Best Places In The World To Retire

There are about 45,000 expats in Chapala and Ajijic consistently and the murder rate would be one every 2 years so you could calculate that to be 2 per 100,000. Usually it is because of some sort or romantic involvement.  The crime rate here is low, definitely lower than in Southern California and most cities in the US.

 

Putting aside petty theft, expats are not singled out for crimes here in Chapala and Ajijic. They are less likely to be targeted for...

There are about 45,000 expats in Chapala and Ajijic consistently and the murder rate would be one every 2 years so you could calculate that to be 2 per 100,000. Usually it is because of some sort or romantic involvement.  The crime rate here is low, definitely lower than in Southern California and most cities in the US.

 

Putting aside petty theft, expats are not singled out for crimes here in Chapala and Ajijic. They are less likely to be targeted for crimes than the general Mexican population. Also, being that the Lakeside has an older crowd, they is less likely to be involved in things that attract negative attention such as drug dealing. 

 

If you leave your windows open and you have a brand new flat screen TV, you may attract a little bit of attention and thieves are opportunistic here as they are anywhere. Personally, I feel safer walking by myself in Chapala and Ajijic than if I were in San Diego. My kids are in the States for summer and I am more concerned about their safety there than here. Even in Guadalajara, which is a big city, you can walk around in the middle of the night downtown and not feel threatened whereas I wouldn’t walk around San Diego, which is America’s safest city supposedly. We do it all the time here. Even my friends who look like gringos walk around town at night without feeling threatened.

 

(Tlaquepaque, Guadalajara, Mexico, pictured.)

The US government feels that there are people who have left the country who have not paid the lawful taxes owed to them. That obviously does not affect me or my husband, because we do not owe taxes to the US government, but I am sure that there are people over the years who have left the US owing everything from child support to taxes. The US government wants their taxes. So in order to oversee that, you need to file a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) form and if...

The US government feels that there are people who have left the country who have not paid the lawful taxes owed to them. That obviously does not affect me or my husband, because we do not owe taxes to the US government, but I am sure that there are people over the years who have left the US owing everything from child support to taxes. The US government wants their taxes. So in order to oversee that, you need to file a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) form and if you do not do it, the bank does it for you. So if you have a bank here in Panama, the bank will fill out the FATCA form and has to turn it into the US government.

 

That has taken place as of July 15^th but it  is still not effective to this point yet. It became a law in March 2010, but has not been put in place yet. We spoke with our banker two or three weeks ago and they told us that they have filled out the form, so now the bank will know if you own a house and if there is any mortgage on it, so the US government can go after assets in another country in the event that money is owed in the United States.

 

Because of the problem with that, the expats who feel that they do not want to disclose this information to the US government can go to places other than Panama and open up accounts that do not comply with FATCA. But at this point, in Panama, they have not filled out the paperwork on our bank accounts  For people who have offshore assets, any of the countries that comply with FATCA will have to comply with United States law.

Right now that I am pregnant, I don’t do a lot of outdoor activities. But a lot of people here in Boquete love to go rafting. People go to the Caldera River here in Boquete. There is a part of the Caldera River where you can go river rafting and there are rafting tours here in Boquete. They would provide a guide for you and they would tell you where you can go.

 

People also love to go coffee-tasting. Most retirees who come to Boquete for the first...

Right now that I am pregnant, I don’t do a lot of outdoor activities. But a lot of people here in Boquete love to go rafting. People go to the Caldera River here in Boquete. There is a part of the Caldera River where you can go river rafting and there are rafting tours here in Boquete. They would provide a guide for you and they would tell you where you can go.

 

People also love to go coffee-tasting. Most retirees who come to Boquete for the first time love to do coffee-tasting. The younger people however, prefer to go backpacking. They stay in cheap hostels and then go to the hot springs in the Caldera River or to the Los Cangilones de Gualaca in Chiriquí. Los Cangilones de Gualaca is a river that cuts through huge rocks so it is like a natural swimming pool with very clear waters. It is best to go to the rivers during summer but it’s dangerous to go to the rivers during winter. It is not recommended to go to the rivers or even the beaches in Panama during the rainy season because we can have what is called cabeza de agua, which is a very huge amount of rushing water from heavy rains coming from the rivers that carries debris such as logs and rocks with it.

 

There is also hiking here in Boquete and there are companies that offer hiking tours here in Boquete. They will take you to the most beautiful views in Boquete where you will see the Volcan Baru, which is the highest peak here in Panama. You can also go to Quetzales, which is a trail between Cerro Punta and Boquete.

 

There are plenty of outdoor activities that you can do here in Boquete and your choices would only depend on your interests and your age.

 

(Caldera hot springs  near Boquete, Panama, pictured.)

Yes, there is diving, scuba and snorkeling in Portugal.

 

We have this little Portuguese island about an hour flight from the mainland called Azores that was selected last year by National Geographic as being among the top five richest sea wildlife areas to dive in the world. 

 

On the mainland of Portugal, there’s a wonderful place called Sesimbra about 40 to 50 minutes southeast of Lisbon.  Sesimbra is a protected...

Yes, there is diving, scuba and snorkeling in Portugal.

 

We have this little Portuguese island about an hour flight from the mainland called Azores that was selected last year by National Geographic as being among the top five richest sea wildlife areas to dive in the world. 

 

On the mainland of Portugal, there’s a wonderful place called Sesimbra about 40 to 50 minutes southeast of Lisbon.  Sesimbra is a protected land that is surrounded by really beautiful green mountains. No building or construction is allowed over there and fishing is allowed only 4 or 5 miles off the coast. So that means the area in between the land and about give miles to sea is the perfect diving place for snorkeling, diving, and everything else.

 

We also have diving schools here in Cascais and Estoril in the Lisbon area, but the waters are a bit darker than in Sesimbra.  The reason for that is because under the ocean when there are rocks the sea becomes darker and when there’s sand the sea becomes lighter. There’s a huge sandbank in Sesimbra, so therefore, the water is much more clear.

 

I’m 37 years old and I’ve lived always in front of the sea and I’ve been surfing since I was 10 or 11 years old. When I was young, I never felt the need to use a wetsuit, but as the years have been passing, I started to feel the water getting colder. Of course it’s not the water getting colder, it’s just me getting older. So in the winter, I use a 4/3-millimeter wetsuit for surfing or snorkeling or for when I go spear fishing. I use a 4/3-millimeter in winter and a 2/2-millimeter in the summer.  

 

(Diving off Sesimbra, Portugal, pictured.)