# Questions about retiring abroad **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 1, 2021, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-retiring-abroad/951711 "2021-10-01T05:08:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-retiring-abroad/951711/1 "2021-10-01T05:08:58Z")
Specifically, Panama. I’ve looked over the Panamanian(sp?) Consulate’s webpage regarding retiring there(they seem to be quite solicitous of U.S. retirees) and the requirements for a retirement visa. Any expat retirees around who can give some insight? If I do this (still about a decade away) what questions should I be asking? I’m not expecting much of anything to be a lot like it is here in the states, but I’d rather not get smacked in the face with anything, also what pitfalls should I look out for in the process of getting there, getting my documentation right etc? ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-retiring-abroad/951711/2 "2021-10-01T05:10:35Z")
Paging @Colibri ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-retiring-abroad/951711/3 "2021-10-01T19:55:12Z")
There’s lots of blogs and web sites about retiring abroad. Here’s a couple that discuss Panama: [Retiring to Panama | Expat Forum For People Moving Overseas And Living Abroad](https://www.expatforum.com/threads/retiring-to-panama.1508705/#post-15188801) [Living in Panama | RICHARD DETRICH Cruise Destination & Port Lecturer](https://richarddetrich.com/panama-living/) ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-retiring-abroad/951711/4 "2021-10-02T20:13:41Z")
Have you ever been to Panama? I would take a trip down there and seek out ex-pats to find out what it’s really like to live there. You may decide it’s exactly what you want, or not even close to what you were looking for. I wouldn’t trust a random person to fill me in on all of the gory details. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-retiring-abroad/951711/5 "2021-10-02T22:09:40Z")
No, and in discussing this idea with my SO last night we decided thats what we need to do. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-retiring-abroad/951711/6 "2021-10-02T22:14:16Z")
A really general piece of advice that I offered elsewhere: > [@Best countries to retire to...?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-countries-to-retire-to/933667/14): > > I’m going to endeavor a wee tangent and hope that I’m not OT: Try it before you buy it. My passion was international travel, and I generally preferred ‘emerging nations’ to ‘developed.’ And I tended to spend a month at a time in a country so that I could learn a few things and not always stand out like a sore thumb tourist. And maybe figure out where I might like to land when the time came. Now I watch a lot of expat videos. The one thing they stress, and with which I wholeheartedly agree,… ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-retiring-abroad/951711/7 "2021-10-02T22:14:36Z")
Thanks to this thread, I just realized that @Colibri hasn’t posted in the last 3-4 weeks. Does anyone know if everything is okay?