Best Places In The World To Retire

The doctors in San Miguel de Allende are all good. I’m not sick very often, and I can only speak from personal experience. I love my dentist. I have been going to the same dentist since I came to San Miguel de Allende, and I love the fact that it’s my dentist that cleans my teeth and not a technician. She knows all about my teeth and she takes very good care of me.

 

I have a doctor in San Miguel de Allende who makes a house call for my occasional...

The doctors in San Miguel de Allende are all good. I’m not sick very often, and I can only speak from personal experience. I love my dentist. I have been going to the same dentist since I came to San Miguel de Allende, and I love the fact that it’s my dentist that cleans my teeth and not a technician. She knows all about my teeth and she takes very good care of me.

 

I have a doctor in San Miguel de Allende who makes a house call for my occasional intestinal bug. On one occasion, I had been sick apparently long enough that he thought I needed to go to the hospital to have an IV because I was dehydrated.  I said, “No, I’m not going to the hospital. I don’t do that.” Twenty minutes later, he was back in my house with a nurse and an IV pole. I stayed at my house in my bed with the nurse for 24 hours while I had the saline drip to rehydrate me. From my perspective, that’s good healthcare.

 

 

 

I had my knee replaced in Querétaro (a nearby large city) by an old German orthopedic surgeon who has his own personal clinic with a less than 3% infection rate. It’s important that I check the infection rate because when you’re having a knee or a hip done, they’re putting something fake in your body, and you have to be careful not to get an infection because an infection will want to attach itself to the fake thing that’s in your body.

 

I checked in for my operation on a Thursday, had surgery on Friday morning, and checked the following Tuesday. For the hospital fee, the doctor’s and his assistant’s fee, and the anesthesiologist’s fee, it cost me less than $14,000. I put it in my American Express card and got miles.  

 

(Great smiles at a soiree attended by CDR  San Miguel staff, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)

There are no poisonous or dangerous animals in the areas of Portugal where people live. You may find them if you go up in the mountains or to the woods in the northern part of Lisbon, in the countryside. You will some little green snakes squashed on the roads that are not even a meter long.
 
Generally, you won’t hear of anybody bitten by a snake. There are no issues related to dangerous animals around the populated areas in Portugal.

 

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There are no poisonous or dangerous animals in the areas of Portugal where people live. You may find them if you go up in the mountains or to the woods in the northern part of Lisbon, in the countryside. You will some little green snakes squashed on the roads that are not even a meter long.
 
Generally, you won’t hear of anybody bitten by a snake. There are no issues related to dangerous animals around the populated areas in Portugal.

 

(The Eurasian wolf inhabits Northern Portugal, pictured.)

You can buy a home or condo in Placencia starting from US $100,000 up to a few million dollars. In our project, homes generally start at around $500,000. The starting price for a one-bedroom condo unit is around $300,000 and a two-bedroom condo unit starts at around $500,000.
 
Our projects are of very high quality and are part of a gated, master planned community with 24-hour security and full resort amenities. If one wanted to be in the village, and not directly on the water,...

You can buy a home or condo in Placencia starting from US $100,000 up to a few million dollars. In our project, homes generally start at around $500,000. The starting price for a one-bedroom condo unit is around $300,000 and a two-bedroom condo unit starts at around $500,000.
 
Our projects are of very high quality and are part of a gated, master planned community with 24-hour security and full resort amenities. If one wanted to be in the village, and not directly on the water, you can buy a home or a condo for around $100,000 to $200,000. People coming from the US could get a summer home of decent quality for that price.
 
When we build houses in Placencia, there are permits that need to be pulled and inspections that are done. If you are building your home from scratch, you have to make a decision on whether you want concrete, rebar, or if you want just wood. It is like anywhere else.  You can build probably anywhere from $110 per square foot to $175 per square foot, which is where we are. At $175 per square foot, you would be building using concrete, rebar, granite, travertine, and marble. Depending on what one wants, the price point is still a lot cheaper than most of the US. 
 
