The Retire Belize Program

Recently the finance division of Yahoo quantified Belize as one of the top retirement destinations for 2011 and it probably is in no small part due to the "Retire Belize" program. It is formally called the Belize Qualified Retired Persons Incentive Program and sets out to make it easy and attractive for retired persons that have some reasonable way to support themselves, to spend their golden years retired in Belize. When you discover where Belize is located you'll understand why so many Americans are finding it an attractive place for a seasonal or retirement home.

Of course those folks that want to participate in 'Retire Belize' (my name not theirs) program do have to jump through some hoops and prove that they have a secure income from either a retirement program, pension or from investments but for many Americans that is not an issue at all. Belize Tourism Board, who administers the program, has done a pretty reasonable job putting an attractive group of benefits together for the retiree that is looking for more than cheap places to go on vacation. 

Let’s look at a few of those benefits and you can be the judge.

1. Belize generally has a stable 'dollar'

2. Not far from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and the USA

3. Really Nice People

4. Magnificent Natural Beauty

5. Tax Breaks

6. Belize is Peaceful

7. Speak English

8. Warm year round sub-tropical weather

9. Good Schools

10. Import tariff waivers

There are some important qualifiers for a person that might be interested in the benefits of the best country to live in. By far, the most important filters are age and income. One must be forty five and have a verifiable income of at least $2000 a month. An added benefit is that only the person qualifying has to meet these requirements. Their dependents do not. Dependents in this case can be both spouse (no age requirement) and children up to 18 years old or up to 23 years old if they are still in College.

There are some legal requirements to prove that a pension is valid but these, although tedious and detailed, are not hard to provide. In a ironic sort of attempt to streamline the process the Belize Tourism Board will waive some proof requirements for fortune 500 companies. I find this loophole somewhat ironic since in the present economy, (post 2008), the size of the organization does not seem to necessarily correlate to financial stability but that is purely personal conjecture and I certainly understand why the board may have acted in good faith in its attempt to make the process of application easier for these pensioners.

In a not too surprising attempt to keep trouble out of Belize , the Tourism Board requires a background check for the 'Retire Belize' program by the Ministry of National Security of Belize.

There are several more qualifications that address other details and stipulations on the "Retire Belize' program and here we will take a look at a few of the more minor ones.

1. Must follow the rules for bringing in personal goods on the move into Belize

2. Can't look for a job or be employed while in the program.

3. You have to let the board know if your situation changes in a way that would affect qualification for the program

4. Must follow Belizean laws

5. The benefits of the 'Retire Belize' program are only for qualified person and dependents

6. Board has the right to do their investigation on all the documents you provide to them.

7. If you leave Belize indefinitely you must tell the board so your assets can be liquidated.

8. Documents in the application for the program become property of the board.

9. You can have no outstanding criminal issues at time of application

10. You have to provide required information about dependents

11. Must show proof via yearly bank statement, that you have the required income.

12. Must live in Belize at least one month a year to continue to qualify for Retire Belize program.

Although one would want to familiarize oneself with these and the other rules they don't present too much of a burden to gain the benefits shown before.

The normal type of documents will be required beyond the application form itself like birth certificates, marriage certificate, police record from most current location, passport, proof of income as stated before, medical exam results including the results of an AIDS test and four passport size recent pictures. All of these are quite reasonable for this sort of application and to be expected.

Although this process is quite involved and in this authors opinion it would be best approached with a local attorney, it is like many such involved applications. It is very detailed and detailed but with attention to those details it is a step by step process that takes a fair amount of time and should not be rushed. The good news is it is done all the time and has been completed by many before.

Hopefully this post has been educational and informative in giving you an overview of the "Retire Belize" program as I call it. As stated before there are many benefits that the Belize Tourism Board has put together for living in Belize as an American but please do yourself a favor and seek professional advice to undertake this process. When you are successful you will end up in one of the cheapest places to live and retire in Belize and with a lot of personal advantages besides living in a tropical paradise.

Living In Belize As An American

Some people get really excited about the "Retire Belize" Program (Qualified Retirement Program) when they think about living in Belize as an American but the reality of making that happen is that they have to go through a long drawn out procedure to get this special retired persons visa. It is probably best to get an attorney to handle it for you as it is not a simple matter for even the most patient of Americans living in Belize. We are just not used to things being quite this complicated and drawn out. Nothing in Belize is simple and here are some reasons why that might be the case.

Before I even tell you this, just understand it will be a shock. Things in Belize are not computerized. Just let that sink in for a few minutes. The government is not computerized. The banking system between branches is not computerized. The local law enforcement is not computerized. Rewind back to the 60s and 70s and think about how things were done in America. Everything had to be written by hand or typed. 

Bookkeeping was by hand on ledgers. Records were created in duplicate and everything was filed in a filing cabinet and if you wanted to have the information you had to contact the person or organization that had it and ask for a copy of it or to verify it with a form. The result was that everything was form based and was very slow moving. And if there were not copies when all record were lost of what had transpired then it was just lost. Can you even imagine going back 40 years in time?

This country is very behind in terms of technology and they seem to be perfectly OK with that. This country is the definition of relaxed and laid back. No one gets too excited about anything much. They have a high rate of unemployment and a very high rate of poverty too. They live very simple lives with very small homes often crammed with several people and little furniture. Tiny homes with 5-10 people and one shower and it is OK. Many walk everywhere because they don’t own a car and getting upset is a waste of energy for everyone. Now if you're into all of the modern conveniences and speed of access to everything we enjoy in A,erica than this may not be the place for you. However, these qualities are also what is attracting many retirees to this wonderful, simple little country. It truly is a great way to escape the rate race and live the 'tranquillo' lifestyle. 

