A Cheap Place to Live with Job Opportunities

I was searching blogs today for the Cheapest Places to Live and read this interesting conversation. This fellow asked, whether Phoenix, Vegas or Orlando would be a cheap place to live with job opportunities and low taxes. Some intewsrting comments - the first perosn didn't like any of his choices claiming Phoenix to be crowded with snow birds and 'very polluted'. He did reocmmmend Tucson or Flagstaff if one was to choose Arizona.

Vegas too came up as crowded and with 'crime out of control'. But one plus is the lack on income tax and the gaming business keeping it one of the cheapest places to live in the U.S. Another fellow brought up, 'these three cities have no jobs whatsoever'. Good point - if you want a cheap place to live just go where no one wants to go! Read my last post about Detroit. And you might even consider teaching jobs overseas for Americans if you really want to make a change in your life.

Tax Haven Myths and Facts

If you're looking for the cheapest place to live this is a very interesting and important lesson. Taxes have a dramatic impact on creating the Cheapest Places to Live.

Watch it once, watch it twice. If you find yourself resisting - defending, justifying - pause, write down your objection and then keep watching!

Tax Haven - Myths and Facts

Having previously discussed the Economic Benefits, as well as the Moral Necessity of Tax Havens, and their role in creating legitimate tax competition and liberalizing economies, Dan Mitchell discusses the facts surrounding six of the biggest myths about the idea of tax havens:

1. Tax havens promote tax evasion.
2. Attacking tax havens promotes more compliance with tax laws.
3. Tax havens create higher taxes elsewhere.
4. Tax havens promote bad policy.
5. Tax havens are all rogue political regimes.
6. Tax havens promote money laundering.

Enjoy!

Click Here - Organized Exploitation: Tax Havens: Myths vs. Facts - to watch the presentation.

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Panama Real Estate Property Tax Exemptions are Back

Great News from the Government of Panama! Just before Christmas the following article appeared in La Prensa -

La prensa – december 22, 2007

BRIEFS. Real estate

Property Tax exoneration extended

The Consejo de Gabinete has approved an extension of the 20-year property tax exemption for apartments and houses, according to minister of Housing Balbina Herrera.

The measure applies to projects whose building permits are issued before Dec. 31, 2009. Herrera explained that the measure extends the property tax exemption that expired in August.

Iván Carlucci, president of the Asociación de Corredores de Bienes Raíces (Acobir), said that "this change is healthy, and it is a sign that the sector will continue to grow dynamically."

Carlucci said that the waiver, which will benefit all types of buyers, gives Panama a competitive edge over other countries in marketing real estate projects.

Read more about the changes and Panama Real Estate Opportunities at the Learn About Panama Blog.

Cheapest Places to Live

Frugal vs Cheap

I've always been frugal - but not cheap. In fact my friends describe me as being quite generous. So, why would I be so interested in finding the Cheapest Places to Live?

In Search of Cheap Places to Live

Well post 9/11 my wife and I became very interested in what was going on outside our country. After just a little research it become very apparent that there are many cheap places to live without losing any of the comforts of home. Really? Most people think everywhere outside North America offers a sub-standard quality of life and a lower standard of living. It's simply not true. We are fed the myth that the '3rd World' exists everywhere else but North America.

Behave and Pay Your Taxes

I learned early on that one of the biggest perpetrators of this myth is our own government. What would happen if all of a sudden people woke up and realized they could have twice the lifestyle for half the taxes or in some cases no taxes in other parts of the world? How about quality Health care for a fraction of the price? Housing, groceries, entertainment all for far less!

Discovering our Piece of Paradise

Although our initial research led us far and wide - from the United States to Australia, Europe and even Africa - we kept returning to Latin America. It seemed there were some exciting things happening in this part of the world and the benefit of staying a little closer to family and friends was apparent. One country in particular which kept showing up on our radar was Panama. We really knew very little about this little country. Have you noticed how the media does an amazing job of presenting us with 'shock and awe' and interestingly buries the follow up story in the back pages. In the case of Panama our most recent memory was of a drug crazed Noriega led dictatorship. He was removed in the 70's but what of Panama now?

To Know and Not To Do is Not to Know

Spending weeks and months on the internet or buried in books certainly offers an amount of intellectual understanding but for me the only true way to 'know' something is to experience it. So, in January 2003 my wife and I packed up our suitcases and two young sons and headed off to explore what was purported to be one of the cheapest places to live and what we discovered to be the best place to retire.

The Rest of the Story

In future posts I am going to share our real life experiences and practical research to unveil if Panama truly is one of the cheapest places to live in the world.

If you want the full story about our Panama travels you may want to check out our website and sign up for our free newsletter at LearnAboutPanama.