Best Places In The World To Retire

For me, the worst thing about retiring in San Miguel de Allende is that it’s colder than I expected. But then again, I realized I haven’t been to any place cold for over 40 years. I’m from New York, but as soon as we got married in 1976, we moved to the Virgin Islands and stayed there for 13 years.  Then we lived in Florida for 13 years, and in Hawaii for the rest of the time before we moved to Acapulco. I’m having a harder time adjusting to the chill, but I...

For me, the worst thing about retiring in San Miguel de Allende is that it’s colder than I expected. But then again, I realized I haven’t been to any place cold for over 40 years. I’m from New York, but as soon as we got married in 1976, we moved to the Virgin Islands and stayed there for 13 years.  Then we lived in Florida for 13 years, and in Hawaii for the rest of the time before we moved to Acapulco. I’m having a harder time adjusting to the chill, but I think I will, and I know it’s worth it-- I like it here in San Miguel de Allende. 

 

Some of the best things about living and retiring in San Miguel de Allende include the people-- the friendliness of the whole community. I met my first friends in San Miguel at the farmer’s market just sitting down having a lamb burger. Some of the organic markets make lamb burgers, and everybody goes to that.

 

We renewed our vows on our 40th anniversary here at Los Labradores, a planned community about 15 minutes from San Miguel de Allende, where we live. And we’ve only been here since August 15th and in the first three months max, we went from not knowing a single person to having 70 guests at our anniversary.  The only person we knew before was my godson, who flew in. So that’s one of the nicest things about the community here in San Miguel de Allende. 

 

Another good thing about living in San Miguel de Allende is that it’s an animal-friendly place. I’ve heard about CuddleBug and the animal rescues in San Miguel de Allende. At the organic market, everybody’s walking down the street with 1 or 2 dogs, so it really is a very dog-friendly community, which to me is important. 

 

There are a million things to do in San Miguel de Allende that I haven’t taken advantage of yet- museums, theatres, etc. We’re going to go see our friend Judy starring in Driving Miss Daisy. 

 

For volunteers, there are a million volunteer things to be part of, just like I used to in Florida.  

 

I am a scuba diver who has dived off the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua several times. In the Granada area on the Pacific side, there is some diving available in the laguna Apoyo, which is located 15 kilometers (a little over 9 miles) from Granada. The laguna is actually a volcanic lake and has very clear and clean water. The diving school in Managua also offers night diving in the laguna as well. 

I am a scuba diver who has dived off the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua several times. In the Granada area on the Pacific side, there is some diving available in the laguna Apoyo, which is located 15 kilometers (a little over 9 miles) from Granada. The laguna is actually a volcanic lake and has very clear and clean water. The diving school in Managua also offers night diving in the laguna as well. 

There's going to be a huge range of price for a home in Placencia.  If you would like an individual house, you can probably find one that is not right on the beach.  The peninsula is narrow, so almost any house or condo for that matter will be within probably a quarter mile at the most from a beach.  Most of the houses are probably well within yards of a beach--- either from the sea, or on the lagoon side.
 
You can find something for US $25,000 to $30,000 if you...

There's going to be a huge range of price for a home in Placencia.  If you would like an individual house, you can probably find one that is not right on the beach.  The peninsula is narrow, so almost any house or condo for that matter will be within probably a quarter mile at the most from a beach.  Most of the houses are probably well within yards of a beach--- either from the sea, or on the lagoon side.
 
You can find something for US $25,000 to $30,000 if you just want a simple little house without air-conditioning and maybe 750 - 800 square feet.  That would be for a bungalow elevated on stilts and just one floor, open living, with maybe a bedroom and a bathroom.  It could be on the lagoon side or just along the road and then you would have to walk over to the lagoon or to the beach on the Caribbean side.  Either way, it’s just a matter of a 5-minute walk to the water.
 
But there are some very large mega-residences along the peninsula that are selling in the millions.  The price range is huge in Placencia and there is everything in between. There aren't that many condos there right now, but there is a good amount of development going on now, so I'm sure over the next 5 years it is probably going to change.
 
If you were to get a 2,000 square foot home, with 3 bedrooms, and 2 baths somewhat near the ocean in a nice location, with modern amenities, air-conditioning, and things of that nature, it would roughly cost somewhere between $250,000 to $300,000.

 

(Arial view of the peninsula of Placencia, its narrowness, the lagoon along the shore of mainland Belize and the open Caribbean Sea, pictured.)

FATCA seeks to turn non-US financial institutions into reporting agencies for the IRS. In essence, the regulation  mandates that foreign (ie. non-US) financial institutions (FFIs) check their accounts for "indicia of US ties". That is, the FFIs need to identify their account holders who may be subject to US tax and report certain information regarding these accounts to the IRS.

 

FATCA can affect US persons living overseas in four ways (and one of these points also pertains to...

FATCA seeks to turn non-US financial institutions into reporting agencies for the IRS. In essence, the regulation  mandates that foreign (ie. non-US) financial institutions (FFIs) check their accounts for "indicia of US ties". That is, the FFIs need to identify their account holders who may be subject to US tax and report certain information regarding these accounts to the IRS.

 

FATCA can affect US persons living overseas in four ways (and one of these points also pertains to non-US persons with accounts in the US):

The San Francisco neighborhood of Panama City, Panama, is a very safe area with many amenities. There is also a very big park located in San Francisco named Omar, which is a beautiful park full of exercise equipment and jogging paths, as well as playgrounds for children. 

The San Francisco neighborhood of Panama City, Panama, is a very safe area with many amenities. There is also a very big park located in San Francisco named Omar, which is a beautiful park full of exercise equipment and jogging paths, as well as playgrounds for children.