Best Places In The World To Retire

I live in Chuburna Puerto in an area where most of the houses on the water belong to expats who are either from the US or from Canada.  If you live in any of the high dollar areas of Chuburna Puerto, you are going to have a lot of Canadians and Americans as neighbors.
 
When you got to Merida, your average neighbor will be a local. Even in he big expat communities of Merida, such as in Centro, you are going to have Mexican neighbors. Merida has 1.2 million people now, while...

I live in Chuburna Puerto in an area where most of the houses on the water belong to expats who are either from the US or from Canada.  If you live in any of the high dollar areas of Chuburna Puerto, you are going to have a lot of Canadians and Americans as neighbors.
 
When you got to Merida, your average neighbor will be a local. Even in he big expat communities of Merida, such as in Centro, you are going to have Mexican neighbors. Merida has 1.2 million people now, while the expat community might be in the tens of thousands, so as an expat, you are a spec of an ant on a sand pile.
 
The average person here at the beaches of Yucatan is going to be Mexican and the beach area houses are mostly summer houses of Meridians (people from Merida), so you might have a house where you have a neighbor 8 to 10 weeks of the year and that is the only time that you ever see him. In the area where we live, however, you will see more expats on a daily basis.

 

(Beach house in a compound with American and Canadian expats with a view of the Gulf of Mexico in Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)

To retire in Panama you will want a Pensionado Visa, which is relatively easy to obtain if you have a "suitable" pension.

To work in Panama you will need a work permit, not easy to obtain.

If you want to "hang out" in Panama, you can stay for up to 180 days (depends upon your nationality), and then get another 180 days by crossing into Costa Rica for a few minutes, with no limit on repeated trips "abroad to Costa Rica".  

Be aware of the driver's license restriction of 90 days, if...

To retire in Panama you will want a Pensionado Visa, which is relatively easy to obtain if you have a "suitable" pension.

To work in Panama you will need a work permit, not easy to obtain.

If you want to "hang out" in Panama, you can stay for up to 180 days (depends upon your nationality), and then get another 180 days by crossing into Costa Rica for a few minutes, with no limit on repeated trips "abroad to Costa Rica".  

Be aware of the driver's license restriction of 90 days, if you want to be able to drive.

The best reasons to retire overseas would include the low cost of living, experiencing different cultures, having a better quality of life, and being in a healthy living environment. In many places abroad, the cost of living is lower than it is in the US or Canada. There are many different kinds of cultures than what people experience in the United States, and we get to see and experience more of that when we retire overseas. 
 
The overall quality of life is also better...

The best reasons to retire overseas would include the low cost of living, experiencing different cultures, having a better quality of life, and being in a healthy living environment. In many places abroad, the cost of living is lower than it is in the US or Canada. There are many different kinds of cultures than what people experience in the United States, and we get to see and experience more of that when we retire overseas. 
 
The overall quality of life is also better when living overseas because you get the chance to have a healthier living environment. Everything is less expensive overseas, and the climate is better. If you pick a place where you enjoy the climate, you have the advantage of being active, which is important in maintaining your health. When I’m overseas, I’m a lot more active and healthier in general.
 
As an example, we were in Tulum, Mexico, for three months. It was just a short stint, but I can definitely say that the cost of living in Tulum is extremely low. We rented a one-bedroom apartment in Tulum for US $520 a month, including all the utilities. The apartment we rented in Tulum was a bicycle ride to the beach with all the comforts of home for a third of what it would have cost to rent that same place in Dallas, Texas. In general, rent and meals cost about a third of what it would cost in the United States or in Canada.
 
I spent about a week in the Amazon in Ecuador, living with the tribe of Huaorani Indians, one of the last indigenous groups in the Amazon. Huaorani Indians are still living in the Stone Age- they don’t have metal pans or electricity, for example. 
 
We lived with the Huaorani Indians in the Amazon jungle for about a week and a half, with everything that we ate coming out of the ground or river. These were different types of roots, plantains and fish. Naturally, they didn’t have cooking oil.  Everything was very basic and very filling, because it was all natural. There were absolutely no preservatives, which is always better for us. 
 
Another example is when I lived in Brazil for about a year. There’s a better overall  quality of life in Brazil because you’re more active. Being overseas means that you do not live the American lifestyle of driving and sitting on your behind all day. Living overseas gives you more time for activities such as walking and biking. 

 

(Living with the Huaorani indians in the Amazon rainforest, Equador, pictured.)

Nicaraguans have no problems with Americans living in Granada. If you treat people well, they get back to you very nicely. If you pretend to be smarter than them, they will not help you or they will not go with you. How you treat others is how you are going to be treated.

Nicaraguans do not discriminate so expats are treated just the same as locals are treated. We go out with expats and do business with them. If you help and you are a good person, people are going to notice...

Nicaraguans have no problems with Americans living in Granada. If you treat people well, they get back to you very nicely. If you pretend to be smarter than them, they will not help you or they will not go with you. How you treat others is how you are going to be treated.

Nicaraguans do not discriminate so expats are treated just the same as locals are treated. We go out with expats and do business with them. If you help and you are a good person, people are going to notice right away and will appreciate that. However, just like anywhere, there are people who will try to steal from you and you have to be cautious. There may be some people who will try to take advantage of you and another Granadino (a "Granadino" is a person from Granada) will warn you not to hang out with these people.

I have a friend, Darrel Bushnell, who is the best example of someone who tries to interact with the local community here. He is a person who teaches and motivates people to do well and make something out of themselves. He always talks with Nicaraguan parents, he play movies every Friday, and people love him because he is very nice but he never gives things away. He always makes people work. Whenever you do him a favor, he will give you something. Just like anywhere in the world, if you treat kids well, and you teach them, people will notice and they will appreciate what you did.

Parents in Granada are very conservative. So they love to see you interact with their kids. They also pay attention to be sure that you are not the kind of American who only comes to look for kids, or have sex or do bad things, because those things happen here, too. Therefore, we pay attention to be sure that you are not that kind of person. Nicaraguans do not have the same level of experience as people do in other places, so they may not be as cynical and maybe a little more naive and trusting than people in other places.

In general, there is no built in prejudice against foreigners at all. In my opinion, there are no specific judgments about what expats are like. Nicaraguans’ perception of Americans is influenced by their experience.  Some Nicaraguans will have more worldly experience like living in the United States, while others who have lived in Granada their whole life just take it that Americans come and like it here in Granada because it is cheap and the Americans have a lot of money.