Best Places In The World To Retire

Americans and expats in general are treated wonderfully in San Miguel de Allende. The expat community has been in San Miguel de Allende since the late 1940s or early 1950s. 

 

The expats have done so much for the local Mexican community that I doubt that there's a Mexican family who has not been touched by the generosity of the non-profit organizations in San Miguel de Allende that are run and funded by expats.  These organizations help with...

Americans and expats in general are treated wonderfully in San Miguel de Allende. The expat community has been in San Miguel de Allende since the late 1940s or early 1950s. 

 

The expats have done so much for the local Mexican community that I doubt that there's a Mexican family who has not been touched by the generosity of the non-profit organizations in San Miguel de Allende that are run and funded by expats.  These organizations help with everything like eyeglass provision, free dental clinic visits, donation of computers for the youth, sending the youth to school, feeding the hungry, and establishment of old folks' homes and hospices. 

 

Jim, my husband, established the theater called "The San Miguel Playhouse" in San Miguel de Allende. It's the only non-profit, non-government supported theater here and is for people who love the theater and what the theater is doing. I act in this theater.

 

Jovenes Adelante is a "youth forward" organization that does a lot of work with the youth like supplying computers, offering scholarships, helping with the local S.P.A. (Sociedad Protectora de Animales), which is the only non-kill animal shelter in Mexico. This organization is established and run by foreigners. It touches every walk of life in San Miguel de Allende.

 

There have been so many things set up on a non-profit basis. Someone told me that there are about 80 non-profit organizations in San Miguel de Allende run by expats. The Mexican community has a great affection and trust for the expats because of the charity work that they do.  

 

(Little Shop of Horrors performed by The San Miguel Playhouse, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.) 

Nicaraguans who lived outside of Nicaragua and then either moved back to Nicaragua or moved to Nicaragua for the first time think that they are living happily ever after because they have seen the best of both worlds. As people living outside of Nicaragua, we have learned how to work hard, not to expect anything from anybody, and make money in order to have a happy ending ahead of our lives. We learned, for example, how to work hard in the US, and we apply...

Nicaraguans who lived outside of Nicaragua and then either moved back to Nicaragua or moved to Nicaragua for the first time think that they are living happily ever after because they have seen the best of both worlds. As people living outside of Nicaragua, we have learned how to work hard, not to expect anything from anybody, and make money in order to have a happy ending ahead of our lives. We learned, for example, how to work hard in the US, and we apply that knowledge in Nicaragua, which is an under developed country. So having lived in one of the most developed country in the world gives us a sense of ethics, but applying it to the environment we have here in Nicaragua. Compared with other places like in the US, the people here in Nicaragua can be considered lazy and that is a fact, but we try to move forward and learn from our mistakes. We expect to enjoy the money that we make in years ahead.

 

I have seen many Americans come here for the first time, and who trust my friends who are businessmen here, because the Americans have never been here before. What these American expats tell me once they get here, is that they have decided to sell their things in the US and they are moving to Nicaragua. I have heard that a lot from many American expats. They get very surprised when they get here. Here in Nicaragua, you won’t see a cop on the street asking for your paperwork. You won’t see the military equipment that you see in El Salvador or Honduras or Mexico. You will rarely see a police officer on the streets of Nicaragua. It is not that we are not being taken care of, but it means that the crime rate is very low.

 

Nicaragua is a beautiful country and the expats see that. Once you get off your plane in Managua, you land on the side of a beautiful lake. We have two of the biggest lakes in Central America. It is a beautiful scene. The planes will also take you around volcanoes. We have the most volcanoes in one country in Central America. We have everything beautiful such as the mountains, the lakes, the islands in the Caribbean, and the sandy beaches.

 

Expats find a lot of things to do here in Nicaragua and there are a lot of things to be done. We are developing and we have many gaps, so people are coming in to fill these gaps when they see the opportunities. That is why people from other countries seek to establish themselves in Nicaragua now instead of later.

