Transcription
Hello, it's Jackie with Panama Relocation Tours. Thank you for joining us for Tuesday live stream. Today I'm going to be talking about creating a plan B in Panama. And I just want to clarify that this is not about the skies falling or being afraid of everything. A plan B is about being prepared, uh, for just in case things happen in the future.
Just like you have car insurance in case you have an automobile accident, you have health insurance in case you have some kind of a health problem, and home insurance in case, uh, you know, there's a tree falls on your house or something. You have all kinds of insurance. So, it's a good idea to have some kind of insurance in case other things happen in your life that you may not have a lot of control over. It's about, um, hopefully you'll never need a plan B, but it's good to already have it in place. Just like you have insurance already in place, it's a good idea to already have a plan B in place. So, plan B isn't about running away from something. It's just about having options.
Um, in Panama, if you wait until there's some kind of a crisis, then it might be too late. But if you, you're going to have peace of mind if you know you already have a plan about something that's going to happen. Here's just a couple of examples of people that got into a situation where Panama was a perfect plan B for them. Uh, there's one couple that during the time when COVID was kind of rearing its ugly head. Uh, they both lost their job at the same time. They had a mortgage payment to make. They had car payments to make. They had, um, you know, credit card bills to pay. They had all kinds of expenses. And they thought, "What are we going to do?" You know, they tried to get another job. And another job just wasn't available right away. And they hadn't watched our videos and seen information about Panama and knew how they could live much more affordably here. So, they came up with a plan that they would rent out their house. Um, and it would have enough cash flow that it would make it possible for them to be able to live in Panama with no out-of-pocket expenses. They sold their cars. Um, they with that money, they paid off their credit card debt. With the rent that they were getting from their house, they were able to live in Panama. Now, they thought it was just going to be for a year or two until they found another job and got back on their feet again. But after moving to Panama, they decided, you know, why not just let, you know, forget about getting another job, forget about working anymore. We'll just keep on renting our house and using that, um, money to be able to cash flow from it to be able to live here in Panama.
You know, other people are creating a plan B. They're thinking about down the road a little bit. And they're thinking that, you know, looking at what they're making right now and what they're going to have when they retire, what income they're going to have when they retire. And the income when they retire really isn't going to be enough to maintain the lifestyle that they have now, making mortgage payments, car payments, all those kind of things. So people, you know, three, four, five years before they retire, they're starting to make plans of, well, either I've got to keep on working forever or I've got to come up with some other kind of a plan B. And for them also, uh, the plan B is often either to rent out their house or sell their house and move to Panama where they can live much more affordably. With the way prices are going up, um, in the United States, especially groceries, gasoline, health care costs just keep going up. Um, there's a point where you're going to say, you know, this isn't going to work anymore and I need to have some other kind of a plan of what I'm going to do. Um, and many people are concerned about retirement, especially, um, if you're going to have exclusively relying on social security or the pension from your job, it might not be enough to continue living where you are. So, you've got to start thinking about what your plan B is going to be. That's what I'm going to talk about today. I'm going to help you develop a plan B and, um, show you how Panama could be the perfect place for you to go. You don't need to know exactly when you're going to have a plan B, but it's good to already have it in place. Um, already have everything done, have everything in place, so that when you make a decision to pull the trigger that, you know, I'm going to go someplace else, that everything is already in place.
So, what makes Panama such a great place to have a plan B? Well, for one thing, it's close to the United States and Canada, and you know, it's like a two and a half hour flight to get from Panama City to Miami. It's a four-hour non-stop flight for me to visit my kids in Austin or friends in Houston, so it's really close. Uh, for US citizens, it's a big plus that Panama uses the US dollar, so you don't have to be concerned about exchange rates. Panama has no hurricanes, which have severely disrupted, uh, people, especially on the East Coast in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina. And they've had a lot of problems with hurricanes recently. Also, Panama has very affordable health care, even without insurance. So, you can go see a doctor for $15 or $20 or go to the public hospital where it's only $2 to see a doctor. So, you don't have to worry about those really high, um, costs for health care that could bankrupt some people if they had something serious that happened to them and they didn't have insurance. Um, also, there are a lot of different places that you can live in Panama with a lot of different, uh, lifestyle types, a lot of different budgets. You can live in Panama City, you can live on the beaches, you can live in the mountains, you can live in a small colonial town. Um, there's something, uh, for every single budget. If you make at least $1,000 a month as a single person, or I would say $1,200 or $1,400 as a couple, you can live well in some places here in Panama, but not in all places.
