This article comes from our friends at Panama Perspective. The article author, Bob Sullivan from The Red Tape Chronicles at MSNBC, puts Panama on the front line when talking about where to retire and how attractive it can be on a limited budget. A lot of people may not be interested in a $400,000 high rise condo in Panama City or a million dollar beach mansion. They seek something else. Here in Panama you can find affordable homes and a lifestyle that costs about 50% of what it does back home, plus a lot less stress!!
The following are stories from folks just like you and me.
“I’m angry about that, angry that was situation we were faced with. It was difficult leaving friends and family behind,” Carol said. “We didn’t have that much to start with. To lose all that was a big deal.”
The couple had never been to Latin America, and spoke no Spanish, but they were desperate for options and attended a seminar on retiring in Panama. They were hooked.
“Our friends couldn’t believe we were going to do that,” Carol said.
It’s a conversation that’s being repeated around the country. Solid data on the number of U.S. retirees is hard to find, but the trend seems on the rise. The Social Security Administration paid benefits to 509,000 overseas retirees in 2008, the most recent available data. That’s a sharp uptick from the 396,000 who received benefits in 2000.
The economics seem irresistible. Housing costs in places like Ecuador, Mexico and Panama are a fraction of those in the U.S. Many Latin American countries offer retirement benefits and health care to U.S. ex-pats living there. And the pace of life is hard to beat.
“We live in an eternal spring,” Carol said. “We’re in the mountains, where the temperature is always around 75 or 80. It never snows. There’s no leaves to rake in the fall, no shoveling in the winter. It’s absolutely beautiful here.”
Panama regularly ranks among the top places for ex-pats to retire when magazines like International Living or organizations like AARP conduct surveys. International Living ranked Panama third globally, behind only Ecuador and Mexico, in a survey that weighed cost of living, health care, culture, infrastructure, etc. (The U.S., by the way, ranked 22nd, just ahead of Slovenia and the Dominican Republic). Panama’s “pensionado” program also offers deep discounts to seniors on everything from prescription medicine to food and airline tickets.
Those will come in handy, as the couple has plans to return to the U.S. frequently to see their children and grandchildren. Meanwhile, a steady stream of visitors is coming to their piece of paradise.
“We’ve already had one daughter come down, and another one is coming in January,” Carol said.
Technology helps keep them connected with home — Facebook, email, and Skype make it relatively easy to keep up with friends and family. Of course, it’s not flawless. I had to dial the Dennes’ phone number six times before the call went through. Other ex-pats on bulletin boards devoted to life in Panama complain that electricity and water services aren’t always reliable. But such hiccups are part of life in Panama, Carol said.
“You learn to go with the flow,” she said. “The pace of life is different.”
The couple has already adjusted, for the most part, Carol says.
“I miss nothing. Maybe the convenience having so many stores nearby,” she said. A painter, she has to travel about 45 minutes to buy supplies like acrylic paints.
But that’s not going to change, as the couple plans has no plans to return to the U.S.
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