Nevis Vs. Caymans Vs. BVI Vs. Hong Kong Vs. Panama –The World’s Premier Offshore Havens Compared

Back in the office in Panama City after a week in the Big Apple, I’m struggling to catch up with everything that’s new since I’ve been away…

First, tomorrow is the final day for the Early Bird Discount for our Live & Invest in Belize Conference, scheduled for June 21-23 in Belize City. Starting Saturday, May 1, the price of registration increases US$200 per person. If your name is on the Pre-registration List for this event, you’re due an additional special discount of US$100 per person. Combine this with the Early Bird Discount and save a total of US$300 per person…again, though, only through Midnight tomorrow night. Details here.

The Early Bird Discount is also in effect now for our Live & Invest in France Conference, scheduled for July 22-23 in Paris. Again, this saves you US$200 per person off the cost of registration, and, again, this Early Bird Discount can be combined with other France Conference discounts currently in effect. More information here.

These are the only Belize and France events we will hold this year, so I urge you to make time in your schedule to join us if at all possible.

Other important news that has greeted me upon my return to the office:
Lief Simon is writing up details of a particularly interesting investment opportunity in Belize, which we’ll share with members of Lief’s Global Property Investor’s Marketwatch service as soon as the virtual ink is dry on Lief’s report. This is a chance to position yourself to double your money in Belize within a year with a buy-in of as little as US$50,000. If you’re not a Marketwatch member yet, become one here now in time for Lief’s report this week…
Overseas Retirement Letter Editor-in-Chief Lynn Mulvihill is back in her native Ireland following her month-long family adventure in Montenegro, with stop-overs in Croatia. Her conclusions? Montenegro is a frontier land of adventure, probably more than the typical overseas retiree is bargaining for. Croatia, on the other hand, is one of the world’s top retirement havens right now. We recommend in particular the hill towns of the Istrian peninsula and the capital city of Zagreb, which Lynn will feature in the May issue of Overseas Retirement Letter, in production now…
Also in production is the May issue of the Panama Letter, which features a comparative guide to the pluses and the minuses of incorporating offshore in the world’s premier offshore havens right now. This is our guide to Nevis versus Switzerland versus the BVI versus the Cayman Islands versus Hong Kong versus Panama…and for why, for very particular reasons, Panama comes out on top.

Kathleen Peddicord www.liveandinvestoverseas.com

July 7, 2010
Categories: Great places for holidays or investments, Investments, real estate, Real Estate Investments . Tags: , . Author: Greenfield Staff . Comments: 2 Comments

Panama again

“Panama’s newly elected president is making a big impression,” writes Editorial Assistant Rebecca Tyre from the Panama capital this morning.

“Ricardo Martinelli, of the Democratic Change party, was sworn in as president on July 1 and has so far shocked the entire nation.

“He’s been keeping his campaign promises!

“Everyone in the country is long familiar with Martinelli’s name. He’s a successful businessman who owns one of the country’s biggest supermarket chains (Super 99). The big idea of his campaign was summed up in his slogan, ‘Other politicians enter politics poor and leave rich.’ He was speaking to the high corruption levels of previous governments. Martinelli, on the other hand, entered politics rich. To make the point, he’s keeping but US$1 of his nearly US$11,000 monthly salary, giving the rest away to local charities.

“Sure, Martinelli doesn’t need the peoples’ money, as he was already wealthy when he entered the Palacio de las Garzas (Herons’ Palace, Panama’s version of the White House), but his gesture has made a big impression on the working-class people of this country.

“During the campaign, Martinelli insisted that there is no reason for poverty in Panama, given the country’s riches. Damiana, a friend in Las Tablas whose husband supports the family with what he catches fishing, says she and other struggling Panamanians truly appreciate Martinelli’s gesture. In all her 60 years, she told me, she’s never heard of another Latin American president donating his salary to charity.

