International Living Magazine

Panama is one of the world’s top offshore havens and it is continuing to emerge as the next great retirement destination. Panama offers certain advantages over every other Central and South American destination. Tax advantages. Privacy advantages. Not to mention that you’ll find some of the world’s most beautiful mountain, beachfront, and island property here. Add to all of this what we consider the world’s best incentive program for retirees, and you’ve got something worth paying attention to.

Even The Los Angeles Times in a recent article noted that many recent retirees “have been drawn to Panama by its low taxes, affordable housing, tropical climate and contemporary, bilingual entertainment.”

Panamanian life is truly affordable. (A full-time, live-in maid costs $150 a month...first-run movies cost $3.75.) It’s the safest place in Central or South America (the Pinkerton Global Intelligence Agency recently gave Panama its highest rating for tourist safety). And it’s the most developed country south of the United States--home to some of the world’s top companies.

Panama has a stable government, a stable currency (pegged to the U.S. dollar since 1904), and virtually no inflation. In other words, this country is the exception to the rule in Central America. As The Economist recently reported, in Central America, “Panama has stood apart, sustained by its canal, banks, and free-trade zone.”

Panama is starting to get noticed by America’s mainstream press: “Panama is the most beautiful retreat in the world and almost undiscovered,” claimed a recent article in Harper’s Bazaar.

“Known mostly for its canal, Panama is, in fact, an undiscovered tourist paradise,” stated a travel article in The Boston Globe.
Even The Wall Street Journal is talking about the “new breed of intrepid retirees [that are] branching out” to Panama.

Not only is Panama starting to receive more tourists, it is also becoming one of the focal points of a trend that is taking shape in the United States. Living and retiring overseas--something that was once reserved for a few adventurers--is now an idea catching on in mainstream America.

As Time magazine reported: “Many of the 76 million American boomers are more likely than their parents to consider retiring to a foreign land, because they have traveled more, have higher hopes for retirement, and tend to be more active and adventuresome.”

According to a recent survey conducted by the firm MarketFacts, 7% of those baby boomers will actually retire outside of America. That translates to 5.3 million Americans who have already made the definitive decision to retire abroad. And Panama is going to be at the top of their list, along with other foreigners looking for warm, inexpensive, and adventurous places to live and retire. In fact, it already is.