Best Places In The World To Retire

Home mortgages in Mexico are very rare, Readers! When available, rates typically start at 8% and run to 12%, plus IVA (which adds another 16%).  The typical loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is 65%, meaning you need at least 35% of a down payment, and terms are much shorter, seldom more than ten years, often shorter.

 

As a Realtor in San Miguel de Allende, I find that most of my clients who need financing do so using their U.S. assets, whether it be a 2^nd loan...

Home mortgages in Mexico are very rare, Readers! When available, rates typically start at 8% and run to 12%, plus IVA (which adds another 16%).  The typical loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is 65%, meaning you need at least 35% of a down payment, and terms are much shorter, seldom more than ten years, often shorter.

 

As a Realtor in San Miguel de Allende, I find that most of my clients who need financing do so using their U.S. assets, whether it be a 2^nd loan on a U.S. property, or a margin loan on their financial portfolio, or even using their retirement funds if their purchase can be considered an investment.

The Algarve is made up of two areas. One is the coastal Algarve, which is the strip of land closest to the Atlantic Ocean, and the other area is the interior of Algarve, called “Barrocal.” This division, which is geographic more than anything else, tends to also describe the difference between the cultures of the people, especially the local people, who live in the province of the Algarve.

 

In the Barrocal, there are many more local traditions....

The Algarve is made up of two areas. One is the coastal Algarve, which is the strip of land closest to the Atlantic Ocean, and the other area is the interior of Algarve, called “Barrocal.” This division, which is geographic more than anything else, tends to also describe the difference between the cultures of the people, especially the local people, who live in the province of the Algarve.

 

In the Barrocal, there are many more local traditions. You will find people who still practice local agriculture by growing or having small holdings of garden crops. They produce the local “fire water,” which we call “medronho.” In certain areas, they may be involved in citrus farming, carob or maybe in cork production. You will find small communities, which are linked to their little towns or village.  The town or village tends to be traditional in that they live in a predominantly Christian Catholic country in which there will be communities built around the local church, and the people of the area attend church quite frequently. Younger generations attend catechism and so on. This way of life and culture is particular to the interior of the province of Algarve.  The traditional roots are very strong, and are linked to the religion, the agriculture, and the work of the people.

 

On the coast of Algarve, it is very different. The culture of people on the coast is eclectic; a neutral international society. A comparison I can make to Algarve is when we lived in Florida, it was a transient international society so people used to come and go and they used to build their networks with other international people originally within the local community and then when they move on, other people would come in to take their place. In the Algarve it’s different than that in the sense that people do not tend to move in and out frequently. People come here and they tend to stay because they like it. They build their culture in Algarve, which is very much a multinational culture built around sports, wellbeing, reasonably healthy living, and gastronomy. People love to eat here. Algarve has an international society that lives a sub-urban living, which you might observe in any international destinations.  

 

(Bottle of Portuguese "fire water," medronho, pictured.)

If Panama is cheap is a very difficult question and cannot be answered in a general way, because the answer depends on the kind of lifestyle you want to live, compared to your former lifestyle. I met people from Miami, Florida who were in Panama recently who said that everything here in Panama is so inexpensive, but then we get people from other parts of Florida, who say it is a lot more expensive here.

 

Most people tend to agree...

If Panama is cheap is a very difficult question and cannot be answered in a general way, because the answer depends on the kind of lifestyle you want to live, compared to your former lifestyle. I met people from Miami, Florida who were in Panama recently who said that everything here in Panama is so inexpensive, but then we get people from other parts of Florida, who say it is a lot more expensive here.

 

Most people tend to agree that you can have a higher quality of life here in Panama than in the US on the same budget. Help here in Panama is very affordable; to have maids and nannies and gardeners is pretty common here. On average, people living in Panama tend to get by on a monthly budget of US $1,000 to $1,500 per person.

 

Housing and cars in Panama are pretty expensive compared to what they used to cost, but things like insurance and medical care are quite a bit less than what you find in most places in the US or Canada.

 

How cheap it is to live here in Panama also depends whether you rent or you have a mortgage for your home in Panama. If you have a mortgage, you have to have life insurance policies and flood and fire insurance on the home, and these are additional expenses that can add up to $300 to $500 more each month.

 

Yes you can buy furniture in Granada, Nicaragua. In fact, Granada is very famous for the mimbrea rocking chair, which is a classic rocking chair that is usually white in color. We have two or three famous shops where you can order custom-made rocking chairs, tables, beds, etc.

 

The best place to buy furniture is in Nicaragua, however, is in Catalina, in the Pueblos Blancos (White Towns) located north of Granada. It is about 28 minutes away from Granada and...

