Best Places In The World To Retire

Generally, when you come here to Mexico as an expat, you get different kinds of immigration visas. We happen to have one that is good for 5 years that is called Residente Permanente. At the end of the 5 years, we can apply for Mexican citizenship and be dual citizens, which right now no one has convinced me that there is an economic advantage to do.
 
However, our particular Residente Permanente visas exclude us from being engaged in business.  We know an acquaintance who is...

Generally, when you come here to Mexico as an expat, you get different kinds of immigration visas. We happen to have one that is good for 5 years that is called Residente Permanente. At the end of the 5 years, we can apply for Mexican citizenship and be dual citizens, which right now no one has convinced me that there is an economic advantage to do.
 
However, our particular Residente Permanente visas exclude us from being engaged in business.  We know an acquaintance who is running a business here and did not have a visa that allows him to do commercial activities and somebody tipped off the immigration people. He was detained for about 3 weeks in an immigration facility and was scheduled to be deported. The good news was, he hired a good lawyer and instead of being deported and not able to come back for 5 years, Mexico has installed a new program that has a forgiveness clause that says, basically, “Shame on you, but since you created a business and you are probably creating economic development here, and you might even have a couple of employees, we will waive the law.” There is a forgiveness period so they allowed him to apply for the new Residente Permanente visa with the privilege of doing commercial activities and he had to pay a fine of 50,000 pesos, or US $3,200. He had to stay out of the country for over a month before he came back to apply for that new Residente Permanente Visa with commercial privilege activities.
 
A number of expats have the idea that they are going to come down and maybe become a tour guide or own a restaurant or do some other kind of things. You need to be respectful and knowledgeable about what the country's laws are. If you do not have the right visa and you are prohibited by the visa you have for non-commercial activities, do not do it, because, generally, if you are deported you cannot come back to Mexico for a minimum of 5 years. If you are fully retired, your sources of income or any commercial activities you are doing are okay back in the US. Do not engage in commercial activities here unless you have the right visa.
 
(Luncheon at the home of John and Dorianne Venator (center) with Yucatan State Governor Ivonne Ortega (right) and Gloria Guevara (far left), Sra. Guevara, Mexico's National Secy. of Tourism, Valladolid, Mexico pictured.)

 

 

The best place to retire depends on the person, and what they’re looking for.  In order to do this, you need to establish the reason you’re moving before you pick a place.  The best place for another person may not be the best place for you.  You need to get clarity on why you’re moving, what you want to accomplish, and what you want your daily life to be like.
 
Write out your ideal day.  When you wake up, who do you see around you? ...

The best place to retire depends on the person, and what they’re looking for.  In order to do this, you need to establish the reason you’re moving before you pick a place.  The best place for another person may not be the best place for you.  You need to get clarity on why you’re moving, what you want to accomplish, and what you want your daily life to be like.
 
Write out your ideal day.  When you wake up, who do you see around you?  What do you see around you?  Is it mountains?  Is it a beach?  Is it farmland?  A valley?  Skyscrapers?  Then, go from there.  What do you eat for breakfast?  Would you want some tropical fruit?  That tropical fruit could be falling off the trees in Nicaragua, where there could be mangoes in the road, pineapples and watermelons growing on the side of the road.  Or, perhaps you would prefer a baguette and an espresso.  There are no espresso machines in a lot of places in Nicaragua and Ecuador, for example, unless you have it at your house.  There’s no cappuccino.

 

(Pictured to the right and above: Corn Islands, in Nicaragua.)
 
What would you like to do in your normal day?  This is something that, otherwise, we don’t generally get to choose.  All the way from being a five year old in kindergarten through school and then work, most of us don’t get to define our day.  What would you do if you could do whatever you wanted?  Would you like to go whitewater rafting, would you like to go hiking, would you want to sit at a café in a city and sip your coffee and read a book?  What is your ideal day?  Maybe you don’t want to see any people.  Maybe you want to live on the top of a mountain only surrounded by nature.  
 
