Best Ex-Pat area for full time residency
We are considering moving out of the US to experience another part of the world. We have thought of Mexico, Costa Rico, Belize, Panama each one has plusses and minuses. When reading the blogs it seems...
Forum Discussion
Popsie wrote:
These experiences are not recent:
Our oldest son lived in Panama for several years and liked it - no problems.
We've been to Mexico many times, and were happy with our visits, but wouldn't consider it now due to the news we read about crime. We have friends who own a house in San Miguel de Allende. They used to go down for several months every year and rent it out the rest of the time. Now they only rent it out and do not go down.
We've also visited most of Costa Rica, and found it to be very pleasant and friendly to Americanos, but we didn't live there.
You might consider making a short list and visiting the contenders for a month or so at a time before making a decision. You need to look at the whole situation including taxation and medical care.
When we were in Costa Rica and considering moving there, we could have shipped cars and furniture etc. duty free when relocating, but I've heard that now they tax all your "imports" which is a problem. A good factor then was low cost good quality medical care, but I don't know if that's changed.
best of luck!
I was stationed in Panama while I was in the army> I lived there for 5 years and My wife is from Panama. We love it there. Its cheap lots of other Ex pats. great weather lots of beaches, and they have mountains and the atlantic ocean and Pacific ocean is 50 miles apart. Pretty cheap. The traffic is awful but you can buy a beach hose pretty cheap, and they use american money. Check it out. There is a lot on the internet.