For a budget of $150,000 you can get a house on a lagoon on the golf course area called The Panther. You would get a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house that is around 2,000 square feet with a garage, overlooking the golf course or the lagoon. We also have homes on the canal side close to the ocean but those houses cost a bit more than the ones on the lagoon side. For $500,000, you could get a beautiful two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo that is within a minute from the ocean. You could get a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo costing between $200,000 and $300,000 that would be a two-minute walk away from the beach. 
 
What makes our projects worth the higher price is several factors. The first one is the location. Most of our projects are right off the water. The second factor is who builds these projects. We are the largest builder-developer in the country of Belize and we build to Miami Broward Building Code, which is the highest construction code in terms of quality and strength. The third factor that makes our projects worth it for the end user is everything else we are building. For example, we are building an international airport, which should be complete in roughly one more year.  The airport alone makes buying in The Placencia a very good investment because as soon as the first plane lands, land values in our projects will go up significantly.
 
Overall, what makes it worth it to invest in our projects is the location, the quality of construction, and the fact that we have an international airport 15 minutes away from their home or condo as well as golf, and water activities. Our projects are located about 45 minutes away from zip lining activities, mountains, and Mayan ruin sites. Our casino is about to open very soon as well. Every time you add an amenity, whether it is a casino, a golf course, etc., you are adding value to your home.

 

(Homes in the upscale planned community of The Placencia, Placencia, Belize, pictured.)

Canada taxes its residents on their worldwide income every year, and as long as you are still considered a resident, then you must continue to file a Canadian tax return. **Note you may still be considered a resident even if you are no longer physically residing in Canada. This is based on a number of factors, many of which involve the number of ties you still have in Canada after your move.

 

In order to remove your "residency" (this is not the same as...

Canada taxes its residents on their worldwide income every year, and as long as you are still considered a resident, then you must continue to file a Canadian tax return. **Note you may still be considered a resident even if you are no longer physically residing in Canada. This is based on a number of factors, many of which involve the number of ties you still have in Canada after your move.

 

In order to remove your "residency" (this is not the same as renouncing your citizenship, just removes your obligation to file in Canada every year), you must file a final "departure tax return" before you go. 

 

If you are no longer considered a resident for tax purposes in Canada, then you will not have to file a Canadian tax return.

There’s absolutely no reason to move your US brokerage account, investments, IRA, or retirement account if you retire overseas. You only need access to a computer or an ATM, so you shouldn’t have any problem getting to your accounts, especially if you’re living in the big cities. 
 
It’s not a good idea to open bank accounts overseas because you get two possible IRS reporting issues, as well as other issues of that nature. I would recommend keeping...

There’s absolutely no reason to move your US brokerage account, investments, IRA, or retirement account if you retire overseas. You only need access to a computer or an ATM, so you shouldn’t have any problem getting to your accounts, especially if you’re living in the big cities. 
 
It’s not a good idea to open bank accounts overseas because you get two possible IRS reporting issues, as well as other issues of that nature. I would recommend keeping your existing accounts open, but I would not recommend opening additional accounts overseas. 

 

(The beautiful colonial gem of Cartagena, Colombia, pictured.)

Yes, there is religious freedom in Nicaragua. About 70% of the population of Nicaragua is Catholic. There are Catholic churches everywhere here but there are also many other religious groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists, Protestants, etc. Most of the religions that exist here are Christian but in general, whatever church you decide to join there is not discrimination or intolerance.   

 

( Basilica de la Asuncion Cathedral, Leon,...

Yes, there is religious freedom in Nicaragua. About 70% of the population of Nicaragua is Catholic. There are Catholic churches everywhere here but there are also many other religious groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists, Protestants, etc. Most of the religions that exist here are Christian but in general, whatever church you decide to join there is not discrimination or intolerance.   

 

( Basilica de la Asuncion Cathedral, Leon, Nicaragua, pictured.)