Once you have a clear idea of what your day would be like, then move to the finances.  How much money do you have to live on each month?  Most of us aren’t going to be living in a chateau in Switzerland, which is one of the most expensive countries in the world.  Of course, the more you have to live on each month, the more flexibility you’ll have in choosing your best place to live.
 
After you’ve defined what you want your typical day to be like and you’ve come to terms with your budget, you need to do your research.  This is the point where it’s really good to have someone to help you, even for an hour or so to get a real perspective from someone who’s worked in the place you’re considering or lived there.
 
We have lists of countries and areas that are the best and the worst, based on very specific criteria.

 

(Pictured to the right: France)

There are openly gay people living in Nicaragua, almost like San Francisco, California.  They even have parades in Masaya and Managua.  In Managua and Granada as well, we have gay and lesbian discos.  In Granada, we have hotels that are very open to gays and lesbians, that put the flag outside.

There is excellent fishing in Portugal.
 
My birthday is on the 4th of April, and normally on the week of my birthday my present is to go fishing for a week. Last year, I caught a 200-kilo (441 pounds) tuna. In Portuguese we call the fish I caught the atum rabillo but in English I think it’s bluefin tuna. So an amateur like me caught a fish like that, which gives you an idea of how rich our waters are.
 
If you go fishing in the main cities—Lisbon or...

There is excellent fishing in Portugal.
 
My birthday is on the 4th of April, and normally on the week of my birthday my present is to go fishing for a week. Last year, I caught a 200-kilo (441 pounds) tuna. In Portuguese we call the fish I caught the atum rabillo but in English I think it’s bluefin tuna. So an amateur like me caught a fish like that, which gives you an idea of how rich our waters are.
 
If you go fishing in the main cities—Lisbon or Porto—you will see a lot of recreational fishing. There are a lot of little boats, which tend to scare the bigger fish but you always catch fish in Portugal.
 
Portugal is really well known for two things: soccer and fish. The fish we get is very, very good fish and very fresh fish. All the restaurants provide very, very fresh fish. Portugal is a really beautiful place to go fishing; very beautiful.  

 

(Fishing at Monte Clérigo, Portugal, pictured.)

Typically, the rainy season in Belize starts May 1st and ends November 30th of each year. Because the Maya Mountains in the country are to the south, the lenticular clouds draw more rain to the south so they get about 160 inches of rain to the south of Belize and about 60 inches of rain to the north of Belize.
 
The rain is much less where we live on the island of Ambergris Caye, which is to the north of the Maya Mountains. The southern part of the country has a more lush and...

Typically, the rainy season in Belize starts May 1st and ends November 30th of each year. Because the Maya Mountains in the country are to the south, the lenticular clouds draw more rain to the south so they get about 160 inches of rain to the south of Belize and about 60 inches of rain to the north of Belize.
 
The rain is much less where we live on the island of Ambergris Caye, which is to the north of the Maya Mountains. The southern part of the country has a more lush and humid environment compared to the northern part, which is a lot drier.

The cost for a housekeeper in Clayton is the same as any other place in Panama City. It depends on how many people are living in your house. If there are only two people in a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom house, you can have a maid to come three times a week and pay them US $20 per day. Or you can have the maid for a month and pay around $300 to $350 per month. This is not for a live-in housekeeper, but rather for someone to come to your house every day.

 

(Multi-use room in...

The cost for a housekeeper in Clayton is the same as any other place in Panama City. It depends on how many people are living in your house. If there are only two people in a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom house, you can have a maid to come three times a week and pay them US $20 per day. Or you can have the maid for a month and pay around $300 to $350 per month. This is not for a live-in housekeeper, but rather for someone to come to your house every day.

 

(Multi-use room in two bedroom, two bathroom Panamanian condo near Clayton, pictured.)