Are taxis readily available in Los Cabos - La Paz, Mexico, and what do taxis cost in Los Cabos - La Paz, Mexico?
John K. Glaab - the settlement company®
Here in Los Cabos and La Paz, we have sitios, which are taxi stands. There are taxi stands all over La Paz and all over Los Cabos. In addition to that, we also have buses, which run from La Paz to Cabo San Lucas.
There are not as many international flights coming in, but they do have flights from all over Mexico. You can catch a shuttle bus here in La Paz and take if down to Cabo San Lucas, to the airport.
Taxis are not that...
Here in Los Cabos and La Paz, we have sitios, which are taxi stands. There are taxi stands all over La Paz and all over Los Cabos. In addition to that, we also have buses, which run from La Paz to Cabo San Lucas.
There are not as many international flights coming in, but they do have flights from all over Mexico. You can catch a shuttle bus here in La Paz and take if down to Cabo San Lucas, to the airport.
Taxis are not that expensive but I don’t use them a lot. If I were to go from my home to the Nissan car dealership, which is around 2.5 miles, I’d probably pay 50 pesos or around US $3, which is equivalent to just a handful of candy. We don’t have Uber here, but we do have excellent taxi service, available 24 hours.
What's the best strategy for asset protection and wealth preservation offshore?
Mike Cobb - ECI Development
Offshore asset protection is the highest form of protection a US citizen can have. Even with the disclosures on the 8938 and other IRS tax forms, privacy is greatly enhanced when assets are held offshore. An offshore trust is a powerful asset protection tool when used correctly.
The best strategy for offshore asset protection is a custom plan that takes into account your total assets, the location of them, your risk profile for lawsuits, your age,...
Offshore asset protection is the highest form of protection a US citizen can have. Even with the disclosures on the 8938 and other IRS tax forms, privacy is greatly enhanced when assets are held offshore. An offshore trust is a powerful asset protection tool when used correctly.
The best strategy for offshore asset protection is a custom plan that takes into account your total assets, the location of them, your risk profile for lawsuits, your age, family structure and generational planning.
What do I need to know about pet shipping to Panama, pet travel to Panama and pet transport to Panama?
Jade Wills - Maya Moon Marketing
What do you need to know about Pet shipping to Panama, Pet travel to Panama and Pet Transport to Panama?
I think you need to know that it's not an easy task but
youcan do it yourself. It's all about timing and having the correct documents in hand.
There are several services that can help you through this process but I ended up doing it myself and everything worked out fine.
...
What do you need to know about Pet shipping to Panama, Pet travel to Panama and Pet Transport to Panama?
I think you need to know that it's not an easy task but
youcan do it yourself. It's all about timing and having the correct documents in hand.
There are several services that can help you through this process but I ended up doing it myself and everything worked out fine.
First of all, be sure and visit the Embassy of Panama online. They have the list of items you will need.
Here is a step by step because it's hard to find on the website:
Log onto the Embassy of Panama dot org site.
Find services in the menu on the left and hover
Click on Consular services
Scroll down to the bottom and look for Traveling With Pets.
On that page you will see a list of instructions and documents that are required. Just note that everything needs to be done within a 10 day time period so I advise using Fed-ex for all the shipping of documents etc.
*Also note that you will have to pay about a $130 (estimate) fee for home quarantine. You will pay this at the airport. I also paid another fee of $16 for an inspection of the dog and it's food upon arrival.
*I suggest taking only a little food with you. You can buy good food in Panama like Royal Canin and Eukanuba at the Melo or La Rocha stores. Grocery stores carry Pedigree. Not many choices of bones or treats.
* Please check with your airlines for further information regarding airline guidelines when you are traveling with pets.
*Also take note of the Ministry of Health's hours because if you show up when they are closed they will quarantine your animal until they open and charge you for it.
* The Ministry of health requires that you send them a 3 day notice of your arrival and copies of documents. I did this and received an email confirmation response but when I arrived they said they never received my documents. I was lucky and they still processed my paperwork but they could have sent my dog back without question because of this. I recommend taking a copy of the email response you receive from them as proof just in case.
I hope theses few suggestions help. This is only my personal experience with this process and I am not a professional pet service.
Best of luck! It's completely worth all the hassle to have your little love with you.
