AARP The Magazine Travels the Globe to Reveal the Top 5 Best Places to Retire Abroad

from: Press Center| July 26, 2010

Media Contacts:

Laurie Bella, 212.536.9820, Laurie.Bella@coburn.ww.com

AARP Media Relations, 202.434.2560, media@aarp.org

AARP THE MAGAZINE TRAVELS THE GLOBE TO REVEAL THE TOP 5 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE ABROAD

WASHINGTON(July 26, 2010) – Experts in celebrating the next chapter in life, AARP The Magazine traveled the globe to discover the ultimate retirement destinations abroad.  Factoring climate, expat community, cost of living, housing, health care, access to the U.S. and culture and leisure, AARP The Magazine reveals the top five locales in its September/October issue (www.aarp.org/magazine), available in homes and online today.  See what regions in Mexico, France, Panama, Portugal and Italy have to offer—castles, palm trees, rain forests, grilled lobster—in their unique and unparalleled retirement experiences. 

1.  MEXICO—Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta, Mexicois the undisputed number one destination for American retirees.  With its rich Indian and Spanish culture, lavish beaches and affordable real-estate, Puerto Vallarta offers the low-cost, laid back lifestyle retirees seek to find in a community. 

Some Reasons we love it:

* Climate: Winters—sunny, pleasantly warm; summers—rainy, humid hot

* Expat Community: Estimated at 50,000 American retirees

* Access to the U.S.: Excellent

2.  FRANCE—Languedoc-Roussillon

Once remote, the Languedoc-Roussillon region is now just three hours from the bright lights and bustling energy of Paris via high-speed train.  The area is steeped in history and art.  Languedoc-Roussillon is also a destination for the outdoor crowd with picturesque hills and beach along its Mediterranean seashore.

Some Reasons we love it:

* Climate: Mediterranean—hot and dry summers; cool winters

* Cost of Living: Not cheap, but a comfortably frugal life can be had for $30,000 a year

* Heath Care:  Excellent.  French health care has been named the best in the world by the World Health Organization

3.  PANAMA—Boquete

Panamais a smart choice for retirees who want it all.  Not only does it feature attractive retiree destinations, Panama also offers an unbeatable package of retiree benefits and discounts. Boquete has a unique range of back-home amenities, from a golf course to high-end gated communities.

Some Reasons we love it:

* Expat Community: An estimated several thousand

* Housing Costs: A small house goes for $175,000; in a gated community, $250,000 and up.  Rentals: about $600 a month for a two bedroom house

* Culture and Leisure: Rainforest hiking, river rafting, bird watching and coffee plantation tours keep Panama a bustling location for leisure

4.  PORTUGAL—Cascais

Many wonder why Portugal has long been overlooked by American retirees.  A plentitude of golf, beaches, resorts and trendy café life makes Portugal one of Europe’s most pleasant surprises for retirees.

Some Reasons we love it:

* Cost of Living: A comfortable life can be had on $25,000 a year

* Health Care:  Good.  Nearby hospitals include the well-regarded British Hospital in Lisbon

* Access to the U.S.: Excellent.  Direct flights to-and-from the U.S. fly out of Lisbon
 

5.  ITALY—Le Marche

Le Marche, bordering the Adriatic, is beautiful region with vineyards, snow-capped mountains and beaches a plenty.  It also prides itself on the best fish dishes in the country and is trendy enough to have snagged Dustin Hoffman as a tourism spokesperson!

Some Reasons we love it:

* Climate: Mostly sunny

* Expat Community: Relatively few; an international mix

* Culture and Leisure: An incomparable mix of open-air opera festivals, Renaissance painting and architecture, wine tasting and nature reserves

Plus:  To avoid red tape, culture shock and language barriers, AARP The Magazine shares seven questions future retirees MUST ASK THEMSELVES before starting the exciting process of retiring abroad.   And visit www.aarp.org/magazine to check out our five “additional” affordable, fun places to live the good life, plus FAQs and a resource guide.

For more information and an extended list of AARP The Magazine’s “Best Places to Retire Abroad,” visit www.aarp.org.

