Let me start this article by saying that I don’t mean to get
all emotional on you again. You’re probably thinking, “First the dating, then
the battling depression, now finding happiness? Chris, for cryin’ out loud, go
seek therapy. Call your psychiatrist friend, Juha!”
Fair enough, but I got the idea for this subject last week when my son,
little Matteo, was sick and I had to take him to a clinic. While in the waiting
room, a very nice lady who’d overheard me speaking English, approached me, and
wanted to chat. She was here visiting family and trying to make a decision on
whether she and her husband should make the move to Panama. She’s Panamanian and her
husband is from the U.S. She leaned towards me, and with all seriousness asked, “Are you happy?”
I immediately started talking about Panama For Real, of
course, and what I’m doing. I gave her my card.
“But are you happy?” she asked again.
I then explained that I love Panama and would love it even
more if I were a little more financially stable and that I, personally, preferred a life outside of the city...
“...And are you happy?”
After the third time hearing the same question, I realized I
wasn’t doing a very good job of answering it. That got me thinking.
What is happiness in Panama?
This view from Isla Taboga could make many people happy
At that point, I had to adjust my train of thought. What was
she truly asking? See, she was mostly concerned about healthcare in Panama. She
and her husband are both over the age of 60 and have a real concern when it
comes to healthcare and insurance. I asked if they had a decent income to
retire on and she said that that wasn’t a problem at all. She wants to live in
the city, but her husband doesn’t. He’d rather live out in the interior (sounds
a lot like my story). Her husband doesn’t want to move to Panama until they’ve
discovered realistic insurance options, since Medicare doesn’t apply in Panama.
I could tell right then that my answer would never suit her
because her idea of happiness was altogether different from mine.
And it reminded me of the questions asked in the online
forums. Everyone wants to know if everyone living here is happy. Are we content
with our new lives in Panama?
Well, that’s difficult to answer because everyone moves to
Panama for his or her own reasons and before you move here, you need to figure out your true reasons for wanting to leave home, because if you don’t, you may come here and find your
retirement dreams unfulfilled.
This is my happiness in Panama
So why are you wanting to move overseas in the first place
and then, why Panama? Here are a few reasons others want to try Panama. Maybe you fall into one of these categories or maybe you have an entirely different reason for wanting to base your new life here.
Are you trying to
escape the government?
This is a serious question because many people want
to move to Panama because they think they’ll never have to answer to the U.S.
government again. They’ve heard Panama is a tax haven and they’ll be safe
operating a business here without the hassle of reporting in back home.
That’s not the case. You need to understand that. I’ll save
the specifics for the tax specialists, but Panama is no longer a tax haven. And
you will need to pay taxes on money earned in Panama, if you’re still a U.S.
citizen (of course there’s the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion if you qualify)
but in some ways, living here can be even scarier than living in the U.S.
because you never know when some new form or procedure will pop up that affects us
here in Panama.
Beautiful, but not a tax haven
If you live a simple life and play by the rules, you should
be okay.
Did you hear that
Panama is an easy place to run a business?
It can be, especially if you’re
planning to start an online business. However, let me just rant for a second and say that, if
your plan is to move to Panama, open a business, then pay very low salaries to
your Panamanian workers, while expecting them to perform as if they’re being
paid top dollar, you shouldn’t come to Panama. I’ll write more about this in a
separate post, but it’s the foreigners moving to Panama and treating Panamanian
workers like crap that are giving the rest of us a bad name.
So again, when thinking about happiness, what does that
mean? If it means sitting back and relaxing while paying $3 per hour to skilled
workers while they run your construction company (and you do everything in your
power to avoid paying vacation, holidays, and other entitlements), please don’t
bring it to Panama. Find that happiness someplace else.
Happiness (Estefania winning a major Toyota art contest)
If, however, you plan to open a business and pay the workers
a fair wage and you plan to train them on customer service and treat them with
respect, Panama can be a wonderful place to run a business. Yes, before the
comments come streaming in, of course there’s red tape and bureaucracy issues
to deal with, just like in the U.S. You just have to be patient, and again, play
by the rules.