“My neighbor in Las Tablas is a member of the National Police force. Martinelli won him over when, his first week on the job, the new president raised police salaries by US$100 a month, a move intended to support Martinelli’s antipoverty and anticrime platforms. The country’s 20,000 police officers now earn an average of US$420 a month. An additional US$100 a month may not sound like much, but it is doing a lot to help the families of the police officers.

“Martinelli’s government has likewise approved a US$100 monthly payment for any citizen over the age of 70 who does not receive a pension. More than 11,000 elderly Panamanians have signed up for this program so far, including a friend’s father, Jose. He says the US$100 a month will buy the heart medications he was having a hard time affording before.

“In a direct attempt to combat the country’s growing crime rates, the new president has imposed a curfew for minors. Kids under the age of 18 must be in their homes from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. The first day the curfew went into effect, 86 minors were arrested.

“Martinelli has also cracked down on some of the country’s wealthiest businessmen who had not paid taxes they owed for property they own on Panama City’s Amador Causeway. The previous administration had ordered those companies to pay their taxes, but the order had never been enforced. Then Martinelli took office. He didn’t mess around but set about immediately to have structures owned by these groups bulldozed. The businesses in question are now making attempts to pay their overdue tax bills.

“As I said, Panamanians are shocked. What kind of politician keeps his campaign promises?

“And Martinelli makes it clear that he’s just getting started. Panama is suffering serious growing pains as a result of the boom times of the past decade. The traffic in Panama City, for example, is out of control frustrating. Rush hour can seem to extend for 24 hours of every day except Sunday. To help ease the city’s horrendous traffic problems, Martinelli says he wants to build a subway system. This is an ambitious idea that some think will never come to fruition. At a minimum, certainly, something like this would be years away. But the point is that Martinelli has big plans for little Panama and is moving quickly and decisively to progress them.

“At this critical point in Panama’s history, this guy is stepping up and taking action.”

Kathleen Peddicord
http://www.liveandinvestoverseas.com

August 6, 2009
Categories: Attitudes, Great places for holidays or investments . Tags: . Author: Greenfield Staff . Comments: 5 Comments

Ready To Talk

Panama Circle Membership Now Open For A Very Limited Time

Last December, we launched our special Panama Circle VIP membership service, inviting up to 50 Live and Invest Overseas readers to become Charter Members of this private group.

Then we closed the door.

Since then, our Panama team has been busy delivering on all the promises we made to our Charter Members. I take pride today, seven months later, in saying that I believe we’ve not only met but exceeded every Charter Member’s expectations.

Members Liaison Marion de Mena and the rest of the team have arranged pick-ups at the airport…made hotel reservations…scheduled attorney appointments…sourced products for export…assisted with the opening of bank accounts…researched health insurance options…organized private tours…even personally escorted special sight-seeing and property-viewing excursions around the country…

Our experts and advisors have answered questions related to tax planning, offshore structures, and residency options…they’ve reviewed contracts, recommended architects, and researched the development of wind farms in Panama’s interior.

Membership in this special, private Circle, very limited in number, is your “in” in Panama. The Panama Circle is the only Membership organization of its kind, committed to helping Members realize their dreams of a new life or retirement…of fun and of profit…in this playground of opportunity.

I make this point regularly, but it bears repeating. Lief and I could be anywhere at this point in our lives. There are important reasons why we’re in Panama right now. We’re not the only ones who see it like this. The world’s smart money continues to migrate to these shores. Frankly, this is the place to be.

Come join us. Let us and our super-savvy Panama team roll out the red carpet for you and welcome you to this country as a Panama Circle Member.

As one Charter Member wrote recently to say, “Panama has enormous advantages to offer to the expat retiree right now. And the easiest, best, and most cost-effective way possible to realize them all is with the help of Kathleen’s Panama Circle team.”

Full details of the many benefits and advantages of Membership are detailed here. The important thing to understand is that this Membership invitation is being extended for a limited time only.