About AARP The Magazine

With more than 35.1 million readers nationwide, AARP The Magazine (http://www.aarp.org/magazine) is the world's largest circulation magazine and the definitive lifestyle publication for Americans 50+. Reaching over 23.5 million households, AARP The Magazine delivers comprehensive content through in-depth celebrity interviews, health and fitness features, consumer interest information and tips, book and movie reviews and financial guidance. Published bimonthly in print and continually online, AARP The Magazine was founded in 1958 and is the flagship title of AARP Publications.

About AARP

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 35.1 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's millions of members and Americans 50+; AARP VIVA, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

By Linda Ellerbee

Sometimes I’ve been called a maverick because I don’t always agree with my colleagues, but then, only dead fish swim with the stream all the time. The stream here is Mexico.

You would have to be living on another planet to avoid hearing how dangerous Mexico has become, and, yes, its true drug wars have escalated violence in Mexico, causing collateral damage, a phrase I hate. Collateral damage is a cheap way of saying that innocent people, some of them tourists, have been robbed, hurt or killed.

But that’s not the whole story. Neither is this. This is my story.

I’m a journalist who lives in New York City, but has spent considerable time in Mexico, specifically Puerto Vallarta, for the last four years. I’m in Vallarta now. And despite what I’m getting from the U.S. media, the 24-hour news networks in particular, I feel as safe here as I do at home in New York, possibly safer. I walk the streets of my Vallarta neighborhood alone day or night. And I don’t live in a gated community, or any other All-Gringo neighborhood. I live in Mexico. Among Mexicans. I go where I want –which does not happen to include bars where prostitution and drugs are the basic products–, and take no more precautions than I would at home in New York; which is to say I don’t wave money around, I don’t act the Ugly American, I do keep my eyes open, I’m aware of my surroundings, and I try not to behave like a fool.

I’ve not always been successful at that last one. One evening a friend left the house I was renting in Vallarta at that time, and, unbeknownst to me, did not slam the automatically-locking door on her way out. Sure enough, less than an hour later a stranger did come into my house. A burglar? Robber? Kidnapper? Killer? Drug lord?

No, it was a local police officer, the beat cop for our neighborhood! who, on seeing my unlatched door, entered to make sure everything (including me) was okay. He insisted on walking with me around the house, opening closets, looking behind doors and, yes, even under beds, to be certain no one else had wandered in, and that nothing was missing. He was polite, smart and kind, but before he left, he lectured me on having not checked to see that my friend had locked the door behind her. In other words, he told me to use my common sense.

Do bad things happen here? Of course they do. Bad things happen everywhere, but the murder rate here is much lower than, say, New Orleans, and if there are bars on many of the ground floor windows of houses here, well, the same is true where I live, in Greenwich

Village, which is considered a swell neighborhood — house prices start at about $4 million –including the bars on the ground floor windows.

There are good reasons thousands of people from the United States are moving to Mexico every month, and it’s not just the lower cost of living, a hefty tax break and less snow to shovel... Mexico is a beautiful country, a special place. The climate varies, but is plentifully mild, the culture is ancient and revered, the young are loved unconditionally, the old are respected, and I have yet to hear anyone mention Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, or Madonna’s attempt to adopt a second African child, even though, with such a late start, she cannot possibly begin to keep up with Angelina Jolie.

 And then there are the people. Generalization is risky, but— in general — Mexicans are warm, friendly, generous and welcoming. If you smile at them, they smile back. If you greet a passing stranger on the street, they greet you back.

If you try to speak even a little Spanish, they tend to treat you as though you were fluent. Or at least not an idiot. I have had taxi drivers track me down after leaving my wallet or cell phone in their cab. I have had someone run out of a store to catch me because I have overpaid by twenty cents. I have been introduced to and come to love a people who celebrate a day dedicated to the dead as a recognition of the cycles of birth and death and birth — and the 15th birthday of a girl, an important rite in becoming a woman — with the same joy.

Too much of the noise you’re hearing about how dangerous it is to come to Mexico is just that — noise. But the media love noise, and too many journalists currently making it don’t live here. Some have never even been here. They just like to be photographed at night, standing near a spotlighted border crossing, pointing across the line to some imaginary country from hell. It looks good on TV.