The other good thing about Panama, it has very good infrastructure. The internet's good. The electricity is very good most of the time. Now, once in a while, it does go out, but it's usually for five minutes, maybe 15 minutes. It's not very long at all. It's real easy for you to take flights from Panama back to North America or anywhere in the world. If you want to go and explore South America or other places in Central America, Mexico, or even Europe, um, there's daily flights from Panama to go do some exploring. The other thing that I really appreciate the most about Panama is, uh, you know, it's just absolutely beautiful, but also Panama's tough on crime, especially drug crime. Um, so we don't have the problems that they have in some other, um, countries, uh, with drug problems and things like that. So Panama isn't perfect, that's for sure. No place is perfect. But for many people, Panama offers something that they'd have a hard time finding if they stayed where they were, and especially at the price that you can get it for here in Panama.
So, I'm going to dive into what kind of thing, why you need a plan B in Panama and how to actually do it. One thing you need to know is that in Panama, you are not able, you can come here as a tourist for 180 days, but you can't just move to Panama. For you to move to Panama, whether it's an emergency situation that you've just got to get out of the country, or it's, uh, just that you want to move here and retire here someday, you need to know that you can't just move here. Um, you can only stay for 180 days as a tourist, but you have to get a residency visa if you want to live longer. And there's several different residency visa options, which I'm going to talk about now.
So, there's a, there's a, a very special visa that has been around for a while, but most people don't know about it. And I wanted to bring that up today because it's a good way for you to give Panama a test drive to decide if you want to stay here longer. You could stay for up to five years with this special visa. Uh, the other thing is if you are five years away from being able to collect your social security or your pension, but you want to go ahead and retire now, you want to go ahead and move to Panama now. This is the perfect visa because it would bridge the gap. So this special visa, it's called a, a, a temporary, it's a temporary visa. And unfortunately, this particular visa is only good for US citizens. Uh, there's some other visa options for people from other countries, but I want to talk about this special five-year visa that's good for people from any country, uh, for US citizens. Um, so it's a legal way for you to stay in Panama for up to five years. The visa is actually good for one year, and then you can renew it for another year, then you can for another year and another year. And it only costs $100 for the renewal. So it's super cheap to do the renewal. You can do that and stay up to five years. The other thing is, unlike being here as a tourist, you can get a driver's license, a Panama driver's license with this visa. So that allows you to be able to drive. And in some cases, you can even get a work permit to be able to work for those five years while you're in Panama. It's just the perfect visa for giving Panama a test drive or bridging the gap. One second. One second. Sorry about that. Buster's sitting right in front of me and he's trying to help.
So, um, one thing that we have a special immigration attorney that we work with for this visa, and the details for the visa, more details about the visa, and also the attorney to work with are in our online Panama Relocation Guide. Now, the relocation guide costs $595, but the attorney is giving you a $600 discount. So, basically, you're getting it for free. Sorry about the tickle in my throat.
Another way you can set up a visa is if you already have social security or you already have pension, um, or an annuity, then you can get a Pensionado visa. Pensionado visa is a super affordable visa, um, that you can, you just need to be in Panama about five days to get that visa, and you'll get a temporary visa. Then about six months later, you'll get your permanent visa, which allows you to live in Panama indefinitely. But the great thing about that visa, which makes it perfect for a plan B, is you can go ahead and get the visa now, but there's no requirement to live in Panama. You just have to come back at least for one day every two years to maintain your Pensionado visa. One of the other big perks about the Pensionado visa is once you get your permanent visa, then you qualify for the Pensionado or Hubado discounts, which we've talked about many times before. It allows you to get 25% off airfare to anywhere in the world. Uh, you can get 25% off your electric bill, 20% off at restaurants, and, um, half price at movie theaters. Um, discounts on any of the subways or buses or anything. So you get a lot of discounts. So it's another way that helps you save even more money, um, whenever you move to Panama. Once again, with the Pensionado visa or any of these other visas, even that five-year special visa, there's no requirement to actually live in Panama once you get that visa. But you can go ahead and have the visa, have it set up, and so that you can come and go and come and go when you want to. But if you know things changed, if you lost your job, or there was, um, something that happened in the town where you live and you just needed to get away, uh, then you already have all that visa already set up.