———-

“Things are beginning to get back to normal.”

– Panama Circle Members Liaison Marion de Mena

The past half-dozen years have seen an aggressive run-up in pricing for both property rentals and sales in Panama’s capital city. Official bubble status was reached last year, when it seemed owners and sellers could ask nearly any price they wanted and find somebody willing to pay it.

No more. The sales market has flattened, and prices have fallen. Not as dramatically as elsewhere in the world or elsewhere in the region, but reduced and distressed sales are easy to find, and sellers are more negotiable than they’ve been in a decade.

We’re not looking to buy (though, if you wanted to own in this city, this would be a good time to go shopping), but we’ve had our eye on a house for rent in Casco Viejo. Rent first, we remind you often. We took our own advice last year when we moved from Paris to Panama City, not only because the city’s housing bubble had yet to come in contact with the approaching pin, but also because we weren’t sure where best we should locate. After weeks of apartment-viewings, we decided to settle in Paitilla, the little enclave on the point that’s separate from the rest of downtown, greener, and, we hoped, quieter. Plus, we like to walk, and, from here in Paitilla, we’ve been able to walk nearly everywhere we go on a day-to-day basis–to the grocery store, to the bank, to the dry cleaners, to the pharmacy, to our attorney’s office, to the mall…

Paitilla was the practical choice. But not my first choice. That’s Casco Viejo. So I’ve kept my eye out. About four months ago, our agent-friend in the city, Guilia Gonzalez, called to say she’d found the perfect place for us in Casco Viejo, a three-bedroom house on three stories with front and back balconies, a small private garden, even its own parking. We viewed it, loved it, and made an offer to rent.

“No way,” replied the owner, who had just finished the full and impressive renovation of the place. “I won’t rent for that amount.”

Then we’ll keep looking, we replied.

Last week, the owner got in touch with Giulia to say he’d like to accept our offer. We move in two weeks.

Stories like this are increasingly common. Some Panama City owners seem in denial; they aren’t accepting that the market has turned and are sticking hard to their pricing. Others don’t care. Investors from Venezuela, Colombia, and elsewhere who’ve put their capital into hard Panama City assets don’t need to sell or even rent. They’re happy to have their money in a market they perceive as safe and stable long-term. They’re not so interested in listening to offers.

But American investors? In many cases, their portfolios have taken big hits. They’re looking to their Panama holdings for some cash flow or capital return. They’re ready to talk.

Kathleen Peddicord
www.liveandinvestoverseas.com

July 27, 2009
Categories: Attitudes, Real Estate Investments . Tags: , . Author: Greenfield Staff . Comments: 1 Comment

Your Passport To 2009′s Land of Opportunity

Panama is the world’s #1 retirement haven…the world’s top offshore haven…and an international banking center.

Its pensionado program of special benefits for foreign retirees is the Gold Standard.

As a foreign resident, you can pay zero local tax.

Panama is one of the best places in the world right now to start a business and one of the easiest places to obtain foreign residency.

Plus, outside Panama City, this beautiful country hides the smartest beach, river, and mountain property buys anywhere on the planet today.

Panama is a land where the cost of living is low…the standard of health care is excellent…and where the climate can be idyllic (outside the capital…in the beautiful mountains of the interior).

Panama boasts Pacific and Caribbean shorelines with wildflower-covered mountains in between…real-world infrastructure…the U.S. dollar for currency (since 1904), so Americans face no exchange risk…

Plus an economy that has grown more than 8% a year for the past five and that, despite current worldwide market meltdowns, continues to surge ahead.

Panama is a land of superlatives…a beautiful country and an expanding economy overflowing with opportunity.

In fact, Panama almost has too much to offer.

No question, you should be looking closely right now at this little country with such an abundance of upside. But, when you do…and the closer you begin to pay attention…the more confused you’re likely to become.