Another thing. The U.S. media tend to lump all of Mexico into one big bad bowl. Talking about drug violence in Mexico without naming a state or city where this is taking place is rather like looking at the horror of Katrina and saying: Damn! Did you know the U.S. is under water? or reporting on the shootings at Columbine or the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City by saying that kids all over the U.S. are shooting their classmates and all the grownups are blowing up buildings. The recent rise in violence in Mexico has mostly occurred in a few states, and especially along the border. It is real, but it does not describe an entire country.

It would be nice if we could put what’s going on in Mexico in perspective, geographically and emotionally. It would be nice if we could remember that, as has been noted more than once, these drug wars wouldn’t be going on if people in the United States didn’t want the drugs, or if other people in the United States weren’t selling Mexican drug lords the guns. Most of all, it would be nice if more people in the United States actually came to this part of America – Mexico is also North America–, you will recall) to see for themselves what a fine place Mexico really is, and how good a vacation –or a life– here can be.

So come on down and get to know your southern neighbors. I think you’ll like it here.

Especially the people.

LINDA ELLERBEE 

(Linda Jane Smith). Born in Bryan, Texas, U.S.A.,  Educated at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, Disc jockey at WSOM Chicago, 1964-65; program director, KSJO San Francisco, 1967-68; reporter, KJNO Juneau, Alaska, 1969-72; news writer, Associated Press in Dallas, 1972; television reporter, KHOU in Houston, Texas, 1972-73; general assignment reporter, WCBS-TV in New York City, 1973-76; reporter, the Washington bureau of NBC News, 1976-78; co-anchor, network news magazine Weekend, 1978-79; correspondent, NBC Nightly News, 1979-82; co-anchor, NBC News Overnight, 1982-84; co-anchor, Summer Sunday, 1984; reporter, Today, 1984-86; reporter, Good Morning America, 1986; anchor, ABC show Our World, 1986-87; commentator, CNN, 1989; president, Lucky Duck Productions, since 1987; producer, writer, and host, Nick News since 1993; writer, host, On the Record, on-line production with Microsoft, since 1996. Recipient: Peabody Award, 1991. Address: Lucky Duck Productions, 96 Morton St., New York, New York 10014.

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JIM CRAMER-MAD MONEY ON MEXICO, SEE VIDEO

“It’s not such a bad idea to diversify away” from stocks, Cramer said during Monday’s Stop Trading!, “and buy real estate.”

The Mad Money host himself just acquired three new properties in MEXICO.

San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico, There is “no property tax,” Cramer said, the properties are “incredibly easy to maintain,” and there are “property managers everywhere.”

“I think that out-of-favor real estate in Mexico, that’s easily accessible to Americans, represents a great buy,” Cramer said.

Critics of the investment might point to the well-publicized drug-related violence happening in Mexico, but Cramer pushed back against that line of thinking.

“Mexico is a big country and not every province, every state is involved in the drug trade,” he said. “And San Miguel has to be one of the nicest places I’ve ever been.” 

Through it all, Johnson says he has learned many enduring lessons. Chief among them: After every housing recession, the market has "gone higher than the one before." You have to have the stomach to hang on through all of the twists and turns, he says.

This market a 'baby' compared to days past
Johnson wasn't always a real-estate guy. He was born to a farming family in South Dakota on Dec. 22, 1912, and moved to Seattle at the height of the Great Depression to attend college and pursue a teaching career. To make ends meet, Johnson juggled three jobs at one time. He delivered milk for a while. "Whatever you could do to get by with, you did it."

Then, in 1936, he started dabbling in real estate. Unemployment hovered around 30%, soup lines stretched around blocks, homelessness was rampant.

"You could have bought the best house in (the Seattle neighborhood of) Ballard for $3,500." Times were tough. The current real-estate market, Johnson says, is "a baby" by comparison.

"In addition to the Depression, we had the drought at the same period, so it was just compounded. You wouldn't believe the things that happened during that period." 

