Altos offers financing on the purchasing of lots [rare in Panama], it also offers title insurance through First American Title [also rare in Panama]. The terms on financing with ten percent down, are 9% interest on five years, and 10% interest on ten and fifteen year loans. Pure mineral rich mountain spring water is piped to each property. The cost? Only $8 for the first 5,000 gallons, and $1 for each 1,000 gallons thereafter.  The property management fee is $15 per month for lot owners for each lot owned, and $20 per month for house owners.  This includes trash pick up, maintenance of all common areas, creeks, rivers, hiking trails, landscaping, road maintenance, security and more. 

All infrastructure is installed, telephone, electricity, and water. Natural gas (propane) in Panama is delivered to your house in tanks, a four or five month supply at a time.  There are no gas lines in Panama.  Direct TV allows you to get almost every channel you would want to see, you can watch almost any major network that is currently available in the USA. Internet is available via dial up.  I have suggested to the developer that they install DSL so that the internet speeds would be supersonic.

Reaching Panama is easy from either US coast.  There are direct flights from Los Angeles and from Miami.  It is a quick flight from Miami; only 2 1/2 hours from Miami to Panama. Panama City has every convenience and facility you can imagine!  It is the most modern city in Central America and is the largest offshore international investment haven in the world.  In many ways Panama City is more modern than a mulitiude of cities in the USA.

There are new multi-million dollar ports going in, a new internet cable connection directly into the backbone, a new transcontinental railroad, a new facility for cruise ships, and more new projects than one can talk about. Panama has excellent highways, access to two oceans on both coasts with two totally different ambiances never more than an hour away in either direction. 

In short, Panama has its act together. Yet, very few foreigners, particularly Americans, consider Panama as a travel destination, and even fewer think of it as a "retirement haven." Look at the numbers:

In 1998, the last year for which the World Tourism Organization has tourist figures, the country's total overnight visitor count was 431,000 -  100,000 of whom came from the United States. To put this in perspective: Panama gets about as many American tourists in a year as Disneyland sees in three days!  As the famous Lonely Planet travel guide put it, "[it is] difficult to leave [Panama] without feeling that you're in on a secret that the rest of the traveling world will one day uncover."

For EscapeArtist.com and EmbassyWorld.com we have our offices located in the prestigious City of Knowledge. The City of Knowledge is a place with academic institutions, scientific research centers, cultural institutions, located inside a very modern technology park. The City of Knowledge is open to students, professors, intellectuals, scientists, and businessmen from around the globe to gather and exchange knowledge and ideas on topics as diverse as philosophy, tropical medicine or telecommunications. 

We have access to a brand new state-of-the art neutral Internet data center co-location network, and support services that provide reliable and secure 24-hour access for mission critical equipment. Access to the major fiber optic network including; Fiber Optic, Pan American, Global Crossing, Maya1, Arcos. 

Had I attempted to run my business from the United States I would have gone broke. In Panama we have managed to survive and to prosper. We now have a network that goes out to almost 30,000 viewers per day and we have received press coverage and accolades from around the world for running a website that is a business as well as a service to the global community.  We now publish two magazines, we are beginning a third, plus we are currently starting several new services for those living an international lifestyle. At EmbassyWorld.com we have the largest Embassy database in the world - which is a free to all access website.  Thanks to Panama and its 'open for business' attitude we are prospering.

Panama has the most modern and successful international banking center in Latin America (and the second largest in the world, after Switzerland), with more than 150 banks from 35 countries, including Citibank, HSBC, Dresdner, Bank of Tokyo, Bank of Boston, and the International Commercial Bank of China. Panama is also one of the world's top offshore investment centers, Panama places no exchange controls or restrictions on the movement of money into or out of the country. It is legal and quite simple to form truly anonymous corporations here. In fact, given recent changes in the world of offshore banking and privacy, many believe that Panama is now the best (and perhaps the only true) remaining tax haven in the world, with the most solid banking and corporate book secrecy laws anywhere, engraved in the country's constitution. Non-resident Panamanian corporations and foundations do not pay tax on any of their income--interest income and capital gains income included. Nor do they have any reporting requirements to the Panamanian government.

Retirement Incentives - The Pensionado Program - Senior Citizen Discounts 

The government is offering Important incentives for foreigners to spend time here, invest here, and more important to the point of this article, to take up residence here. Panama offers one of the most attractive pensionado programs in the world. As a pensionado [retiree] in Panama, you receive: - 50% discount at most recreational, movie, and sporting events - 30% discount off public transportation (including buses and ships) - 25% discount off Copa airline flights - 50% discount off hotel stays on weekdays [30% on weekends] - 25% discount at selected restaurants - 15% discount at fast food restaurants - 10% discount off prescription drugs - 20% discount on doctor's visits - 15% discount on dental work - 25% discount on your electric bill (if less than $50) - 25% discount on your telephone and water bills

All that is required to qualify for the program is that you must be sixty years of age, in good health, AIDS-free, have an up-to-date passport from your country of citizenship and a verifiable monthly income of at least $500 per month.  Furthermore, if you buy or build a new house, you won't pay property taxes for 20 years. As for income taxes, you will be amazed to know that in Panama you pay no taxes on foreign-earned income. And because Panama uses the U.S. dollar as its legal tender, the local economy is insulated from global shocks. During the Asian monetary crisis of 1998, Panama became one of the healthiest economies in Latin America. The use of the U.S. dollar makes your life here less hectic, more predictable and continually stable.  You can depend on good value in the property you buy, the business that you may move here and the lifestyle that you live.  There is never a fear of a collapsing economy as the result of a 'funny money' Latin American currency. 

Expatriates, investors and retirees are welcome in Panama.  If you choose Panama as an investment / retirement haven, or as a location for your business you will be moving to a country with a very welcoming attitude. I have been in Panama over five years and I've never witnessed an incidence of violence, nor of animosity. Americans are made to feel welcome everywhere they go here in Panama and there is none of the 'outsider' feeling that exists in many Latin American countries. The police in Panama are the most helpful, friendliest police in the world. 

In Altos Del Maria you will have the best of all possible worlds. A perfect investment / retirement haven with plenty to do, no taxes, no crime, peaceful people, a wonderful environment, an entire nation to explore, twenty minute access to the Pacific Ocean, or if you prefer the huge Bocas del Toro Archipelago to play in, plus river rafting, fishing, golf, tennis, sailing, wind-surfing, hiking, horseback riding, bike riding, playing bridge or poker with a flock of new friends, just laying in a hammock, or perhaps starting a new business in a country that knows how to treat you like an equal - Contact Altos del Maria