Best Places In The World To Retire

The best thing about Pedasi is that it makes you feel at home, which is a special quality.  I have shared my feeling with many other people and we have concluded that Pedasi feels like home.  Whenever you’re here in Pedasi, you feel welcome; you feel that you belong to the place.  It’s a really special feeling.  I know I may sound over-dramatic, but I feel that it’s a little bit magical here.
 
The second best thing about living in Pedasi is...

The best thing about Pedasi is that it makes you feel at home, which is a special quality.  I have shared my feeling with many other people and we have concluded that Pedasi feels like home.  Whenever you’re here in Pedasi, you feel welcome; you feel that you belong to the place.  It’s a really special feeling.  I know I may sound over-dramatic, but I feel that it’s a little bit magical here.
 
The second best thing about living in Pedasi is the quantity of things to do.  You can have this really fun day at the beach all day long, from surfing to swimming to doing paddle surfing; 20 minutes later you can be in the mountains hiking; 30 minutes later you can be on an island that looks like its in the Caribbean, but its in the Pacific (Iguana Island); and at the end of the day, you can relax, have a glass of wine at a really nice restaurant, and then you can use the really fast Internet to check your email.  So, you can basically have everything.
 
The only bad thing I can think of about living in Pedasi is if you visit.  Whenever you get to Pedasi, you’ve got to stay for at least 3 – 4 days.  Pedasi is not a place to go for one or two days because there are so many things to do.

 

(Pedasi, Panama, pictured. )

As both a visitor and as an investor the straight answer is that yes, Nicaragua is cheap, very much so if you look beyond the larger resorts and development projects. There are areas of the country that have developed faster than others and where prices have risen more quickly but even in established places like Granada and San Juan del Sur it is still possible to find good value. Emerging destinations such as Ometepe, Leon and some of the smaller pacific coast communities offer...

As both a visitor and as an investor the straight answer is that yes, Nicaragua is cheap, very much so if you look beyond the larger resorts and development projects. There are areas of the country that have developed faster than others and where prices have risen more quickly but even in established places like Granada and San Juan del Sur it is still possible to find good value. Emerging destinations such as Ometepe, Leon and some of the smaller pacific coast communities offer excellent investment opportunities.

When I first came to Nicaragua in 2006 to look for land to develop my project I focused my property search on the more established areas along the pacific coast but was eventually tempted to invest in land on Ometepe island precisely because of the cheaper prices coupled with the obvious growth potential.

While prices for many goods and materials may not necessarily be that much cheaper than in the US, labor costs are low and help make it cheaper to build or to run a business. Typically a day-laborer on a construction project will cost less than  US $1 p/hr and you will struggle to pay more than $1.50 for a very decent local beer!

We have a rain forest in Belize. It is dense but I couldn’t tell you how dense it is. The rain forest is readily accessible in the mainland. It’s very lush. There are no rain forests in Ambergris Caye.

We have a rain forest in Belize. It is dense but I couldn’t tell you how dense it is. The rain forest is readily accessible in the mainland. It’s very lush. There are no rain forests in Ambergris Caye.

Raising children in Portugal is wonderful. There is no violence here. It’s very secure so the children have lots of freedom and they can have lots of activities after school.
 
Here in Portugal, you will see children the age of 12 going to school by themselves by getting on to public transports. By the age of 15, they go to the cafes or the cinemas without adult supervision. Most cafes in Portugal don’t close until 1 AM. They go on their own. Parents don’t need...

Raising children in Portugal is wonderful. There is no violence here. It’s very secure so the children have lots of freedom and they can have lots of activities after school.
 
Here in Portugal, you will see children the age of 12 going to school by themselves by getting on to public transports. By the age of 15, they go to the cafes or the cinemas without adult supervision. Most cafes in Portugal don’t close until 1 AM. They go on their own. Parents don’t need to always guard their children here.
 
Raising children in Portugal is totally different from raising children in England. I raised my daughter in England and at age 6, she couldn’t go to the sweets shop by herself. Here in Portugal, you would see children ages 5 to 7 who go to the sweets shop on their own or they go to the small stores to buy bread, etc. You will see 12 to 15 year olds at the beach without their parents. You can let your children go on their own here in Portugal but you can’t do the same in England because England has more crimes; it’s unbelievable. In England, you’ll hear of children who got raped at the age of 6 or 7. You never hear of that in Portugal. Children get abducted in England and here in Portugal, that doesn’t happen. It’s safe here in Portugal.  

 

(Easter egg hunt in Portugal, pictured.)