Dream Retirement Planning

February 3, 2026 - The Human 

Heads Up! This is our personal tale—we're not official advisors, just sharing our fun notes from a presentation we gave to a travel group on June 1, 2025. Treat this as pure entertainment.
The Great Expat Hunt: Where We Almost Ended Up and How We Decided Upon Panama

Our quest to become expats kicked off way back in 2018. We checked out a bunch of retirement visa programs before we found our winner: Panama!

• Portugal: Too popular! Six to eight years ago it was the hot spot, but now it’s restrictive and too crowded for our travel plans. Next!

• Italy: We got cold feet over all the bureaucracy. And we LOVE Italy.

• Spain: We’d love a long visit, but not full-time living (that goes for all of Europe, really).

• Mexico: A serious contender, but we ultimately decided for us, it’s better for tourism than planting roots.

• Malaysia: The pre-COVID MM2H program was awesome, but we missed our chance before the price went soaring and required a property purchase.
  
  

And the winner is... PANAMA! We landed on Panama for a Permanent Lifetime Retirement Visa because it absolutely checked the most boxes for what we needed. Panama's Winning Features!1

Why did Panama snag the top spot? It came down to a few key factors:

• The People: We were instantly drawn to the Panamanians and their welcoming expat community. In fact, during the summer of 2025 we made some awesome friends that we are anxious to get back to see.

• Easy Visa Process: It looked relatively straightforward—a huge bonus. International Living consistently ranks the Panama Pensionado Visa as the easiest and most flexible retirement visa.

• Access & Freedom: They have minimal stay requirements (just 24 hours every two years!) and the airport is close, served by American Airlines, Copa, Delta & United, giving us fantastic access to the US and the rest of the world. So we have our wings and can take flight.

• Top-Notch Healthcare: You get both public and private options! Our plan even includes using Medicare Advantage, getting a great local plan like MinMed, and access to Tri-care. Plus, Miami is only a 3-hour flight away, home to Johns Hopkins affiliated hospital and other great options

• Affordability: It’s definitely more affordable than the US, especially California.

• Tax Freedom: There is no taxation on foreign earned income. Sweet!

Our Visa Experience: Quick and Painless!

Getting the visa was surprisingly smooth and inexpensive—around $1800 total.The Easy Checklist (Requirements)

To apply for the Permanent Lifetime Retirement Visa, you need:

• Proof of a lifetime income of $1200 per month per couple (from SSA, a pension, or an annuity). We got a letter from SSA. You get order it online.

• A clean criminal background check. We passed with no problem...so boring.

• A marriage license. Thank you San Francisco City Hall!

Important Tip: All documents must be notarized and authenticated outside Panama at a Panama embassy before you start.Here’s the Timeline

• Prep: It took us about a month to gather and authenticate all the necessary documents. We scanned them to the lawyer first, then DHLed the physical copies.

• Temporary Visa: The lawyer scheduled our immigration appointment in Panama City. Plan for a week-long trip, as the appointments for the temporary visa application took two days.

• Permanent Visa: This takes 4–6 months to process, and then you just have a quick one-day pickup event!
  
  

Perks of Being a Jubilado (retirement bennies)!

Once approved, you get all the fantastic discounts of a Panamanian Jubilado holder! This includes savings on:

• Restaurants

• Movies & Entertainment

• Hospital Bills and Pharmacy

• Hotels

• Public Transit

• Airline Tickets

• Utilities

(Check out the full list: https://panamarelocationtours.com/retire-in-panama-get-a-pensionado-visa)

The cost of living is a little higher than in Southeast Asia. But guess what? We figure we can live very well for around $3,000 a month in Panama City, Boquete, or Coronado!

Here’s a quick peek at the price tags:

• Apartments (New Buildings): $1,000–$1,800/month for 2br/2ba in a secure building downtown, with a pool and gym.

• Transit: Uber $3–$5 across town (depending on traffic, of course!) Metro tickets @ 35 cents, bus @ 25 cents. Plus very affordble buses can take you throughout the country (like $6 for a six hour ride)...dude!

• Restaurants: Expect to pay about $15 per person in fancier restaurants, or $4–$5 at local eateries called "fondas".

• Produce: Fresh produce from stands is incredibly cheap and FRESH (but it won't last weeks in the refrigerator as it is truly fresh and lacking in GMOs).

• Outside Hotspots: If you venture outside the main expat areas, costs drop even further. Like by one-half.
  
  

Our Healthcare Game Plan

We’ve set up a solid healthcare plan for when my Medicare coverage begins:

• Medicare Advantage that covers foreign emergencies and hospitalization. Alternatively, we may stick with traditional Medicare and get a Medicare Supplement (gap) plan that will provide similar international coverage.

• Medical evacuation insurance (safety first!).

• Access to Medicare services in Miami.

• A local health plan called MiniMed.

• Access to local doctors (many doctors work in both the public and private networks).

We also heard in-home care is a steal, estimated at about $15/hour for an in-house Registered Nurse (RN)—though this hasn't been verified yet!

For much more detailed information, check out Jackie Lange’s resources! She has built a comprehensive relocation business: https://panamarelocationtours.com/ and her massive YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PanamaRelocationTours/videos.