Best Places In The World To Retire

I decided to live here in Ajijic for the past 8 years because of the standard of living here. You get what you could mostly get in a large city. There are some things that you couldn’t get in this town but those are things that just some people crave for such as high-end shows or very specific food like Vietnamese food or expensive Japanese food. Those are available in Guadalajara, which is only about an hour away from Ajijic. Most of the things that you could get in big cities,...

I decided to live here in Ajijic for the past 8 years because of the standard of living here. You get what you could mostly get in a large city. There are some things that you couldn’t get in this town but those are things that just some people crave for such as high-end shows or very specific food like Vietnamese food or expensive Japanese food. Those are available in Guadalajara, which is only about an hour away from Ajijic. Most of the things that you could get in big cities, you could also get here in Chapala and Ajijic for half the price in a large city in Mexico. Compared to the US, the prices here would be a quarter of what you get there.

 

You could get nice rentals in Chapala and Ajijic that are affordable. Food is crazy affordable. Also, once you get familiar to the area, you would go to the local markets instead of the supermarkets, which are even cheaper. Medical services here, most especially by expat standards, are insanely cheap.

 

When they first move here, many expats can’t believe that they’re being charged in pesos. I had to make this clear with some clients that they are being charged in pesos and not dollars. They say, “Oh, so it’s $200.” And I say, “No, it’s 200 pesos (US $11).” It’s crazy because when you go to a doctor, you pay 200 to 300 pesos ($11 to $17) for the consultation. If, for example, you have a very bad cough and you get lots of medicines like antibiotics, it would cost around 700 pesos ($39).

 

We have all kinds of medications here. You can find almost any medication you want as long as you have a doctor to prescribe it. You don’t have to get it brought into Mexico from somewhere else or smuggle medicines into the country because we do have them here. This is one reason why many people come here. They come either to live here or to get medical attention. Dental care is probably a 10th of what you would pay in the US.

 

As an example, I had a full crown on a molar and it cost me a total of 3,500 pesos ($190) for everything, including a root canal and the crown. The same would have cost me around $1,500 to $2,000 in the US. It’s less than 10% here.

 

If you have a three-bedroom house with a pool and a casita, your electric bill would be around 5,300 pesos ($290) every 2 months. For us Mexicans this is extremely high but every time I talk to people from the United States or Canada, they say, “Well, it’s too high compared to other bills in Mexico, but not for us.” You also have access to solar panels if that’s what you want. If you want to live here and you don’t want to pay 5,300 pesos ($290) for your electric bill every 2 months, you have access to solar panels to reduce your electric bill.

 

If you need a gardener or a maid, you could get a maid for about 50 pesos ($3) an hour and a gardener would be around 70 pesos ($4) an hour. You could have the maid come 4 hours a week and pay 200 pesos ($11) a week for cleaning. Gardeners always cost a little more because the weather is so nice here, the plants grow quickly.  If the plants grow a little crazy, then you need to have your gardener come a little more often. You could pay your gardener 700 pesos ($39) a week then.

 

Propane gas costs 7.86 pesos (less than 50 cents) a liter and it lasts depending on what kind of heater you have. If you have a 200 liter tank and you are a regular user without those big fancy heaters and you take a regular one hot shower a day, it your tank could last you about 2 months. (Total charge for gas for two months in this example: less than $87.) This varies depending on how often you cook and how many people live in the house, how hot you like your water, and how often you take showers.

 

The cost of housing differs depending on the area.  Being that Ajijic is the epicenter, the closer you get to Ajijic, the higher the price. You have to consider how close you want to be to the Ajijic Village. There are many people, who, after living in the village, say, “I want to live 6 or 7 kilometers away from the village. Thank you.” Another significant determinant to price is you want a view or if you want to be closer to the Lake Chapala (which usually don’t have the views, unless you are on the lake, because the land is flatter towards the lake). A view would definitely raise your price.

 

A three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 300 square meter (about 3,200 square feet) house in a nice, safe area in the village with only a partial view would rent for around $1,500 per month on a long term rental and it would be furnished. Utilities are not included.

 

The price also depends on how long you want to rent, but we have all kinds of options. The shorter the period you are renting, the higher the price. If you take the same house and move it out by about 5 kilometers from Ajijic, it would cost about $1,200 per month to rent. If you move it out by about 10 kilometers, which is around San Juan Cosala, which is a more Mexican area, the same house would cost about $800 per month to rent and your landlord would be Mexican. Mexicans usually charge in pesos so it is lower.

 

(Home with solar panels, Ajijic, Mexico, pictured.)

In order to have a gun in Portugal, you have to have a license.  Foreigners can own guns in Portugal.  

 

Most of the people who have guns in Portugal, and how gun ownership started is that the guns were for hunters for the hunting season, but there are very strict rules for that. 

 

The actual details of what would be required to get a license to have a gun and what it would cost, I don’t know. The reason...

