Antonio Carlos Jobim once remarked that there wouldn't be equality in the world until everyone got to live in Copacabana. — The irony in what he said was that Copacabana at the time claimed the highest population density in the world. He was making an environmental statement, not a cultural proposition. Is the same true of Panama? There's no denying that it has certainly been the target of an influx of expatriates. But no, the population density of Panama is 117 people per square mile.  Panama is not over-populated except that everyone seems to want to live in Panama City.  For example, while the population of the nation of Panama is 3,360,474 people in a land area of 28,695 square miles, Panama City alone has a population of 1,206,792, in an area of just 106 square miles.  Okay, that is not 7,000 people per square mile like Copacabana, but it's still fairly dense, as anyone who has tried to drive in Panama City has discovered. What has this density brought with it?  The price of real estate now exceeds that of Miami, and no one has the brains to understand that it's an unsustainable price. (Nothing sells, no one lowers the price.) There have been other changes, including a new President who wants to put an end to corruption and nepotism. The road to hell is sometimes paved with good intentions; but the jury is still out. Can you produce more freedom with more rules? . . . and if the production of freedom isn't the intention, what is the intention?  More government?

Map Of Panama See Detailed Map Panama State Maps

Real Estate In Panama EscapeArtist.com Real Estate Marketplace Real Estate In Panama - Current Listings - Prices are up, but what you get for what you pay is still pretty fine. There are plenty of bargains outside of Panama City and in any case, the low cost of living in Panama makes up for any increases in real estate price that have occurred. Real Estate In Panama By Province - Real Estate In Bocas Del Toro - Real Estate In Cocle - Real Estate In Chiriqui - Real Estate In Colon - Real Estate In Panama City - Real Estate In Herrera - Real Estate In Los Santos - Real Estate In Darien - Real Estate In Veraguas - List Your Property - Place A Video Of Your Panama Property On Our Website - We'll Feature It In Our Magazine ! - Also see Real Estate in Central America - Also see Real Estate By Type - Islands, B&B's, Plantations

Articles on Living & Investing in Panama

Why Retire With One Passport When You Can Have Two?- Americans who move abroad quickly discover that despite the fact they carry an internationally recognised passport and herald from what is arguably the most powerful and influential nation on earth, most international banks and financial institutions will not assist them when they want to open even the simplest bank account.  These reputable institutions simply do not want the ‘hassle’ of having to contend with the all powerful US Internal Revenue Service, and many of them are extremely open about the fact.  As useful as it is to know that most banks won’t assist you and that your nation will tax your worldwide income, assets and gains if you’re an American, it’s not a particularly advantageous position for you to be in, therefore a second passport could potentially be the perfect answer to your dilemma. Europeans who relocate overseas such as British and Irish citizens soon discover that their passport is not such a financial restriction because their nation differentiates between residents and citizens when it comes to most forms of taxation – unlike America.

Why Being an Expat Is So Fantastic (Hint: Your Expat Taxes!) - Imagine if you could live in a tropical paradise US tax free – you can!  There are a number of benefits that you can take advantage of on your expat taxes to save and protect your income.  We will discuss the main ones here, but it is highly recommended that if you want to maximize the savings on your expat taxes you should seek expert expat tax advice. The Foreign Income Exclusion – This allow US expats who are earning money abroad to exclude up to $92,900 of their income from US taxation (this doubles if you are married). This is the most common and arguably the most profitable tax savings tool you can us on your expat taxes.  If you combine this with the Foreign Housing Deduction, which allows you to deduct things like rent, utilities and insurance, they you and your spouse may be able to avoid paying taxes on over $250,000 of income each year! LEGALLY! The Foreign Tax Credit is also a great tool, but unfortunately you will need to be paying taxes to someone to take advantage of it. The foreign tax credit gives you a Dollar for Dollar tax credit for any taxes you have paid to a foreign government.  Basically, if you have a good income someplace like Europe where taxes are high, then this will ensure that you are not taxed by two governments leaving you with the scraps.

Why Panama – Why Chiriqui – Why Bella Vista Del Mundo?   - In August, Escape Artist featured numerous articles on the Republic of Panama setting out the benefits of living, working and retiring in Panama. I do not wish to rehash that information but to go one step further and emphasize the benefits of the Province of Chiriqui, the western most province which borders with Costa Rica in the Republic of Panama. My first encounter with Chiriqui was Thanksgiving in the year 2001, some ten years ago. I had looked at property throughout Costa Rica through the late 90s. Not satisfied with what I saw in Costa Rica and at the advice of a broker in Dominical, Costa Rica, I ventured to Panama. After visiting the areas around Panama City, Colon and the beaches on the bay, I travelled to Pedasi and surrounding areas of the Azuero and further west to the surfer’s beach of Santa Catalina, all of which are beautiful in their own right. I first became enchanted with the mountains of Chiriqui after exploring the “Archipielogo de Bocas Del Toro,” Isla Bastimentos, Isla Colon, Isla Solarte, Cristobal and Popa. On crossing the mountain range from Bocas Del Toro going to David, Chiriqui, I encountered the Reserva Forestad de Fortuna or the Fortuna National Forest Reserve and the lake from Fortuna’s first major hydroelectric dam high in the mountains which separate Chiriqui and Bocas Del Toro.