Flower-covered Mountainsides…

In its interior, west of Panama City, Panama hides some of the world’s best choices for highland living…towns and villages, mountains and valleys where the weather is spring-like year-round, the hillsides are covered with wildflowers, the streets are safe, your neighbors are friendly, and the cost of living is highly affordable…

In fact, one beautiful hidden spot hides such an idyllic way of life we’ve named it the World’s Top Retirement Haven.

This special valley sits at about 2,000 feet…meaning its temperatures are never too hot. Its population of about 7,000 is made up of locals and expatriates. It’s a community of Panamanians, Germans, Ecuadorians, Americans, Canadians–some retired, some indulging their entrepreneurial inclinations…others are businessmen who drive out on weekends to escape the big city…

Beautiful…and welcoming. Those are the two words of description that come immediately to mind here. The expat community lives closely and happily as part of the community as a whole, with an active but not “separatist” social life.

The focal point of activity is the covered market pavilion, where you can shop for fresh fruit and vegetables every morning.

The town clinic is staffed 24 hours a day, and a doctor’s appointment costs about US$2. You’re 45 minutes away from more serious care and ambulance service to the city, where health care is on par with U.S. and European standards…but costs about half as much.

In this hidden valley, you’ve got the best of clean mountain living…but you’re only 45 minutes from the beach…and less than two hours from the shopping, the services, the infrastructure, and the nightlife of the big city…the most cosmopolitan city in the entire region…

Two Long Coastlines…

But maybe mountain living appeals to you not at all. Don’t worry. In this country with two long coasts and myriad white sand-fringed islands just offshore, you’re never far from a beach. Again, you’re spoiled for choice for both dramatic, crashing Pacific beaches…and gently lapping Caribbean ones…

Surfing, snorkeling, fishing, diving, boating…in all seasons (for Panama sits beyond the hurricane zone)…this little country is a water-enthusiast’s dream come true.

Plus The Most Cosmopolitan City In The Region…

Mountains…beaches…plus the most cosmopolitan city in the entire region. You’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating. Panama’s capital is without peer in this part of the world. Nowhere else in these parts has the infrastructure, the shopping, or the nightlife to compare.

For more than 100 years, the Panama Canal has linked east and west, north and south. As a result, a multitude of nationalities have shaped the country that it traverses…meaning this little nation is a real melting pot, with the cuisine, the nightlife, and the culture to prove it.

A Land Of Contrasts…With Something For Everyone…

This is a land of unsurpassed outdoor adventures…where you can dive two oceans in a day, glide through the jungle canopy, ride the white waters, hike through a cloud forest, rappel off a rock cliff, and fish in waters teeming with marlin, tuna, wahoo, and sailfish. More sport-fishing records have been set in the waters off Panama’s shores than anywhere else in the world.

Panama is also a world of cultural opportunity, with ballets at the restored National Theater…dances to traditional Congo music…historic Spanish forts…and world-class dining in atmospheric colonial buildings.

Outdoors-enthusiasts and nature-lovers are at home here…as are the savvy and the sophisticated.

Panama is an open-minded, progressive place. The government offers investment laws far more beneficial than anything in the United States, for example…there is little racial tension…health care is available for both nationals and foreign visitors…the economy is strong…luxuries and comforts beyond reach in the U.S. are affordable here.
 

And A Land Alive With Opportunity

After nearly 25 years covering this live, retire, and invest overseas beat and more than a decade living outside the States, I could be living and doing business anywhere in the world right now. Last summer, my husband and I relocated from Paris, France, to Panama City, Panama, because, frankly, right now, Panama offers more opportunity than any place else on the planet.

In a world where markets are shrinking, businesses are downsizing, unemployment rates are rising, and investment opportunities are evaporating overnight…Panama pushes ahead. Thanks to its unique history and its enviable geographic position, Panama continues to offer what so much of the rest of the world just can’t right now: a chance.

