of people live because everything is under cultivation. There are certainly people who are living in Volcán who might have hired a person to take care of their lawns, otherwise known as a gardener.

 

In Volcán, you could get a good gardener for $25 a day, which would be a fair amount to pay someone. In Río Sereno, where I live, $10 or $15 would be the norm to hire someone...

Cerro Punta is a world-class agricultural community where not a lot of people live because everything is under cultivation. There are certainly people who are living in Volcán who might have hired a person to take care of their lawns, otherwise known as a gardener.

 

In Volcán, you could get a good gardener for $25 a day, which would be a fair amount to pay someone. In Río Sereno, where I live, $10 or $15 would be the norm to hire someone to work on a farm. In Río Sereno we call a gardener a “farm man.” I have a full-time employee who charges about $10 - $15 a day, and on top of that I also pay his Social Security and other benefits. 

 

Finca Cazador is 12 acres. I and my full-time employee are busy just keeping things under control in the farm.  The problem with Panama is not getting stuff to grow, it’s keeping everything under control. Here in Panama, things grow where you don’t want them to grow. In some parts of Finca Cazador, we have 10 feet of black topsoil.

 

A lot of things depend on the quality of the work the person you get does. Is that somebody you want in your house? Is that somebody you can trust? It’s a relationship just like everything else. The biggest problem with most expats who come here is that we’re talking about hiring Panamanians, but the expats don’t take the time to learn Spanish. 

 

(Harvesting plantanos at Finca Cazador, a self-sustaining community, Cerro Punta, Panama