One other important thing to ask is, Where is Belize? When you discover that Belize is located right in the middle of Central America you can relax a little. It's easily accessible from numerous U.S. airports, some less than two hours flight time away. So, if you find yourself getting a little island fever it's simple enough to hop on a plane and get your city fix in Houston or Miami. Or you may even want to use your new home as a base to spring board south to discover Panama City or other south American destinations. 

If your thinking about moving to Belize and especially if you haven’t spent much time there, will be a shock but it will be a slow shock. One that may ultimately make living in Belize as an American a frustrating experience if you are not prepared for it. You just need to talk a breath and go with it if you intend to be in Belize for very long. Darling, you’re not in Kansas anymore!

Best Places: Retire in Belize

Retire In Belize - One Of The Cheapest Places to Live In The World!

One of the cheapest places to live in the world is still Belize. Consequently, to retire in Belize is really cheap and by many accounts it is also one of Central America's most beautiful countries too. It can be a retirees (bargain hunters) dream come true if you play your cards right. It has just about everything a retired person seeking a tropical paradise could imagine. To start with, the official language is English and that always makes living in a foreign country easier but beyond that, it offers wildlife as diverse as any country, a tropical climate and of course some really great beaches. If your thing is snorkelling or scuba diving then your little piece of heaven just got better because the ecosystems underwater are some of the best in the world and talk about options... there are 127 islands to explore in the Belize Barrier Reef.

If you really want to live cheap in retirement you might want to check out the Cayo area that is west of Belize City about an hour and at least at the last time we checked it out, you could rent a nice size home there for under $400 a month. The Cayo district has a population of about 40,000 and it covers about 2000 square miles on the western side of Belize. You shouldn’t forget that Belize is more than a beautiful beach. Sixty percent of the Cayo District is either a wildlife sanctuary, a Forest Reserve or a National Park and it offers a wide diversity of activities for a traveller as well as much to see and experience in this land of natural beauty. Of course if you are dead set on the coast you are going to pay a little more but considering you would be an hour away it might be worth living inland so you can enjoy all of Belize, depending on how often you want to dip your toes or your snorkel gear in the blue waters of Belize.

Because Belize is such a lush country and much of their food is grown locally, it can make your grocery bill quite inexpensive as long as you stay away from all those imported things you are so used to

buying. To embrace the local cuisine really is part of the adventure of it all so why not make the effort to try the new foods and save money too.

Here is a little bonus for all you retirees, folks over 45 can be eligible for the Retire Belize program or sometimes called Retired Person's Incentive Program. It can help you live almost tax free if you meet certain qualifications. This

program was initiated as a part of a plan to entice stable retirees to make this their home. We hope you are starting to get the picture about why Belize is one of the cheapest places to live in the world

especially if you are retired and want modern conveniences to be a part of your life style.

Now there has to be at least one negative to living here or everyone would arrive at once but in the big picture it may be minor detractions from abundant positive side of the equation. The deal is it rains a lot from May to October and it is a location that sometimes can be exposed to hurricanes. Many expats just use this as the time they head home since many are from the Northern hemisphere and May to October is summer there so the weather is often more agreeable anyway.

To retire in Belize is well within reach of many and it really can be one of the cheapest places in the world to live if you are careful and do a little planning and don’t become ridged about where you live or

what you eat. Of course let’s not forget the great plan Belize has for those of you over 45 to live tax free.

Cheapest Places to Retire to

ShelterOffshore.com recently asked the question, 'Where are the Cheapest Places to retire?' It's a big world ut there and when thinking exclusively about being cheap you're likely to end up in Africa somewhere. But, Shelter Offshore has done a great job of balancing quality of life with affordable living to uncover the best and cheapest places to retire to.

Panama!
Yes, you know I've been singing the praise of Panama for year snow and Shelter Offshore thinks it's a pretty cool place to live too. Here's what they say about Panama, "You can live like a millionaire on a millionaire’s salary or you can enjoy a comfortable, modest and decent standard of living on a modest amount of money in Panama."

Again, blowing my own horn here, like I've said - get away from the flashy condos in Panama City and stay away from the American marketed 'Gated Communities' especially the few that offer grand and expensive to maintain Golf Courses. Take a short drive into the 'interior', and that doesn't have to mean far away from the ocean, and you will find Panama Property is much cheaper and so is the cost of day to day living. One thing the article does say that I have to disagree with is, "learn how to haggle and shop like the locals". I've always found that most Panamanians don't like to haggle. When you eat with the locals you get charged the same low price they pay. Again, stay away from the Gringo hang outs and you'll pay local prices.

Here's a quick list of other places they mention as Cheap Places to Live Abroad in Retirement:
Belize
Turkey
The Philippines
and Argentina

The article concludes by reminding us that 'Cheap' is a relative term - relative to you, your budget, your savings, your expectations. With TV and the Internet we are now all coming to realize that 'third world' may just be a term to keep us put. There are numerous country on this planet that are civilized, clean, interesting, comfortable and cheap. If you're ready to retire it can be especially so as more and more nations develop incentive programs to entice you and your retirement nest egg to join them. All the more reason to consider investigating places to live abroad.