July 2013
Listen in below.
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Us: Hello, this is Betsy and Reyn, with Living in Panama,
and today we are talking with Leif Simon about the cost of living in Panama.
Hi Leif, it's Betsy and my husband Reyn.
Lief: How are you doing?
Hi Reyn.
I'm good, how are you?
Us: Leif is not only an authority on Panama, having lived in Panama City, with his wife Katherine Peddicord,and their two children for the last several years,but he is an international real estate expert.
Welcome Leif, to Living in Panama with Betsy and Reyn!
Lief: Thank you guys, I'm happy to be here.
I think one of the reasons people often think about moving to Panama, is because they hear that it has a really low cost of living.
Some people couldn't afford the lifestyle they'd like to become accustomed to in the United States or Canada,or other places, are starting to think about Panama.
Us: What are your thoughts about the cost of living in Panama?
What generally do you think you could live on, and what kind of lifestyle would that give you?
And is it true that it's more affordable?
Lief: Yeah.The cost of living conversations that we have with people that vary in the gambit.
You can live off of your social security in Panama.
Us: What does that buy you?
Lief: It can buy your a beach lifestyle,like what you guys have in Puerto Armuelles,
where you can live off maybe $1000, $1200 a month.
That's not going to be luxurious,but where in the U. S are you going to live on the beach on $1200 a month?
So, you know, people come from Iowa, say,"Oh Goodness, Panama City is so expensive!"
Well, of course it is, if you're coming from Des Moines,it's going to be more expensive.
If you're coming from the West Coast or the East Coast,or any major city in between,
Panama City is going to be likely less expensive.
And you can live inexpensively in Panama City.
We know a guy, it's been a couple years since I have spoken with him, but he was living
here on his social security, and it was less than $1000 a month.
Us: Wow.
Lief: Biggest portion went to his rent, he was renting a house in a decent neighborhood, not one of the high end neighborhoods, but a decent,local, safe neighborhood for $650 a month,and the rest of it went to food.
He didn't run his air conditioner 24 hours a day, and he didn't have a car, but he was happy.
He walked and it went around by taxi and bus, and he was living on less than $1000 in the city.
On the other hand, you can spend as much as $5000 a month in a high-rise apartment,
overlooking the ocean.
You're budget can go to the extreme the other way in the city as well.
But overall, I think most places, if you're in that $1500 to $2000 a month budget range,
you can have a great lifestyle in lots of areas in the country.
Us: It sounds like if you bought property right, you had your own house, if you had the capital to do that, then you'd have even a lot more money to spend on living expenses.
Lief: Absolutely, and that's when we talk about budgets,we try and separate housing, because housing can be whatever you want it to be.
It can be a one bedroom, small, little apartment, or it can be a five bedroom,
two million dollar house.
Take that part [housing] out of it, and then you're looking at the cost of food for example.
And food costs in Panama are goIng to be less.
Unless you're buying the processed foods that they ship in from the U. S, in which case they are going to be the same or more.
So, you have to make a bit of a shift in your expectations if you want to save a lot of money.
But you can have all the comforts at home in Panama as well.
Us: For more on the cost of living in Panama, please click the link below.
Thanks for watching!
Start here for more information on cost of living in Panama.
July 27, 2013
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for the world’s airlines, representing about 80% of the world's airlines. Their site is helpful.
It provides a list of items to consider when transporting a pet including, airline regulations, government regulations, and the pet itself. For those IATA guidelines, click here.
If you are transporting only one animal — especially if it can travel in the cabin under the seat — you shouldn’t have a lot of difficulty bringing your pet with you to Panama.
Of course, you still must do all the paperwork and your pet must be healthy. However, the process will be pretty straightforward and not very expensive.
It can get more complicated when you have larger or multiple pets.
The Government requires strict adherence to the rules.
You must have the following:
Vaccinations and their documentation
Health Ministry "Home Quarantine" process costs $130.00 per pet.
