Mark, I've lived abroad before and wouldn't do it again. Before you and your wife decide to do this, rent a place there for 1-2 years and see if you can make friends, get along with the locals, warm up to a totally different culture, and live that far away from your existing friends and family. You may change your mind.
Plus, the more "wealthy" (by comparison) Americans move to Panama, there will be increases in hostage ransoms, armed robbery, and so forth. That's not a risk I want to take, and driving around in a Porsche is just about the fastest way to stick out in a crowd of poor people who want what you have and aren't willing to work for it the way you did.
Overdrive, I've been to MO a couple of times and it does seem pretty, but I'm kinda stuck on North Carolina.
Once again, I was using my new realtor.com app on my iPad to find amazing homes on the lake or in the mountains in Robbinsville, at the base of the Tail of the Dragon. They're priced at the same general price my home here in Houston is worth now. Nice thing is they won't keep rising in value the way my inner-city property and home will near downtown Houston in one of the most desirable neighborhoods, so I just might have a shot and selling here and paying cash there. Having the TOD in my back yard sounds like my kind of retirement!
I moved 75 heavy boxes and furniture today from my warehouse to my father in law's house in the burbs in 100+ temps, reinforcing my hatred of this place.
The rest of the country is experiencing a couple of week's worth of what we have for nearly six freaking months out of every year. At least the guys in FL have a nice beach to go to when they want it. All we have is a toilet bowl called Galveston, containing nasty brown water, tar balls in the sand, and the highest concentration of welfare recipients in the state.
Yeah, I know. I'm bitter.
