Best Places In The World To Retire

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Recently Answered Questions

How do I move my furniture and other stuff to Mexico?

Chuck Bolotin - Best Mexico Movers

Moving your household goods to Mexico is not the same as moving from one city to another in the US for several reasons, the most significant of which is that you cross an international border. At that border on the southern side are Mexican customs officials, who are tasked with making sure only certain items cross; that the rules for who can bring household goods into Mexico are followed depending on your immigration status; and collecting taxes when appropriate.

One of the...

One of the more confusing aspects of this is that you will often read or hear conflicting "advice" often from well-meaning people, many times on Facebook, that is outdated or just plain wrong.

Another confusing aspect is that rules can change over time and different ports of entry tend to enforce rules differently.

So how do you do it?

If you have a very, very small amount of household goods to move (for example, no more than would fit into a mini-van), you try to cross the border on your own, or you can can hire someone to help you, which may or may not be entirely legal. I know at least one person who purchased a trailer in the US, got the permission to drive it in Mexico (not trivial), picked up his household goods in Salt Lake City, and with his gardener, crossed the border. Luckily, he was only asked to pay a small amount of taxes, and didn't really know what was going on. Another person told me that they made five or six trips to the US to pick up their household goods. (I don't remember if he used a trailer or not.)

Once you have your temporary or permanent visa, you are entitled to bring your goods down on a "menaje de casa" one time, with no taxes, assuming that you bring only those items allowed. There are rules to be followed to make it all go smoothly. There are moving companies in Mexico that can help you, with each one offering different services, levels of quality, prices and procedures. Whatever you do, please research your options completely to find which option works best for you and the one with which you are the most comfortable.

If you are moving to Mexico, please consider Best Mexico Movers.

What's retirement in the Pedasi, Azuero, Panama area like?

Christian Goldner - g photography

Retirement in the Azuero Peninsula in Panama is great if you like the Pacific beaches.

Pedasi is a small town where the rhythm of life is slower, people are generally friendlier, and there are many things to do at very low cost, for example, visiting Isla Iguana.

Isla Iguana is a 3 hectare (approximately 7.5 acres) island full of wildlife. In season, it has 3,000 turtle nests. It's a great experience to see turtles laying their eggs close up. There are waterfalls and rivers...

How much do healthcare and medical services cost in Cayo, Belize, including San Ignacio and Belmopan?

Jaseth Bassaragh - The Alpha & Omega Group

La Loma Luz Seventh-Day Adventist Hospital and Clinic in the Cayo District, Belize – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

We have the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital La Loma Luz in the Cayo District, Belize, which enables us to get cheaper medical services than in Belize City. Each service here in the Cayo District will have a different price but it’s very affordable.

It is difficult to compare the costs of healthcare in the Cayo District with a place like New York because, in New York, you will receive First World service and deal with highly trained people, while in La Loma Luz, but...

Can I buy furniture in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua?

Lance Moss - Surfari Charters

Tapaciria Lolo Morales, Managua, Nicaragua – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

There are cool places to buy and sell sofas in San Juan del Sur. There’s also some really cool towns half way between San Juan Del Sur and Managua that are known for their furniture. You can go to those towns and they’ll be what seems like 50 workshops on the side of the road, all building furniture. You can pick out some awesome hand crafted items and you can even order what you would want to get made specifically for you.

I think you’re...

In general, what do I need to know about FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report)?

Jay Butler - Asset Protection Services of America

According to the Foreign Bank and Financial Authority (FBAR) regulations, the IRS must allow individuals to open private offshore bank accounts. So long as the aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts does not exceed $10,000 (USD) at any time during the calendar year, the assets need not be reported. Be mindful of interest bearing accounts, for if your total offshore accounts exceed $10,000 (USD) the IRS requires you to report it or risk facing a maximum penalty of five years in...

Are there natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes, fire or hurricanes in Algarve?

Luis Teixeira da Silva - Algarve Senior Living

Lisbon before the Portuguese earthquake in 1755 – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

There are natural disasters in Algarve but we have not had one for many centuries. The entire country of Portugal is actually on an earthquake zone. The last major earthquake was in 1755, so it was clearly some time ago.

The Algarve gets tens, if not hundreds, of little ground tremors, which are sometimes too weak to be felt by a human being, but they do happen because we are on an earthquake zone.

The Algarve is...

The Algarve gets tens, if not hundreds, of little ground tremors, which are sometimes too weak to be felt by a human being, but they do happen because we are on an earthquake zone.

The Algarve is not a flooding zone. The biggest risk or the biggest natural disaster, I would say, that the Algarve faces is brush fires. There are a lot of natural areas that are fairly dense with shrubs and bushes. Unfortunately, we have bush fires every 5 to 6 years. The bush fires here are not at the scale of the bush fires that happen in Australia or California but nonetheless, it is probably the biggest natural disaster on a local level. However, very rarely does a home get damaged by bush fires. The last that I remember where a house got burned or damaged by a bush fire happened around 10 years ago when there was a bush fire in the Eastern Algarve. Because the fires mostly happen in the densely foliated areas, the density of homes in these areas is also very low. The loss of property is fortunately low and the loss of life is very rare. There could be a loss of sheep or cattle, which are generally a loss of natural environment rather than a physical, material, or human loss.

Relevant to flooding, about two months ago, Algarve had probably one of the worst floods that occurred in Albufeira in living memory. Generally, flooding is not common here in the Algarve because we are in an area where there is very little rain. We are always praying for rain. What happens in some coastal towns, because they built their buildings very close to the water, is that they get flooded when it is a high tide and it is a full moon. This is what happened in Albufeira a few months ago. There are other villages that are prone to flooding such as Ferragudo, and the downtown area of Tavira. So, overall, there are one or two towns or villages that can be flooded but flooding is not a common thing.

Relative to hurricanes, they don’t happen here in Portugal. We send them towards the US; we don’t receive them. The hurricanes start typically in an area near the Cape Verde Islands, then tend to go towards the West Coast of Africa, and then towards the East Coast of the US. We have high winds and we sometimes have windy days but gale force winds are very rare.

( Tile mural of Lisbon before the Portuguese earthquake in 1755, pictured.)

Recently Posted Expat Stories

Becoming a Globetrotting Nomad at 58: Would You Pull the Rope?

(We thank the wonderful people and our good friends at Nextavenue.org, where this article was originally published July 28, 2016.)

I was at a lecture a few years ago where the speaker casually mentioned that most members of the audience were in the final third of their lives. As I looked around, I saw a lot of “old people,” so it seemed like he was right.

Then, I did the math relative to myself.

Oh, no! He was...

What I learned from our Celador: Succeeding as an expat in five easy lessons.

1-You’re safer than you think

2-They’re on bikes for a reason

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4-Violence can be counter productive

5-Value is where you find it

The video was taken on our street in Medellin Colombia, and it will charm you with its subject matter, and inherent message. Here are five lessons on what we’ve learned as short time expats, thanks to...

You Definitly Want a Multiple Entry Stamp in Panama!

Hi everyone! This photo is me near an artsy cafe

in Panama the day after we arrived. What a beautiful city

with a magnificent skyline that goes for miles and miles.

As we fell in love with the country before we arrived we decided to apply for the pensionado visas right away.

It was during the visit to the attorney that we learned we could be fined if we left the country and came back in a week or month later. The...