What are the best things to buy in Nicaragua as opposed to other places?
Barry Oliver - Surfing Nahua
Some of the best things to buy in Nicaragua include construction materials, which are excellent. Nicaragua has very exotic woods and amazing tiles, and excellent artists, painters, sculptors, and pottery towns like San Juan de Oriente (a town fairly close to Granada) offers beautiful art and pottery pieces. The soapstone carvers in San Juan de Oriente are amazing as well, and you could get huge four-foot Buddhas, or 4-foot marlins carved for a couple of hundred bucks. It takes these...
Some of the best things to buy in Nicaragua include construction materials, which are excellent. Nicaragua has very exotic woods and amazing tiles, and excellent artists, painters, sculptors, and pottery towns like San Juan de Oriente (a town fairly close to Granada) offers beautiful art and pottery pieces. The soapstone carvers in San Juan de Oriente are amazing as well, and you could get huge four-foot Buddhas, or 4-foot marlins carved for a couple of hundred bucks. It takes these people weeks to finish these amazing artworks.
While you’re in Nicaragua, the fruits and vegetables are amazing and fresh. They’ve now got some very good microbreweries. There’s one bar called Erdmann’s that has some of the best beer I’ve ever had, including IPAs and Dark IPAs 55:26 and he’s got a Black Santa over Christmas, which is one of my favorite things to buy in Nicaragua.
My wife and I like to buy some nice wood furniture, yoyos for the kids that are handmade out of wood, and hammocks.
How are Americans in Corozal treated? How are expats in Corozal treated generally?
Daryl Blomdahl
From my experience, the people in Belize are friendly, laidback and casual. We were treated with open arms. When we walked up and down the streets just to check out the town we felt welcomed, and we felt safe. And it’s not like we blend in. We definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. I’m a tall blonde and my wife is a short blonde, which is quite contrast to see under normal circumstances. But we felt that they were wonderful and very accommodating, very...
From my experience, the people in Belize are friendly, laidback and casual. We were treated with open arms. When we walked up and down the streets just to check out the town we felt welcomed, and we felt safe. And it’s not like we blend in. We definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. I’m a tall blonde and my wife is a short blonde, which is quite contrast to see under normal circumstances. But we felt that they were wonderful and very accommodating, very welcoming and willing to share if you had any questions and point you in the right direction.
(Friends of Cerros Beach Resort, Corozal, Belize, pictured.)
Does Portugal have any special retirement program or retirement benefits?
Luis Teixeira da Silva - Algarve Senior Living
Yes, Portugal does have retirement programs or benefits. If you are a senior in Portugal, typically over 65 years old, you are already entitled to many benefits, such as the exemption on certain medical or hospital costs or a huge reduction on co-payments. You will also get a huge reduction on gas and on public transports. Generally, if you are a senior, you get many discounts and benefits.
The most important program to mention, which is similar to...
Yes, Portugal does have retirement programs or benefits. If you are a senior in Portugal, typically over 65 years old, you are already entitled to many benefits, such as the exemption on certain medical or hospital costs or a huge reduction on co-payments. You will also get a huge reduction on gas and on public transports. Generally, if you are a senior, you get many discounts and benefits.
The most important program to mention, which is similar to the Pensionado Program in Central America, is the Non-Habitual Residency. A Non-Habitual Resident is a status that is granted to new residents in Portugal. It doesn’t only apply to pensioners but it is particularly good for pensioners because it exempts most pensioners or new residents in Portugal from paying income tax on their pension for a period of 10 years. If you bring your international pension into Portugal and get it paid here, then you will be exempt from paying taxes on it here. Being a Non-Habitual Resident also allows you to be exempt from a number of other sources of income such as interest and sometimes dividends, but you would need to take advice from an attorney to do that. The Non-Habitual Resident is one of the most popular programs today.
Generally, if you work for the public sector then you would always pay taxes on your pension but if you have a private pension and that pension gets paid to you on a regular basis, then you are able to be exempt from taxes on your pension using a mechanism such as QROPS (Qualified Recognized Overseas Pension Scheme), which is a method that the HMRC (or her majesty’s government) allows British citizens to use to formally take their pensions and get it paid abroad. So your pension would be paid abroad, in Portugal, and that will be tax free. You will pay no tax in the UK, and you will pay no tax in Portugal.
