According to the US News and World Report article:
When choosing a place to spend your retirement years, the cost of living is important. But it is only one consideration. The ideal retirement spot is a place where you can live a rich life filled with friends, travel, discovery, physical and intellectual distractions, and opportunities for growth. A super-low cost of living is great, but more important is the quality of life your retirement budget is buying you.
Many of the best options for enjoying an enormously enriched retirement lifestyle on even a very modest budget can be found overseas. Here are the world’s 18 top retirement havens, where an interesting, adventure-filled lifestyle is available for a better-than-reasonable cost.
1. Panama. Panama is the world's top retirement haven. Panama City no longer qualifies as cheap, but other spots in this country certainly do. Panama continues to offer the world's gold standard program of special benefits for retirees. The currency is the U.S. dollar, so there is no exchange rate risk if your retirement savings and income is in dollars. The climate in Panama City and on the coasts is tropical, hot, and humid. However, the climate in the highlands can be temperate and tempting. Panama is the hub of the Americas, meaning it's easily accessible from anywhere in North and South America and Europe.
Yes, most of the country is cheaper than in Panama City.
Where we live in Puerto Armuelles it is definitely less expensive.
One must be careful when choosing a restaurant in Panama City.
We went to a great Indian restaurant in Panama City. We enjoyed a very tasty and relaxing meal. We didn't even look at the prices when we ordered.
Everything was always so affordable in Panama.
We had got out of the habit of checking the price of things.
When the bill came we wished we had glanced at the prices.
The cost was more than we would have paid in Seattle for a similar restaurant.
Without a doubt it is cooler in the hills than on the coast.
It is not as humid as you would think it would be though.
I grew up in New York and my husband in Washington DC.
It is definately more humid in those places than in Panama.
Summers in DC are hotter, more humid, and MUCH more buggy than they are in Panama.
Okay I have not been everywhere in Panama. But where we live in Puerto Armuelles certainly less humid and buggy.
I agree with everything else the magazine says about Panama.