Another visa option that costs quite a bit more, um, is called the Friendly Nation visa. If you don't have a pension yet, then, and if you're a US citizen, you can get that five-year visa that I talked about. But if you're not a US citizen, then another option for you is called the Friendly Nation visa. And there's four ways to get the Friendly Nation visa. One way is you can deposit $200,000 into a Panama bank account into a three-year CD, or you can spend $200,000 on real estate. You can get a job in Panama. That's another way that you could do it. We did a live stream recently about a lady that said jobs. The best place to find a job in Panama is on LinkedIn. So, you might monitor be monitoring jobs on LinkedIn. Uh, if you're thinking about getting a job in Panama, it's one way to get a visa. Then there's a fourth way to get a Friendly Nation visa where you just set up a corporation, uh, that allows you, uh, to be able to set up a business in Panama. Even if you're doing remote work, um, you can use that corporation, and it's, um, very, very affordable to get a Friendly Nation visa by setting up a corporation. Um, so it's a good, it's a very, either one of those are ways that you can live in Panama if you want to right away, or you can just go ahead and get your plan B set up. Go ahead and get the residency visa, and then, um, you're going to be able to come here anytime that you want to. Reminder, you have to come back at least one day every two years.
Another part of the plan B, um, that I think is really important is in addition to getting a residency visa, is you should also go ahead and set up a Panama bank account and at least move some money into Panama, maybe enough money to live for six months, or enough money to live for. And it wouldn't take very much, you know, $2,000 a month, let's say, uh, that you moved here times six is $12,000. So, if you move $10,000 into a Panama bank account, um, then, you know, you've already got money in Panama because if things happen to where you couldn't instantly just wire money, uh, from wherever you live now into Panama, then it might make it a little bit more difficult. But it's going to give you peace of mind knowing you already have your visa set up. You already have some money in a Panama bank account. Now, different banks have different kind of requirements, but it, um, and it does take about two hours, sometimes a little bit longer to get a Panama bank account set up. They're usually going to want to see your last two years of tax returns, and they also want to see, um, of course, a passport. We do have people in our online Panama Relocation Guide that are called fixers that can go to the bank with you to help expedite the whole bank account process, or your immigration attorney, um, for a fee, they can also help you get your bank account open up. So, you know, it doesn't mean when you get a Panama bank account, it doesn't mean you're going to move all your money to Panama, but just have some money that's already here that could give you money for living expenses, maybe the first, um, three months, six months that you're here in Panama.
The other important aspect about setting up a plan B is knowing where you're going to go in Panama. You know, are you going to move to the city? Are you going to move to the beach? Are you going to move to the mountains? You know, which area is going to fit your budget on how much money you're going to have to work with. And one way to, uh, figure that out is to come on an all-inclusive six-day, seven-night Panama Relocation Tour. We take you all the way across the country. We show you many different areas and many different price points. You'll meet immigration attorneys. You're going to tour a hospital. Um, you're going to meet people that have already moved to the area. So, and they're going to talk about what they like about it and what they don't like about it. Um, so the Panama Relocation Tour, it's a good investment, uh, for you to take to figure out if I needed to move to Panama right away, if I want to move there when I retire, where am I going to move to? So, it gives you, um, the confidence, uh, in making the decision on moving to Panama and knowing exactly where you're going to be moving to.
The best place to move to in Panama, it depends on your budget. Um, it depends on your lifestyle, and it also depends on your health needs and also your weather preferences. Um, maybe you've listened to some of my other live streams where I said at sea level, it's about 90 degrees Fahrenheit plus or minus five. So, no, it's going to be pretty warm in those areas. Some of you, that's perfect. For some of you, that's just too hot. The good thing in Panama, you can pick your ideal temperature by just changing your elevation. For every 1,000 foot increase in elevation, the temperature drops about four degrees. So, you can do the math and figure out what elevation would be best for what you like. I personally like it to be between 75 and 80, maybe 82, um, is just right for me. Um, other people like, you know, they prefer the warmer weather. Some people prefer it cooler, so they're going to go up to a much higher elevation. But there's something for everybody depending on what you like.