A chance for the would-be entrepreneur abroad (like me)…a chance for the would-be global real estate investor (like my husband, Lief Simon)…a chance for the would-be retiree overseas (in the world’s #1 retirement haven I told you about earlier)…

A chance to slow down and a chance to make your fortune…a chance to start over and a chance to have the adventure of your lifetime…a chance to build something big and, at the same time, a chance to chuck it all and settle into a sunny, sultry tropical beach escape where nobody will find you if you don’t want to be found…

I’ve seen a lot of this world, and I know no other place boasting such diversified options, opportunities, adventure, and upside as we head into this New Year 2009.

My Panama is frenetic Panama City, where I enjoy wireless Internet and global telecommunications without interruption, an international banking infrastructure, top-notch attorneys and bankers when I need them, an educated and English-speaking labor pool, a low cost of doing business, zero currency-exchange worries, and all the support I could ask for as I work to build a business.

My husband’s Panama is a stretch of beautiful Pacific coastline in an until-now overlooked region of the country that is beginning to attract the international attention it deserves. He’s reaping the benefits of a market that offers comprehensive resources for the property investor (not to mention some of the world’s most primo property to think about investing in in the first place!)…plus the active, growing marketplace to make it all pay off.
 

Indeed, despite slowdowns and meltdowns elsewhere, Panama’s economy continues strong, expanding quicker than most any other in the world. The canal, the ports, and the Colon Free Zone have benefited greatly from regional and international trade expansion over the past several years. Meantime, the construction industry has boomed, and the financial sector has expanded. Unemployment has fallen to an unprecedented low.
“Despite slowdowns and meltdowns elsewhere, Panama’s economy continues strong, expanding quicker than most any other in the world.”

The country is mid-boom…there’s just no other way to describe it. Its economy expanded by more than 11% in 2007…and that following an average annual growth rate of nearly 8% during each of the preceding three years.

The surge continued through 2008 (projected economic growth rate for the year is at least 8%), global market and fiscal fiascos notwithstanding. The Panama Canal expansion project is in full swing…a new highway is being built between the country’s two main cities, Panama and Colon…and downtown in the capital is being completely reconfigured with a new, widened central thoroughfare, a city bypass system, and a broad, grassy stretch of parkland along the bay.

Lief and I are here to take advantage of unparallel business and investment opportunities.

But perhaps you have another agenda entirely. Perhaps you’re at a stage of your life where you’d like to slow down…to get away…to take time to smell the coffee each morning…

Again, I can’t imagine a better place to do that right now than Panama.

Not Panama City. Many foreigners have retired to the Panamanian capital, but it’s not a take-it-easy retirement of peace and quiet, for Panama City is the farthest thing you could imagine from peaceful and quiet these days.

In other words, Panama City probably isn’t your idea of an ideal retirement haven. But beyond its capital, the retirement options in this country are hard to beat.

To start, of course, there’s the tiny spot we’ve named as the world’s #1 retirement haven for 2009: El Valle de Anton. As our editor describes it: “Life in this crater valley is heaven on earth.”

Our Editor Lucy Culpepper continues:

“As our little bus reached the edge of the volcanic crater, we were stunned by the most spectacular view…360 degrees of jagged, 1,000-meter-high mountains covered in humid cloud forest, tumbling down to the flat but equally green and fertile crater floor.

“All around us was every shade of green. Craning to see over the tops of hedges, we spotted beautiful gardens blending into the natural landscape. It was hard to figure how so much order and beauty could take place at the center of a volcanic crater…”

We believe El Valle, as it’s called locally, offers the best choice you’ll find anywhere for peaceful retirement living…but it’s certainly not the only option here in Panama.

Boquete is probably the country’s best-known foreign retirement option. Here, in the mountains outside the city of David, has developed one of the strongest expat communities in the world. They’re enjoying the good life in these beautiful hills covered with coffee plants and wildflowers. As in El Valle, the temperatures are cooler than in Panama City…the humidity much less a concern. The setting is picture-perfect, and you can plug into an existing infrastructure for foreign residents.

