Best Places In The World To Retire

The price for food in Mexico is probably no different than prices for food in the US. In fact, I would say, that generally speaking, labor is cheap, while goods in Mexico are expensive.
 
There are ways, if one is willing, to buy quite locally at a central market.  I don’t think there’s a city in Mexico that doesn’t have its own central market. If you want to spend less money, you can certainly buy the basics–vegetables, meat, fruits–...

The price for food in Mexico is probably no different than prices for food in the US. In fact, I would say, that generally speaking, labor is cheap, while goods in Mexico are expensive.
 
There are ways, if one is willing, to buy quite locally at a central market.  I don’t think there’s a city in Mexico that doesn’t have its own central market. If you want to spend less money, you can certainly buy the basics–vegetables, meat, fruits– and some other small items –rice, beans, spices, milk, butter– those kinds of things, in the central market and you can get them at a better price. If you go to the big grocery stores, you’re probably actually going for the most part pay a higher price than in the US.
 
I’ll give you an example.  We now can buy Tide laundry soap here. The small Tide costs around $23 in Mexico. That same size Tide at Walmart in the US is $11.  Goods like that that are imported are expensive.  A block of Tillamook cheddar cheese (which we don’t get very often) is somewhere around $8 and it’s just the regular size; it’s not like a big chunk. So there are certain items that are quite pricey. And generally speaking, groceries here are about the same price. You’re not going to save any money, unless you want to go to the market and get those things.  
 
When you go into the market, you can buy purses, dresses, blouses, jewelry, silver, and aloe vera, and one whole section is just groceries. They have fresh meat.  The vegetables are fresh, as they are brought in almost every single day.  The fruits are the same way.  It’s not quite as good of variety as you might find in the grocery store, but I can tell you it’s a lot fresher.
 
I don’t actually go to the market because it’s just crowded and right now, it’s too hot. Sometimes in the winter, I’ll go.  I’m just not going to go walk around in that sweltering building.  Also, I’m by myself so 2 apples is enough. If I were buying for a family, that would be a whole different thing. You know, a small box of rice is good enough for me. I don’t have to go over there and scoop a handful or scoopful of rice and beans. And I don’t cook very much, so I’m fine just going to the grocery store.  Mostly, that’s what works for me.
 
The grocery stores do have versions of the brands I would buy in the US at lower prices, but generally, I don’t like them. And, of course, I’m like a lot of American expats living in Mexico in that I make at least two trips a year in my car to the US, so I bring back my own laundry soap.
 
Where I live in Mazatlan (and I have no idea if this is typical all over Mexico), our water is really hard. As a result, your clothes just don’t last as long, and I don’t like the laundry soap here. (I’ve tried several) and I’m not going to spend $23 for Tide, so I buy Tide when I go to the US in a great big jug. And it will last me a year. 
 
I live in Mazatlan, which is a tourist destination beach community.  I’ve also lived in other tourist destination beach communities.  Anywhere in the world where you have this, you’re going to find that prices are a bit higher.  If you want to live further inland, I suspect you could buy at cheaper prices.
  

(Fruit stand in the central public market, Mazatlan, Mexico, pictured.)

 

You still do bribe people here in Panama, but it doesn’t happen often and depends on the situation.  For example, if you get stopped for speeding, you are taking a chance if you try to bribe the police, because most of them are very honest and if you try to bribe them they can actually take you to jail.  Most of the people don’t do this any longer.  Of course, once in a while, you will have a police officer who will ask you “How can we fix this?” but...

You still do bribe people here in Panama, but it doesn’t happen often and depends on the situation.  For example, if you get stopped for speeding, you are taking a chance if you try to bribe the police, because most of them are very honest and if you try to bribe them they can actually take you to jail.  Most of the people don’t do this any longer.  Of course, once in a while, you will have a police officer who will ask you “How can we fix this?” but this is increasingly rare.

A lot of investment, both national and international, left Nicaragua during the 1980s, because the country spent so many years at war.  This really destroyed the economy.  So, you have to bear in mind that up to 1990 or so (just over 20 years ago), the economy of Nicaragua was in bad shape. After that, we established a new democratic system in Nicaragua, having presidential elections every five years.  One of the first and most difficult tasks starting at that time was to...

A lot of investment, both national and international, left Nicaragua during the 1980s, because the country spent so many years at war.  This really destroyed the economy.  So, you have to bear in mind that up to 1990 or so (just over 20 years ago), the economy of Nicaragua was in bad shape. After that, we established a new democratic system in Nicaragua, having presidential elections every five years.  One of the first and most difficult tasks starting at that time was to rebuild the economy, so the government started promoting and providing incentives to bring investment into Nicaragua.
 
So far, we have managed to do that very well.  The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have praised the Nicaraguan economy for how we have managed to keep a very healthy economy during the most recent worldwide financial crises.  And also, Nicaragua is one of the top destinations in all of Latin America for foreign investment now.
 
In Nicaragua, we had to rebuild everything and start from scratch.  As a result, there are plenty of opportunities in all fields for investment.  There are many, many opportunities.  Here are just three of them: 

There are a lot of opportunities to invest in Nicaragua now, and the law and the government promotes it as well.

