Expert: Lorena Mlns - 6/5/2008

Question
Lorena,
My wife and I are considering retiring to Panama within next 7 years.   We will be age 50 at that time.   We are interested in learning more about living in areas of the country that may  have people of our age group?
Thanks, Darin

Answer
Hi Darin,
Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you.
I looked around a bit before I figured I had something to recommend.
Could not find a place that went along with age group... you being 50 in 7 years.. but, there is a community in Altos de Maria where younger crowds (by this I mean you age range) are settling to live.
It´s not far from the city, has nice weather and great views. There are people coming in from the US and other places to live there (note that I am not a real estate agent :)
Boquete is an option but I would say for older retirees, not you.
But, you can always check it out.
I would not recommend the city at all. Unfortunately this is not the Panama I grew up in (I was born in the 70´s), many things have changed in a very negative way.
In the city the things have gotten out of hands. There are gangs, shooting, drugs being sold right at MY DOORSTEP ( I live a block from the Bay of Panama and an Intercontinental Hotel- it´s supposed to be a "good area" so you get the picture). Construction codes are being violated, firemen cannot rescue anyone above a 7th floor!
Traffic is really bad... I don´t want to be negative, I just want you to look really well at where you are going to invest and where you are going to live.
Check the local paper www.prensa.com, Panama America, La Estrella....
I hope this helped out, at least a little.
Good luck,
Lorena