Best Places In The World To Retire

As for natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes, fire, or hurricanes in Chapala and Ajijic, I have been living in Ajijic for 19 years and in that time, I've only seen one disaster maybe 12 years ago when there was a surge of water from the hills that came down to the Raquet Club. The street going up to the Raquet Club was filled with mud about one meter (three feet) high and big rocks came down from the mountains. A few houses, maybe three or four, in Raquet Club were destroyed,...

As for natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes, fire, or hurricanes in Chapala and Ajijic, I have been living in Ajijic for 19 years and in that time, I've only seen one disaster maybe 12 years ago when there was a surge of water from the hills that came down to the Raquet Club. The street going up to the Raquet Club was filled with mud about one meter (three feet) high and big rocks came down from the mountains. A few houses, maybe three or four, in Raquet Club were destroyed, but it was a miracle that there were no deaths. Some streets and a bridge on San Juan Cosala were also affected by the influx of mud and rocks.

 

Another one that I did not witness, but happened 18 years ago was a similar incident in El Limón where big rocks destroyed some houses. This happened because of continuous heavy rains for one hour.  Water accumulated in the hills, and there was a sudden surge of water. 

 

I don't think they have solved this problem at the Raquet Club. When you are next to a big mountain, you are taking a risk because that's nature.

 

In terms of earthquakes, there was one in Chapala, Ajijic, and Guadalajara maybe five or six months ago, but there were no big damages.  When I build a house, I can build it earthquake-proof if the client wants that, but I need to hire an engineer. It's not my field and I don't specialize in earthquake safety construction. There are international norms for earthquake safety construction and only an engineer who is specialized in that field can give the structural design against earthquakes.

 

 

For my house, I would prefer to pay 20,000 pesos (US $1,060) to make it earthquake-safe. For this extra cost, the engineers would charge 60 pesos per square meter ($0.30 per square foot) for the structural design. I give them the files of the architectural design and they calculate everything. They give me back the structural drawings with all the rebar, beams, foundation, and everything else. The extra cost to build an earthquake-proof house would not be too much; about a 10% increase.

 

There are always fires here in Ajijic and they never get out of control. In California, you'll have wildfires because you have pine trees in the forests. Here in Ajijic, the plants are low. 

 

There are also no hurricanes here in Chapala and Ajijic because we're hundreds of miles from the ocean. Sometimes we have strong winds from the lake, but doesn't cause too much damage.  

 

(Rain clouds coming into Raquet Club, San Juan Cosala, Mexico, pictured.)

It is typically more expensive to buy a new car in Portugal. It is very difficult to find a new car in Portugal unless it is a small new car that costs under € 10,000 (about US $ 10,800 or £ 7,370). Most new cars when compared to the UK, will be at a premium of about 25% to 30% and when compared to the US, will be at a premium of about 40% to 50%. 

 

The market for second hand cars hardly existed until about 5 years ago and now there are about...

It is typically more expensive to buy a new car in Portugal. It is very difficult to find a new car in Portugal unless it is a small new car that costs under € 10,000 (about US $ 10,800 or £ 7,370). Most new cars when compared to the UK, will be at a premium of about 25% to 30% and when compared to the US, will be at a premium of about 40% to 50%. 

 

The market for second hand cars hardly existed until about 5 years ago and now there are about three or four specialists but it is still more expensive than buying a second hand car in the US, where you could into Daytona Beach and buy a pickup truck for US $500 (€ 460 or £ 340). You can’t do that in Portugal. A fairly nice condition, second hand car would cost about €5,000 (US $ 5,500 or £ 3,700).  Vehicle taxes in Portugal are astronomical; they are the highest in Europe.

 

I am not really certain why we didn’t have a second hand car market in Portugal until recently but I think it is partly cultural and partly as a result of legislation. Culturally, even though Portugal is not a wealthy nation, it hates to buy things that are second hand. If you offer somebody second hand clothes, for example, they will look at you lop-sided because they consider that pretty much an insult. Until recently, any second hand items of any nature were frowned upon, whereas, if you go to England, for example, second hand sales are all the rage. In Portugal, that was frowned upon. I think that extended to vehicles. Vehicles are seen as a status symbol so people do not like to be seen in second hand cars.

