Best Places In The World To Retire

What’s interesting about Quintana Roo (one of the three states in the Yucatan Peninsula, who has within it Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum) is that we have the Cancun Airport.  A lot of people who are retiring to another country do forget some items that are very important, one of which is the ease to get back and forth from your home country. A nice feature about Quintana Roo, particularly, Cancun, is that Cancun Airport is the second busiest airport in Mexico and they...

What’s interesting about Quintana Roo (one of the three states in the Yucatan Peninsula, who has within it Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum) is that we have the Cancun Airport.  A lot of people who are retiring to another country do forget some items that are very important, one of which is the ease to get back and forth from your home country. A nice feature about Quintana Roo, particularly, Cancun, is that Cancun Airport is the second busiest airport in Mexico and they have direct flights to many cities such as Chicago, New York, Saint Louis, Calgary, Minneapolis, and other major US cities. That is a big advantage.

 

To be able to fly down here directly makes it a lot easier than having layovers. There are times when some emergencies pops up and you have to go back to the States and that all adds up. As an example, it takes a lot longer to get all the way down to Central America versus a flight from Chicago down to Cancun.

 

You can fly into the Merida Airport from most Mexican cities, especially Mexico City. They have direct flights from Houston and if I’m not mistaken, from Atlanta as well. There are very good deals going right into Cancun so I know a lot of people whose final destination is Merida fly into Cancun and then pick up one of those big buses at the airport, which takes them right to Merida. Merida is about 4 hours away from Cancun by bus and 2.5 hours by car.

 

(Cancun International Airport, Cancun, Mexico, pictured.)

Yes, you can. Even after you move abroad, US citizens must still file a Federal Return if they are receiving income. Fortunately there are some big exclusions and credits in place to limit (or even eliminate) this tax liability. These include the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and the Foreign Tax Credit.

 

Together, these credits will make your US liability much lower than when you were living in the States. In fact, with the Foreign Tax Credit, you could...

Yes, you can. Even after you move abroad, US citizens must still file a Federal Return if they are receiving income. Fortunately there are some big exclusions and credits in place to limit (or even eliminate) this tax liability. These include the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and the Foreign Tax Credit.

 

Together, these credits will make your US liability much lower than when you were living in the States. In fact, with the Foreign Tax Credit, you could even get a credit on your US taxes to carry forward on next year’s taxes (this would happen if you are paying more in tax to Panama than you would have been to the US).

 

Medical service in Panamá

 

A great 30 days free medical plan is offered to visitors upon their  arrival. Panamá is the only country in the world with this service, courtesy of the Tourism Authority.  It covers everything from in-house / hotel calls, to hospital emergency coverage, should it be needed, with bilingual professionals.  The brochure should be requested upon arrival at the airport.

Medical service in Panamá

 

A great 30 days free medical plan is offered to visitors upon their  arrival. Panamá is the only country in the world with this service, courtesy of the Tourism Authority.  It covers everything from in-house / hotel calls, to hospital emergency coverage, should it be needed, with bilingual professionals.  The brochure should be requested upon arrival at the airport.

 

As for residents, there are two different medical services: state and private.  

 

State Medical Services

 

State Medical Services are divided into two parts:  The general Public Health and the Social Security.

Private Practice Medical Services

 

Private practice medical service in Panamá has thousands of MD´s and all kinds of specialists, hospitals and different clinics, in any imaginable field.  The wait for an appointment in a private practice takes exactly the same time as in any other country; from one to 7 days, and prices for an office visit varies from $25 to $175.  The cost for treatments and surgeries is much less than in G-8 countries.

 

[Editor’s note: According to a press release August 1, 2014, the Panama Authority of Tourism stated that no charge tourist insurance coverage is no longer being offered.]

Within the last six months, we have a Polyclinic here in on the island of Ambergris Caye that has been operating 24 hours a day. Previously, they closed at around 7 PM or 8 PM so if there was a medical emergency over the evening, people used to have to travel either to Belize City or potentially, even as far away as Mexico. Now, we have one 24-hour clinic and we have another 24-hour clinic on the way and I have heard rumblings in the hospital that it is going to be expanded as well....

Within the last six months, we have a Polyclinic here in on the island of Ambergris Caye that has been operating 24 hours a day. Previously, they closed at around 7 PM or 8 PM so if there was a medical emergency over the evening, people used to have to travel either to Belize City or potentially, even as far away as Mexico. Now, we have one 24-hour clinic and we have another 24-hour clinic on the way and I have heard rumblings in the hospital that it is going to be expanded as well. Even in the past year, medical capabilities here in Ambergris Caye have grown quite a bit. 

 

The Polyclinic here in Ambergris Caye can handle any immediate trauma at a certain level as long as it is not life threatening or requires surgery. Broken bones can be taken care of here really well. Any other situations that need long palliative care, I would recommend you going to Mexico, or the US or Canada. The hospitals here in Belize are equipped but I don’t think that they are equipped well enough so that if you were suffering from something like cancer, you would probably go somewhere else. 

 

There are a couple of major hospitals in Belize City area that can help on more major situations such as if you had a stroke or a heart attack. You can also get transported to Chetumal in Mexico, which is only an hour and a half ferry ride away. Typically if you are going to take a boat to either Belize City or to Chetumal in Mexico, I would suggest that you go to Mexico. The Polyclinic here in Ambergris Caye is equipped enough to make you stable if you had a serious condition but for long term care, I would suggest going to one of the better hospitals close by.  

 

(Water taxi out of Ambergris Caye, Belize, pictured.)

On account of there being so many new mobile companies in Portugal, there is a lot of competition, so you can get a bundle including Internet, television, mobile phones, television, and depending on how many foreign calls you want, you can pay anything from €32 up to €78 (about $35 / £23 to $85 / £56).

 

And there are many very good people here who will do installation and setup.  There’s excellent support for that here in...

On account of there being so many new mobile companies in Portugal, there is a lot of competition, so you can get a bundle including Internet, television, mobile phones, television, and depending on how many foreign calls you want, you can pay anything from €32 up to €78 (about $35 / £23 to $85 / £56).

 

And there are many very good people here who will do installation and setup.  There’s excellent support for that here in Portugal.  

 

(A scene from Os Nossos Dias, a Portuguese telenovela, pictured. )