Best Places In The World To Retire

The Portuguese Constitution assures the principle of private ownership of assets regardless of the nationality of the owner. Thus there is no risk of confiscation by the Government authorities. Please note that the Constitution prevails over any law that exists in the country and can only be changed with a qualified majority in the Parliament which is hard to obtain and will (based on the last 40 years of democracy) always require the two main parties (which are both moderate parties) to...

The Portuguese Constitution assures the principle of private ownership of assets regardless of the nationality of the owner. Thus there is no risk of confiscation by the Government authorities. Please note that the Constitution prevails over any law that exists in the country and can only be changed with a qualified majority in the Parliament which is hard to obtain and will (based on the last 40 years of democracy) always require the two main parties (which are both moderate parties) to approve it.
 
Besides the protection afforded by the Portuguese Constitution, there is also the European Union rules and the European Union Courts that would also stop this from occurring, as it violates all rules and principles that are in place.
 
This is not a risk in Portugal as it would mean a complete revolution in the political scenario and in the population’s mentality as there is a tradition of private ownership in Portugal since the day of its foundation back in the year of 1143.
 
The only legal and possible reason for the Government to assume the ownership of private assets in Portugal is in cases of expropriation for public interest (for example, private land that is required to be transferred to the government for the construction of a highway) in which case the expropriation law would be applied which will allow the owner to receive a fair compensation for its assets calculated on market value prices and supervised by a court judge.
 
Regarding banks, there were banks that failed during this crisis as in most of other European countries.  Nevertheless, the process of bailout made by the Portuguese Government and the European Union did not affect the deposits that existed in those banks.

 

(The Couros River near Guimarães, a town that precedes the settlement of  Portugal, pictured.) 

In Panama City, we have discos and bars. We can go to Casco Viejo, which is a colonial town in Panama City where you can find buildings that are over 400 years old. Casco Viejo has lots of bars and restaurants so it is a very busy place. It’s great to go there at night or go for a walk in the late afternoon and on Sundays. Casco Viejo is a safe place and I highly recommend it.
 
Most of the hotels in Panama City have their own bars. Some of them have discos as well, which...

In Panama City, we have discos and bars. We can go to Casco Viejo, which is a colonial town in Panama City where you can find buildings that are over 400 years old. Casco Viejo has lots of bars and restaurants so it is a very busy place. It’s great to go there at night or go for a walk in the late afternoon and on Sundays. Casco Viejo is a safe place and I highly recommend it.
 
Most of the hotels in Panama City have their own bars. Some of them have discos as well, which is somewhat similar to what you would find in any big city around the world. We have Hard Rock Hotel, too. We have theaters in Panama City like Teatro En Circulo and Teatro La Quadra, and a couple of others. They have musicals in Teatro En Circulo. They even performed The Wizard of Oz, which was amazing. Most artists do not come to Panama more than once a year so if you want to go and see Britney Spears (for example) in Panama, you won’t. You have to go to another place. But here in Panama, there are places where concerts are held. You can watch symphonies and many other events. 
 
We have an array of different cultural activities here, too. We have a lot of museums that people can visit. We have the Museum of Biodiversity and the Panama Canal Museum, which I highly recommend everyone to visit. The Museum of Biodiversity is very nice. Part of it is still under construction but you can visit and spend two hours there even with your kids and learn about the nature of Panama and all of its biodiversity. It has life size display of the different animals that we have in Panama. The Museum of Biodiversity is so nice that when you get out of there, you would have nothing to say but “Wow! Oh my!” because there is nothing like that anywhere else in Panama City. Panama City, just like any other metropolitan area, is full of paved roads and buildings made of concrete. We have a view of the ocean in Avenida Balboa, but that’s it. We don’t have jungles here. Most people in Panama City live in apartments, go to work, and then go back home to their apartments. They don’t have contact with nature. So if you are from Panama City and you go to the Museum of Biodiversity, you will find it really nice in there because it is a relief from what you regularly see in the city on a day-to-day basis.
 
In contrast, in Chitré, where I live, we see cows outside of the developments. I go to the grocery, and I would see cows across the street. I live on the countryside, which is nice.

 

(Museum of Biodiversity: Panama Bridge of Life designed by architect Frank Gehry, Panama City, Panama, pictured.)

Shopping in Granada, Nicaragua has improved so much in the past ten years. I remember when I would have to have people bring me peanut butter and zip lock bags as I could not get them here. Now, there are two really nice grocery stores as well as pharmacies, hardware stores and countless shoe and variety stores.  You can find almost anything you want in Granada but there are times you may have to make a trek into Managua. 

 

I do have to warn you, there are...

Shopping in Granada, Nicaragua has improved so much in the past ten years. I remember when I would have to have people bring me peanut butter and zip lock bags as I could not get them here. Now, there are two really nice grocery stores as well as pharmacies, hardware stores and countless shoe and variety stores.  You can find almost anything you want in Granada but there are times you may have to make a trek into Managua. 

 

I do have to warn you, there are no one stop shopping places like Wal-Mart or Target in Granada. If there are several things on your list, you may have to go to several different places to get them. For instance, you need a shower curtain, vitamins, a print cartridge and AA batteries. This means you would need to go to a pharmacy, a computer store, a department store and a variety store for those four items. It makes for a long day!

One of the biggest tax advantages of living abroad is enjoying lower tax rates (depending on where you retire obviously) found in some outside countries. However, as a US citizen or Greencard holder, you are required to report your worldwide income to the US every year. Even if you are no longer living or working in the US.  This often means two tax returns, and twice as much taken in tax... Right? Wrong!
 
Fortunately, the US has certain exclusions and credits in place to...

One of the biggest tax advantages of living abroad is enjoying lower tax rates (depending on where you retire obviously) found in some outside countries. However, as a US citizen or Greencard holder, you are required to report your worldwide income to the US every year. Even if you are no longer living or working in the US.  This often means two tax returns, and twice as much taken in tax... Right? Wrong!
 
Fortunately, the US has certain exclusions and credits in place to limit this dual taxation. These credits can go a long way to limit (or even eliminate) any tax liability in the US. The biggest credit is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, this allows you to exclude over 95K of income from being taxed in the USA. If your earned income falls under this limit, you will not owe the US any tax (even if you won't owe anything you still have to file).
 
If you properly use the available credits and exclusions, you can actually enjoy the low tax rates of certain countries!