Don Winslow: Recent Report Suggests that Panama Is Best Place to Retire
Many residents of Whispering Pines are retirees. Though some grew up in North Carolina and decided on a relaxed life in the village for their later years, many moved to the area from afar.
There are folks from Buffalo in the village — the Browns and Azars come to mind. There is a Rochester contingent that includes the Gillises, Willisons, and the Naccases, to name a few.
Then we have the Massachusetts merry men, including the Wisnowskis, the Persons, and yours truly.
When asked how everyone found Whispering Pines and why they decided to make the village home, the answers varied.
Some had been coming to the Sandhills area on golf outings and discovered the advantages of the village north of the traffic circle.
Others set out on a hunting expedition trying to find the perfect place to call home and concluded it doesn’t get any better than the Moore County community that includes three 18-hole golf courses, five lakes, and an abundance of good folks.
But did everyone make a mistake?
A recent report in International Living suggests the best place to retire is not Whispering Pines or Asheville or Florida, but rather Panama — as in the country of Panama, not the city of Panama in the Sunshine State.
Panama, at the end of Central America, has cheap housing, a favorable cost of living and a pace of life that is hard to match anywhere. As a result, it is attracting Americans from every state to move there and make the canal country home.
The country is encouraging North Americans to move there, and to reach that objective, it has eliminated the red tape, so common at most foreign locations, from discouraging people from coming.
The crime rate in the country is low. American franchises are everywhere, and the U.S. dollar is the currency in use, assuring newcomers their money will remain safe and stable.
A U.S.-style house can be constructed for $40 a square foot. And, as a foreign resident, you don’t have to pay taxes on the dwelling for 20 years. There is no inheritance tax, and you pay no taxes on foreign-earned income.
As for the cost of living, a full-time, live-in maid costs about $150 per month. Cable television costs $30, electricity is about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, and the water bills are $18 a year.
A cerveza (beer) at a local pub costs 35 cents while a cup of coffee costs almost as much – 30 cents.
If you hire an unskilled laborer, you might have to shell out $6.50 per day. Haircuts cost $1, while a visit to a hairdresser will set you back about $8.
But the big benefit the government gives to retirees is its program for resident “pensioners.” To qualify to be a “pensioner,” an individual has to have a guaranteed pension income of $500 per month ($600 per couple). The income must come from a government agency, which means anyone collecting Social Security qualifies, or from a defined-benefit pension from a private firm.
What do “pensioners” get from Panama? A bundle!
Qualified pensioners get 50 percent off entertainment (movies, concerts, etc.).
They get 25 percent off all airline tickets and 30 percent off bus, boat and train rides. They get 25 percent off all restaurant bills, 20 percent off doctor charges, 50 percent off most hotel stays and 20 percent off all technical services. There are more discounts, but you already get the idea.
Living in Panama does not mean isolation. Frequent flights from Panama City head to the states. Miami is a little more than 2? hours away, while flights to Houston, Atlanta and the West Coast are not much longer.
Retirees moving to the Central American country have choices similar to those moving to North Carolina.
There are mountains, where three-bedroom homes go for $125,000. There are beaches, where villas can be purchased for less that $150,000, and then there is Panama City, the nation’s capital, which offers a cosmopolitan lifestyle at an affordable price.
Of course, there are some compromises required by those who choose to make Panama home. The pace is slow, making life in Whispering Pines seem like a whirlwind.
An evening out might start at 6 p.m., but not end until 2 a.m. and that might not sit well with village residents who are accustomed to arriving at 6 p.m., eating at 7:00, and getting home by 8:00.
Service people may promise to come at 10:00 Monday morning but fail to say which Monday it might be. And car repairs, rather than taking hours, may well take days.
Though Panama has many attractions, few of the Whispering Pines folks I have told about the country have any interest in moving there.
There are no free Sandhills band concerts, no buggy days, and too few golf courses. So thanks very much, but we will be staying put.
Don Winslow writes about life in Whispering Pines. He can be e-mailed at donwin@charter.net.