More affordable mountain retirement options include Volcan, also in the Chiriqui region, and (my current affordable favorite) little Santa Fe in Veraguas…

Life is simple and safe in these spots…a lifetime away from the trouble and angst of much of the world these days.

Want to retire to the beach? Again, Panama is blessed with both Pacific and Caribbean coastlines, plus myriad sand-fringed islands off both shores…

Which beach town might be right for you?

Ah, dear reader, now we’ve identified the problem…

The Trouble With Panama

It can be hard to imagine. How can a country so small offer so much choice?

Bottom line, it does. You hardly know which way to turn.

Furthermore, because Panama is hardly an undiscovered overseas haven any longer, any quick Internet search will lead you to dozens…maybe hundreds of resources promoting ever-more Panama opportunities.

In the face of this much information, some of it conflicting, how in the world do you decide how to proceed? How do you filter the options?

How do you determine what makes most sense for you, given your circumstances, your priorities, and your goals?

And what’s a waste of your time?

How do you move ahead efficiently? With a minimum of hassle?

How do you keep from taking a potentially fatal misstep?

You seek advice from the experts.

That’s where we come in. We’ve been spending time and money in this country for more than a dozen years. We’ve done business here, started companies, opened bank accounts, hired staff, arranged residency visas…and work visas, bought land, invested pre-construction, managed rentals, shopped for rentals, furnished rentals, renovated an old colonial in Casco Viejo, purchased appliances, explored the coasts…and the islands, gone deep-sea fishing…

You aren’t going to find anyone who’s had more Panama experience, personal and professional, direct and indirect.

And, after so many years spending time and money in this country, we’ve developed quite a rolodex of local contacts and resources. We know attorneys, bankers, architects, engineers, rental managers, property managers, mortgage brokers, babysitters, decorators, furniture-makers, handymen, plumbers, contractors, caterers…
 

We know where to go to hire a maid or to hire an assistant…the best places to shop for antiques or office furniture…the cheapest place to buy a Panama hat…the best person to plan a party for you…

We know which banks are offering which rates for foreign mortgages…
“You aren’t going to find anyone who’s had more Panama experience, personal and professional, direct and indirect.”

How to get your cable and Internet installed (without over-paying)…

The secret to traveling around Panama City by taxi (without it, every taxi experience these days is likely to leave you fuming)…

We’ve shopped for health insurance and new cars…computers and printers…televisions and cell phones…and we know where to go for the best deals on all of them…

We considered all the options and chose to arrange our full-time residency in this country through the Reforestation Visa program. This may not be the best option for you, but it comes with serious upside–an investment in a hard asset that could bring you a solid return over the next 20 years.

In all, this country offers 14 options for obtaining a residency visa. We’ve researched them all and understand the advantages and the downsides in each case.

We’ve traveled this country from coast to coast and from east to west…by plane, boat, helicopter, motorcycle, horseback, and four-wheel-drive SUV.

No, we haven’t seen every square kilometer of this beautiful and diverse country, but I’d say we’ve seen the kilometers that matter…including those that few others have traveled. In some cases, these are the ones you want to pay most attention to right now…

What’s the point of all of this for you?

We’ve spent the past six months assembling our collective experience into the most complete, current, and up-to-date guide to identifying, considering, thinking through, and filtering all the options in this Land of Opportunity you’ll find available anywhere.

Yes, I know, that’s what everyone with a Panama resource to sell says. For now, you’ll have to take my word for it. You’ll understand once you’ve seen the tome we’ve put together.

