Best Places In The World To Retire

When we first got here, my goal was to speak fluent Spanish in six months. Three years later, I am probably 60% fluent.

 

You can go days at the beach here without ever having the need to speak Spanish. The expat community is that big here. In Merida, you will learn to speak Spanish a lot quicker than you will here at the beaches in Yucatan.

 

In Cancun, you can go weeks at a time and never speak Spanish because most everybody that...

When we first got here, my goal was to speak fluent Spanish in six months. Three years later, I am probably 60% fluent.

 

You can go days at the beach here without ever having the need to speak Spanish. The expat community is that big here. In Merida, you will learn to speak Spanish a lot quicker than you will here at the beaches in Yucatan.

 

In Cancun, you can go weeks at a time and never speak Spanish because most everybody that works in Cancun speaks English. It is really kind of funny! The main language in Mexico is Spanish. Mayan is a very big language so sometimes you will meet people who speak a mix of Mayan and Spanish. The locals talk between the two languages and understand each other very well. So even when you learn to speak Spanish, your proper Spanish doesn’t always get you by but between charades and what you know of the local language, considering that Yucatan is so different than Mexico City, everybody here just wants to help you. They want to communicate. They want you to learn and there is always a smile on people’s faces. It is a very easy place to go.

 

If you do not know how to speak Spanish, come and learn Spanish and the locals will teach you but if you move into an expat community, you are going to wind up like everybody else who deals with expats most of the time. Your need for Spanish isn’t as great until the ending services, at which time you need to learn Spanish or have someone who will help you. There are always people here who are willing to help, whether local or expats.

 

(Jesus Berzunza Pinto, bilingual realtor for Yucatan Beach homes, Yucatan, Mexico , pictured.)

Nicaragua has a very machismo culture about it towards women. It's not uncommon if I'm alone, either driving in my truck or walking somewhere on the street, for a young local male to whistle; to tell me they love me; to say, "Hey, baby!"; or blow kisses at me. That's not uncommon at all.

 

The thing is they don't only do it to foreigners, but they also do it to local Nicaraguan women. It's not just because I'm a foreigner that I'm...

Nicaragua has a very machismo culture about it towards women. It's not uncommon if I'm alone, either driving in my truck or walking somewhere on the street, for a young local male to whistle; to tell me they love me; to say, "Hey, baby!"; or blow kisses at me. That's not uncommon at all.

 

The thing is they don't only do it to foreigners, but they also do it to local Nicaraguan women. It's not just because I'm a foreigner that I'm treated that way. This is just the machismo culture.

 

For me, it happens rarely or on occasion. I just accept that this is the way it is. It doesn't make me feel good, but it also doesn't make me angry or upset. I have some female friends who are very bothered by the actions of local males here in Nicaragua though.

 

I don't feel threatened. The local males never make me feel unsafe. I don't feel like a local male would come and approach me. I think they're really too shy to do that. The males here will make eye contact with you and they won't break that eye contact if you don't. That makes me feel slightly uncomfortable, but not enough to really bother me or affect my day-to-day.

 

Doing business as a woman in Nicaragua, there have been times when Gordon, my husband, has been out of town and I needed to take our truck to the mechanic. I feel respected by Carlos, our mechanic, even though I'm a woman. He treats me with the utmost respect and speaks to me just the way he would if he were speaking to Gordon about a problem with the truck.

 

We work with another gentleman who provides transportation for all of our clients going back and forth to the airport and we have an amazing relationship with him. I know he totally respects me as a woman running a business.  

 

(Elisha MacCay getting potable water to others in need after Hurricane Nate in Nicaragua, pictured. )

It is possible to lower your US taxes if you qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Tax Exclusion.

 

This is a very precise mechanism allowed by the US Tax Code.   Consult an accountant or lawyer to see if you qualify.   

 

It is possible to lower your US taxes if you qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Tax Exclusion.

 

This is a very precise mechanism allowed by the US Tax Code.   Consult an accountant or lawyer to see if you qualify.