Best Places In The World To Retire

The best things to do in Puerto Vallarta are definitely water sports. If you just need to relax in the beach, have a couple of cocktails and watch the sun set, that’s also a very nice thing to do in Puerto Vallarta. There’s also whale watching in Puerto Vallarta. 

 

If you want a more private beach in Puerto Vallarta, you can go south to north. All the locals here in Puerto Vallarta start finding out the best beach areas like the one...

The best things to do in Puerto Vallarta are definitely water sports. If you just need to relax in the beach, have a couple of cocktails and watch the sun set, that’s also a very nice thing to do in Puerto Vallarta. There’s also whale watching in Puerto Vallarta. 

 

If you want a more private beach in Puerto Vallarta, you can go south to north. All the locals here in Puerto Vallarta start finding out the best beach areas like the one that’s 30 minutes from here. The Yelapa area is also nice for beaches. For our day off on Sunday, my family and I are going out on a sailboat.  

 

 

 

(Water taxi at Yelpa, near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pictured.)

People are different. Some like it hot, some like it cold. Some like orderly societies, others enjoy a bit of chaos. Some are obsessed with good food and wine, others don't much care what ends up in their stomachs. Some like to be surrounded by fellow  expats like themselves in gated communities, others prefer to blend into the local culture.

 

There is no one-size-fits-all best place in the world for everyone to retire. (And if there were, it would...

People are different. Some like it hot, some like it cold. Some like orderly societies, others enjoy a bit of chaos. Some are obsessed with good food and wine, others don't much care what ends up in their stomachs. Some like to be surrounded by fellow  expats like themselves in gated communities, others prefer to blend into the local culture.

 

There is no one-size-fits-all best place in the world for everyone to retire. (And if there were, it would get crowded very quickly).

 

The real questions is: where is the best place in the world for you to retire?

 

And that depends on many factors, such as what you enjoy doing (e.g. surfing, snow skiing) and don't enjoy doing (e.g. drowning, getting frostbite). It also depends on what you can afford, your ability to learn new languages, and what you want to do in your new home.

 

Retirement is not death, or at least it shouldn't be.  When you move to your retirement paradise, you will quickly discover that a 24 hour day is exceedingly long if you have nothing to do. You will need to fill up up those hours with activities you enjoy, and that will influence where the best place is for you.

 

So, what have we got now? We have several criteria to be applied in choosing your retirement home: Ask yourself:

 

 

1) What are my likes and dislikes? What is important to me?

 

Make a list of the things that are important to you -- warm sunny weather, friendly natives, bird-watching. Then make another list of countries that fit with those likes and dislikes. If you hate seeing graffiti on walls and chewing gum on sidewalks, your list should include Singapore, because in Singapore you can be whipped with a cane for vandalism and thrown in jail for leaving gum on sidewalks. On the other hand, if you are big on personal liberty, Singapore is probably not the place for you. Similarly, if you are a Mormon missionary, you should probably not consider Saudi Arabia; and if you are a nudist, France is a better option than Iran.

 

 

2)  What do I want to do when I retire? How am I going to spend my time?

 

Golf? Hiking? Cross-country skiing?  Reading your Kindle? Surfing the internet? Sitting on a beach? Make a list of countries that excel in the activities you want to pursue when you retire. If you are a sport fisherman and live to catch yellowfin tuna, then Panama would be a good bet.  If you are an avid cross-country skier, then Canada and Norway should be on your list.

 

 

3)  Where can I afford to live when I retire?

 

There are lots of fabulous places to live on this planet -- Lake Como or Florence (Italy), Paris or Nice (France), NYC or The Adirondacks (New York), Laguna Beach or Marin County (California),  Barcelona or Ibiza (Spain) . These are all great places -- if you can afford them. If not, you will need to start thinking about other wonderful places with lower costs of living. This is the point at which places like Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico and Thailand come into view. These countries all have areas where English speaking expats live and thrive in substantial numbers, and they are all relatively inexpensive.

 

 

4) Can I learn the local language?

 

Understanding the local language is important for two reasons. First is the practical one that you will need to get around and do stuff in your new country, which is hard to do if you cannot talk to people (waving and pointing has distinct limits). Second, you will never really understand the local culture if you cannot speak the language.

 

Some languages are harder to learn that others. Spanish is relatively easy. Mandarin, Thai and other Asian languages are very hard for most westerners. This is one of the main reasons I moved to Panama instead of Thailand, Cambodia or China, which I also love.