 

The expats who move to Managua become less pre-occupied by the social environment because even though Nicaragua has a connotation of being a poor country, you won’t see poverty unless you go to the poverty-stricken areas. If you take your car and go around the city, what you will see are new buildings, new shopping malls, construction, developments, cars, traffic, etc. We have poverty amongst us, but you will not see it because they are confined to certain neighborhoods. Don’t be surprised if people say that they have been to Nicaragua and they didn’t see any poor people.  Managua is a very small place that you can go around in an hour and a half. So many expats in Managua are very surprised at what they see here because Managua is very nice and it is safe. As soon as they step out of the airport, they feel that safety and they find that the people of Nicaragua are content with their lives.  

Yes, Ambergris Caye is safe. My mother-in-law lives here as well and she has lived on her own for over two years now and she has never had any security issues. As with any city or town, if you go looking for trouble here in Ambergris Caye, you can find it, but if keep your nose clean, you would feel very safe here. I personally feel very secure having my family here and I have not safety concerns.

 

I live on a ground floor condo on the south side of the...

Yes, Ambergris Caye is safe. My mother-in-law lives here as well and she has lived on her own for over two years now and she has never had any security issues. As with any city or town, if you go looking for trouble here in Ambergris Caye, you can find it, but if keep your nose clean, you would feel very safe here. I personally feel very secure having my family here and I have not safety concerns.

 

I live on a ground floor condo on the south side of the island of Ambergris Caye and we have a neighborhood patrol that is essentially a resident funded police force that patrols our end of the island and we have very minimal crime here. We don’t have burglar bars on our windows. We don’t have security systems or alarms. We just lock our doors. There are certain areas in Ambergris Caye that are a bit desolate or with less traffic or with a lack of a good neighborhood watch in place so having burglar bars or having an onsite security guard is not the worst idea in the world either. 

 

The crime that happens here is similar to the crimes that happen in the US but it tends to happen more on a magnifying glass here because everyone tends to hear about crimes a lot quicker here. But generally, most crimes that occur here are crimes of opportunity as opposed to pre-meditated, pre-planned crimes. So if you don’t present an opportunity, the chances for a crime to happen to you is less likely. Leaving your cellphone out and having it stolen is the more typical type of crime that we see here as opposed to brazen attacks or other brazen types of crimes.

 

I actually feel safer here in Ambergris Caye than where I was in Toronto. I think a factor is that there are less people here but the police force here is very visible and as long as you don’t go into neighborhoods that you typically wouldn’t go into even if you lived in a different city and go looking for trouble, you are going to be fine.

 

(Villa in Ambergris Caye, Belize, pictured.)

To have a Portuguese Passport it will be necessary to apply for Portuguese Nationality first.

 

The Permanent Residence Permit allows for citizens of third states to apply for the Portuguese Nationality after 6 (six) years of residence in the Portuguese Territory.

 

Nonetheless the citizen applying for the Portuguese Nationality shall also have to comply, namely, with the following requirements:

 

...

To have a Portuguese Passport it will be necessary to apply for Portuguese Nationality first.

 

The Permanent Residence Permit allows for citizens of third states to apply for the Portuguese Nationality after 6 (six) years of residence in the Portuguese Territory.

 

Nonetheless the citizen applying for the Portuguese Nationality shall also have to comply, namely, with the following requirements:

 

a)      Proof of residence in Portuguese territory for at least 6 years;

 

b)      The applicants must be over eighteen years old;

 

c)       Sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese Language;

 

d)      Absence of conviction for crime punishable in Portugal by imprisonment for more than 3 years;

 

e)      Birth certificate;

 

f)       Passport;

 

(Electronic passport from Portugal, pictured.)

 

g)      Incorporation about personal data as the name of the parents, profession, etc.;

 

h)      Countries where the applicant had residence besides Portugal;

 

i)        Criminal registry issued by the Portuguese entity of the county of birth or of the nationality where the applicant has its residence.

 

The Portuguese Passport allows the holder to establish residence and free movement in Portugal and in other European Union Countries. Thus, with a second passport to get into countries that require visas for certain citizens could benefit you in substantial costs and less paperwork and unnecessary bureaucracy to travel around.

 

Other advantages of having a Portuguese Passport are the access to medical assistance, to education and others publics rights on the same terms as the Portuguese without losing your American citizenship.

 

(Electronic passport from Portugal, pictured.)