One thing to keep in mind if you're wanting to keep your cost down. If you live close to the beach and if, uh, you need air conditioning, if you use air conditioning, and that's going to drive up your cost because of the air conditioning. But if you live at a higher elevation, for maybe just ceiling fans, uh, would work just fine. Having all your windows open for a nice breeze where you don't need air conditioner, you can significantly reduce your cost, uh, if you live in an area where you're not going to need an air conditioner. The other important thing, and this is something you'll learn during a Panama Relocation Tour, is matching your budget to the right area. Some places like Panama City, Coronado, and now even Boquete are quite expensive. Um, you know, you'd be hard-pressed to live there as a single person for, I would say, less than $1,500, $1,800 a month. You can, um, it would be hard to find the right place. There are places you can live, but it would be a little bit harder to find the right place. If you want to have many more options, um, and a more affordable price range, then there's other places you can live in Panama. For example, we just did a video that we released of Chris talking about living in David, Panama, which is on the far, far western side of Panama. It's a big city. Um, it has malls, it has an airport, it has shopping centers, it has everything you need, and the cost of living is less than half of what it would cost to live in Panama City. So, that's one example of, um, there are always going to be places that you can live. Another good example is if you live, if you want a beach community, but Coronado is a little bit too expensive and Pedasí is too expensive. If you live in the beach communities between Chitré and Los Tablos, those are going to be at least 50% less than it would be in Pedasí or Coronado or San Carlos. So regardless of what your budget is, there's going to be a place in Panama that's going to fit it perfectly.
So, some, you know, just some ideas of some different areas. Panama City, of course, is modern, very urban, very walkable. Um, and it has a lot of high-rise, um, buildings, condos, and apartments. Um, similar, you know, similar to David. It's an affordable big city. It has hospitals and shopping and airports. There aren't very many high-rises there at all, but you can get a nice single-family home to live in for $400 to $700 a month in David. And those, those prices are unheard of in Panama City. Of course, the Coronado, Gorgona, San Carlos area, we've done many, many videos about that. And if you want beach lifestyle that's close to Panama City, about two hours west of Panama City, then that's a perfect place for you. But you need to keep in mind that in the Gorgona, Coronado area, there's not a big private hospital there. There's a small public hospital in San Carlos, and there's a public hospital in Penonomé, which is about 40 minutes away. But for any major medical situations, you would probably have to go back to Panama City if you lived in the Gorgona, Coronado area. So if you have health problems, then, uh, being close to a hospital should be a top consideration. Of course, there's the mountain towns of Antón Valley, which has that weather that's like 80 degrees, 82 degrees during the day, or if you wanted a little bit cooler, Boquete or Volcán are certainly some places that you could live. Each one has a completely different vibe. Each one has completely different amenities. So, once again, the best way to learn about those areas is come to Panama to visit and, um, check out these different areas. Maybe watch our videos, come up with a short list, then come to Panama and do some private tours in those areas so you can learn the most about it. We have information about private tours on our website at PanamaRelocationTours.com.
Um, the other thing is matching your budget. Like I said, some places are just much more expensive than others. Um, so you don't get your heart set on one area, um, until you know what the costs are going to be in that area. But just know that there's always going to be a place just down the road, less than an hour away, that's going to have prices that are much more affordable. So, a Panama Relocation Tour is one of the best ways for you to, um, deter, you know, for you to make a plan B to know where am I going to go, what's it going to cost to live there, so you already have those things figured out before you actually move to Panama.
Of course, during the tour, we also educate you. Every single day, the whole time the bus is moving, we have people on a microphone that are talking about how to get your pets here, how to health insurance, co, um, um, insurance, all kinds of different things. How to get a driver's license, how to buy a car. So, you're going to learn about all of those things during the tour. If a tour is just not in your budget, and I know it's not for everybody, we also offer something called our Online Panama Relocation Guide. You can see information about that on our website at Panama Relocation Tours. Just click on the online guide tab, and it's like a home study course on how to move to Panama. So, all, all that information you're going to get during a tour, it's also in the online guide. So you can just search, you know, health insurance options. You can search getting my pets there, you know, how to get a driver's license. So that information is in the on the tour, but it's also in the online guide. By the way, if you come on a Panama Relocation Tour, after the tour, you get the online guide for free. So you're always going to have that as a resource to be able to look it up and see what, um, you need to do.