How to Travel Panama By Rental Car -  Most people spend a couple of days in Panama City, checking out Casco Viejo, Amador, and the Panama Canal.  You don’t really need a rental car in Panama City, so I’d suggest using taxis in the city (and from the airport) until you are ready to leave to the country side.  If you try to see the city in a rental car you will probably end up spending too much time caught in traffic and getting lost – a taxi driver is a much better option. Leaving Panama City - It is pretty easy to drive around Panama once you leave the city, although, you should probably have hotel reservations in advance as many places fill up and you don’t want to waste time looking for accommodations. Accommodations - Hotels have become more expensive over the years but it really depends on your budget.  “Nice” places usually come in around $100/night and go up from there.  “Budget” places are closer to $50/night and of course there are cheaper places but it starts to get pretty rustic at under $50/night.  I could probably make some recommendations based on your budget and my travel agent may be able to assist with reservations.

Video: Panama, Where the world meets (Adventure) on EscapeArtist- Panama is known as the "Crossroads of the Americas" due to its privileged position between North and South America. The indigenous meaning of the country's name, "abundance of fish", reflects Panama's reputation as a paradise for water sports enthusiasts and eco-tourists alike. As the isthmus connecting two massive continents, Panama's flora and fauna is incredibly diverse. For example, Panama was recently named the country with the most bird species in the world; over 900. Panama's many indigenous tribes are still thriving, living in the same ancient manner as their ancestors, making its cultural fabric exceptionally rich. Panama boasts a large expat community; about 25,000 US citizens live in the country.

Into the Jungle : Panama Video  -  From National Geographic podcasts. view the Panamanian jungle and it's wildlife with natural sounds. Visit the National Geographic website for more podcasts and videos. Your support is vital to national Geographic's mission to increase global understanding and promote conservation of our planet through exploration,research,and education

National Geographic Video - Panama + City

Panama Canal expansion Video

Video: A day in Panama Time lapse photography

Private Trust Banking – 21st Century Offshore Banking- Imagine the setting: A beautiful tropical island, no clouds in the sky and palm trees gently swaying in the breeze.  Wealthy, well dressed people are sipping an exotic cocktail in the shade, their luxury yachts nestling in the harbor. An expensive car pulls up and a man with a white suit steps out with a large suitcase which he proceeds to take into the bank opposite the sidewalk. The scene cuts to the manager´s office where the well-dressed man clicks open the case to reveal stacks of 100 dollar bills …. A sly smile creeps across the manager´s face ….. A good setting for a 007 movie maybe, as well as being many people´s image for how the offshore banking industry works. However, that particular scenario does not exist – indeed it never has and the fact that it remains a popular idea in Hollywood movies and works of fiction only goes to prove how poor general understanding of the offshore industry actually is. MORE >>>

How To Bank Offshore

Panama – Medical and Wellness Vacations in Paradise   - As noted in recent articles on Traveling4Health.com, Panama is an emerging international destination for medical excellence and wellness vacation for foreigners.  The Wellness Vacation is a medically supervised health management program for HEALTHY PEOPLE who want to experience a new level of customized service in a spa environment, with a focus on medically driven planning of healthcare and nutrition. The key to a great Medical Spa Vacation is the combination of spa treatments with wellness management plan that is driven by a baseline health status checkup and a resulting treatment plan that is designed by a personal wellness physician (typically an internal medicine doctor) who is well versed in nutrition and the relationship between proper physical and emotional health habits (body, mind and soul). Panama represents a GREAT OPTION for Wellness Vacations.  Not only will you be impressed with the level of medical expertise, but you will mostly be astounded by the beautifully rich surroundings that are located within a 2 ½ hour flight from Miami. So, if you are “in the market” for a wellness vacation, here’s the “menu”:  a multi-disciplinary team consisting of a personal physician, nutritionist and spa professional are at your service in a choice of  three environments; luxury urban; eco resort in the Panamanian Rain Forest; or an upscale beach resort.