For most of the civilized countries, Portugal is really, really cheap. The minimum wage salary in Portugal by law is €450 (US $669) so that’s what you get paid if you work at McDonald’s or in a toll shop in the motorway or in a restaurant or something like that. So therefore, properties to rent have to be within budget for people like these; they have to afford an apartment for €200 (US $223). But this is normally in the worst areas a long way out from the city center...

For most of the civilized countries, Portugal is really, really cheap. The minimum wage salary in Portugal by law is €450 (US $669) so that’s what you get paid if you work at McDonald’s or in a toll shop in the motorway or in a restaurant or something like that. So therefore, properties to rent have to be within budget for people like these; they have to afford an apartment for €200 (US $223). But this is normally in the worst areas a long way out from the city center or the main area.
 
The place where I live, in Cascais (a suburb of Lisbon) is one of the most expensive in Portugal.  Cascais is the Beverly Hills of Portugal. To rent a 3-bedroom apartment in a condominium here with a swimming pool and garden and gym and all these infrastructures, will be about €2,000 (US $2,233). 
 
The Portuguese have a few bad habits. One of them is coffee. During the day they go 4 or 5 times for coffee; they interrupt their work to have coffee 6 times.   They go to the coffee shop to have an espresso.
 
In Portugal we don’t drink the coffee with milk. You know those big buckets you drink in America? Here, it’s espresso. The Portuguese are addicted to espresso coffee. Most of them interrupt their work during the day 4 or 5 times or more just to have an espresso, which affects their productivity.
 
And not only that.  Companies normally give you an hour or an hour and a half for lunch, but if you own your business or you have a high position in your company, your lunch will take 2 and a half hours. That is a must. And some Portuguese might even do the siesta after the lunch, which is sleeping for half and hour in the couch. But then, they don’t really leave the office at 5 o’clock. We leave the office at 7, 8 or 9 in the evening.  To justify the times you went for coffee and a long lunch meal you had and then after you finish working and you leave at 9 o’clock, you go for a beer and you go for some Portuguese tapas (small plates). 
 
And then you go to the restaurant at 10:30 PM and that’s when you start having your dinner at 10:30. If you’re young, you go out at night, and the nightlife starts very late in Portugal. That’s another bad habit we have. It starts very late. The club or the disco opens at midnight or 1 o’clock and may not close until 7 in the morning the following day. So you actually see a lot of youngsters leaving the clubs at 7 in the morning, putting on a tie, and going straight in the office. Maybe that’s why they need 2 coffees or 5 or 10.
 
As a culture, we spend a lot of time out of the house, in the outdoors, in the open air places. We love open-air places. All the coffee shops and all the restaurants have tables and chairs to sit outside because the weather is always good. We like to talk, we like to drink, and we like to eat.  

 

(Coffee house in Portugal, pictured.)

Speaking from personal perspective, raising children in Belize is a little bit harder than in the US because in the US, there are daycare centers where you can leave your kids and they would be given some educational activities while you are away. There is nothing like that here and it is also difficult to find caretakers or nannies. 
 
Also, the transportation here is not as convenient as in North America. You cannot just hop on a train and be where you’re going in...

Speaking from personal perspective, raising children in Belize is a little bit harder than in the US because in the US, there are daycare centers where you can leave your kids and they would be given some educational activities while you are away. There is nothing like that here and it is also difficult to find caretakers or nannies. 
 
Also, the transportation here is not as convenient as in North America. You cannot just hop on a train and be where you’re going in just 5 minutes. You have to take a bus or drive a car, so it’s a little bit difficult when you have kids around.  

 

(Jestine Dawson, Belize, pictured.)

Most Belize banks will allow you to have your social security check deposited directly to your account with them.

 

But if you have a local bank account, that US dollar is going to get converted into the Belize dollar with a 2% conversion fee, and then that money will be sitting in your local Belize bank account, denominated in Belizean dollars.  Instead of doing this, if you don’t need the money to pay for items in Belize dollars, you could just as easily...

Most Belize banks will allow you to have your social security check deposited directly to your account with them.

 

But if you have a local bank account, that US dollar is going to get converted into the Belize dollar with a 2% conversion fee, and then that money will be sitting in your local Belize bank account, denominated in Belizean dollars.  Instead of doing this, if you don’t need the money to pay for items in Belize dollars, you could just as easily have your social security check go into your foreign bank account, an offshore bank account in Belize, or international bank account in Belize. Those institutions will also accept those transfers or you can simply have your social security check deposited into your US bank account first, and then have it transferred.

 

One thing that you have to realize when you go offshore is that banking in Belize is different. Banks don’t have a ton of risk on your money, so they make money by charging fees. Fees tend to be a little bit higher when you get offshore. People in the US are used to having a free checking account or free savings account.  When you go offshore, you are going to pay a monthly fee, typically somewhere around $12 to $15.  Whether it is in Belize or somewhere in the Caribbean or out in the world somewhere else, you have a fee.

 

(For a discussion of what bank to use when you move to Belize, please see my answer under “When I move to Belize, should I open a bank account or should I open a bank account in Belize?”)