Country Article / Postcards

New Panama

Date: 10/08/2006

In the 1970s I visited Panama City often as a Member of the U.S. Congress. In Sept. 2000 I returned to Panama for the first time in 20 years, this time as a private U.S. citizen on a business trip.

I was amazed at the tremendous change I encountered.

The sleepy, slightly seedy colonial city, dominated by the American military that operated the Panama Canal--all that was long gone.

In its place was a thriving, gleaming metropolis with scores of modern skyscrapers, condos, first class hotels, restaurants, shops, malls, digital Internet and international communications, fast paced (even dangerous) traffic, a brand new airport, super highways and your pick of night clubs, Latin music filling the warm, tropical night air until all hours.

My eyes confirmed the truth of that local tourist slogan: there's more to Panama than a canal.

Let me tell you what Panama is like today--and why you should personally consider this fascinating country for:

* A tax haven in which to locate your company, trust or foundation.

* First class asset protection, banking and financial privacy guaranteed by law.

* Your vacation home or retirement residence.

* Profitable real estate investments of all kinds, from condos to coffee farms to beach front.

* A must-visit place for tourism, leisurely vacations, or simply plain fun.

Although tourism is but a part of its appeal, Panama is fast becoming one of the world's top locations for U.S. retirees seeking second affordable homes.

Unlike its Central American neighbors, Mexico and Costa Rica, where mass tourism is now the norm, until recently Panama was known only to savvy travelers with special interests such as world record deep sea fishing, birding, river rafting, and rain forest adventures. And Panama also has great beaches and surfing, kayaking and diving. Panama is still a country where you can see esoteric birds, such as the quetzal, while sitting alone on an extinct volcano in a rainforest. Here you're not part of a tourist mob viewing one quetzal in a zoo cage.

Panama's history and cultural background reads like Hollywood fiction, from Stone Age indigenous peoples to Balboa and the Spanish conquistadors (no, that's not a Panamanian rock group) to the Panama Canal and a modern society with First World infrastructure. (As to the Hollywood aspect, you may want to rent the video of Columbia Pictures 2001 movie, The Tailor of Panama, based on the John Le Carré novel of the same name. The plot's weak, but the scenery is beautiful and it will introduce you to the Casco Viejo, the oldest part of Panama City).

From the Caribbean to the Pacific, you'll find Panamanians are some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. Put all this together and it makes for an ideal location for retirement, a second home, a vacation, or an offshore bank account or asset protection trust.

With an American style infrastructure (much of it U.S. built), Panama City offers an easy transition for U.S. retirees. Families of Americans who lived and worked in the Canal Zone during the 90 years of U.S. presence look back at their "Paradise Lost" and very often many of them return.

Bob Bauman J.D.
Legal Counsel, International Living

[Don't miss out. Get your free IL Postcards subscription today.]

P.S. Living and retiring overseas was once an option available only for the wealthy; it's now an affordable trend. And these same factors are attracting Canadians and Europeans as well. Small wonder that Modern Maturity magazine, published by the AARP, rated the mountain town of Boquete, in Chiriqui province, the fourth best retirement destination in the world…and that International Living rates Panama as No. 1 on their country list for retirement and offshore residency.

Editor’s note: In nine days the most distinguished panel of offshore experts ever assembled--including Bob Bauman--will gather in Panama to show you the fastest way to paradise. Click here for more information.