Are you looking for a
better quality of life?
You could definitely find this in Panama. But what
do you mean by a better quality of life? This is something you really have to
think about. The grass is pretty green here in the tropics, but I have to tell
you, sometimes it seems even greener on the well-manicured front lawns of some
of the suburban homes I see in Facebook photos. From what I’ve seen, some
of you appear to be leaving a pretty good life behind. Make sure you fully
think about what you’re preparing to do.
Happiness (spending time with the kids...and even more kids)
Life in Panama is relaxed and wonderful; the pace may be slower,
the air may be fresher, the people may be friendlier, rent may be cheaper (out
in the interior anyway), and your skin may get tanner, but it’ll probably be
hotter, the traffic will be thicker (in the city), your shopping options will
be fewer (you can still shop online), the mosquitos will be buzzier (I think I
just created a word), and communication will be harder.
Panama is an amazing place and you can definitely have a great life here. So dream about the good you've read about, and prepare yourself for the challenges, to be mentally prepared for what this new life really means.
"Knowing is half the battle" --GI Joe
Panama is an amazing place and you can definitely have a great life here. So dream about the good you've read about, and prepare yourself for the challenges, to be mentally prepared for what this new life really means.
Are you trying to
escape winter?
Yeah, you win on that one. You’ll never see snow again, but
just make sure you truly don’t want your 4 seasons, because Panama has 2,
really hot and really hot and wet (unless you’re in the mountains).
It's even sun and palm trees in the city
And if you
find yourself missing cooler temperatures, just take a quick trip to Boquete,
Volcan, Cerro Punta, Cerro Azul, El Valle de Anton, Sora…you get the point.
Mountain towns can provide a quick reprieve from the constant heat.
Are you looking for a
better place to raise a family?
I’m raising my family here in Panama, and I
have to say that I think Panama provides an atmosphere that is more conducive
to creating a strong family unit than most places in the U.S. I said most
places. The Duggars seem to be doing fine with their 19 kids (or is it more now)
wherever they live, lol.
Happiness (big family parties)
Panamanians are very family-friendly. It’s all about familia here and that’s something different form what I experienced in the U.S. My
family was very spread out. Here it seems much more normal to have big Sunday
gatherings. When my daughters had their first communions last month, the house
was crowded afterwards, and several family members wanted to give a speech
about how proud they were or about the importance of the decision my daughters
made that day. It was beautiful. Family values are taken very seriously here
and that’s something I’m excited about.
Are you trying to
make your retirement income stretch?
I’ve written several times about the
cost of living in Panama and I’ll say again that life in Panama City is no
longer cheap. It’s just not. Yes, you can get lucky and find an affordable
apartment downtown, but are you going to have the place long term? If you’re
able to afford a life in a place like Punta Pacifica, Punta Paitilla, Marbella, Bella Vista, Costa del Este, or outside of the city in places like Panama Pacifico, you’ll
be living a luxurious life. Even areas of the city like El Cangrejo, El Carmen, Obarrio, and San Francisco could provide you with a nice living, but again,
those neighborhoods aren’t cheap.
Costa del Este isn't cheap
Life outside of the city is much more affordable. Even in
the expat-friendly places like Coronado, Boquete, Pedasi, and El Valle de
Anton, you’ll be able to find a rental or a place for sale for what may be less
than what's on the market in the U.S. or in any other country. I say may because I have no idea
what the costs are in your home country.
However, if you look to places like Penonomé, Chitre,
Santiago, Aguadulce, Las Tablas, Volcan, and even David, you’ll probably find
that the costs are much less than what you’re used to paying. In Panama,
depending on where you’re looking, rent can be as low as $300 per month (maybe
even lower) or as high as $4,000 per month and up.
You'll spend much less in a town like Las Tablas
So, you can make your
retirement income stretch, but you need to be realistic with your funds. I get
the questions like the following all the time: “Where can I live that’s not too far from the city,
with gorgeous beach views, where I can rent a big house with a big yard, where the people
speak English, shopping is great, the restaurants are fabulous, and a hospital
is within walking disntance…for $400 per month rent? More than likely, that’s
not gonna happen. You’ll have to be a little more flexible if you really
expect to stretch your retirement income.