 

The other thing was that the taxation process, in terms of imported vehicles is so onerous. There are such high taxes in terms of imported vehicles that it just didn’t pay to import and to buy an imported, nice second hand car because the price would be too close to brand new cars. Only in the course of the last few years has that appeared to change.  

 

(Fiat Cinquecento in Portugal, pictured.)

Hi I moved to Panama a year ago and I love it. I have lived in Puerto Rico, Peru, Miami, Atlanta and Indiana and Panama is by far the best choice for retirement. You must remember, and a lot of people often forget, that Panama is still a third world country. BUT with lots of advantages like currency, cost of living, life style, and much more. It's a lot safer than Puerto Rico and Miami. You can have a maid for $350 a month. Fruit and vegetables are always fresh. I even became...

Hi I moved to Panama a year ago and I love it. I have lived in Puerto Rico, Peru, Miami, Atlanta and Indiana and Panama is by far the best choice for retirement. You must remember, and a lot of people often forget, that Panama is still a third world country. BUT with lots of advantages like currency, cost of living, life style, and much more. It's a lot safer than Puerto Rico and Miami. You can have a maid for $350 a month. Fruit and vegetables are always fresh. I even became vegetarian in Panama. If you like sports, every weekend there is at least two sports events in the City or at any of its provinces. Panama has a lot of beauty. I do agree that the service industry needs a lot of improvement. When it comes to people and manners the average Panamanian is behind. However, my close Panamanian friends are well educated with manners, very good people. Traffic is an issue, like any cities such as Miami, New York, Atlanta. I have learned 'short cuts' and always managed my way out of it. One more thing, I have visited 75% of the country, I have been to places like Torrijos Carter, San Miguelito for business as well as Boca Chica, Las Lajas, Boquete, San Blas and great resorts. In summary, I know Panama very well and my experience has been fantastic. If you like more information about Panama, moving or relocating, feel free to contact me. I am US Citizen and permanent resident in Panama. 

There are two widely spread types of house here in Cayo. First, we have lots of framed wooden buildings. When people want to save money on construction, that’s what they do. They just build a hardwood shell and do not sheetrock it inside, so you will see the hardwood. This is pretty rustic but functional and can even look very nice. This is construction at the low end of the price scale. Above this type of house you find the framed houses that have a refined and mostly...

There are two widely spread types of house here in Cayo. First, we have lots of framed wooden buildings. When people want to save money on construction, that’s what they do. They just build a hardwood shell and do not sheetrock it inside, so you will see the hardwood. This is pretty rustic but functional and can even look very nice. This is construction at the low end of the price scale. Above this type of house you find the framed houses that have a refined and mostly sheetrocked interior. The big drawback of these houses is that the tropical insects love the cavity between the inside and the outside wall.

 

The majority of people use concrete blocks covered with a smooth stucco and the reason is very obvious. Concrete houses last much longer in the tropical climate. They are much sturdier, they will survive a hurricane and termites cannot damage them. Whoever can afford to build concrete house will do so. I guess that about 70% of the houses here in Cayo are cinder block houses.

 

In recent years Belize requires a building permit for every new structure. You have to have proper drawings done by a registered specialist. If a house is larger than 2,000 square feet, you need a second signature from a structural engineer. The plans are submitted to the Central Building Authority in Belize City. In general they make sure that what you building is structurally OK but there is no or only little influence on the design. The building permit is a process you have to go through. The same rule applies for the electrical layout which has to be approved by the so called Public Utilities Commission. These rules are not enforced in every case though. If you are a local and and you build a small, 800-square feet house, you usually won’t go through the process and nobody cares if you don’t. If you are an expat and you want to build a 2,500 square foot concrete home, for sure they will find you and you better have that building permit or they will shut down your building site.  

 

(Top picture: in Cayo, Belize, Caribbean style custom made hardwood kitchen, by Franklin Syrowatka.  Bottom picture: concrete slab done earlier for the same home.)