Panama’s Top Resort and Retirement Communities -  Bocas Del Toro - Panama’s Caribbean playground, known by the locals simply as “Bocas”, offers a laid-back atmosphere and burgeoning tourism industry.  Originally, it was Bocas that put Panama on the map as an off-the-beaten track vacation destination and is especially popular with surfers, sailors and sun-seekers.  Most travel around Bocas is by boat via the calm and clear waters that engulf the area’s many islands.  Island hopping, as dreamy as it sounds, can be pleasant while the sun shines, but it is not so pleasant in the rain. Bocas’ airport makes it easily accessible from Panama City in about one hour by plane.  Drive time from Panama City is roughly 8 hours to Almirante and then another 45 minutes by water taxi.  If you plan to transport a car onto Isla Colon (Bocas’ most populated island, you will need to get in touch with the ferry service which transports vehicles to the island.  It is not common for tourists to transport vehicles to Bocas since there are limited road ways and transport by hiring boats to wherever you want to go is more convenient.

Living in Panama: Making Panama Your Permanent Residence   - Starting with the fact that Panama is one the most interesting countries one can visit, Panama is a mélange of old and new – of beautiful skyscrapers and that feeling of old town blues. Escapeartist invites you to experience Panama as it is – as an incredible Latin America country, with spectacular landscapes and history lessons like those that you never heard before. We want to help you with your Escape Plan by introducing you to the local environment, to ensure that you are indeed aware of what awaits you in Panama and that you are fully prepared for your trip. Whenever you radically change your environment there is a certain degree of culture shock, which you can diminish by assimilating as much as possible beforehand. This helps to smooth the transition and ensures that you as a traveler will have a chance to consider your residence in Panama a home, rather than a temporary arrangement. The moment you arrive in Panama, you will feel a sense of surprise and security – an interesting combination, no doubt. Given the fact that in recent years, Panama has managed to rebuild its economy and compensate for the effects of military warfare that have created strong upheavals throughout its history, it has a more modern look nowadays. Most first-time visitors are astonished by the glass architecture that can be found and admired in larger cities like Panama City, which bring a U.S.-kind of feel to the Latin capital. Like many other developing countries, Panama will constantly surprise you with contrasts – therefore, in order to enjoy it at its fullest, you will have to employ a certain degree of mental discipline. The contrasts will show up more often the longer you stay and understanding that the country is under constant development will reduce that homesick feeling of “Things used to be different back home”.

Medical Treatment in Panama – Exceptional Capabilities, Perfect Location -  Two of the leading hospitals in Panama are expected to undergo their JCI accreditation site visits in the next 30 days.  In August, 2011, Clinica Hospital San Fernando is scheduled for a field visit of JCI accreditation team.  And in September, it is the turn of Hospital Punta Pacifica (affiliated with Johns Hopkins International Medicine). These hospitals are on track to becoming the first JCI accredited hospitals in Panama, says Shai Gold, CEO of International Triage, LLC, and a leading authority on hospitals in Latin America. International Triage, LLC is recommended by Traveling4Health as a trusted company for medical tourism and cross-border healthcare.  The company received favorable patient-generated reviews for its service on our site. Gold is the exclusive provider of medical tourism services for EscapeArtist.com and is recognized by his peers for his experience in generating and managing demand for international medical services.  He is the former founding V.P. for International medical services at The University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Center, where his efforts resulted in some 3,000 cases and over $150 million dollars in revenue from international medical services in a four-year period.

The Happy Expat (Part I): Unhappy Expats in Panama - A couple years ago, Malcolm Gladwell wrote an article for The New Yorker about how there are certain jobs that defy our ability to predict who will be successful and who will fail once they are hired.  The article cited schoolteachers and professional American football quarterbacks as two examples of jobs where almost nothing we can learn about a candidate before he is hired will tell us how well he will do in the job. The article got me thinking about the many people I have seen succeed, and the few I have seen fail, transitioning from a developed country to our little corner of a developing one.

Live, Invest, or Develop in Panama - Few countries in the world today can match Panama in presenting opportunities for improved, stress reduced lifestyles, for relocation or investment and portfolio development.  Few can match the environment, climate sheer range of biodiversity of its flora and fauna.  Fewer still can match the comparative low cost of living and the attractiveness of its retirement Visa benefits and business investment incentives. Already, tens of thousands of ‘baby boomers’ have settled to live in Panama whilst global marketing efforts continue to attract more and more people from the US, Canada, the UK, many of the other European countries and even from Russia and China.

