Panama — One of the Best Countries To Retire for Singles

Whether it’s adventure, sand, sun and sea or maximizing your retirement’s worth that you’re after, it’s good to consider living abroad for the rest of your golden years.  One of the top destinations for retirees is Panama, mainly because of the perks that it offers to its pensioner population, tropical climate and value for money.

For single retirees, all you need is US$500 a month to get the special pensionado (pensioner) privileges in this country. Panama City was built by Americans while they were running the Panama Canal so it is a cosmopolitan city much like Miami. If you can’t afford Miami, then this is the place to go.

So what are the perks for retirees?

•    50% discounts on movies, theater, sporting events and concert tickets.
•    25% discounts on restaurants.
•    at least 30% discounts on hotel stays; 50% from Monday to Thursday.
•    import duty exemption for a new car every two years.
•    great health care system.
•    modern buildings, shopping centers, city convenience.

Panama’s weather can get so hot during summers and you may find it intolerable. You can choose to time your vacations during this time and head to colder places, like the mountainous regions of the country, if you can’t take the heat. But remember to learn Spanish first. While city dwellers can readily converse in English, that’s not the case in other parts of the country. To fully enjoy the countryside and explore more, you need to overcome the language barrier first.

-Stephanie

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Thailand - A best country to retire for singles

Hello-

Last time we talked about why Thailand is one of the best countries to live and retire, this time, I wanted to share why Thailand is also one of the best countries to retire for singles as well.

Southeast Asia offers many conveniences to foreign retirees for a fraction of a cost. In fact, foreign retirees have become a common fixture in Asia countries for the last few years—Americans, British, Chinese—name it.

One of the most popular destinations for single retirees is Thailand. There are many places to explore here aside from the capital and largest city of Bangkok which is a real tourism magnet. Hosting 14 million international guests in 2007, Thailand is enjoying booming economy partly through tourism. This country has strong exports mainly rice, textiles and footwear, fishery products, rubber, jewelry items, automobiles, computers and electrical appliances.

The culture is the main attraction of Thailand. It is the only country in Southeast that has never been colonized by a European power so expect to be treated with the warmest Asian hospitality here. Known as the land of smiles, any foreign retiree can easily merge into its calm and laidback culture.

If you’re a single retiree living on a US$2,000 a month pension, you’ll live like a king in Thailand. If you want to avoid the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, you have many options to choose from. Chiang Mai, Pattaya-Chonburi, Greater Hatyai-Songkhla, Nakhon Ratchasima and Phuket are all metropolitan areas as well.

Thai food is enjoyed by most of its foreign retirees which is world famous for being spicy. There are many types of restaurants here as well if you miss the food back home. Going around Thailand is no problem at all. You can shuttle from one place to the next through trains, planes, buses and in Bangkok, you can even make the most of their river and canals network.

Thailand has world class health care facilities and is a safe place even for foreign retirees.

Check out more best places to retire and cheap places to retire

Thanks,

-Stephanie

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Thailand - one of the best countries to live and retire

Hello-

They say that when you reach the age of 60 or 70, your bones would be frail and that you would need to extend your sleeping hours and take naps in the afternoon, thus would not be able to keep up with the night life.

Well, I say you’re wrong and these stereotyped and preconceived notions about senior citizens should be thrown and placed inside a trash bin. Many people who would have hit retirement age are more than capable of staying up late at night and enjoy late evenings.

So where do adventurous, nocturnal people retire to? Where else but in the Kingdom of Thailand, a country that knows how to celebrate and always give its visitors and foreign retirees a rousing good time.

Various night bars, disco clubs, karaoke abound in this Southeast Asian country to cater to the different tastes and budgets of its patrons. Bright lights from these establishments beckon to its prospective clients to enter.

And if you grow tired of the nightlife and would like to slow down, in this Kingdom there are a lot picturesque sandy beaches to choose such as the Phuket Island, Krabi Phi Phi Island, Koh Lanta, Koh Samui, Koh Chang, and Koh Samet.

Enjoy the solitude as you walk barefoot along the white sandy beaches while sipping your favorite glass of pina colada or you could laze around on your beach chair or lie on your towel. It is not too late to get a tanned skin you know.

But the you ask yourself this would be a dream come true, but can a pensioner really afford this kind of retirement lifestyle. The answer is a definite yes. The cost of living is much more affordable in Thailand than in some other countries especially if you came from a European country or from the United States.

Since Thailand is a favorite place of tourists, the locals have had a lot of time to brush up on their English, so communication with them would not be a problem. You could even have enough money to hire the services of a housekeeper to help you with your daily chores.

You can rent a room and eat 3 meals a day for around $24 USD!  Talk about affordable retirement living.

The Thai government is so accommodating that it would not give interested foreign retirees a hard time to settle down. In order to get a retirement visa in Thailand, it requires the basic such as the applicant has to submit the documents such as a health certificate from a hospital within a three month period, no criminal record certificate, birth certificate, marriage certificate, a certificate of income or pension, and a photocopy of the passport showing that he or she has been going back and forth to Thailand for the past three years.

This is just a small sample of what makes Thailand one of the best countries to live and retire.

-Stephanie

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5 Things to Look for in a Best Country to Retire

The annual increases in the cost of living in most parts of the United States and Canada paved the way for an alternative plan to retire overseas. More often than not, most people, while on the peak of their career, devoted most of their time in earning more money for them to afford these increases and enjoy their retirement years.

The usual concerns of many retirees when looking at overseas retirement are, what does retiring and living overseas involve in terms of separation from the family, learning a new language, selecting an appropriate climate, affordability, safety, and medical needs.

There are of course several countries that fit one or more of these requirements, but the challenge lies on the selection of a country that fits the most of these requirements.

The following factors should be considered before deciding to retire overseas:

1. Proximity to the U.S. and Canada in order to be able to visit or have family and friends visit occasionally without so much expenses or travel time;

2. Sufficient health care at less expensive costs compared to your home country;

3. A suitable climate that is not too cold or warm so that it will not require heat or air conditioning;

4. Comparison of costs of homes and property as well as prices of groceries, utilities, bus and taxi fares, and other major expenses; and

5. Safety and accessibility to recreational activities and places.

Once a particular country has been found to fit most of the requirements mentioned above, and the decision has been made to explore these possibilities, then, and only then, should you move forward and arrange an ocular visit to the country selected for your potential retirement.

After visiting and choosing a country as being the most suitable for your retirement needs, the decision then must be made whether you wish to preserve your current residence in your home country if it is affordable and live there part time, or totally give up your residence and live in your chosen retirement country full time.

Some decide to retain their current residence if they can afford to, and live in their chosen country only part time during the coldest or warmest portion of the year, while others choose the least expensive way and live in their retirement country full time and preferred to become residents of that country.

-Stephanie

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