Nightline Story on Panama

Check out this story that Nightline did on retiring or investing in Panama from youtube

http://www.youtube.com/

Why Panama?

The snow is falling....AGAIN. My mother used to call February the longest short month of the year. And there is no relief in sight. Most people don't realize the March is actually our snowiest month in Minnesota. That is because often it is too cold to snow in January and February. That's right. I said TOO COLD to snow.

So as usual I escape to the internet and into my future. I know that Lyle with Tropical Pathways http://www.tropicalpathways.com/ has told me that Panama offers an exceedingly attractive opportunity for retirement and investment in the Caribbean, but I wondered...what exactly does that mean? So I did some research. Here is what I found:

AARP Magazine did a story in their May/June issue of 2007 rating Boquet, Panama the fourth best retirement destination in the world http://www.aarp.org/

International Living Magazine rated Panama #1

But why?

Panama offers a US style infrastructure with first world amenities. It has a cosmopolitan capital city, gorgeous beaches, great surfing, kayaking, diving, deep sea fishing, birding, river rafting and rain forest experiences.

But also Panama offers tax incentives, more amenities, lower costs and lower crime rates than many other traditional retirement locations.

Additionally Panama has a stable government, no tax on foreign income for residents and US standard health care facilities with US trained doctors.

English is widely spoken and the US Dollar is the national currency. Plus, residents can buy and own property with the same rights and protections as Citizens. It has one of Central America's highest per capita gdp, and The Investment Stability Law of 1998 protects foreign investors for 10 years.

All of this (and let's face it - the snow) got me antsy to visit. Lyle is offering an investment education tour in April. I can't wait to go!

Good Reads

Here are a couple of books that I recommend.

Herman Wouk "Don't Stop The Carnival"
This farce about a man's midlife decision to buy a hotel in the Caribbean is a trip in itself! If this charms and entertains you as much as it did me, you are DEFINITELY destined for retirement in the Caribbean.

Christina Henry de Tessan (Editor) "Expat"
THis collection of women's stories of living abroad entertain and inform. Whether they are seeking love, adventure, escape or work, these women find something much more valuable...themselves.

Found a Partner

So after a few weeks of talking with Lyle Burke via phone and email, I have decided to buy a retirement property. But not just yet. First I need to raise these kids and find the cap for the toothpaste, and fix that quarterpanel.

What I have decided to do is to work in partnership with the folks at Tropical Pathways, (Lyle and Tony and Helga) to promote his business and to keep people informed with what is going on in the world of retirement in the Caribbean.

I am hoping to go on an investment tour to Panama with a group that Lyle is taking April 6-13. Then I will have a better idea of just what is offered there, and whether or not it is the right place for me.

I'll keep you posted.

Want to email me? jules@julesnolan.com and I will answer today I promise!

Who Can You Trust?

I have been a world traveler for 20 some odd years now. And although my kids are still living in my home, leaving the cap off the toothpaste and putting a dent in the odd quarter panel of my car, lately I find myself daydreaming about aa time when this isn't my daily grind. About a lovely home on a lovely beach near a lovely village in the Caribbean....somewhere.

And maybe now is the time to try to find this place. But the question is where. And who can help me? And whom can I trust?

One day, several weeks ago, I was surfing this daydream when the voices started. Someone in my house was calling "Mom! The dog messed on the carpet in the living room again!" and someone else was hollering "Where are my shoes, WHERE ARE my shoes, WHERE ARE MY shoes!" and another distressed voice bellowed "HEY, my car is stuck in the snow bank at the end of the driveway". ButI was somewhere else completely.

I was on a beach. The warm salt breeze was blowing back my tussled curls and the smell of frangipani was wafting in the air. The warm Caribbean waters were tickling my toes as I strolled in the sunshine. I was retired on the beach.

I found a website called Tropical Pathways http://www.tropicalpathways.com/ which offers real estate and investment tours to Panama, Dominican Republic, Roatan, Mayan Rivera, and Belize. So I picked up the phone and called Lyle Burke.

He was just the voice I’d hoped for, warm, friendly, but also sensible and knowledgeable. He sent me off with lots of information, but also with the tools to do some research about his company. I found that Escape Artist did an article about them http://www.escapeartist.com/ . They said

"Tropical Pathways is a tour company geared to helping wanabe expats find their place in the sun. It's an intelligent way of seeing a country along with professionals who knows the territory. It's a perfect way to avoid taking the wrong path to the wrong spot and wasting time. A tour from someone who knows the ground prepares the tour-taker to explore further on their own with an invaluable base of knowledge."

Also, Tropical Pathways was featured in USA Today http://www.USATODAY.com/
“Tour operators tout their ability to vet developers, agents, lawyers and the like, on behalf of newcomers clueless to the ways things work in foreign lands. “I’ve had people who said they learned more in one week from Tropical Pathways than it would take them a month to learn on their own” says Lyle Burke, who founded Tropical Pathways Tours six years ago. Panama is supplanting Costa Rica as the Central American country where retired North Americans are seeking their place in the sun… “

And the New York Times Financial News http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/ said this of Tropical Pathways:

"For most people, the annual holiday involves deepening their tan or enhancing their golf swing. For some, though, it means smartening up their investment portfolio... Tropical Pathways Investment Tours takes visitors to see properties in Panama, the Caribbean island of Roatan the Dominican Republic, and Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. The tours - attract private individuals aiming to invest in second homes and retirement properties, or even wanting to develop resort businesses…these tours are growing in popularity..." "For most people, the annual holiday involves deepening their tan or enhancing their golf swing. For some, though, it means smartening up their investment portfolio... Tropical Pathways Investment Tours takes visitors to see properties in Panama, the Caribbean island of Roatan the Dominican Republic, and Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. The tours - attract private individuals aiming to invest in second homes and retirement properties, or even wanting to develop resort businesses…these tours are growing in popularity..." "For most people, the annual holiday involves deepening their tan or enhancing their golf swing. For some, though, it means smartening up their investment portfolio... Tropical Pathways Investment Tours takes visitors to see properties in Panama, the Caribbean island of Roatan the Dominican Republic, and Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. The tours - attract private individuals aiming to invest in second homes and retirement properties, or even wanting to develop resort businesses…these tours are growing in popularity..."

And for a moment I was transported to my future. To the beach, to the sun, to the toothpaste tube neatly in the drawer with the cap on and no need for shoes or a quarter panel of any sort. I was home.

Lyle offers educational tours to Caribbean destinations for people like me, people looking to learn more about how to capture this dream. His testimonials are impressive; not a high pressure sales pitch, but an educational seminar on how to make this dream a reality.