Best Places In The World To Retire

Mexico City is without doubt on the leading edge of advancing LGBT rights!  Mexico City is its own state, the Distrito Federal (just like Washington DC), and has been enacting laws to protect and support its LGBT community for many years.  Same-sex couples have been able to adopt children and form civil unions in DF for some time - more recently, marriage has become available to same-sex couples as well.  Transgender people have been able to legally change...

Mexico City is without doubt on the leading edge of advancing LGBT rights!  Mexico City is its own state, the Distrito Federal (just like Washington DC), and has been enacting laws to protect and support its LGBT community for many years.  Same-sex couples have been able to adopt children and form civil unions in DF for some time - more recently, marriage has become available to same-sex couples as well.  Transgender people have been able to legally change their gender for about 10 years, and recently an amendment to the law made it possible to change gender without requiring medical documentation or psychological evaluation.  Additionally, the government of DF (Distrito Federal; Mexico City) runs a number of programs to support LGBT communities and promote awareness.  The Zona Rosa neighborhood is perhaps the most famous "gay zone" in the city, and is the hub of the LGBT and LGBT-friendly business and cultural community.  The annual Pride Parade is massive and not to be missed!

 

That said, Mexico remains a conservative country more generally, and the protections that the LGBT community has in DF are not always available in other areas, especially outside of larger cities.  There have been instances in the past few years of same-sex couples being denied the right to marry even in states where it is legal.  The good news is that recently the Supreme Court upheld the rights of same-sex couples by redefining "marriage" to include the possibility of same-sex unions.  In Mexico, as in the rest of the world, attitudes will - and are - changing!

 

(Marchers at the 2009 Gay Pride Parade, Zona Rosa, Mexico City, Mexico, pictured.)

 

 

Under most circumstances, having a dual citizenship is the preferred way to go about when moving abroad because formally renouncing your citizenship is actually a rather complicated process. Dealing with the IRS is never fun and pre-paying future taxes in order to relinquish citizenship is a significant burden vs continuing to file taxes as a US citizen despite living abroad.
 
There are some tax advantages living abroad. Most notably, if you’re out of the country for more...

Under most circumstances, having a dual citizenship is the preferred way to go about when moving abroad because formally renouncing your citizenship is actually a rather complicated process. Dealing with the IRS is never fun and pre-paying future taxes in order to relinquish citizenship is a significant burden vs continuing to file taxes as a US citizen despite living abroad.
 
There are some tax advantages living abroad. Most notably, if you’re out of the country for more than 330 days, you will get a tax exemption called the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. In a nutshell, if you have low income then you are not going to be paying the US taxes. The Foreign Income Exclusion stops a little over $100,000 in earned income for a single US taxpayer. What’s nice about it is that you pay 0% on earnings up to the amount of the exclusion and then that first money earned above that is taxed at a lower rate. This is what I understand but it’s probably something that is best to revisit from a financial perspective especially when you are getting closer to making that decision. You do not need to renounce or relinquish your US citizenship in order to live in another country. Making this decision is not something to be taken lightly as revoking your citizenship is a big deal.  Certainly review all matters tax related since rules definitely change and how your income arrives, w-2 vs. investment, vs foreign payroll are all factors that should be considered and advised by a tax professional.

How easy it would be for you to find a job in Nicaragua depends on how old you are. About 50% of the population of native Nicaraguans is around 17 or 18 years old. Because of this large percentage of young people, the older people in Nicaragua tend to hold upper management positions.  However, many of those between the age of those in their late teens and those in their 50s are slowly taking over because they have had 20 years of steady education from universities. They are armed...

How easy it would be for you to find a job in Nicaragua depends on how old you are. About 50% of the population of native Nicaraguans is around 17 or 18 years old. Because of this large percentage of young people, the older people in Nicaragua tend to hold upper management positions.  However, many of those between the age of those in their late teens and those in their 50s are slowly taking over because they have had 20 years of steady education from universities. They are armed with this knowledge when they entered the work force. The older people are still part of the majority and are in charge of the majority of businesses, but the new generation of those just a little younger than them is closing the gap.  I predict that in three to five years, those in their 50s will have a harder time getting a job. The older you get, the harder it gets.

As for expats who want to go to Nicaragua and find a job in Nicaragua, they have the same issues mentioned above. They may have experience working in the relevant job category, but it would be a bit more of a challenge finding work in another country because there are existing Nicaraguans who are competing for the same job. My advice for expats is, rather than come here to look for a job, to come with a business plan and open a small business of their own. This would be a wise move when going to Nicaragua, unless you are coming here as part of a job transfer from company or a foreign institution. 

 

(Expat Ellen Winter, pictured.)

 

As a "city girl", when I moved to Boquete 7 years ago I had the same question, but it seems that Boquete doesn't have a special tradition.  Here we celebrate the national holidays as the rest of the country and the fairs (a big one in January and another one in March - Orchid Exposition).

 

Boquete is famous because of the specialty coffees grown here.  It was founded by foreign people 100 years ago.  Boquete is...

As a "city girl", when I moved to Boquete 7 years ago I had the same question, but it seems that Boquete doesn't have a special tradition.  Here we celebrate the national holidays as the rest of the country and the fairs (a big one in January and another one in March - Orchid Exposition).

 

Boquete is famous because of the specialty coffees grown here.  It was founded by foreign people 100 years ago.  Boquete is growing and changing... Expats have been contributing to Boquete traditions since it was founded​

 

Many years ago the people of Boquete used to celebrate San Juan in June with traditional festivities but one day a priest decided to stop that celebration because it was turning into an alcoholic party.