Your pet's entry into Panama will only be processed Monday through Friday from 8 am to 10pm.
If your pet arrives outside of those times, or on a holiday, your pet will be kept in an airport kennel until the office opens again.
You must check with your airline.
They all have different rules. Some of which include:
Allow your pet to spend time in its travel crate before your trip. Travel is stressful for animals. Getting familiar with its new crate is important. You may want to put a worn T-shirt, or other item, that has your scent on it in the crate with your animal. Unless advised otherwise by your vet, you should not sedate your animal. This is to avoid any unexpected health complications.
Upon leaving the airport, your animal is officially in home quarantine for 30 days. This means that your dog must stay with you at all times for the next 30 days. Sometime during the quarantine period, you will be contacted to ensure that your dog is still healthy.
Once the 30 days have passed, your dog is free from quarantine restrictions.
My older daughter is always asking to bring our dog with us when we visit the States. I have always said no because I fear it is a difficult task. I have heard that you must visit 3 different Panama Ministries and get 3 separate stamps to get the dog out of Panama and into the U.S.A
However, I have not confirmed that process. In a future post I will cover taking pets out of Panama.
FYI , for those of you simply visiting Panama for a short while (i.e., less than 31 days), you don't have to do get all those stamps to bring your pet back with you.
We have never taken a pet to or from Panama. I owe my knowledge to a number of sources, including
Please comment below.
Find out how to ship your car to Panama here.
On July 19th, Puerto's Downtown Waterfront Park Was Dubbed "Parque Ecologico"Puerto Armuelles' San Vicente Elementary School
has created play structures, furniture, and planters from old tires. It is part of its recycling program.
With no help from any organization or government entity, this elementary school has developed its own recycling program. I commend the students and the
The tires add playful color to the parkprincipal for making it happen.
However, my heart sank when I first saw all the tire structures put up in the park. But it is amazing what a fun and colorful paint job can do to tires. I am pleasantly surprised by the cheerful effect.
The school did get the support for the park project from Panama's Bandera Azul program which supports environmental awareness projects. It is promoted by Panama's First Lady and administered by ANAM, Panama's National Environmental Authority.
ANAM was here in Puerto on July 19th to celebrate the structures the children had created by repurposing old tires.
Coincidentally, the beach or park railings are being redone. As you can see in the photos here and the photo gallery below; they were way past repair.
My family and I go to the park often; 2 to 4 times a week. In the last year or so the railings have disintegrated at an astonishing rate.
We often shared our concern over the condition of the park with our friend, Alberto Carbono, of the nearby Don Carlos restaurant. Each of us wanted to do something to help fix it up. Neither of us could drum up enough money to finance the railing project.
Then a few weeks ago, the local community started to donate money. It started as a trickle, but it is gaining momentum.
Just last week, Diputado Osman Gómez (a local politician) donated $500. Now the railings are being built at a rapid rate.
The cost per section of railing is $125,
Please consider donating to help buy rebar, paint, cement and labor so all 50 railing can be rebuilt.
Give your donations to Alberto Carbono, at the Don Carlos Restaurant located in front of the park.
The park is particularly special to Alberto. Not only was he was instrumental in the getting the park and the sea wall built about 15 years ago; but the park is also named after his father, Carlos Alberto Carbono. (See the photo at the top of this page).
His father also started the restaurant across the street from the Park, He named it after himself, Don Carlos. Alberto and his mother still run that restaurant.
If you go to his restaurant, ask to see the scrapbook Alberto put together detailing the process of getting the seawall and park constructed. It was done in the last years of Chiquita; but without Chiquita's help.
July 10, 2013
"35 minutes a day for 6 weeks and you will speak Spanish" - the author asserts.
I am deeply fond of this book. I am not good at languages. I took Spanish in Spain - twice - and once in Oaxaca, Mexico. I studied both in groups and with an individual tutor.
I just could not fathom how to speak Spanish with anything approaching ease.
