Reclaim Your Retirement Dreams Like Stephen Johnson and Linda Murdock Did
In 2003, Stephen and Linda visited Panama and decided “this place looks pretty promising.”
Just outside Panama City, they toured beach towns where Linda tried out the surfing.
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“Having to shovel out the driveway after every snowfall or being trapped in the house because of miserable weather was no fun. In Panama, we can be…and are… active every day. Carrying an umbrella during rainy season is nothing compared to the northern alternative.“ -Expat Doug Mannell |
“We bought a spacious three-bedroom house with a nicely landscaped yard for $100,000 in a little town called San Carlos,” Stephen says.
A couple of years later, Linda sold her business and Stephen retired.
Now that they’ve been living in Panama for more than three years and are well settled in, Stephen says, “Panama may not be the end of the rainbow, but it’s pretty darn close.”
“We’re not newcomers any more…for instance, we’ve learned to shop for produce much better now and have at least three sources of organic veggies.”
And although Stephen and Linda have a close social network, they choose to spend the bulk of their free time on volunteer activities.
“The most positive differences in our lives are the community programs we are involved in,” Stephen says, “Linda with her PAL (Panama Animal League) finding, fixing (in more than one way) and placing unwanted dogs to new loving homes. And me with volunteer teaching at a local international school and tutoring a couple of local kids in English.
“We are both of the opinion that toward the end of life we should pay some rent for being on the planet and now that we have time on our hands that’s become a commitment.”
But they do find time for more frivolous fun…there’s plenty of that in Panama.
“We go out about twice a week, but we always go out on Friday night to a salsa lesson at local restaurant followed by drinks and dinner with about 20 friends. The salsa lesson is $5 a person and our total restaurant bill for the night is about $30-40 for drinks and dinner. It’s one of the best deals in town right now.”
Doug and Linda Mannell have a similar story. They’re putting the final touches on the home they’ve been building on the Pacific Coast beach, coincidentally also in the town of San Carlos. It’s something they never ever dreamed they’d be able to do, Doug says.
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Living Like a Rock Star…at Age 84 In Panama, Al Fine says, he’s a “jubilado.“ While the word looks like it should translate to ‘jubilant,’ in Spanish it actually refers to a ‘retired person.” But Al is both. Retired and jubilant. And it’s all because he moved to Panama when he was in his late 70s. “Panamanians are hardworking and very family oriented,” he says. They respect and care for jubilados. Today, Al and Carmen live in a spacious Panama City condo with a fantastic ocean view. They have a maid who keeps it clean and does the laundry. Thanks to Panama’s Pensionado Program, Al says “I pay $2 to watch a first-run movie at a 14-screen theater…in English. I pay $5.50 for a blood test to check my cholesterol at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and I pay $185 for a round-trip air ticket from Panama to Miami.“ Plus, he says, he and Carmen eat out regularly at some of Panama’s most popular restaurants. “A couple of bucks for breakfast, $2.25 for lunch, less than $5 for dinner.“ When the check comes, Al says, I just ask for my “descuento de jubilado“ — his retiree discount. “I’m living like a celebrity…like I have all the money and prestige in the world. And I’m doing it all on a pensioner’s budget.“ |
“The house is gorgeous, everything we planned and worked for,” he says. And now that it’s finished, “Linda will soon return to her painting and to teaching English to local kids. I’ll be looking for another project. The potential list is long. Another chance to reinvent myself.”
Doug and Linda didn’t plan to retire to Panama. It just happened… They traded the rat race for a snail’s pace and high-stress for low, low costs.
“Living costs were eating away at our savings,” Doug says. “Here we can live on our pension income. Our costs are half of what they were four years ago. We have a much larger property and a larger house at less cost than what we sold when we left Toronto.
“Compared to our former lives, we can afford to live large here.”
He explains: “We realized that in retirement our life experiences would only grow smaller over time. Having to shovel out the driveway after every snowfall or being trapped in the house because of miserable weather was no fun. In Panama, we can be…and are… active every day. Carrying an umbrella during rainy season is nothing compared to the northern alternative.”
And it certainly doesn’t hurt that Panama welcomes foreign retirees with a world-class pensionado (retirement) program that offers mega discounts on everything from restaurant meals and entertainment to world-class medical care.
In Panama, the public health system is so good, Doug says, that he and Linda “don’t see a cost benefit advantage” to purchasing an expensive private health insurance policy.
Annie Bright, an expat living in Panama from Tampa, Florida, agrees. She pays $1 for regular check-ups and $1.50 for physical therapy treatments she needs for a knee injury.
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Picture yourself ready to board… |
She and her husband, Ed, live inb one of Panama’s most popular beach combmunities, just 90 minutes from modern, sophisticated Panama City. But there are plenty of amenities here, too. There’s a golf course, an equestrian center, loads of great restaurants, a shopping center with a modern, upscale supermarket, and a 24-hour medical clinic.
The best thing about living here, says Annie, is the price tag. Their total monthly expenses amount to no more than $1,500. That includes utilities, insurances, property taxes, internet, gas for the car, medical bills…
It even includes food, “which is a big part of our spending,” she says. “We mostly eat at home but we go out to dinner once a week.”
Evenings out are spent at a nearby pizza place listening to live music. A musician, Ed enjoys sitting in on occasion. He also enjoys the $1 beers, Annie says. Their nights out rarely cost more than $20 to $25 total, thanks to their pensionado discount. (Retirees get 25% off restaurant meals.)