I moved from Atlanta to Panama after retiring with my 97-year-old mother with dementia. Prices aren't too much cheaper, but we love the culture and calm.
I moved to Panama in March this year, and my mother followed a few weeks later. I had always considered the possibility of relocating outside the US and had looked into moving for a couple of years before I retired. I read about the lower cost of living being less, but I think what spurred my action was the political climate.
My first impression is that I love it here. The people in Panama are very friendly and caring. Our goal now is to get more entrenched in this new life.
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I've had a number of different careers
My mom and I are both native New Yorkers. She was a long-distance operator for the New York Telephone Company for over 40 years. I relocated to Atlanta in 1983, and my mom followed me there in 1986, when she retired. We were in the Atlanta area up until this year.
She traveled with her friends and helped me raise my son. She became active in some senior citizen groups in the area.
I had a couple of careers. I've been a real estate broker with my own residential real estate firm, worked as an administrative assistant, and taught classes in criminal justice for online universities as an adjunct professor. I retired in 2016.
I found that I was becoming bored and wanted to make better use of my time. After retiring, I took swim classes, got together with friends for lunch, and traveled.
After I initially retired, I took about one year to decompress and give some thought as to what I wanted for the next phase of my life. I spent mornings reflecting over a healthy breakfast and good coffee. I enrolled in Water Zumba classes and started a walking regime. I also used this time to reconnect with friends and making quite a bit of lunch dates with my former tennis team members.
I went back to work after a couple of years in a work-from-home position.
In 2018, I got a bladder cancer diagnosis, and it involved a serious surgery. I wasn't well enough to take care of my mother, though she and I lived together. She moved into a nursing home and lived there for seven years.
Once I determined earlier this year that I was going to move to Panama, I asked my mom if she wanted to come. She said she did.
I decided that it was probably best for both of us. Otherwise, she would be in Atlanta, and I would be abroad. My son and grandchildren are grown up and have very active lives, so I knew she would be pretty much alone in the nursing home, which I didn't want for her. Panama checked a lot of the boxes. Healthcare seemed excellent, and I had a friend who retired there who answered my questions.
At the time, we were doing fine financially. We're not wealthy people, but we've worked our whole careers, paid bills on time, handled finances responsibly, and have good credit. But things have gotten so tight in the US; it's really hard to make ends meet as a retiree living off of Social Security and a small pension.
As an African American, I feel we are being targeted and knowledge of our proud heritage is constantly under assault.
The first few weeks abroad involved managing many logistics
I did three scouting trips. I wanted to come first to find a place that was suitable for us logistically. My mother's in a wheelchair, so I looked for a place that was more level. We got as much paperwork done as we could ahead of time so she could leave her facility.
My son made time to help me out by bringing my mother a few weeks later. I set up an appointment with a doctor, and he was able to see her within a week of her getting here, making sure we could transfer her medications and prescriptions.
My mom told me that since I'm here and I've handled everything, she's happy and has enjoyed it so far. She came down with a cold a few weeks ago and lost her appetite, but she started eating again and felt better. She's happier to not be in a nursing home environment. We're now looking to find more activities we can participate in together.
My friend who retired here introduced me to another person who had a sister with MS and who connected me with a home care agency. A young lady comes in six days a week to tend to my mom; she helps bathe her, prepare her meals, change her sheets, and do her laundry.
I get much more home for the same price here
Rental prices are a little higher than what I expected they'd be, but there's a gamut of price ranges. I've seen everything from $500 a month up to beyond $3,000 where I'm located. I have a four-bedroom house, an in-ground pool in the backyard, a very large living room, dining room, and kitchen.
The rent is $1,500 a month, a bit more than what I was paying for my mortgage on my house in the States, the mortgage on which is $777 a month. I still own my home. However, there have been recent property tax and home owner insurance increases and I estimate my mortgage will be approximately $250 more in 2026. I get so much more for the same amount of money.
The utilities aren't too bad. One month, I had a $70 bill, but the next month was $300. Each bedroom has its own individual air conditioning unit, so we're trying to figure out when to run it and for how long.
I'm still doing some paperwork and making phone calls to get things settled. A couple of friends have come to visit, and my son has come three times. I have a lot more company coming over the next two months.
I handle my business here like I would at home; I go to the grocery store, the bank, and the pharmacy. I take Ubers because I don't want to drive here; they drive really fast. An Uber one-way is about $2.20.
I'm still getting acclimated
I've discovered, though, that Panamanians love to party and love music. There are also always dogs barking early in the morning and late at night, so I'm trying to get used to the noise.
We don't live in an expat neighborhood. I wanted to be immersed in Panamanian culture. It's been about two months since we've been here, but I haven't had much of a chance to meet our neighbors yet. All of the houses are gated individually, so it's not like you can just walk up to your neighbor's front door.
But when I go to the mall, people talk with me. When they realize I only speak a little Spanish, everybody's helpful, pleasant, and willing to help me find things.
I haven't gotten to eat out much, but I've gotten really into going to the market and getting fresh fruit and vegetables. The hospital near me has a program where they will accept Medicare Advantage if you have an emergency situation and are hospitalized, which I'm applying for. I'm also applying to a program that's $220 a year to have any tests, blood work, or lab work done. I have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and I was on oxygen when I was back home. I haven't had to use it since I've been here.