Then one day a man working at a hotel in Granada Spain gave me this book. Someone must have left it behind. The receptionist also must have been tired of hearing me and my pathetic attempts to speak Spanish to him.
I don't know why, but something in this book clicked with me.
Suddenly I was creating sentences in Spanish. Real sentences with nouns, adjectives and most importantly verbs!
If you don't have any ambition to speak fluently, or to use many verb tenses, you could just have this book. It is pretty basic. But it has a very effective and doable learning style - for me, at least.
I don't know if you will have the same experience as I did with this book. But since Amazon has it for only 1 cent, plus shipping, it might be worth a try. Click to see it on Amazon.
This book has many rave reviews.
At first this book seems very simplistic. Its approach is to let you know all the Spanish you already "know". That is, by adding specific ending to amazing number of English words they become Spanish words.
Some people criticize the book for this seemingly simplistic approach to learning Spanish. I think it is its strength. Also, it goes into more grammar and verb tenses, in a very helpful way, later on in the book.
You might want to see check it out. It is usually $10 or less.
You can see it on Amazon, here.
You may be able to speak Spanish well enough. That is, you can have a "small talky" conversation and negotiate daily life in Spanish.
But maybe you find yourself tired of not being able to express and discuss more complex thoughts and ideas with native Spanish speakers. Maybe you hanker to have real adult conversations in the Spanish language.
Then it is time for this book. It is not a dry textbook. It really is a fun way to explore the next level of competence. Go read the reviews on Amazon to see what other's think, click here.
I wrote a more recent post about my and my husband's experiences learning to speak Spanish. Click here to read that post.
I also explain my plan to improve my Spanish. As part of that goal I am exploring various Spanish language programs. I am starting with the 2 listed below.
You can explore the free versions of these programs by clicking the links below.
- Fluent in 3 months (aka Benny the polygot)
You can check them out yourself as well.
Sign up for my newsletter to get my review of these programs in your inbox.
July 9, 2013
I was leaving for the States in a few day, so I needed to attend to it immediately.
I went to a private clinic in David Panama, the Mae Lewis Clinic. It is a more expensive option, but it is usually fast, which is what I needed.
I arrived at the clinic with no appointment. I was ushered into to see a doctor within 15 minutes. 10 minutes later I was getting my ankle x-rayed. 10 minutes after that I saw a specialist. Turns out my fears of rheumatoid arthritis or some chronic condition, were groundless.
My ankle was infected.
I had a few infected cuts on my leg, and those infections had settled into my ankle. I didn't even know a joint could get an infection that way.
The English-speaking specialist (whose dad was from Seattle via Norway) said the infection had settled into my ankle because, as the x-ray showed, my ankle had incurred much trauma over time. I remember many of those traumas. They were inflicted by forwards trouncing on my feet and ankles during my years playing soccer as a full back.
Prescription: antibiotics, which I picked up at the clinic's pharmacy
Total time spent at clinic : 1 hour
Money spent: $30
My husband talks about 2 recent visits to the hospital in Puerto Armuelles, Panama
Learn more about health care in Panama
If you are thinking of getting health insurance, visit this post to learn about Panama's health insurance options.
Still deciding if you will be happy in Panama? Take our quiz to find out.
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Basically, it takes 5 and half months before the banana plant "gives birth" to the banana fruit.
Then it takes about 2 weeks for the bananas to fully grow.
To help them ripen and protect the bananas from insects the bananas are covered in a plastic bag, while still on the tree, for about 90 days.
Chiquita used chemicals and fertilizers on their banana plants. However, they are not necessary.
We have many banana plants in our yard and we never use chemicals or fertilizer.
In the video, you can see two ways bananas grow.
Take A Spin At The Fair in Puerto Armuelles This Weekend
The fair has come to town!
Depending upon who you are, this is either a wonderful event or something to avoid.
