Panama Real Estate Investment Travel Information


Americans Finding Comfort Abroad

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Written by Matt Landau

Tuesday, August 26 2008

Americans in Panama

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There's no better time for an American to move to Panama. From a massive job crisis to politics, to inflation, more and more Americans are looking to the land of the Canal for refuge. Here are 5 reasons more and more Americans are considering leaving the USA and relocating in the Republic of Panama.

1. Either your job, or the job of a close one is seriously at stake:

Granted I've only graduated recently and the majority of my friends in this predicament are within ten years out of college. But the ongoing (and widespread) theme of being without a job (even for highly skilled/trained employees) is on the rise. Paying off loans, providing for children, maintaining your idyllic standard of living: not so easy nowadays.

As quoted to John J. Sweeney, an AFL-CIO chieftain in Detroit, "15 million U.S. workers were either unemployed, too discouraged to job-hunt, or working part-time." "It's the worst job market since the Great Depression," he stated. "The damage to human lives as well as to our economic stability is devastating."

Due to the latest economic downtown, the problems seen in wages, employment, and an overall job crisis in the USA are frightening. According to Nan Mooney, author of (Not) Keeping Up With Our Parents: The Decline of the Professional Middle Class, working class people "are being asked to tighten their belts, and there simply aren't any notches left...what we're going to see is people going into a huge amount of debt. They were already in debt. There's nowhere else to turn. And so the credit card debt, the mortgage debt, all that is going to get even worse."

Because Panama has only three million people, the increase in development opens a myriad of doors for foreigners, despite tricky immigration standards, to come in and fill a tremendous number of voids. Whether it's utilizing a skill or harping on a passion, the amount of jobs (and lucrative ones at that) in Panama is astounding.

2. You are dissatisfied with your political leaders:

If you can't beat em, don't join em! Get the hell out of town! With the current President vying for an all-time low approval rating, the temptation of flying the coop to avoid embarrassment in masses is an increasingly popular reason to move abroad. According to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, a record number of Americans are dissatisfied with Congress, with 53% of them claiming representatives to be undeserving of re-election.

Panama's government, while not by any means perfect, does...um...offend less people. And while you'll still be required to pay taxes to the USA, the feeling of political anonymity and freedom can be soothing on the soul.

3. You will become (or already are) a victim of the housing crisis:

Finding it too expensive to live? How about being unable, for the life of you, to unload your house or piece of real estate to some other dimwit who'd be stupid enough to buy it?

Housing prices have grown something like ten times as fast as household incomes in the USA, and while home ownership in may be nearing an all time high, it's a matter of who's willing to buy those homes that's seriously shaking a number of Americans in their boots. In a best-of-times-worst-of-times scenario, affordable housing in now supremely scarce in the States.

Affordable housing in Panama is plentiful and abound. Don't assume you can live like a king for nothing because that only happens on MTV reality shows. But with Panama far from nearing it's country-wide peak in the real estate industry, there's no better time than now to invest in the Republic. While the City is turning to be overpriced in terms of renting, interior rentals (mountains, beach, cave...etc) can be astoundingly low.

4. You may not be able to retire as comfortably as you thought:

Our grandparents had it all figured out. They knew exactly how to work til they didn't have to, so that they could retire happily to a worn-out couch watching the Price is Right in the mornings and playing golf in the afternoons. It's not so easy, thanks to out of control inflation, to do this anymore. Plus, Drew Carey took Bob Barker's spot at 11AM and he's terrible.

As cited in Free Money Finance Online, Americans don't like to be told to move to a foreign country for retirement. "They'd rather put up this objection and that objection on why it's a bad idea. Maybe it is a bad idea, but if you haven't saved much for retirement (a situation many Americans will face), it's better than eating dog food and living under someone's porch."

Why not instead suck it up, take a leap, and retire early (yes, early) to the tropics where you'll probably even find work (or at least an occupation/distraction) without searching?

5. Your quality of life or standard of living is low:

Life doesn't have to be so hard. Imagine waking up to the ocean every day or going for morning walks in the rainforest amidst howler monkeys and chirping toucans. How about hiring a sharp assistant or cleaning lady for $400/month or enjoying Chilean wine at a fraction of the price?

If there's one thing almost all expats in Panama agree on, the quality of life factor is very high. Sure there are glitches, sure there are annoyances. But in comparison to the stresses pressuring people at home, the idea of relocating to (or at least considering) Panama is about comforting as they come.

Citations:
www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec08/troubledmiddle_08-15.html
www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/09/congress.poll/
www.freemoneyfinance.com/2007/11/the-10-most-hat.html

Comments (1)

Susan Greene: Freelance Copywriter

I just returned from a week's vacation in Panama. It seems to be that the thing to do is work in the U.S. where wages are reasonably high, but save as much as possible. Then move to Panama where the cost of living is relatively low and enjoy a luxurious lifestyle. If you can set up an internet business of some sort, then you can even keep earning while in Panama.

Susan
http://www.SusanGreeneCopywriter.com

August 30, 2008

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