Best Places In The World To Retire

It is normal in San Miguel de Allende to hire a housekeeper for what is called in Mexico, “come in and out”; they don’t stay overnight at your house.  On this basis, the average cost to get a housekeeper in San Miguel de Allende would be between 250 to 300 pesos (US $14 to $16) a day and normally, you have to hire them at least 5 days a week; from Monday through Friday and pay them by the week.

 

There are housekeepers who you can hire...

It is normal in San Miguel de Allende to hire a housekeeper for what is called in Mexico, “come in and out”; they don’t stay overnight at your house.  On this basis, the average cost to get a housekeeper in San Miguel de Allende would be between 250 to 300 pesos (US $14 to $16) a day and normally, you have to hire them at least 5 days a week; from Monday through Friday and pay them by the week.

 

There are housekeepers who you can hire by the day but they would cost you a little bit more. Hiring a housekeeper by the day would probably cost around 350 to 400 pesos ($19 to $22) a day unless you negotiate a really good deal.  One of the reasons they have to charge more if you hire by the day is that they would have to get an extra job somewhere else or get themselves hired by other people by the day so their salary can cover their expenses.

 

Normally, people here in San Miguel de Allende give their housekeepers a 5 to 6 days of paid vacations a year. At the end of the year, in Mexico, we have what is called Aguinaldo, which is two weeks’ worth of salary that you pay your employees in the month of December. In some cases, Mexicans like to give their home workers Social Security or health insurance. It is not 100% mandatory but some people do. It is normal here in Mexico that housekeepers become family for you so if they get into any sort of trouble such as having health problems, whether they got sick or anyone in their family got sick, normally employers respond and support them.

 

(Home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)

If it is an emergency, of course, you would be able to see a doctor in Pedasi right away. But if you go to the Centro de Salud, which is the public health clinic, and you try get a doctor’s appointment, you might have to wait from one week to one month, depending on what kind of specialist you are looking for. If you are looking for a general practitioner, your time to wait for an appointment would be less because they have a lot of doctors who are general...

If it is an emergency, of course, you would be able to see a doctor in Pedasi right away. But if you go to the Centro de Salud, which is the public health clinic, and you try get a doctor’s appointment, you might have to wait from one week to one month, depending on what kind of specialist you are looking for. If you are looking for a general practitioner, your time to wait for an appointment would be less because they have a lot of doctors who are general practitioners, so you might wait for about a week or just a couple of days.  But if you need a specialist, such as an ophthalmologist, you might wait two or three weeks because there are not a lot of ophthalmologists in Pedasi. Centro de Salud is fairly small, so of course, they do not have a lot of specialists. They would have gynecologists, but you might still have to wait for about two weeks to see a gynecologist.

 

There are no private hospitals in Pedasi, but they are building a new public hospital now, which is about to open. I am guessing they will obviously have more doctors. It is a bigger facility and it is much nicer than the Centro de Salud.

 

If you live in Pedasi and you are not able to get a doctor within the timeframe that you need to see one, you can always go to the town of Las Tablas, which is just 30 minutes away, and where they have a bigger hospital with more specialists. There are private clinics in Las Tablas, too.

In order to obtain the Non-Habitual Resident (“NHR”) Status, firstly it will be necessary to be considered as tax resident in Portugal in the same year that the Portuguese Tax Authorities accept the request to be a Non Habitual Resident.

 

Thereby, in general terms, to be considered as tax resident in Portugal, it is necessary to fulfill one of the following requirements:

 

i) Has remained there more than 183 days,...

In order to obtain the Non-Habitual Resident (“NHR”) Status, firstly it will be necessary to be considered as tax resident in Portugal in the same year that the Portuguese Tax Authorities accept the request to be a Non Habitual Resident.

