AARP has just released their September/October “Paradise Found” issue, which ranks Boquete, Panama as one of the best places to retire abroad.
AARP enlisted Barry Golson, an award-winning travel writer and founder of ForbesTraveler.com, to cover what exactly makes a destination an all-around choice for peaceful, comfortable living for the retiree. Once again, Panama and particularly Boquete stays in the top ten places. I am writing this as I drink a cup of Rich’s coffee which he roasted yesterday at his coffee farm that is mentioned in the article and it is really a good dark roasted organic coffee. He moved just down the street from me with Dee and they are a lovely couple, the kind of folks that gravitate to Boquete. When you visit you must see his place and take the Boquete Coffee Tour
The master at work
Panama
The mountain village of Boquete offers something close to heaven for American retirees.
by: Barry Golson | from: AARP The Magazine | September/October 2010 issue
From left: The Caldera River that flows through Boquete; a typical bedroom in Valle Escondito Resort, a gated community in Boquete.
Valle Escondido Read more…..
FAQs: 13 Things to Ask Before Retiring Abroad. Read
Panama is a smart choice for retirees who want it all—in a country that really wants them. Not only does it feature attractive retirement destinations—sleek capital city, hot beach towns, cool mountain villages—but it also offers an unbeatable package of retiree benefits and discounts (and a currency tied to the U.S. dollar). Little wonder there has been a steady influx of expats in the past few years.
Many retirees have settled in Panama City, a fast-paced financial hub with a Latin/Miami vibe. Others have gravitated to the Pacific Coast towns west of Coronado and the Panamanian version of Key West, hip and laid-back Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean Coast. But if you want a temperate highlands retreat surrounded by unmatched natural splendor, the mountain town of Boquete, an hour’s flight from Panama City, is close to heaven. Here expats settle amid rain forests, coffee plantations, burbling streams, and hummingbirds hovering over dazzling flowers.
Morning view from our Terrace
Boquete is decidedly gringo-friendly, offering a wide range of? back-home amenities, from a golf course to high-end gated communities. For some expats it also offers an opportunity for reinvention. Retired teachers Rich Lipner, 65, and his wife, Dee Harris, 61, moved from Berkeley, California, to Boquete, where in 2003 they bought a seven-acre organic coffee farm for $135,000. “Over the past seven years we’ve spent approximately $80,000 to build a new 1,000-square-foot guest house and restore the original 2,000-square-foot house,” Lipner says. “We’re living comfortably on our combined Social Security and teachers’ retirement. We’ve begun a new and wondrous chapter in our lives.”
Flowers and coffee are Boquete’s trademarks
High altitude cloud forests, rivers and mountains that reach almost 11,000 feet are in our back yard.
Our little Switzerland in Panama.
Boquete is an hour and a half from Boca Chica, resorts, beaches and hundred of islands to explore and be back in time for dinner.
Yep, we can be in the fish in a couple of hours from home.
“Oh, about those discounts and benefits we mentioned earlier? They include 20 to 50 percent discounts on air, bus, and train fares, movies, concerts, restaurants, hospital bills, medical consultations, and more. (One older gentleman in Boquete living on Social Security proudly announced he got a 50-cent discount on a McDonald’s hamburger.) As Ruben Blades, the international salsa singer who also served a term as Panama’s minister of tourism, once said: “People don’t come to Panama to die. They come here to live.”
what to expect in
BOQUETE
CLIMATE: Temperate with two distinct seasons, wet (April to November) and dry (December to March). Much cooler than the lowlands and beaches.
EXPAT COMMUNITY: An estimated several thousand.
COST OF LIVING: One can live comfortably on $20,000 a year. Domestic and garden help: about $15 daily. Dinner out: $30 for two.
HOUSING COSTS: In Boquete, a small house goes for $175,000; in a gated community, $250,000 and up. Rentals: about $600 a month for a two-bedroom house.
HEALTH CARE: Good, with private clinics available. For serious medical matters, residents travel to hospitals in David, 45 minutes away, or to Panama City. Hospital Punta Pacifica in Panama City is affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine International and has U.S- trained doctors.
CULTURE AND LEISURE: Rain-forest hiking, river rafting, bird-watching, and coffee-plantation tours, exploring the coastal waters offshore one hour away from the mountains.
ACCESS TO THE U.S.: A one-hour flight to Panama City, then a three-hour flight to Miami.
Come visit and see what we have to offer you here in Panama
Very truly yours,
Tom Brymer