Best Places In The World To Retire

You are going to get different answers to the question of how much it costs for a housekeeper or maid in Yucatan and you are going to get people who will tell you that you are paying too much. We pay our house staff US $15 per day and here at the beach, we pay maybe a little higher than some but they are some good quality people that I can trust and I want the same people to come back all the time.

 

You can get a good housekeeper for as low as $13 to $15 a...

You are going to get different answers to the question of how much it costs for a housekeeper or maid in Yucatan and you are going to get people who will tell you that you are paying too much. We pay our house staff US $15 per day and here at the beach, we pay maybe a little higher than some but they are some good quality people that I can trust and I want the same people to come back all the time.

 

You can get a good housekeeper for as low as $13 to $15 a day. You can also get a good yard person for $15 to $17 per day. There are also companies that sell services and they have people who can come and clean your yard every week.  

 

(House near downtown Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)

The medical and dental tourism is something that people have been pushing for some time now, not just in Panama, but in other countries as well. I personally do not have any experience with medical tourism for things like plastic surgery, but I do know a lot of people who have had this experience with regard to dental tourism. Most of these people have ties to Panama, they grew up in the Canal Zone, and they come back to Panama and make a vacation out of it to have their dental...

The medical and dental tourism is something that people have been pushing for some time now, not just in Panama, but in other countries as well. I personally do not have any experience with medical tourism for things like plastic surgery, but I do know a lot of people who have had this experience with regard to dental tourism. Most of these people have ties to Panama, they grew up in the Canal Zone, and they come back to Panama and make a vacation out of it to have their dental procedures done, usually for about the same cost as having their dental procedure done in the US, but throwing in their vacation to Panama for free.

 

As long as you are with private healthcare and you do your research really well, I think that having medical and dental procedures done in Panama at a lower cost than having it done elsewhere could be a good idea. But like with any country, especially with plastic surgery, you really have to do your homework. Like anywhere else, Panama has some really good doctors, and they have some not so good doctors, and so you have to be careful and you have to do your research.   

The economy of the Algarve is mainly focused on tourism, which is the main economic driver here. There is a little bit of agriculture in particular with the production of local fruits such as oranges, carobs, almonds, etc. There is some fishing, including offshore aquaculture or what we call “long line fishing,” cultivation of oysters, mussels, etc. There is also some tuna aquaculture in the Rio de Tavira. There is no manufacturing industry here but there is a little bit...

The economy of the Algarve is mainly focused on tourism, which is the main economic driver here. There is a little bit of agriculture in particular with the production of local fruits such as oranges, carobs, almonds, etc. There is some fishing, including offshore aquaculture or what we call “long line fishing,” cultivation of oysters, mussels, etc. There is also some tuna aquaculture in the Rio de Tavira. There is no manufacturing industry here but there is a little bit of the service industry.

 

Then of course, there is the public sector. There are a lot of public sector employees who work in the municipalities, tax department, and public services in general. Generally, tourism and the public sector and a little of agriculture are the economic drivers of the Algarve. 

 

The economy right now is better than it had been 9 years ago. Tourism has been growing year after year. Tourism here includes the activities related to expats and anything else that involves people visiting the region or ultimately moving here, typically not full time initially but part time until they understand whether this is the place for them or not, and then becoming permanent residents. That transition phase is something that is included in the tourism numbers.

 

In the World Travel Market in London, the Algarve is again the Most Requested Region in the World. Tour operators in the UK are moving a lot of the traffic from North Africa and the Middle East to southern European places like the Algarve, which has been particularly popular. From the tourism, sector, the Algarve is doing very well and this has been boosted by the new legislation called the Non-Habitual Residency, which means that people can come and live and even retire in Portugal tax free. This has increased the demand for the country of Portugal and specifically for the Algarve.  

 

(Olive you, Portugal. I love you, Portugal graphic by Jet Metier, pictured.)