2009 edition of our Live & Invest In Panama tells you:

  • Why you want to hire a driver and how much you should pay him…
     
  • How to choose which of the country’s 14 residency visa options is the right one for you…
     
  • What you need to bring your pet with you into the country (and which pets you may not be able to relocate with you at all)…
  • What to bring with you from home…and what to leave behind…
     
  • How much to pay to buy and to rent, region by region…
     
  • Where to look for the best buys in Panama City (This market has boomed and is beginning to settle. Prices are soft and more negotiable than they’ve been in a decade. It’s still not time to buy for investment in Panama City, but it’s more a buyer’s market now than you may realize, if you know where to shop.)…
     
  • How to take advantage of investment incentives in the Panama City’s colonial old town…
     
  • How (and when) to lease to buy…
     
  • How to buy to avoid paying property and other taxes…
     
  • Four things you must remember to do when buying real estate in this country…
     
  • Panama’s seven top choices for expat living and how they compare…a clear look at the pluses and minuses in each case…
     
  • Current employment options and opportunities…
     
  • How to earn a living if you can’t find a job…
     
  • Important tips for would-be entrepreneurs…and current business opportunities to consider for 2009…
     
  • When you shouldn’t try to conduct business over a meal…
     
  • What you’ll need in order to open a personal bank account…
     
  • An emerging investment opportunity you may never have considered…but should…
     
  • The one Spanish word you must learn before visiting the country (it’s not por favor or gracias)…
     
  • Top options for primary and secondary education in the country…
     
  • Seven questions to ask when shopping for health insurance to cover you while in Panama…
     
  • Top choices for med evac assistance…
     
  • Where to find a 24-hour pharmacy…
     
  • How to have your international mail delivered…
Order Now!
All This…Plus Our Personal Little Black Book
For Panama

As I’ve explained, after more than a dozen years spending time, investing, and doing business in this country…we’ve assembled an impressive and far-reaching list of in-country contacts and resources.

And, as part of our new Live & Invest in Panama Home Conference Kit, we share it with you.

Making a go of it in a new place is all about who you know. Now you know who we know in this country. Our new Live & Invest in Panama Home Conference Kit comes complete with our personal Little Black Book of local contacts, including phone numbers, e-mail addresses, sometimes even private cell number details.

These personal contact details alone make our new Live & Invest in Panama Home Conference Kit invaluable…and, in truth, incomparable.

It’d take you years of your time, several trips to the country, and many thousands of dollars invested in travel and research to put together a rolodex like the one featured in the Little Black Book for Panama we’ll send you as part of your Live & Invest in Panama Home Conference Kit.

And that’s only a small piece of what this resource brings to the table. If only we’d had this tool ourselves when we set out to discover Panama all those years ago…

We’ve done this the hard way–on our own. We’ve learned by trial and error (sometimes more error than we like to own up to!)…

But you don’t have to. You can gain full benefit of our many years of on-the-ground experience…and leverage our investment of both time and money getting to know our way around this Land of Opportunity.

Our new Live & Invest in Panama Home Conference Kit is priced at US$99. A pittance for the volume of real-life, real-time, from-the-scene, firsthand information, insights, recommendations, tips, secrets, and discoveries it contains.

And, remember, you’re also getting our personal Little Black Book for Panama, as well as Panama 101: 101 Things You’ll Wish Somebody Had Told You About Panama. This is your Panama Primer, everything you need to know before planning a visit, an investment, or a new life in the Hub of the Americas…but might not think to ask.

Plus, if you take me up on this invitation right now, we’ll also send you our full and current report on El Valle de Anton, the World’s Top Retirement Haven for 2009.