 

Thereby, in general terms, to be considered as tax resident in Portugal, it is necessary to fulfill one of the following requirements:

 

i) Has remained there more than 183 days, consecutive or otherwise;

 

ii) Has stayed for less time, but has available there, on that year, accommodation in conditions that indicate an intention to keep and occupy it as an habitual residence;

 

iii) Is a crew member of vessels or aircraft, provided that in the service of entities with residence, head office or (place of) effective management in that territory;

 

iv) Exercises functions or commissions of public character under the Portuguese State, abroad;

 

v) Performs abroad an office or commission of a public nature, in the service of the Portuguese State.

 

After the requirements are fulfilled, the recognition of this status is not automatic.  Rather, it is still necessary to request the Registration in the Taxpayer Registry of the Portuguese Tax Authorities as a Non-Habitual Resident.

 

This registration as a Non-Habitual Resident must be made at the moment of the registration as Portuguese tax resident or subsequently until March 31st, of the year after taking up residency in Portugal.

 

(Cafe off the plaza in Montijo, Portugal, pictured.)

Retiring abroad always has significant challenges and risks that the person looking at moving abroad has to mitigate. For example, is your income going to be taxed in the country that you’re going to move to? How does the country you’re moving from tax the money if you don’t live in the country where you earned it?

 

Being an American citizen in Panama, which has a territorial tax system, what you’ll find in Panama depends on what...

Retiring abroad always has significant challenges and risks that the person looking at moving abroad has to mitigate. For example, is your income going to be taxed in the country that you’re going to move to? How does the country you’re moving from tax the money if you don’t live in the country where you earned it?

 

Being an American citizen in Panama, which has a territorial tax system, what you’ll find in Panama depends on what your income hurdles are. This means that the money that you earned from the United States is never going to be taxed the first cent in Panama, and if you don’t live in the United States, your first $100,000-plus of earnings in the United States isn’t going to be taxed.

 

There’s an advantageous living situation for an American citizen in Panama to enjoy without the burden of cumbersome United States taxes. That’s the overwhelming reason why many of the expats from the United States choose to live here in Panama, along with the food, and the rental and utility cost generally being at a par or much lower than in the United States. 

 

Another reason why someone would want to be hesitant in retiring abroad is the question of safety in the country that they’re looking at. Is the country safe for the retiree? There are many choices that you can make when moving abroad- there’s Europe, South America, Central America, and Asia. 

 

What I found here in Panama was a nice mixture of relative safety, not feeling like someone lives right on top of me all the time, feeling easy about going through American-style roads, feeling good that I can turn on the tap and drink the water out of it, being able to go to the grocery store and find things that I enjoy eating, and being able to go to the hardware store and find name brands that I enjoy using. For me here living in the Chiriqui Highlands, there’s also going into David and shopping for new name brand cars that I am familiar with and understand. These are all the reasons I was able to move to Panama and still feel like, in many ways, I still got to experience the American culture.  

 

(Gilbert children on a black sand beach, Panama, pictured.)

Placencia is very busy during the daytime because of having different activities. The nighttime in Placencia definitely needs to be improved in terms of culture.

There is an annual film festival put on by Francis Ford Coppola, who has a project about 10 minutes away from ours.  From our perspective, were working on a couple of things like an annual musical festival. Were also building an amphitheater and having multiple entertainers come to Placencia. Several...

Placencia is very busy during the daytime because of having different activities. The nighttime in Placencia definitely needs to be improved in terms of culture.

There is an annual film festival put on by Francis Ford Coppola, who has a project about 10 minutes away from ours.  From our perspective, were working on a couple of things like an annual musical festival. Were also building an amphitheater and having multiple entertainers come to Placencia. Several months ago, we had Clint Black come into our project for vacation. He came into our restaurant and sang for two hours straight. He’s just one of the nicest guys.

 

From a cultural perspective, Belize definitely needs some work, but every year, the Belize Tourism Board is doing a good job working with the different projects down there, especially by improving the culture and adding more to what Belize already has. You do not go to Belize to see a Broadway play. You come to Belize for its beauty of the people, the bird life, the fishing. The emphasis is more on nature, but the culture will improve because different resorts are taking the responsibility to work on that from their perspective. 

 

(Participants in Francis Ford Coppola writer's workshop in Belize, pictured.)