Best Places In The World To Retire

In Baja, where we live, we are supposed to have rain in winter. It is almost spring but we are still not wearing any sweaters, which is not good for us because it should still be cold at this time of year in Baja.

 

It snows around January but it only happens in the hills like in La Rumorosa, which is next to Mexicali. La Rumorosa is all rocks and divides Mexicali and Tecate. Mexicali is known to be one of the hottest places in Mexico. It is extremely hot...

In Baja, where we live, we are supposed to have rain in winter. It is almost spring but we are still not wearing any sweaters, which is not good for us because it should still be cold at this time of year in Baja.

 

It snows around January but it only happens in the hills like in La Rumorosa, which is next to Mexicali. La Rumorosa is all rocks and divides Mexicali and Tecate. Mexicali is known to be one of the hottest places in Mexico. It is extremely hot there because it is close to the desert.

 

Our weather right now is about 25 degrees Celsius (about 77 Fahrenheit). Tijuana and Rosarito, which is only south of the border from San Diego has similar weather as in San Diego. So if you are by the ocean in the summer, it would very rarely get over 80 degrees Fahrenheit and in the winter, the average temperature is around 65 degrees.

 

The weather in Tijuana is very temperate. The weather in Mexicali is similar to the weather in Calexico so it could be well over 100 degrees there in the summer. When it is summer in Baja, California, you try to avoid visiting Mexicali because Mexicali is east of the hills from La Rumorosa, which divides Mexicali from Tijuana so while Tijuana gets the influence of the Pacific Ocean, which cools it off, Mexicali does not, so it is hot.  We have different kinds of weather in Baja because of the difference in geography.

 

I was in Puerto Vallarta once and I have also visited Chiapas, which is on the border from Guatemala. I had the opportunity to visit Mazatlan, and Mexico City, too. Here in Baja, we expect rain in winter but down there, in the southern parts of Mexico, it rains in summer. That is why it is hot and humid over there because it rains in summer. In contrast, summertime in Baja, California is not humid. It could be hot here in summer but it is not humid.  

 

(House built into the rocks at La Rumorosa, Mexico, pictured.)

The standard of living in Belize depends on what you want. My wife and I do not go out at night because more crimes happen at night and we have to provide our own security. There's just nothing out there unless it's a party in the US embassy or something like that. But our day-to-day life in Belize is 10 times better than in the US because we eat better food, breathe clean air, and drink very clean water.  

 

Food in Belize has...

The standard of living in Belize depends on what you want. My wife and I do not go out at night because more crimes happen at night and we have to provide our own security. There's just nothing out there unless it's a party in the US embassy or something like that. But our day-to-day life in Belize is 10 times better than in the US because we eat better food, breathe clean air, and drink very clean water.  

 

Food in Belize has better quality than in the US. GMO products in Belize are illegal. In fact, you can get arrested for sneaking some into the country. We also don't believe in bad chemicals for farming, which is why our food is cleaner and has better quality. Chicken in Belize tastes better because we don't feed them chemicals to make them fat. Eggs also taste better because the chickens only eat cracked corn. But our meat is not as tender and beefy as in the US because all of our beef is grass-fed, as opposed to grain-fed, like most of the beef in the US. But you could marinate the beef and make it tender so you can eat a piece of meat that's 10 times better for you than the one filled with fat like what we get in the US. So the quality of life is just a whole lot better. 

 

Going to the market on a Saturday morning in San Ignacio is a social event. Everybody shows up there and all the farmers bring their stuff in. For just Belize $10 to 15 (US $5 to $7.50) you can pick up your week's supply of fresh vegetables and fruits and go home. Here, you go to the market to get your vegetables and fruits; you go to grocery stores to get some canned goods; you go to the bakery to get your bread. And I love it. 

 

In contrast, in Houston, we just can't stand the crowds and the traffic--we just wanted to get the hell out. Compared with Houston with its millions of people, there are only 325,000 people in the whole country of Belize. Belize has fewer people, less crowds, and less pressure.  It's a more relaxed way of life.  

 

(Chicken fed on cracked corn for sale in Belize, pictured.)