In order to have a gun in Portugal, you have to have a license.  Foreigners can own guns in Portugal.  

 

Most of the people who have guns in Portugal, and how gun ownership started is that the guns were for hunters for the hunting season, but there are very strict rules for that. 

 

The actual details of what would be required to get a license to have a gun and what it would cost, I don’t know. The reason is we don’t really discuss guns very much apart from if you see on television that they’ve arrested people because of drugs or something similar.  Apart from that, fortunately, at this point in time, I think when you see what’s going on in the world, we feel reasonably safe without guns. 

 

(1934 photo of a  hunter in Peralcovo, Portugal, pictured.) 

There is kayaking in Panama, but surprisingly, not as much as there should be. Kayaking is still in its infant stages here in Panama. I think kayaking is spectacular and I only know of a few people who have legitimate kayaking companies. Most of the stuff that you can rent over here are the plastic kayaks where you sit on top. I do not know of any real tours. Most are just rentals. There is a hotel or two that have kayak rentals, but kayaking is still not the main...

There is kayaking in Panama, but surprisingly, not as much as there should be. Kayaking is still in its infant stages here in Panama. I think kayaking is spectacular and I only know of a few people who have legitimate kayaking companies. Most of the stuff that you can rent over here are the plastic kayaks where you sit on top. I do not know of any real tours. Most are just rentals. There is a hotel or two that have kayak rentals, but kayaking is still not the main attraction.

 

That said, there are some really great kayaking in Panama. My friend does kayaking trips around Isla Coiba, which is an island off the Pacific coast, and it is spectacular. Isla Coiba is the absolute jewel of Panama. It is the largest island in Central America. It is over 500 square kilometers (194 square miles); it is a giant island. It was an old jail and it is more or less uninhabited. Many smaller islands make up the archipelago there. The flatness of the water in Isla Coiba is similar to the Caribbean. That gulf is by far my favorite part of Panama. Luckily, most people do not get to Isla Coiba.

 

There are a few different ways to access the island. The main access route is from Santa Catalina, which is a little town down on the Pacific coast, but you can also go to Isla Coiba coming from David, Boca Chica and even Santiago. There is another marina in Santiago where people take boats from that peninsula to get to Isla Coiba, but the main access is from Santa Catalina.

 

There is an old Smithsonian research center runway there, so it is 50/50 whether you could charter a flight or not. You would probably need some permits and other documents to use the runway. You could also take a helicopter, I suppose, but more or less, people take a boat. The boat ride from Santa Catalina to Isla Coiba is about an hour.

 

The only way to go kayaking in Isla Coiba is to book a tour through Fluid Adventures because their kayaks are the only ones that are out there in Isla Coiba. The owner does not rent the kayaks. He is a very good, Canadian guy who pays a lot of attention to safety. There are some big tides in the Pacific and you need to know how they work so you have to book a tour.

 

I know one kayaking guru and he goes kayaking out on the San Blas islands, which is on the Caribbean. Kayaking in San Blas is a unique experience. There is only one company that offers kayaking in San Blas and they have the rights to kayaking tours there. Therefore, if you want to go kayaking, you have to book a tour with this company. I believe there are two kayaking options. One is a three-day, two-night and the other one is a seven-day, six-night. It is intermediate paddling, so you are not paddling eight hours a day, but you would probably do five hours, which are broken up between a morning and afternoon session. It is five hours per day paddling, then you go snorkeling, and they usually do some camping, too.  If you live in Casco Viejo, for example (an areaa within Panama City), and you wanted to go kayaking just for a couple of hours in San Blas, you cannot do that, because it is a protected area.

 

If you are in Panama City and you want to go kayaking, there are several different places for that. There is lots of good kayaking in less restricted areas. We can take you to the Gamboa area out on the Charges River. We have kayaking from the Bridge of the Americas to Vera Cruz, which is in the mouth of the Panama Canal. Our most popular kayaking is the sunset kayaking because you go kayaking from 2 PM to 6 PM. That is also intermediate kayaking, however. You have to know how to kayak and be able to paddle on the Pacific. We do that on the mouth of the Panama Canal so it is really beautiful.

San Ignacio is a smaller town compared to Belize City, but it is a "walking town." You can park your car and walk through the town. You can walk to the eateries. You can walk to the banks or to the shops. There is a lot of things to do in the San Ignacio area.

 

From what I know from TV and movies, driving in Managua is not as crazy as driving in India.  Driving in Managua is more like driving in New York, except that in Managua, the people are more polite.

 

I’ve lived in Managua all my life.  In the 1980s and 1990s we did not have as many cars as we have now, so it used to be very easy to drive.  You would laugh at how minor was the Rush Hour in Managua back in 1989.  Now, we have what seems like five times the quantity of cars here.  In addition, we have bicycles, pedestrians who don’t use common sense, busses, etc.