My goal now is to get more involved with expat groups. I joined one recently and went to a very nice luncheon, where I met new people. I hope to continue expanding my social network. I plan to make this my new home and get more involved in volunteering.
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Time Magazine
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- Time Magazine
The History Behind the Trips to Newport on The Gilded Age
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How Newport became a summer destination for the rich As early as the 18th century, wealthy southerners headed north to Newport to escape the malaria and yellow fever outbreaks on plantations. The third season of The Gilded Age takes place in 1884, which is when Newport 'begins to become the ultimate summer destination for the rich of New York,' according to Nicole Jeri Williams, Curator of Collections at The Preservation Society of Newport County. The show portrays a singular period in time. Back then, 'really rapid industrial growth created the immense fortunes of the robber barons,' Williams explains. 'There was also a lack of government oversight and regulation–a really laissez faire economic environment. And there was no federal income tax, so all of that produced the massive industrial fortunes of the Gilded Age. A lot of these folks wind up summering in Newport.' During the Gilded Age, elite New Yorkers who made their fortunes in railroads, mining, steamships, and finance were drawn to Newport's ample properties overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Ward McAllister (played by Nathan Lane in the show) was one of the social arbiters who helped start the trend of vacationing in Newport. He charmed the socialites with his Georgia accent, tales of travels in Europe, and overall 'just lived as a professional snob,' as Williams puts it. He was a 'sidekick' to Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, who decided who's 'in' and who's 'out' in society, and spent a lot of time at her Newport mansion Beechwood. But he started falling out with the socialites when started to leak stories about them to the press, and fully lost their trust after he published his 1890 tell-all Society as I Have Found It. Mamie Fish (Ashlie Atkinson) is another socialite who hosted some of Newport's most legendary events. She was known for throwing themed parties, like one where attendees dressed up as characters from nursery rhymes. Sometimes attendees were required to talk in 'baby talk.' And she even hosted a dogs dinner, treating socialities' pampered pooches to a meal cooked up just for them. There was so much food that one dachshund passed out from eating too much, and the party became ridiculed in the press as an example of Gilded Age excess and extravagance. Then and now, the Cliff Walk, a rocky path that runs alongside the luxurious mansions, provided an opportunity to glimpse the houses and was also a 'social world' of its own, according to Williams. Servants would go down to the Cliff Walk for swimming, drinking, and dancing. Even if they didn't have houses in Newport, elite New Yorkers made a point to visit the seaport city in the summer. For example, JP Morgan did not have a summer house in Newport, but he would take his yacht there and do some fishing. Newport's thriving community of Black Americans People of African heritage have been living in Newport since the 17th century. Newport is also home to America's oldest burial ground for enslaved and free Africans. By 1884, schools in Rhode Island had been desegregated for nearly two decades. 'We tried to show, through our characters this season, that there is a long history of free black life in New England and specifically in Rhode Island,' says Erica Dunbar, historian and co-Executive Producer of The Gilded Age. 'Remember, slavery was gradually dismantled across New England, the middle states in New England, in the early 19th century, so that by the time we hit the 1880s, we have generations of people who have been free—up to 40 years of free black life in a place like Newport.' Keith Stokes, Rhode Island's historian laureate, is a descendent of the real person who inspired the pastor in The Gilded Age, whose doctor son is pursuing Peggy Scott. Reverend Mahlon Van Horne—who inspired Frederick Kirkland in the show and played by Brian Stokes Mitchell—was a pastor of Newport's Union Colored Congregational Church. He boasted many firsts, as the first person of color elected to the Newport school board, and the first Black member of Rhode Island's General Assembly, where he participated in passing early civil rights legislation. During the Spanish-American War, President McKinley appointed Van Horne as Special Counsel to the Danish West Indies. Dunbar says that Van Horne's political career reflects a broader trend of Black elected officials serving during Reconstruction after the Civil War. 'He's the forerunner of Martin Luther King and the 20th century black ministers who are blending religion and social justice together in advancing equal rights,' Stokes explains. 'He's one of the most significant African-American leaders in America here at that time.' As the summer vacationers grew in size, so did the business opportunities for Black entrepreneurs. Bellevue Avenue boasted transportation companies, dress-making, hair styling and barbering, catering services, and lady-in-waiting support services. Mary Dickerson, who appears in the last episode of the season, established a dress-making establishment on Bellevue Avenue, which catered to the summer residents. In the show, she helps Peggy Scott's mother, Dorothy Scott ( Audra McDonald), try on a dress for a ball. The real Mary Dickerson was also active in women's rights causes. In 1895, she helped found the Women's Newport League, which set up a daycare in the city. In 1896, she was a founding member of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, and in 1903 she established the first federation of African American Women's Clubs in Rhode Island. There were also three African heritage medical professionals in Newport during the Gilded Age. While Dr. Kirkland is not technically based on a real historical figure, Stokes sees him as a composite of notable Black healthcare providers in Newport. Alonzo Van Horne, Stokes' great-great-uncle, was the first dentist of African heritage in Rhode Island. And Marcus Wheatland, known as the doctor of the swells, was a medical practitioner and a pioneer of X-rays as a diagnostic tool. Through the Black characters of Newport in season 3 of The Gilded Age, Dunbar hopes viewers will get a better sense of 'the generations of free black people living and thriving.' The diversity of characters provides 'a rich and textured understanding of black America at that moment.'
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New York Post
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