Johnson, a natty dresser who drives himself to work every day — including Saturdays – managed to carve out a niche as a service-oriented agent. When the economy turned at the end of World War II, he opened up his own shop in Ballard, north of downtown. He and his sons have run George Johnson Realtors ever since, weathering the ups and downs in the market with confidence that profits are there for the making.

"I've lost a lot of money in a lot of things, but I've never lost in real estate," Johnson says. He remembers selling his first house in the 1930s for about $1,500. "It's probably worth $300,000 now."

4 real-estate tips from Johnson
You can't thrive in the real-estate industry for this long without learning some useful lessons along the way. Here are some of Johnson's pearls of wisdom:

Beware one-company towns: Cities dependent on a single company or industry are more vulnerable to jarring downturns if the economy goes south. The Rust Belt's old factory towns have made that abundantly clear.

The Seattle market turned particularly grim in the late 1960s and early '70s when Boeing, the aerospace giant, laid off more than 60,000 people in the Seattle area. "Boeing was about the only major company we had other than (the University of Washington)," he recalls. "Now we've got a much broader base to help out … it is altogether a different proposition."

Johnson counsels homebuyers to look beyond real-estate values and investigate an area's fundamental economy before making a purchase.

Don't get greedy. Johnson blames "plain old greed" for the latest real-estate downturn — people got caught up in the enthusiasm of the moment and banks egged them on with cheap loans.

"Everybody was out to buy a house, raise the price, double it and make a quick buck," he says, shaking his head. "People signed up for stuff that they knew they shouldn't have and they couldn't pay (for) and of course the banks helped them."

Johnson is old-school in that way. At the heart of his real-estate philosophy is his fundamental belief in personal responsibility. "You've got to be able to hang onto a house until conditions are such that you can make a little money," he says, emphasizing that each and every potential homebuyer should make an honest assessment of his or her financial potential and should be wary of offers that seem too good to be true.

"People aren't as dumb as the media is making them out to be. They knew what they were getting into," he says.

But he is compassionate for those who have run into honest trouble. "It's tough on people who lost their jobs and are now losing their homes and that type of thing. It always is," he says.

Their pain, however, is the buyers' gain.

Timing is everything. "In this market, any young person that hasn't bought a house ought to buy one," Johnson says. "A buyers market doesn't come along that often … you just can hardly help but make money on whatever you buy today at the prices they are."

Johnson says rates are only going to go up over the long term, so borrowing will cost more. 

If you don't have to sell, hang on. Unfortunately, Johnson expects sellers to continue to suffer, at least for now. Buyers, on the other hand, "know it's a buyers market – they are going to come in with offers below what we've appraised it at just because they know a lot of people have to sell," he says.

Despite the continued housing-market struggles, Johnson is confident that the latest downtrend is largely over. "We are headed up," he says, "but like I said, I think it is going to be slow. It will take a year or two at least."

And as the market heads up, Johnson hopes to be there helping his customers buy and sell homes just as he has for most of his life – out of a small, family office dedicated to service with a smile.

"We've done a good job," he says of his business. "We've been careful and honest and thorough and it's been good service, and I think that will always produce, no matter what business you're in."

5 REASONS YOU STILL NEED A REAL ESTATE AGENT:

The proliferation of services that help homebuyers and sellers complete their own real-estate transactions is relatively recent, and it may have you wondering whether using a real-estate agent is becoming a relic of a bygone era. While doing the work yourself can save you the significant commissions that many real-estate agents command, for many, flying solo may not be the way to go — and could end up being more costly than a commission in the long run. Buying or selling a home is a major financial and emotional undertaking. Find out why you shouldn't discard the notion of hiring an agent just yet. (Bing: When is a real-estate agent a Realtor?)

1. Better access/more convenience
A real-estate agent's full-time job is to act as a liaison between buyers and sellers. This means that he or she will have easy access to all other properties listed by other agents and will know what needs to be done to get a deal together. For example, if you are looking to buy a home, a real-estate agent will track down homes that meet your criteria, get in touch with sellers' agents and make appointments for you to view the homes. If you are buying on your own, you will have to play this telephone tag yourself. This may be especially difficult if you're shopping for homes that are for sale by owner.

