Best Places In The World To Retire

I just had some projects done in our house-- we built a guest house, a pool, and a large outdoor terrace, so I can speak about the construction standards here in Chapala and Ajijic based on personal experience as well as from experience from my real estate business, which often is part of the construction business if my clients are looking to build a new house.
 
The construction here in Chapala and Ajijic is very rarely wood, but rather, cement, bricks, and blocks, which are...

I just had some projects done in our house-- we built a guest house, a pool, and a large outdoor terrace, so I can speak about the construction standards here in Chapala and Ajijic based on personal experience as well as from experience from my real estate business, which often is part of the construction business if my clients are looking to build a new house.
 
The construction here in Chapala and Ajijic is very rarely wood, but rather, cement, bricks, and blocks, which are readily available materials here for construction. They are less expensive and they do best in our climate here because they help keep homes cool on the warm days and keep the homes warm on the cooler days. 
 
In order to build a house, a contractor or an architect must prepare architectural drawings that have to be approved by the municipality. Part of this process is to have a soil study done to determine what depth and type of foundation must be used for the construction. Independent engineers corroborate the information from the type of house, how big the house is going to be, etc., with the soil studies in order to determine how much rebar should be put in, and other considerations. There also has to be proper plumbing put into the design, which goes with making sure that all the sewage and plumbing is done correctly. We do not have the same electrical requirements as you would find in North America, but mostly the houses do not have as big a draw on electricity here. The stoves, ovens, water heaters, and dryers that use electric in the US, usually use gas here in Mexico. When you’re building a house, you still need to go through the permitting process for the electric system. Once that is all approved then you can begin the process.
 
The standards are there but there are certainly some builders who would offer to build without permits and just do it their way to save you some money, perhaps. Buyer beware. Homes that are built with formal construction companies will be built with the process that I described above and it will have regular visits from the municipality’s urbanization officers to make sure that the process is going the right way. Then they can do a final sign off that the property is habitable and that the builders have used all the proper techniques before people can actually move into them.
 
It is possible for a house to be built without getting permits. You are supposed to get permits but if you do all your construction behind a 10-feet high wall, maybe no one knows about it. They will find out someday when you sell the house and they come to take the tax appraisal for it. They will realize that there was an extra 2,000 square feet of construction and then they will fine you. It is very similar to the process in the US.

The worst reason for retiring overseas would be moving to another place and wanting it to be like home, because sometimes things do not work the same way as they do back home.

 

For example, the work ethic here in Panama is different from the work ethic back home, where I'm from, in the US. Here in Panama, if you want to have internet connection in your house, you would not get it by just asking for it. You have to make an extra effort. After I...

The worst reason for retiring overseas would be moving to another place and wanting it to be like home, because sometimes things do not work the same way as they do back home.

 

For example, the work ethic here in Panama is different from the work ethic back home, where I'm from, in the US. Here in Panama, if you want to have internet connection in your house, you would not get it by just asking for it. You have to make an extra effort. After I applied for an internet connection, I waited for a month, but they had not done anything. So when I got the opportunity, I parked my car in a way that one of their company vehicles could not escape and asked them to give me the internet connection I applied for a month ago. I am not a bad guy; I just need the internet. So if you decide to live overseas, you have to be ready to do things differently because sometimes if you do things the proper way, it just doesn’t work.

The obvious answer to this one is, of course, that the reason that Portugal has one of the largest maritime zones in the world is that its outer fringes are bordered by the archipelago of Madeira, comprised of Madeira and Porto Santo, and the archipelago of the Azores, which are strategically located in the mid-Atlantic (the US has had a military base at Lages for many years, although its presence has recently reduced to much concern of the local population). Portugal's highest...

The obvious answer to this one is, of course, that the reason that Portugal has one of the largest maritime zones in the world is that its outer fringes are bordered by the archipelago of Madeira, comprised of Madeira and Porto Santo, and the archipelago of the Azores, which are strategically located in the mid-Atlantic (the US has had a military base at Lages for many years, although its presence has recently reduced to much concern of the local population). Portugal's highest mountain, Pico, is in the Azores.

 

One of the great things about living in Belize is that residency is attainable. It is easy to get and the best thing about it is that you can have dual residency, which means you don’t have to renounce your US, Canadian, or any other citizenship that you may have. It is always great, at this time, to be a dual resident, and why not have your second residency in a stable, democratic, and beautiful country like Belize? 
 
I am a resident of Belize while waiting on my...

One of the great things about living in Belize is that residency is attainable. It is easy to get and the best thing about it is that you can have dual residency, which means you don’t have to renounce your US, Canadian, or any other citizenship that you may have. It is always great, at this time, to be a dual resident, and why not have your second residency in a stable, democratic, and beautiful country like Belize? 
 
I am a resident of Belize while waiting on my citizenship. You can be a resident of Belize without being a citizen of Belize, all the while maintaining your US citizenship if you choose to.  

 

(Hatchet Caye, Belize, pictured.)

Compared to Panama City, Pedasi has much less bugs, insects, and mosquitoes.  The reason we don’t get as many mosquitoes is that it is drier in Pedasi than in Panama City.  (Mosquitoes don’t like dry places.)
 
During May, we will get a lot of flies, but that’s not only in Pedasi; that happens everywhere in Panama.  In Panama, we call May “El Mes de las Moscas” (The Month of the Flies).
 
Compared with Miami (where I lived),...

Compared to Panama City, Pedasi has much less bugs, insects, and mosquitoes.  The reason we don’t get as many mosquitoes is that it is drier in Pedasi than in Panama City.  (Mosquitoes don’t like dry places.)
 
During May, we will get a lot of flies, but that’s not only in Pedasi; that happens everywhere in Panama.  In Panama, we call May “El Mes de las Moscas” (The Month of the Flies).
 
Compared with Miami (where I lived), Pedasi has about the same level of bugs. Compared with the Boston (where I also lived), Pedasi has more.  I also lived in Kuwait, which doesn’t have any mosquitoes at all.