Panama: So hot right now

[pooja]

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-08-17-panama-retirement-tours_x.htm


"We're trying to get away from the politics. The rat race," says Singer, who is retired from IBM.

"And terrorism," says Ragle, the owner of a printing business who plans to retire in five years. "Prices are going up. There's this feeling that we've got to do it now."

snip

An American expat real estate agent says he lives like a local (albeit in a 4,000-square-foot house) on about $500 a month. An expat woman boasts she has a very obedient caretaker named José, who mops floors and manages the grounds for $250 a month. She regales them with tales of sharing a hearty $4.50 lunch with a friend (some attendees would love to know where; the hotel's lunch buffet costs $17), followed by a trip to a nursery where big trees go for $8.

They learn that Panama is fairly safe. Panamanians like Americans (never mind that military action in 1989 against former leader Manuel Noriega). You don't have to bother with changing money, because the currency is the U.S. dollar.

In short, it's different here, but not too different.


What does it tell us in America, when retirees are spending their twilight years investing in other countries?

[mike_c]

1. retirement will likely mean homelessness if I stay in America...

...so I fully intend to retire overseas.

[Joanne98]

2. Panama is a nest of RW conspirators.

Read "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins...

[pooja]

3. I just think that if the people with most of the money are taking it

abroad, there is less money for the people here. We are raping this country and turning it into a 3rd world country.. Katrina is evidence of the greatness we have lost.

[Cleita]

5. The trouble is that here we don't treat our elderly retired very

well. When they have to make choices between food and medicine or paying the rent because their income doesn't cover very much anymore due to inflation, third world countries south of the border start looking more attractive.

If you want to keep the money here then we need to do more to keep our elderly able to function in our society.

[pooja]

7. I completely agree, but if it is so easy for 3rd world countries to

take on our elderly, why is it so hard for us to do so. Also, I don't think that paying 250,000 is exactly cheap as far as retirement packages go. And they were quoting IBM retirees. Not exactly bottom feeders in the American scheme. I know the price is so much cheaper than beach front property along the US eastcoast, but it still bothers me that many of our baby boomers who played party to making the mess are so willing to jump ship and help save America.

[Cleita]

4. It is cheaper to live in other places when your income

becomes a fixed income. I don't blame retired Americans for trying to find greener pastures. I agree that Panama is more like the USA. When I traveled to Chile I always looked forward to laying over in Panama because then I could have a hamuburger and a milkshake, something absolutely not available in the rest of South America at that time. That was because the Canal was owned by Americans at that time and they brought their cultural attachments with them.

However, Panama is one of those places that's hot, humid and wet most of the time, so I was happy to leave after a day. I can't imagine retiring there. Also, it's one of those places with grinding poverty and a few very, very rich families that own everything.

No thanks!

[pooja]

8. humidity is good for aging bodies. helps with brittle bones and

arthritis.

[Cleita]

10. Have you ever been to the equator?

It's the type of humidity that comes from intermittent showers through the day that drench you. But it's a very warm rain because of the heat that creates big mold problems not to mention other creations. I don't think that it's all that good for the elderly especially those with respitory problems. Better that they go to Chile or Peru along the coast, where the climate is temperate like California, but it's dry because it doesn't rain much.

[pooja]

11. No, but I live in Florida and the humidity and mold problems here

haven't affected there living here.

[Cleita]

13. I guess different strokes for different folks. (No pun intended)

I never liked Florida for the same reason. I just don't like the tropical climates. I don't care if I was offered a golden palace to live in any one of them.

[pooja]

14. It is deffinately an aquired taste. I don't like Florida either... but

alas, my husband moved us here, and I have hated it ever since. But that my hate for Florida has nothing to do with the weather. I am now living in the most idiotic state in the whole country.

[Cleita]

15. That's too bad.

I personally prefer the mountains, the higher the better, but I can't live up there anymore either. I'm just too old to cope.

[Bunny]

6. A "very obedient caretaker"?

WTF? Nice that those brown people will obey, now isn't it? :grr:

[pooja]

9. I certainly wouldn't have used those words per se, but outside of

America, many people are honest and trustworthy and will work hard.

[Bunny]

12. Oh, I know that. I just find the use of the word "obedient" appalling.

It's so imperial, or something.

[xchrom]

16. here's the kicker:

''An American expat real estate agent says he lives like a local (albeit in a 4,000-square-foot house) on about $500 a month.''

do you know how many americas need to be able to live well{and i don't mean like a king} on that kind of money?

is this the future -- where seniors go in search of third world countries where the fixed incomes will allow them to live?