So, some of the other things that you need for your plan B is to build your team. And that's one of the things we do during the tour and also in the online guide. You need to know which immigration attorney are you going to use? Which insurance broker? You know, can I get health insurance? Um, so you might want to have a conversation with an insurance broker before you even, uh, make Panama the place that you're going to move to. But you also need to know real estate contacts who can help you find a place to live within the budget that you need. Banking contacts. Which banks do we recommend? Especially if you don't speak Spanish, we recommend that you use a bank that has online banking in English and also that has an app that's in English. There's some banks that do that. The majority of banks don't. In the online guide, we have a list of the banks that have online banking in English and an app in English. But you also need banking contacts. You need pet relocation help. There's people before you come to Panama and people after you get to Panama that can help get your pets into the country. And if you're going to be shipping things, uh, whether it's just a couple of totes or what it's your whole household, uh, you need some recommendation on who's going to be able to help you get all of your things here. So, we have all that information in our online Panama Relocation Guide.
The other thing that's in our guide and that you'll also learn during the tour is what documents do you need to get a visa? Of course, the immigration attorney that we recommend can give you that information, too. Different visas require different things. Um, I can tell you some things that are going to be universal regardless of which visa you get. Even the five-year visa, you're going to need a national criminal report. Regardless of which visa you get, you're going to have to do that. But we tell you the quick and easy way to get that visa, that, uh, criminal report in about one hour for about $50. The other thing, if you're married, you're going to need a certified copy of your marriage certificate. And if minor children are moving with you, then you're going to need their birth certificate. Adults don't need a birth certificate. Um, if you're getting a visa that has income requirements, like the Pensionado visa or the Friendly Nation visa, then you're going to need proof of income. Uh, either bank statements, or you're going to need, um, a pension letter that shows that you've got a certain amount of money coming in every single month. But we give you, we give you that information in the online guide so that you'll know. But when you already know what documents that you need, um, then, and they can't be more than six months old, but when you know what documents you need, then you can move forward, uh, with working on your plan B of getting that visa.
The other thing that's really important that some people just gloss over, even though health and, uh, health care is very affordable in Panama. Like I said, it's only $15, $20 to see a doctor. You go to the public hospital, it's $2. You still need to plan for the what-ifs. You know, what if you have a stroke? What if you have a heart attack? What if you have an automobile accident? Anything that could get you admitted into the hospital, um, or surgery or something like that, then it could cost quite a bit more money. So, you need to find out what are your health insurance options when you move to Panama. In their online guide, we have recommendations of several different insurance brokers that are really good at finding the best insurance plan for the least amount of money. Example, there is one insurance plan called the Family Medical Plan. And if you're between 60 and 69 years old, it's only $117 a month. Super affordable, probably way less than you're paying for insurance where you are. Um, and it's going to cover you at many, many hospitals. It covers all of 100% of all emergencies and maybe 80% of other things that's going to cover. But, um, do you qualify? That's the question. If you have pre-existing conditions, then if you have too many pre-existing conditions, you may not be able to get health insurance in Panama. If, but with Family Medical Plan, you can have up to three pre-existing conditions, and they're still going to give you insurance. However, it's going to exclude those pre-existing conditions and anything related to them for the first two years, and then after that, it will cover it at 50%. If you're a US citizen and you can, if you can get a Medicare Advantage, then it's the ideal situation because it's going to cover emergencies in Panama, urgent care and emergencies, and it has no exclusions for pre-existing conditions. There's also, if you live in Panama City, there's something called the Mini Med Expat Health membership that has no exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Now, it doesn't cover emergencies, but it's going to cover unlimited doctor visits, lab work, X-rays, um, three specialist visits a year, and also minor emergencies that, you know, you're in the emergency room and it costs less than $500. Um, there's no fee for that. It's included in your membership. So, your plan B should definitely, definitely include health care planning, especially if you take any medications or you have some chronic illnesses.
Speaking of medications, um, Panama, many of the medications in Panama are significantly less than where you are now. Even if you're, there's no insurance involved, it's going to cost less. But some medications are going to cost more. And in some situations, um, the medication that you take may not be available. Now, there may be an alternative that's available, but there might not be an alternative that's available. So, another thing to research before you come to Panama is does Panama have the medications that you take and what's it going to cost? We have a on our website at Panama Relocation Tours in the upper right-hand corner. If you search drugs, D-R-U-G-S, we have a link to two pharmacies in there that you can put in the name of your medication and see do they have it and what does it cost. Now, if it's not on there, if your medication is not on there, it doesn't mean that it's not available in Panama. It's just that those two pharmacies don't have it. Some medications are only available through hospital pharmacies, like private hospital pharmacies. So, we even have recommendations in the online guide on someone that you can pay her $20 and she'll call every single hospital and find out do they have your medications and what they're going to cost so you know exactly which one to go to that's going to have the very best price.