There are three overriding views for asset protection and wealth preservation offshore, and those are diversification, diversification, and diversification. You want to make sure that your asset classes are diversified- that all your eggs aren’t in one basket. It would be foolish for an investor to hold 100% of his assets in cash. It will also be just as foolish for an investor to hold 100% of his assets in stocks. I think just as stocks are an important asset class, just as an...

There are three overriding views for asset protection and wealth preservation offshore, and those are diversification, diversification, and diversification. You want to make sure that your asset classes are diversified- that all your eggs aren’t in one basket. It would be foolish for an investor to hold 100% of his assets in cash. It will also be just as foolish for an investor to hold 100% of his assets in stocks. I think just as stocks are an important asset class, just as an important asset class is foreign real estate. 

 

There are tremendous gains that can be made over time in Central American real estate.  For example, I’ve met many people here in Panama who have fundamentally transformed their life through their investment in raw land here in Central America. I think foreign real estate absolutely has to be an asset class for any serious-minded investor.  

 

(Beach in Panama, pictured.)

Everything that you ever wanted to know about Boquete weather is available at the Boquete Weather website.

 

It is the brainchild of Lloyd Cripe who has been providing weather information since 2007.

 

I think that you will find his website extremely interesting, particularly since exotic weather is a hallmark of Boquete.

 

One of the joys of living in Boquete is the opportunity to live in awe of Mother...

Everything that you ever wanted to know about Boquete weather is available at the Boquete Weather website.

 

It is the brainchild of Lloyd Cripe who has been providing weather information since 2007.

 

I think that you will find his website extremely interesting, particularly since exotic weather is a hallmark of Boquete.

 

One of the joys of living in Boquete is the opportunity to live in awe of Mother Nature.

 

Whether it is viewing multiple rainbows produced by bajareque (not as heavy as rain or as light as fog), or watching your stream go from 6 inches to 10 feet in two hours, the weather in Boquete is something to behold.

 

Nothing I can say in this response could possibly match a perusal of the Boquete Weather website or a Google search for images of Boquete weather and floods.

 

I believe that if you do both you will be well rewarded.

 

(Rufous-collared sparrow photographed by Lloyd Cripe, bird watcher and weather watcher near Boquete, Chiriqui Province, Panama, pictured.)

Yes, there is diving, scuba and snorkeling in Portugal.

 

We have this little Portuguese island about an hour flight from the mainland called Azores that was selected last year by National Geographic as being among the top five richest sea wildlife areas to dive in the world. 

 

On the mainland of Portugal, there’s a wonderful place called Sesimbra about 40 to 50 minutes southeast of Lisbon.  Sesimbra is a protected...

Yes, there is diving, scuba and snorkeling in Portugal.

 

We have this little Portuguese island about an hour flight from the mainland called Azores that was selected last year by National Geographic as being among the top five richest sea wildlife areas to dive in the world. 

 

On the mainland of Portugal, there’s a wonderful place called Sesimbra about 40 to 50 minutes southeast of Lisbon.  Sesimbra is a protected land that is surrounded by really beautiful green mountains. No building or construction is allowed over there and fishing is allowed only 4 or 5 miles off the coast. So that means the area in between the land and about give miles to sea is the perfect diving place for snorkeling, diving, and everything else.

 

We also have diving schools here in Cascais and Estoril in the Lisbon area, but the waters are a bit darker than in Sesimbra.  The reason for that is because under the ocean when there are rocks the sea becomes darker and when there’s sand the sea becomes lighter. There’s a huge sandbank in Sesimbra, so therefore, the water is much more clear.

 

I’m 37 years old and I’ve lived always in front of the sea and I’ve been surfing since I was 10 or 11 years old. When I was young, I never felt the need to use a wetsuit, but as the years have been passing, I started to feel the water getting colder. Of course it’s not the water getting colder, it’s just me getting older. So in the winter, I use a 4/3-millimeter wetsuit for surfing or snorkeling or for when I go spear fishing. I use a 4/3-millimeter in winter and a 2/2-millimeter in the summer.  

 

(Diving off Sesimbra, Portugal, pictured.)