This detailed special report, prepared by our editor who spent time on the ground in El Valle with her husband and two children researching the particulars of expat life in this idyllic mountain town, features:

  • An insider’s tour…to help you get beneath the tourist skin of the place straightaway and get a real understanding of what it would be like to live here, in retirement or otherwise…
     
  • Comprehensive reporting on the health care options in El Valle…what’s available and at what cost…
     
  • What to do in case of medical emergency and your best choices for health insurance…
     
  • An overview of the local property market and a current sampling of properties for sale and for rent…
     
  • A current business opportunity…
     
  • A detailed budget for your cost of living in El Valle…
     
  • A sample basket of goods and itemized costs for everything from corn oil to tomatoes…
     
  • How much you’ll spent on telephone, Internet, and DirectTV…
     
  • Where to get your hair cut…where to buy medicine…how to handle your local mail delivery…
     
  • An interview with one American couple who’ve adopted El Valle as their retirement home (and who couldn’t be happier with their new life!)…
     
  • 10 questions to ask to help you decide if El Valle de Anton is the right overseas retirement option for you..

This amounts to a more complete and useful package of Panama resources than you’ll find available anywhere else. And, right now, it’s available for only US$99 through this special offer.

Panama is 2009′s Land of Opportunity. It is the #1 choice right now for living, retiring, investing, and doing business anywhere in the world.

You should be looking closely right now at what Panama has to offer.

Our new Live & Invest in Panama Home Conference Kit is the best resource available to do just that.

Come, discover this little country with such an abundance of upside. Discover all that it has to offer…and see how you can benefit.

Go here to order your copy now.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, Live and Invest Overseas

May 22, 2009
Categories: Conferences, Great places for holidays or investments, holidays, Internet, Investments, Market data, Real Estate Investments . Tags: , . Author: Greenfield Staff . Comments: Leave a Comment

NEW VISA RESTRICTIONS COME INTO EFFECT ACROSS PANAMA

The Panamanian government has issued new visa restrictions across a range of categories for international visitors to the country that will have a direct affect on agents selling Panama to overseas buyers.

Effective at the start of this month, one of the main changes that will impact on Russian and other nationalities that are starting to snap up real estate in growing numbers in the country, is the permanent residency situation. A preferred method of purchase by Russian investors, a buyer will now have to purchase a property in excess of $300,000, up from $200,000 in August.

Previously UK, European and US holidaymaker or investor, could stay in the country for up to 90 days without the need to obtain a visa, with the option for an extension of 90 days if necessary.

Under the new laws, international visitors are restricted to just 30 days, with the option of applying for a further 60 days, if they can produce a document signed by a friend or business associate in the country. Under existing reciprocity agreements, those visitors not initially requiring a visa will still not be required to obtain one before entering the country.

“What happened was that in February, because of some criminal activity from Columbians in the country, the president issued a sweeping examination of the visa laws, as he did not just want to alienate his neighbour and friend in the president of Columbia,” explained Jorge Portugal, attorney at law with Panama Offshore Legal Services. “There was an outcry from Panamanian consulates around the world when they heard this, so the law was changed into its current state. Additionally, for people living here under the Pensionados programme, retirees will now have to verify that they receive a minimum of $1000 per month in the form of a pension, which is up from $500.”

The costs of visas, permits and fees for filing various documents have also been raised and every foreigner in Panama will now be required to register with a central agency, confirming their details and status in the country.

The biggest criticism of the new visa laws surrounds the 30-day rule, which some in the industry believe is not long enough for an international visitor to view and purchase a property.

Kent Davis, sales manager at local agency CPanama Corporation which services European, Russian and US buyers to the country, told OPP that although the changes are significant, disruption to sales should be minimal.

“To be honest we haven’t seen a immediate affect, but with the difference in the currency exchange at present, the $300,000 law is of concern, however for most of these type of investors it shouldn’t be a problem as the majority are purchasing here at the moment for a second home or as a pure investment.

“The visa restrictions have been an issue here for the last five years, and for the retirees the new changes won’t matter much as they are already existing on more than $1,000 a month anyway. The only main problem for us is the residency visa situation as there are a lot of Russian people buying here and a community is growing. There are Russian restaurants, churches and schools springing up and you here Russian being spoken in the supermarket when you visit,” added Davis. Source: OPP

September 16, 2008
Categories: Market data . Tags: , . Author: Greenfield Staff . Comments: Leave a Comment

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