Why this 63-year-old teacher ditched Massachusetts to retire in the highlands of Panama

MarketWatch ^ | August 26, 2019 | Catey Hill

[plain talk]

Mary Taft lives with her two daughters, seven cats and two dogs in a mansion in Panama — and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

But the former teacher and school administrator didn’t always know that a Panamanian retirement was in store for her. Indeed, as she consulted with her two adult daughters about where to move, dozens of spots were on the table. “We had this blue-sky conversation — where can we all go and live together?” the 63-year-old former Springfield, Mass., resident recalls. “Canada was out because it was too cold. We wanted the tropics because we were sick of winter. We ruled out Asia because it was too far and [because of] the language barrier. Australia was too expensive.”

The Spanish speaker had been to Latin America numerous times, and her older daughter, a musician, worked a lot in Brazil, so they began looking around there. They ruled out Belize because of a “lack of infrastructure,” and Costa Rica because of its cost and “poor track record with health care,” according to Taft. But Boquete, Panama — a lush, mild-weather town in the Panamanian highlands that’s popular with expats — checked nearly all their boxes.

“The U.S. has gotten so out of control — the social fabric is shattering,” she says. “It is an act of insanity to continue to stay in the U.S.,” she adds, noting that in Panama crime is low, you see guns less frequently, and life can be more affordable.

[wastoute]

I spent 4 years living on Fort Clayton in the Army. We spent a week in Boquette and it was wonderful..mostly my son and I fished the Perlas every weekend. I have looked online at housing in Boquete for retirement and have a favorable disposition but we would see the grandchildren even less. I had a COncealed Carry Permit in Panama before I had one in the US.

[OrangeHoof]

Oh, and I forgot the pensionado discounts for being over 60 and how you rarely meet anyone of any nationality that thinks they are entitled to anything because they feel oppressed by white privilege. In some ways, Central America feels like the 1960s and 1970s.

[mdmathis6]

Can’t wait when states try to pass laws that state that their pension holders must stay in the state or lose their pensions...with Democrats any loony idea is possible! /s

[Fester Chugabrew]

Spent several hours several times downtown Springfield. Was surprised at the size of the skyline. Signs of trouble with all the graffiti, but never had a problem. Maybe that’s because police presence was relatively thick.

I currently reside a few blocks from downtown South Bend, IN, south side. Signs of trouble around - mostly trash and loud arguments a few doors down, but have had no problems over the past 8 months here. I am not interested in pursuing a life of paradise on earth. Good heavens, even the circus has elephant dung to watch out for.

[Zhang Fei]

[Yeah, I see another murder in wonderful Central America. I bring up George Rose because he was actually tortured to death in the Dominican Republic - a crime which wasn’t even investigated much less prosecuted.]

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People go to Latin America because it’s close by. But most Latin American countries are violent crime-ridden places policed by corrupt cops. Expats looking for a quiet life close to nature would be better off in the Far East. Places like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia have low crime rates, low cost of living and fairly decent infrastructure. That’s why so many foreign investors put up plants over there, despite wage and land costs no higher than much of Latin America.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

I have voted in every election since I moved to Spain. The election commission is very good at making sure I have my absentee ballot in plenty of time to make sure my vote counts.

[Right Brigade]

She like others of her ilk,have soiled their nest and flow the coop!

[Zhang Fei]

[I currently reside a few blocks from downtown South Bend, IN, south side. Signs of trouble around - mostly trash and loud arguments a few doors down, but have had no problems over the past 8 months here. I am not interested in pursuing a life of paradise on earth. Good heavens, even the circus has elephant dung to watch out for.]

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If you have kids and grandkids, it’s a trek to visit them if you’re thousands of miles away in Panama. That’s why most people stay close to home.

[Zhang Fei]

[What I did notice were that the houses outside of town had BARS ON THE WINDOWS. This is a clear indicator that the poor people will break in a rob you when you are not present. Maybe also when you are.]

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That’s true around much of the world. Walk around London sometime. Those decorative metal things outside the windows aren’t there primarily as ornamentation.

[Zhang Fei]

[The Panamanian homicide rate is over three times as high as in the U.S.A. My experience is street crime was even higher.]

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For Panama, the number is 17.3, over 3x the US number of 5.3. I think this teacher is going on feelz rather than objective facts.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Panama#Murder
[Murder
Further information: List of countries by intentional homicide rate

In 2012, Panama had a murder rate of 17.2 per 100,000 population.[1] There were a total of 654 murders in Panama in 2012.[1]
Kidnapping

Panamanian authorities conducted a study which indicates that almost 90 percent of express kidnappings are unreported due to the threat that thieves impose on the victim and relatives of the victim. The procedure of express kidnapping consist of abducting the victim and taking possession of valuables such as cellphones, watches, credit cards, cash and jewelry. Besides taking all of the victim’s valuables, the kidnappers make the victim withdraw money from different ATM locations.

Once the kidnapper is satisfied, the abducted person is usually released. In other cases, the kidnappers may ask for ransom money for the release of the victim. This long process of kidnapping is slowly decreasing, since most kidnappers want a quick payoff without complicated negotiations with relatives. ]

[Pilated]

Thank goodness people like this lady LEAVE. We don’t need people like her around here.

[kaehurowing]

A man
A plan
A canal
Panama

[Chickensoup]

she probably got more than that for her house in Mass

[Zhang Fei]

[Even with as disconcerting as some things are getting here in the U.S., I would definitely place my bet on the long term stability of the United States over any small central american nation.]

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I think a lot of these people think that the US is collapsing. The bit they don’t understand is that if the US really collapsed, the Pax Americana that kept all these countries from violating each other’s borders (for the same reason that Julius Caesar and Alexander did so, for glory and loot) would come to an abrupt end. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would emerge at full gallop around the rest of the world, including in Latin America.

[morphing libertarian]

someday Central America will be one country try with a new canal and a thriving economy

[SaxxonWoods]

Teacher from Mass?

Just thank God and Greyhound she’s gone.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Just thank God and Greyhound she’s gone.

LoL! She probably votes absentee though :(. - A Liz Warren likeness?

[kaehurowing]

It will probably be replaced by the Pax Sinica.

[miss marmelstein]

They’d do better in the interior of Florida where I just spent a vacation among alligators, panthers and lovely southern Americans. The places you mention - although I’m sure you didn’t mean this - are rife with very poor chicks eager to meet up with dumb Yankee men who want a non-English-speaking wife to walk on their back. Color me cynical.

[Zhang Fei]

[It will probably be replaced by the Pax Sinica.]

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Oddly enough, they’d probably be better off as Chinese provinces. At least materially speaking. Of course, if we were willing to use Chinese methods of pacification, we’d probably do a better job than the Chinese. Then again, if my uncle had knockers, he’d be my aunt.