Best Places In The World To Retire

Valladolid  is a cultural GEM!  Located half way between Cancun and Merida, Valladolid is a 450 year old Mayan masterpiece, safe and secure.

 

Life in Valladolid is "Muy tranquilo" !!!  The locals are 90% Mayan and super friendly to all visitors and expats alike. The cost of Living is far below what you'll find in the resort hotspots of Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and even Tulum. Rent is very...

Valladolid  is a cultural GEM!  Located half way between Cancun and Merida, Valladolid is a 450 year old Mayan masterpiece, safe and secure.

 

Life in Valladolid is "Muy tranquilo" !!!  The locals are 90% Mayan and super friendly to all visitors and expats alike. The cost of Living is far below what you'll find in the resort hotspots of Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and even Tulum. Rent is very affordable. Buying a house is easy, fast and much less expensive.

 

Valladolid has great shopping for fresh meats, fruits, and vegetables at the Centro Market place that hums with activity daily from 6 am to 2 pm. Almost everything you need is here plus great food stands serving the BEST of local Mayan foods, fresh local cheeses and seafood all in one spot. There are also bigger chains like Soriana, Chedraui and  Aurrea Bodega. Taxis anywhere in town are just 25 pesos (about US $1.25) per trip.

 

Valladolid is just 2 hrs to either Merida or Cancun and just over an hour the "back way" to the beaches of Tulum. Rio Lagartos is 90 minutes north on the Gulf of Mexico. Valladolid has bus service anywhere via Mexico's great bus service from the central bus station downtown.

 

The main issue is that Valladolid is safe and secure.  There is very little crime or cartel activity in Valladolid.

 

Valladolid has many great cenotes in the area and is only 45 minutes to Chichen Itza or "hidden gem" EK BALAM.

 

I've lived here 7 years & LOVE IT!

Foreigners can get a home mortgage loan in Panama just like how it is in the United States.  You have to demonstrate that you have the means to get money from somewhere to pay for the loan.  Panamanians pay the rate of 4.5% for home mortgages; foreigners on the other hand, will have to pay 1% more, which is around 5.5% or 6%.
 
The terms of mortgage in Panama is limited to how many years it is until you’re 75.  Example, if you’re 60 years old, you will...

Foreigners can get a home mortgage loan in Panama just like how it is in the United States.  You have to demonstrate that you have the means to get money from somewhere to pay for the loan.  Panamanians pay the rate of 4.5% for home mortgages; foreigners on the other hand, will have to pay 1% more, which is around 5.5% or 6%.
 
The terms of mortgage in Panama is limited to how many years it is until you’re 75.  Example, if you’re 60 years old, you will be given a 10 to 15-year loan instead of the typical 30-year mortgage loan. The older you get, the lesser term you’re going to get on your loan.  
 
The down payment required for foreigners is 30% loan to value.  If you bought a house that costs $200,000, then you’re going to need roughly $60,000 for the down payment.   

 

(Promotional rendering of a cul de sac in the Costa Linda development, outside of Panama City, Panama, pictured.)

The history of Portugal is a very broad question, so I will address it just in summary form.
 
500 years ago, Portugal owned half of the world and 500 years later we are just a little small humble country of Europe, which can tell you quite a bit.  We were, 500 years ago, a very important country, responsible for controlling half of the goods produced of half of the world. Spain had the other half. And then came the Dutch, the English; the explorers, and they took over some...

The history of Portugal is a very broad question, so I will address it just in summary form.
 
500 years ago, Portugal owned half of the world and 500 years later we are just a little small humble country of Europe, which can tell you quite a bit.  We were, 500 years ago, a very important country, responsible for controlling half of the goods produced of half of the world. Spain had the other half. And then came the Dutch, the English; the explorers, and they took over some of the rich countries that we controlled.
 
The colonies we had like Brazil, Mozambique, and Angola, survived for the last 300 to 200 years. But as the world developed, it was no longer allowed for countries to have colonies so we released our last colony in 1999, which was Macau in China. We had various dynasties of kings and queens and mixtures of royalty with other European countries.
 
We’re a country of explorers, very brave and courageous because if you could just imagine, 500 years ago, with no conditions, with little wooden boats discovering and crossing oceans and discovering countries, that can tell us a bit of the Portuguese culture. So yes, it’s a very brave culture, and a very brave country. We discovered half of the world and today we’re just a little civilized country of Europe.  

 

(Duke of Vise, Henry the Navigator of Portugal considered the patron of exploration, pictured.)

The number 1 challenge you will encounter if you retire overseas is ...... you. That's right, you. You will arrive in your new country. You will find things you like and you will find things you don't like. Maybe things that drive you crazy. You can pull your hair out at these things.Or you can spend all day complaining to other expats. Or you can pack your bags and go back to your old county. Or .... you can decide to adapt to your new country and its different customs and habits.

The number 1 challenge you will encounter if you retire overseas is ...... you. That's right, you. You will arrive in your new country. You will find things you like and you will find things you don't like. Maybe things that drive you crazy. You can pull your hair out at these things.Or you can spend all day complaining to other expats. Or you can pack your bags and go back to your old county. Or .... you can decide to adapt to your new country and its different customs and habits.

 

The point is: it's about you, not them. It's about whether you are the sort of person who is flexible enough to adapt to a new culture. This will be your greatest challenge moving overseas and the issue you should be most concerned about.
 

There are a total of 12 taxis in the entire peninsula of Placencia. The fare Is actually pretty cheap. I don’t believe they have meter and you don’t need to haggle. The reason is that, even if you want to go to from the village to the top of the peninsula, you are only talking about a 12-mile drive. They may just charge you $20 Belizean (US $10) to go there and back.
 
You can also take a taxi to the mainland.

There are a total of 12 taxis in the entire peninsula of Placencia. The fare Is actually pretty cheap. I don’t believe they have meter and you don’t need to haggle. The reason is that, even if you want to go to from the village to the top of the peninsula, you are only talking about a 12-mile drive. They may just charge you $20 Belizean (US $10) to go there and back.
 
You can also take a taxi to the mainland.