Can anybody give me more info about living in Panama

sorry, I cannot help you !

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I live in Panama part of the year and if you have specific questions I'll try to help.  Expenses - well can be as much as you want, some things like imports can be more than at home but if you shop more local it can be very reasonable.  Banking I use HSBC and I would NOT recommend them, sorry but I've had nothing but problems and I am a premier account holder.  Many others to chose from but setting up an account is time consuming.  You need bank references and personal references but otherwise they have ATM, online etc like at home.
Just ask I'll try to help.
Are you looking to buy or rent?
Do you have any ideas about where, Panama has the beach, the city the mountains and inbetween - lots to chose from

Well, we hope the best with your trip.
Panama is one of the least expensive countries to live in out of the Central American countries.
If you shop locally, you will find inexpensive goods, but if you need special items you will spend enormous amounts, like you would in the US or Europe.
As for the banking system here, the banking system is huge here - there are tons of international banking opportunities. If you are looking for a local bank to use while you are here, HSBC and the Banco de Panama are the two main ones. Do you research on those and you should be fine.
ATMs are available in all cities, but in the smaller towns and villages, there are no banks and no ATMs, so everything is done with the US dollar and the balboa coins.
if you have any further questions, please feel free to ask or compare advice.

Cy wrote:

Banking I use HSBC and I would NOT recommend them, sorry but I've had nothing but problems and I am a premier account holder.

Would you be prepared to share some more information on what kind of problems you experienced?

So far I have been using Banco General, Banco Nacional, Global Bank, HSBC.

The best? Banco General.
Worse? HSBC

Flavio
sognandolestero.com

Well, but why are you unhappy with HSBC? Is it because of high fees, because you cannot buy certain equity, poor service, problems when ich comes to foreign withholding taxes, poor advice...?

36510 wrote:

Well, but why are you unhappy with HSBC? Is it because of high fees, because you cannot buy certain equity, poor service, problems when ich comes to foreign withholding taxes, poor advice...?

Easy: very, very, very poor customer service. For the rest no problem. There are almost no fee in banking in Panama. As Premiere you get almost everything free in HSBH, the problem still how!

I always hear about buying property!  What about renting.  We plan to rent for at least a year.
Karen

Banking here is a nightmare with all the banks. Just to get an account you need to give up way too much personal info.  This info is being sold to the IRS to keep track of who has offshore accounts. The best way is to use a Credit Union as they don't belong to the banking association and don't ask all those silly questions. The drawback is most don't have ATM or checking. You need to go to the CU to draw cash but most business only deal in cash anyway.

Also, The staff at the banks here could care less about you. They have no clue as to their job and can't make any decisions on their own. This includes most "managers" too. So customer service is not in Panama. You'll find that true in most business' as well.

Good luck with the banking nightmare here. If I were you knowing what I know after almost 6 years here....pick another country!!!