The Fair Has
We Always Enjoy The Fair. This is a 2010 Fair Photo.If you visit Puerto Armuelles this weekend, you will hear the fair until the wee hours.
We have kids, so we will be going.
We always have a good time. I particularly enjoy the bumper cars and browsing the stalls.
The San Antionio de Padua fair is much bigger than the Fair that comes to Puerto Armuelles in March.
Maybe we will see you at the fair on Sunday.
Updated: Nov. 14, 2017
This Summer Prove To SSA You Are Alive - Or Else No More SSA ChecksAnd you need to do it every 2 years.
That is how often the US government requires a Proof-of-Life" response from every social security recipient.
Otherwise they will stop your Social Security payments.
FYI, the official name of the "Proof-of-Life" requirement is the Foreign Enforcement Questionnaire.
However, the US Government will only send you this vital Proof-of-Life request if you have an "Acceptable Address".
If you live overseas, what SSA considers an acceptable address is strictly defined.
If you live in Panama, you must provide SSA with your mailing address in Panama. This is true even if your checks are direct deposited into a bank located in the US.
SSA's requirements for an acceptable address:
Note: These requirements are the same regardless of the country you live in. You must provide SSA with your mailing address in that country. In the example above, the country is Panama.
If you haven't provided SSA with an "acceptable address", you need to change your address.
Which means you need to fill out Form SSA-21. Send Form SSA-21 and your passport to the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) of the US Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica. For more information on changing your address, visit the US Embassy's Federal Benefits page.
The FBU will inform the SSA of your new Panama address.
You must do this if you want to receive your Proof of Life form/questionnaire.
You must return the questionnaire to SSA by December. If you don't respond in time, your Social Security benefits will be suspended.
That is, you will not receive your Social Security check starting in February or March.
Don't worry. Even if your checks are stopped, you will get all your SSA checks. Unfortunately, it may take some time to restart your checks and receive your back payments.
Go to the "Contact FBU" section below, to learn how to let the FBU know you didn't get your SSA check.
The Regional Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) of the US Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica is now responsible for providing Federal Benefit services to US Citizens living in Caribbean, Central and South America countries.
Which means if you live in Panama, the Federal Benefits Unit of the US Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica is your "go-to" place for questions about your Social Security benefits (as well as Veterans' benefits and more).
For more information on their services and how to contact them, please visit their webpage. Tip: the best way to contact them is by e-mail:[email protected].
For comprehensive information on SSA’s services abroad, please visit SSA’s Service Around the World.
You will receive your Proof of Life questionnaire every other year. The questionnaires are mailed out in May.
Which year you get it depends upon your social security number (SSN):
If you are 90 years old or older, you will be sent a Proof of Life request every year.
Again, the SSA sends out the questionnaire in May. If SSA does not receive your completed questionnaire by September, it will send out a follow up letter in October.
You must return your proof of life form to SSA before the end of the year.
If August comes and you still haven't received your Proof of Life questionnaire, you need to take action immediately.
You must contact the FBU (see below) ASAP. Part of the mission of the FBU is to help US Citizens receive their SSA payments.
The Federal Benefits Unit in San Jose operates on an appointment-only system.
To tell the FBU about your "lost" SSA check, schedule an appointment, or to ask questions, contact them via their online inquiry form.
They don't promise a speedy reply.
On their webpage they state, "We normally respond to e-mail inquiries within 15-working days." By email inquiries, they mean inquiries made via their online inquiry form.
You can also send the FBU a letter or fax them. The FBU in San Jose, has both a Costa Rica and a USA mailing address. To get those addresses and their fax number, go to their webpage here.
Although the FBU does not provide a phone number, you can call the US Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica. Their phone number is (506) 2519-2000. (506 is the country code).
There is also an office to help US citizens living overseas or planning to live overseas with their SSA benefits.
It has a very dry and bewildering name: Office of Earnings & International Operations (OEIO).
You can visit OEIO's website here.
Check out this post on whether expats need to pay into ObamaCare.