Similarly, if you are looking to sell your home yourself, you will have to solicit calls from interested parties, answer questions and make appointments. Keep in mind that potential buyers are likely to move on if you tend to be busy or don't respond quickly enough. Alternatively, you may find yourself making an appointment and rushing home, only to find that no one shows up.

2. Negotiating is tricky business
Many people don't like the idea of doing a real-estate deal through an agent and think that direct negotiation between buyers and sellers is more transparent and allows the parties to look after their own interests better. This is probably true — assuming that both the buyer and seller are reasonable people who are able to get along. Unfortunately, this isn't always an easy relationship.

What if you, as a buyer, like a home but despise its wood-paneled walls, shag carpet and lurid orange kitchen? If you are working with an agent, you can express your contempt for the current owner's decorating skills and rant about how much it'll cost you to upgrade the home without insulting the owner. For all you know, the owner's late mother may have lovingly chosen the décor. Your real-estate agent can convey your concerns to the seller’s agent. Acting as a messenger, the agent may be in a better position to negotiate a discount without ruffling the homeowner's feathers.

 

A real-estate agent can also play the “bad guy” in a transaction, preventing the bad blood between a buyer and seller that can kill a deal. Keep in mind that sellers can reject a potential buyer's offer for any reason — including just because they hate his or her guts. An agent can help by speaking for you in tough transactions and smoothing things over to keep them from getting too personal. This can put you in a better position to get the house you want. The same is true for the seller, who can benefit from a hard-nosed real-estate agent who will represent his or her interests without turning off potential buyers who want to niggle about the price.

3. Contracts can be hard to handle
If you decide to buy or sell a home, the offer-to-purchase contract is there to protect you and ensure that you are able to back out of the deal if certain conditions aren't met. For example, if you plan to buy a home with a mortgage but you fail to make financing one of the conditions of the sale — and you aren't approved for the mortgage — you can lose your deposit on the home and could even be sued by the seller for failing to fulfill your end of the contract. (Keep in mind that the details of any contract may vary based on state law.)

An experienced real-estate agent deals with the same contracts and conditions on a regular basis and is familiar with which conditions should be used, when they can be removed safely and how to use the contract to protect you, whether you're buying or selling your home.

4. Real-estate agents can't lie
Well, OK, actually they can. But because they are licensed professionals, there are more repercussions if they do than for a private buyer or seller. If you are working with a licensed real-estate agent under an agency agreement, such as a conventional, full-service commission agreement in which the agent agrees to represent you, your agent will be bound by law to a fiduciary relationship. In other words, the agent is bound by law to act in his clients' best interest, not his own.

In addition, most real-estate agents rely on referrals and repeat business to build the kind of client base they'll need to survive in the business. This means that doing what's best for their clients should be as important to them as any individual sale.

Finally, if you do find that your agent has gotten away with lying to you, you will have more avenues for recourse, such as through your agent's broker or professional association or possibly even in court if you can prove that your agent has failed to uphold his fiduciary duties.

When a buyer and seller work together directly, they can — and should — seek legal counsel, but because each is expected to act in his or her best interest, there isn't much you can do if you find out later that you've been duped about multiple offers or the home's condition. And having a lawyer on retainer any time you want to talk about potentially buying or selling a house could cost far more than an agent's commissions by the time the transaction is complete.

5.  Not everyone can save money
Many people eschew using a real-estate agent in order to save money, but keep in mind that it is unlikely that both the buyer and seller will reap the benefits of not having to pay commissions. For example, if you are selling your home on your own, you will price it based on the sale prices of other comparable properties in your area. Many of these properties will be sold with the help of an agent. This means that the seller gets to keep the percentage of the home's sale price that might otherwise be paid to the real-estate agent.

However, buyers who are looking to purchase a home sold by owners may also believe they can save some money on the home by not having an agent involved. They might even expect it and make an offer accordingly. However, unless buyer and seller agree to split the savings, they can't both save the commission.

The bottom line
While there are certainly people who are qualified to sell their own homes, taking a quick look at the long list of frequently asked questions on most “for sale by owner” websites suggests the process isn't as simple as many people assume. And when you get into a difficult situation, it can really pay to have a professional on your side.