Moving to Panama - This is going to be like “a message in bottle”. What I write here is my experience only and not someone else’s and it comes with a considered warning.  Relocation is not everyone’s cup of tea but, if you are open, willing and need to start to enjoy life away from a lot of stress and strain, consider it.  I did and I am glad I did. Panama, a strange small country in Latin Central America forming a bridge between the North and South American continents has an unusual topographical orientation but is blessed with so very many natural attributes of nature. I am an Englishman, proud of it, retired Police from the Greater Manchester area and not your typical male.  For much of my life I spent in the service of The Queen and have seen and experienced unimaginable things both good and bad..

Learn Spanish in Bocas del Toro, Panama - Whether you are retired and seeking a Caribbean adventure with purpose or family-bound and need a change from the pool and party atmosphere of all-inclusive resorts, Bocas del Toro, Panama has something to offer. Scuba dive in Bastimentos National Marine Park, learn about fossils by participating in an archeological dig or help save endangered sea turtles. If your Spanish doesn’t improve as quickly as you like, there are two private Spanish schools ready to help you move past “una cerveza mas por favor”. Contained in this region’s islands, rivers and bays are white or black-sand beaches, a variety o eco-environments and an impressive array of fauna and flora to see and experience. Many travel to Bocas del Toro to participate in ‘voluntourism’ i.e. helping to protect this lush tropical wilderness while being a tourist.

Panama Through a Lover’s Eye - The USA was once the greatest… well the greatest of everything on earth (I am referring to good things, not bad things). However, that is now changed. Not because of the economic crisis, but because of what brought on the economic crisis. I think all the reasons for this catastrophic situation can be summed and explained by one dominating reason. This reality can be changed very easily by putting to use all the new communication instruments (mainly internet) and making the board of director’s decisions, regarding management and directors compensation, subject to stock holders’ scrutiny in real time, and creating the mechanism for vetoing “doubtful” decisions. The question is what can be done, on a personal level, in the meantime, until these changes take place. Keeping money in the bank is not a solution, because the banks, to put it mildly, do not inspire confidence. The answer, then, is to look for other venues of investment, especially if you are at an age nearing retirement. I would suggest the following formula: BUY A HOUSE IN THE US, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE LOW PRICES OF TODAY, AND RENT IT. Then move to another country, where the dollar can buy a lot more than in the US, and live on your US rent.

Panama: Working for an International Living - In these times of mass economic hardship, many people have been left unemployed or made redundant. The world’s economy has suffered massive blows that have almost come close to causing total national disaster. You may be living in a place that simply has no forms of work or employment available to you or maybe you just want to start afresh in a new country, that’s both beautiful and economically stable, if that’s the case then Panama is the perfect country for you. Although panama is a wonderful country with many tourists’ attractions and a rapidly developing economy, many people have not even heard about it.  Before you consider working in Panama, you may want a little background information. The Republic of Panama is a country situated in the southernmost part of Central America, this country shares borders with Costa Rica on the northwest and Columbia on the south east. Panama was previously a part of what is now modern day Columbia, but due to the direct intervention of the United States Government, it was able to become independent of the republic of Columbia. The name ‘Panama’ is thought to mean ‘many butterflies’ in the language of the locals.  Panama is a very politically stable nation; it uses a ‘presidential representative democratic republic’ governing system. That simply means that at any one time in history, the elected president of Panama is also automatically the head of state, government and a multi party system.

The No Stress Retirement Plan by Jon Hanna, Panama Offshore Legal Services  - Reading this article could change your life forever, for the good. Most successful people invest for the future, and plan their retirements, envisioning themselves retiring between 55 to 65 years of age, spending their days fishing or playing golf in Florida. However, retirement planning is probably the most challenging it has ever been. The financial world today is in absolute chaos. US Treasury bonds are yielding almost zero, and the Fed won’t likely be increasing rates any time soon. Global stock markets are highly overvalued, and as volatile and risky as ever. Global real estate markets are so unstable that bank foreclosures are at all time highs. Inflation is rampant in almost every sector of the global economy. The frenzy for commodities has pushed gold and silver to outrageous prices. Consequently, the question of where to park our retirement savings is a major cause of stress these days. For over 100 years, we have been conditioned that the best place to invest for retirement is in the stock market. “Diversify in stocks for the long run”, the Wall Street brokers say, while studies show that 90% of non-professional stock traders fail, yet ironically the brokers get paid their trade commissions even when you are losing money.

Living And Retiring In Panama - Panama - The Haven Of The 21st Century - by Phillip Townsend - Home to Central America's most vibrant and attractive capitals (Panama City), Panama is slightly larger than the state of Florida. Bordered by the Caribbean Seas and the Pacific Ocean, it is one of those places that can seduce you through its sheer natural beauty. The seemingly endless stretches of picturesque coastline, lush green valleys, near-perfect weather and friendly people make it one of the most livable places in the world. If you like Florida, the Caribbean and South America, you'll love Panama.