Interesed in Retiring In Panama

Hey Sktls67,

I am also a disabled vet. I lived in Gorgona for about a month with the beach across the road. I do not know what state you are living in, but I found the property prices in this area about the same they are in Colorado. There are a lot of expats in this area and it is about 1 hour from the airport.

I do not know what cheaper is for you but living off of $4k a month can easily be done in that area, depending on your lifestyle of course. Again, I am from Colorado and to me Panama is NOT a dry climate. When close to the ocean the humidity will be higher.

I would recommend doing what I did and rent a house and a car for a month or two. Then drive all over the place to find the right area of Panama that is more appealing to you. Then go back home and think about if this is what you really want to do then return to that area and stay longer.

If you have never been in Panama I would really recommend this approach. My fiancee is Panamanian and after returning back to PC it was even a shock to her after being absent for so many years. One of the standard recommendations you will get a lot is rent for 6 months before buying. What I have seen in Panama this is very wise advice. For such a small country there is a lot of diversity in everything.

Also, everyone will have their opinions where the best place to live in Panama is. You really need to see for yourself. I had expats in the PC area tell me the western side of Panama is not a good place to live and I had expats tell me the eastern side is not a good place to live. Living mostly in the southwest of the US I could never live in NY city and I know a lot of people that moved here from that part of the world and then moved back because they could not handle the life in this part of the country.

I hope this answer from this broken Devil Dog was helpful. If you would like a recommendation of a vacation house I stayed in Gorgona I will share with you.

Cheers,
Wolf   

Sktls67 wrote:

My husband and I are both disabled veterans pulling in more than $2k each.  We are looking into retiring to Panama and would like any information available. We don't have much more in retirement income, so we would definitely need the cheaper areas to settle.

We would like to be in the dryer climate.  Our ideal is beachfront property with a possible casita to rent out (if this is even possible for us).  Looking to be 1 hr or less from Panama City for the airport.

We thank everyone for their advice.

Thank you!  We just visited Colon and Portobelo from a cruise ship.  And I am so sorry, but I mistyped.  $1k each, so roughly $2500 to live on.  We live in FL where the auto insurance is outrageous and homeowners ins. isn't much better.

I agree about renting and driving around to explore.  We plan to visit periodically when vacation time and money allows before we make any decisions.  We still have elderly parents and do not wish to leave the US just yet, but we wanted to start making plans and decisions.  Please keep in touch!

Despite having a bird on his head, Crynwolf offers sound advise!

I don't want to be redundant with other posts I've made, but I really believe the "savings" in living in Panama or Ecuador or wherever is the result of changing how you live.  I jokingly cite as examples the criminal nephew and mega-church that no longer commands your money, the fact that cars are seen as a mode of transportation and not a status symbol, the need for comfortable clothes and not designer fashions.

Panama offers an opportunity for you to force a sensible lifestyle on yourself and divest yourself of a lot of crap we all get sucked into. 

Rural Panama (Las Tablas for example) offers you inexpenisve living if you can sacrifice some convenience.  In short, Panama can give you an better standard of living for a lower cost of living so long as you make the needed adjustments and have the requisite sense of adventure to live outside the U.S.

Love sticky fingers. Another suggestion I could make, before coming to Panama you can check out a lot of places through YouTube. I was able to get a bigger understand of places by seeing it and hearing it through YouTube. The Driving in PC is for sure not the faint-hearted. Sounds like you have time on your side right now. I would use that time as much as possible to play and explore.

Cheers,
Wolf 

Sktls67 wrote:

Thank you!  We just visited Colon and Portobelo from a cruise ship.  And I am so sorry, but I mistyped.  $1k each, so roughly $2500 to live on.  We live in FL where the auto insurance is outrageous and homeowners ins. isn't much better.

I agree about renting and driving around to explore.  We plan to visit periodically when vacation time and money allows before we make any decisions.  We still have elderly parents and do not wish to leave the US just yet, but we wanted to start making plans and decisions.  Please keep in touch!

Hi,  this is SKTLS67 other half.  Glad to have found this Blog.
Looking forward to finding many answers and contacts as we slowly progress towards our move to Panama.

I hope you will both read all the entries here on the Panama forum and then ask questions.  There is a lot of great information on here.

There are also lots of good blogs (and bad ones)out there to read on life in Panama - honest blogs where you can learn the truth.  I hope you will read those as well.

Good luck.

With $2500 a month I don't believe you're gonna want to be in Panama City. You could probably live there on that much but you'd more than likely be pretty tight. I'd probably suggest somewhere near to David or maybe Las Tablas. I have been to David but not Las Tablas but everyone says that Las Tablas is one of the cheaper places to live. My wife is Panamanian and we were in Panama City last year for four months and I couldn't take the humidity and heat (And high housing prices) so when we return in late April we're planning on somewhere northwest of David. We have some friends there that bought 2 1/2 hectares(6 acres) for $30K. I do know that rent is a lot cheaper there than in Panama City too although I believe Las Tablas is comparable though. I've seen places that rent in both areas between $400-$500. Not sure if there's a lot of them but I have seen those prices more than once in those areas.