 

 

You are now at the end of my short rant, but you are only starting the work you need to do if you want to retire overseas. You will need to consider a host of other factors that depend on your personal circumstances.

 

Are you healthy or do you have medical issues? If you do, then you may want to consider Panama, which has excellent health care, but not Cambodia, where you can die on the street and no one will notice.

 

If you worry about crime, Honduras is not the place for you (highest murder rate in the world) but Thailand would do nicely, as would Canada, England or Japan, which all have very low rates of violent crime.

 

Now is the time to start thinking and making your lists.  Do your homework. Do not rely for all your information on businesses that make money pitching one destination or another, or organizing retirement tours. If you are interested in a particular country or region, read everything you can on the internet. There is an enormous amount of information available on the internet. Use it. Make yourself the master of your own destiny. Start figuring out which retirement location is best for you! 

If you are a Portuguese resident, you are taxed on your worldwide income. However, if that income is taxed in the other country, then you can get relief under the double tax agreement, with the refund provided by Portugal.

 

As an example, let’s say you’re from the US, you live in Portugal and you are a legal resident of Portugal.  Portugal will tax you on all of the money that you make worldwide, which includes income in the US, in...

If you are a Portuguese resident, you are taxed on your worldwide income. However, if that income is taxed in the other country, then you can get relief under the double tax agreement, with the refund provided by Portugal.

 

As an example, let’s say you’re from the US, you live in Portugal and you are a legal resident of Portugal.  Portugal will tax you on all of the money that you make worldwide, which includes income in the US, in Portugal, and in any other country; it makes no difference. But if you have paid tax on the same income in a foreign country, you can claim a deduction on your Portuguese tax return of the tax that was paid or withheld in the foreign country. You get a tax credit, which will then lower the amount of tax that you pay in Portugal. 

 

In order to be a tax resident of Portugal, you have to be in the country for 183 days within the year or alternatively, you could rent a home, which is considered to be your permanent residence. If you are not a tax resident in Portugal, you are only taxed on the income that you earn in Portugal and not on your other worldwide income.

 

There is a special regime that was set up about 5 years ago, which institutes a special 10-year tax holiday for people who come to retire to Portugal from another country, called the Non-Habitual Resident Regime. If people who qualify receive foreign income in Portugal, they have to declare that income but they do not have to pay tax on that income for 10 years.  This includes both earned income and retirement income. They will only pay taxes on the income that they earn in Portugal. This tax regime has attracted a lot of Northern Europeans to come to Portugal. It has also attracted a lot of French people who were trying to escape the very high taxes that are now being applied to wealthy people in France. 

 

There has been a big takeover bid by the left wing parties who are now the governing parties in Portugal. They may overturn this particular regime in order to fund the increase in pensions of the local people and increase the salaries of the public servants, which were cut under the previous government. Whether they will overturn it or not, I cannot answer, but I can report that Portugal has a habit of introducing really attractive legislation (for example, doing away with inheritance tax) and then when another government comes in, the legislation may get repealed. When this happens after a lot of people have already made arrangements, it can become an absolute nightmare.

 

(The town of Évora, Portugal shown with its medieval walls, drawn in 1501, pictured.)

Horseback riding is on the list of things to do in Belize. You will not find horseback riding everywhere in Belize, but if you want to do it, there are certain places where you can go. You cannot go horseback riding in the jungles because of the jaguars. Mostly, horseback riding is done on farms and other places that are closer inland, versus in the jungle.

 

(Cayo District, Belize, pictured.)

Horseback riding is on the list of things to do in Belize. You will not find horseback riding everywhere in Belize, but if you want to do it, there are certain places where you can go. You cannot go horseback riding in the jungles because of the jaguars. Mostly, horseback riding is done on farms and other places that are closer inland, versus in the jungle.

 

(Cayo District, Belize, pictured.)

 

From what I know from TV and movies, driving in Managua is not as crazy as driving in India.  Driving in Managua is more like driving in New York, except that in Managua, the people are more polite.

 

I’ve lived in Managua all my life.  In the 1980s and 1990s we did not have as many cars as we have now, so it used to be very easy to drive.  You would laugh at how minor was the Rush Hour in Managua back in 1989.  Now, we have what seems like five times the quantity of cars here.  In addition, we have bicycles, pedestrians who don’t use common sense, busses, etc.