I would recommend that you take advice from a tax adviser because each situation is different. But the Non-Habitual Residency Program applies to any country relative to a double tax treaty that allows the citizen of the country of origin to be taxed in the country of residence. Portugal is one of the countries with the most double tax treaties, with about 160 of them. In Europe, the double tax treaty applies to pretty much every country except the Netherlands because the Netherlands kept a double tax treaty and the Dutch government is authorized to tax its citizens living abroad.
The US qualifies for the Non-Habitual Residency Program but of course the US is a little more complex for the simple reason that Americans are taxed on their worldwide income. The Non-Habitual Residency Program applies to US citizens but it is not so straightforward to lose one’s tax residency in gain it in another country. There may be a slightly more complex situation in that sense in terms of dual nationality, residency, and so on. US citizens need to take advice from a tax adviser if they want to apply for the Non-Habitual Residency Program.
(Festa de Sao Joao, the feast of Saint John, Porto, Portugal, pictured.)
My wife and I bought our first home in Chelem, Yucatan, Mexico in 2002. Our plans when we bought our house were to use it for our retirement, which at that time, was still years down the road. The more we visited our home, however, the more we fell in love with the Yucatan, so by the end of 2003 we moved to Mexico full-time. We worked and traveled throughout the Yucatan Peninsula, including Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel and Mahahual (in the state of Quintana Roo), and while they...
Flash back to 8 years ago, when I visited Panama (from Mexico where I was living) to attend an International Living Conference. Panama was on my radar big time, as an international investor. The prices, cost of living, ease of doing business, resident visa programs... every box was checked. While I didn’t plan on living in Panama, I was keen to add to my investment portfolio, purchase and furnish a property and set it up for short-term vacation rentals as I do with all my properties. I...
Here in Los Cabos and La Paz, we have sitios, which are taxi stands. There are taxi stands all over La Paz and all over Los Cabos. In addition to that, we also have buses, which run from La Paz to Cabo San Lucas..png)
form of protection a US citizen can have. Even with the disclosures on the 8938 and other IRS tax forms, privacy is greatly enhanced when assets are held offshore. An offshore trust is a powerful asset protection tool when used correctly. .jpeg)
Some of the best things to buy in Nicaragua include construction materials, which are excellent. Nicaragua has very exotic woods and amazing tiles, and excellent artists, painters, sculptors, and pottery towns like San Juan de Oriente (a town fairly close to Granada) offers beautiful art and pottery pieces. The soapstone carvers in San Juan de Oriente are amazing as well, and you could get huge four-foot Buddhas, or 4-foot marlins carved for a couple of hundred bucks. It takes these...
From my experience, the people in Belize are friendly, laidback and casual. We were treated with open arms. When we walked up and down the streets just to check out the town we felt welcomed, and we felt safe. And it’s not like we blend in. We definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. I’m a tall blonde and my wife is a short blonde, which is quite contrast to see under normal circumstances. But we felt that they were wonderful and very accommodating, very...
Yes, Portugal does have retirement programs or benefits. If you are a senior in Portugal, typically over 65 years old, you are already entitled to many benefits, such as the exemption on certain medical or hospital costs or a huge reduction on co-payments. You will also get a huge reduction on gas and on public transports. Generally, if you are a senior, you get many discounts and benefits. 
My wife and I bought our first home in Chelem, Yucatan, Mexico in 2002. Our plans when we bought our house were to use it for our retirement, which at that time, was still years down the road. The more we visited our home, however, the more we fell in love with the Yucatan, so by the end of 2003 we moved to Mexico full-time. We worked and traveled throughout the Yucatan Peninsula, including Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel and Mahahual (in the state of Quintana Roo), and while they...
At each of the stops on .jpg)
Flash back to 8 years ago, when I visited Panama (from Mexico where I was living) to attend an International Living Conference. Panama was on my radar big time, as an international investor. The prices, cost of living, ease of doing business, resident visa programs... every box was checked. While I didn’t plan on living in Panama, I was keen to add to my investment portfolio, purchase and furnish a property and set it up for short-term vacation rentals as I do with all my properties. I...