Yes you can buy furniture in Granada, Nicaragua. In fact, Granada is very famous for the mimbrea rocking chair, which is a classic rocking chair that is usually white in color. We have two or three famous shops where you can order custom-made rocking chairs, tables, beds, etc.

 

The best place to buy furniture is in Nicaragua, however, is in Catalina, in the Pueblos Blancos (White Towns) located north of Granada. It is about 28 minutes away from Granada and it is close to the Laguna Apoyo (Apoyo Lake). If you have a budget of US $3,000 to $5,000, you can buy the best and finest furniture for your entire house. You can get a bed, table, dining table, mirrors, etc. Catalina is the best place to go for custom-made furniture.

 

Catalina is also a popular place for buying plants. They have a nursery up there and you can buy very inexpensive plants. Plants there cost anywhere from US $1 to $5. It’s a really nice cool place where you can buy all the plants and the furniture that you need. I recommend for people to go there on the weekends because that is when the environment there is the nicest as everyone visits from Masaya, Managua, and other places to buy plants and furniture.

 

(Chairs designed and made in Nicaragua, pictured.)

Belize has a lot of coastline and a lot of islands. We have atolls and lots of beaches. One of my favorites is Goff’s Caye, which is a government-owned island nearest to Belize City. There aren't water taxis that can take you so you have to book a private boat or half a private boat to get to Goff’s Caye. It's probably about 20-30 minutes from Belize City, depending on how fast you are going.

 

There are a couple of nice beaches down south in...

Belize has a lot of coastline and a lot of islands. We have atolls and lots of beaches. One of my favorites is Goff’s Caye, which is a government-owned island nearest to Belize City. There aren't water taxis that can take you so you have to book a private boat or half a private boat to get to Goff’s Caye. It's probably about 20-30 minutes from Belize City, depending on how fast you are going.

 

There are a couple of nice beaches down south in places such as Placencia.  Placencia is actually a peninsula, but it has the feel of an island. San Pedro in Ambergris Caye has very nice beaches as well. Caye Caulker has a good beach but it's more populated.

 

Goff’s Caye is a very small island, and the interesting part about it is that because it's right in front of the barrier reef, based on the tide that comes in, it doesn’t have a constant shape. It’s shape changes, basically every day. The beaches in Goff’s Caye have very fine, white sand and pristine waters. The water does not get as deep as you'd think. You can actually walk from the beach into the water and it’s very shallow. You go in where it is ankle deep and then, as you out farther, it gets a little deeper. The beach itself has a lot of coconut trees. You can find some shells on the beach and there are some mangrove systems sometimes on the beaches, too. You can actually see some of the rocks of the barrier reef coming up out of the surface of the water. There is one area that is calmer than the next. Goff’s Caye is a very popular caye and it's an area that a lot of Belizeans visit as well as cruisers and passengers. They go visit that area because they also offer good snorkeling.

 

There are facilities at Goff’s Caye that you can use if you need to go to the bathroom. There’s an entrance fee of US $5 that you have to pay to get on the island itself. But once you're there and they know that you're there, their attitude will be, “I'm more than happy to have you use our restroom facilities.” But it's not like somebody is out there constantly.  You have to make an arrangement with the Audubon Society, which is the organization that manages Goff's Caye. 

 

The beaches in Placencia are a little bit different because the sand is a little bit coarser. It's not as white as the sand in other beaches here in Belize. It's a little lighter shade of brown. Going to the beaches in Placencia is still a very different experience and it's still beautiful, nonetheless. The water just off the coast is a little bit rougher because the water is deeper there. The water is not 100% pristine but it's still clear enough that you can see into it.

 

There are many, many cayes that are close to Placencia that have pristine, crystal clear waters. One of them that I can recommend is Moho Caye, which is a beach that is pretty much like Goff’s Caye. It is a private caye from what I know and it's very large. It's definitely larger than Goff's Caye.

 

Another place in Belize that has nice beaches is San Pedro in Ambergris Caye. The beaches around there have very white sand. You can walk straight into the water, which is ankle deep.

 

There aren't many cayes out there besides San Pedro and Caye Caulker but there are nicer areas that you can go and snorkel because further out, it's definitely clearer. For snorkeling, there are specific areas called the Coral Garden and the Shark and Ray Alley that are very excellent for snorkeling. 

 

Caye Caulker in Belize is another island with nice beaches. It’s similar to san Pedro on Ambergris Caye, but it has a smaller town. The beach is pretty much the same as in San Pedro.

 

My fiancé and I own a tour operating company that takes people to various cayes. Guests book and we w take them snorkeling to these cayes that are farther away from the coast, where water taxis could not take them. The guests organize a family fishing trip or a snorkeling trip together to the blue hole or to the one of this really beautiful cayes.

 

 

(Caye Caulker Beach, Belize, pictured.)