What it all boils down to:
What it all boils down to:
None of these may be your reason for wanting to leave your
home country. Maybe you’re just a Roberto Duran fanatic, maybe you have always wanted to
grow your own coffee or veggie garden, or maybe you have a thing for really big canals. I
don’t know.
Happiness (weekend escapes with my wife...whenever we can)
In the end, I explained to my new friend at the clinic that
happiness is subjective. I would be happy being able to support my family while
sipping sweet tea on a wrap around porch (the house in the movie Best Little
Whorehouse in Texas comes to mind) while watching my kids jump back and forth
through the long, narrow sprinkler (you remember the one we used to play in
when we were kids, the one that shoots the water up like a wall and we’d try to
block the water from coming out of the little holes with our toes, but it
tickled, so we’d squeal and jump back…sorry random thoughts again). I think I’d
love that.
Happiness (taking the kids on their first Metro train ride)
To my new friend, happiness is a life in the city, where she
can be close to her family and all the things she remembers from her youth,
while it sounds like her husband would enjoy a retirement a little closer to
what I have in mind.
Even if I answered her, “Yes, I am extremely happy in all
possible ways.” That does not mean that she’d be happy here or that her husband
would be.
I explained to her, “Look, you are Panamanian, which makes
this move a lot easier. Some people move here with no ties at all; no family,
no friends, and no contacts. For someone with connections here, this
move wouldn’t be much different from a move out of one state and into the next in
the U.S. or from Ontario to Quebec.”
I’m asked so many questions about retiring to Panama. People spend years studying this place, trying to decide if it's right for them. I
don’t want anyone to think it’s just a walk in the park. You’ll face a lot of
challenges here, just read the recent Facebook group complaints (and arguments). But if you've spent 5 years researching Panama and you’re still not ready to pull the
trigger, think of it like this. How many people do you know
who’ve said they won’t have a baby until they’re more financially stable? Then
when money’s good they say they want to buy a car before they have a little
one. Then they want a bigger house. It never ends until one day, after a few
too many margaritas, they slip up and just have a baby.
Planning a baby or at least the right time to have one
doesn’t really work, not for most people. If you want to have a baby, you just have a baby, and
everything else will fall in place around it. Usually, when someone has a baby,
they wonder why they didn’t do it sooner.
All I’m saying is, you may never have all your ducks in a
row (man I’m using clichés like crazy). So think about why you want to make the
move. Decide if happiness is going to be here.
Don’t sever all ties to your
home country. It’s definitely a good idea to keep a bank account open there and
it’s always a good idea to rent here in Panama first, so rather than move
everything you own, maybe (if you can afford it) you just put some things in a
storage unit. Then, if it doesn’t work out, and Panama just isn’t what you
thought, it’ll be a little easier to go home.
And one last thing,
don’t listen to all the bullies who write about the people who come here, last
a few months or a few years, and leave. I see that all the time too. Some of
the grumpy folks who stick around like to rub it in peoples’ faces that they
couldn’t hack it and returned home. Hack what? This is a hallmark we’re talking
about, a serious move, a life-changing event. Try Panama, don’t give up easily,
but in the end, if it doesn’t work out for you, no sweat. Do something else. If
you wanted to move to Texas, would you care if a few people were ranting online
about how so many people move to Texas and wuss out and head back to South
Florida? I wouldn’t. The truth is, the
person saying that moved to Panama at one point, from someplace else, and it
turned out he liked it. What if he didn’t?
And you’ll also see a lot of people making comments like, “I
don’t want anymore gringos moving here.” What’s that all about? How selfish is that?
We all deserve a chance at finding happiness, either in our home country, or
abroad, so let’s take everyone else out of the equation and figure out how to
create our own personal happiness in Panama.
Thanks for reading,
Chris
P.S. if you’re wondering how much I spent at the clinic…$14
(without insurance). Took his brother the next day and spent $32 (consultation
plus an injection as he had a high fever and needed an antibiotic).
And if you haven't already, check out our other website at http://www.PanamaForReal.com for even more info.
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