So, um, the other important thing is if you have pets or if you're planning to bring some things to Panama, um, when you're setting up your plan B, you've got to plan ahead. Are you going to get your pets here? Are you going to bring them with you on the airplane? If it's small enough to go underneath the seat, like this Buster that's sitting right in front of me, um, then they can, you know, just fly in the cabin with you. Larger pets are going to have to fly in cargo. If you don't want your pet to fly in cargo, then you have some other options. We have a recommendation for a company that can drive you and your pets to Panama. Um, we also have a recommendation for a shared charter flight that your pet could fly right in cabin with you and you don't even need a crate for them. So, we have all kinds of different ways to help get your pets here. But be thinking about and planning well in advance because you've got this house full of stuff that you've been collecting for 20, 30, 40 years. What are you going to do with it? So, with your plan B, start thinking about are you going to start getting rid of some of those things? Are you going to rent your house out completely furnished and just leave everything right there? Um, are you going to bring some of the things with you? Um, some things, are you going to bring all your things? So, these are all things that you need to start thinking about whenever you're planning your plan B.
Now, we do highly recommend that when you come to Panama, don't rush into buying real estate. Even that Friendly Nation visa option where you can buy real estate with $200,000. I really don't recommend that you do that because so, so many times when you first get here to Panama, you don't know what the right price is. You don't even know for sure that you're going to like that area, and you might move in six months. If you buy something, you're stuck. You, you can't really move. You got to stay there. But if you just rent, um, you can move every three months, you can move every six months till you find just the perfect spot that you're going to like. So, we really make recommend that you don't rush into, um, buying any kind of real estate.
So, having a plan B doesn't mean that you're afraid. It doesn't mean that you, you know, the sky is falling, like we said. It doesn't mean, um, um, it just means that you're being wise, that you're planning ahead. And you might not need that plan B until later this year. You might need it next year. You might need it in five years. But it's good to start thinking about, um, all of those things that I've talked about because it's going to give you peace of mind knowing if things change quickly, if you lost your job tomorrow, if, um, you had, you know, just things changed in the town where you live, if things change quickly, you already know where you're going to go, um, how you're going to get there legally, what your budget's going to work like, if considering no job anymore, and you know who you can go to for help. We're going to be here since 2010. Uh, we've been helping people move to Panama the right way. We've helped tens of thousands of people move to Panama. After 300, we're doing tour number 334 right now. Plus, we've done about 900 private tours. So, we've got this system down on how to get moved to Panama the right way. And we'd love to help you move to Panama, too.
So, if you're really serious about creating a plan B in Panama, the first step is getting educated. You can come on a Panama Relocation Tour and, uh, get deep dive information about all the different areas, or you can do a private tour in Panama, or just do get the online Panama Relocation Guide. We have even have a section in the online guide on how to do a self-guided tour. If you don't want to pay someone else, if you just want to rent a car, uh, then we're going to, um, show you how you can rent a car, and give you suggestions on where to go, what to do, what to check out, uh, where to stay while you're doing in different towns. So, we help you with all of those things and step-by-step instructions on getting a visa, getting your pets here, getting a driver's license. All those things are covered during a Panama Relocation Tour or, um, in the online Panama Relocation Guide.
So, I covered a whole lot of territory in 30 minutes there in a short period of time. And, uh, just one thing that I want to mention again is a special visa. It's actually been around for a while, but most people didn't even know about it. And I haven't mentioned it because it really hasn't been something that too many people would have been interested in. But now we're seeing more and more people are interested in moving to Panama two, three, four, five years before they're going to collect social security or their pension, but they want to be able to do it legally. You know, some people, they come here and they do a border hop every 90 days so they can keep on driving. Well, border hops get expensive. And you also run into the risk that if you're not out of the country at least 30 days, they might not let you back in. And if you've got pets, uh, that are waiting for you to come home and a pet sitter that has to leave tomorrow, that could be a really big problem. So, this special five-year visa makes it so easy.
So, some of the requirements for the five-year visa, first of all, there's a $100 fee at immigration. Um, you have to show some kind of a connection to the country. And the connection to the country, um, I actually have an article about it on our website, but I'll just tell you. It could be that you got a job. It could be that you're coming here to study at perhaps the Florida State University that's in Panama City. It could be that you just set up a corporation in Panama. So, that's also showing a connection. The easiest and quickest way is to set up a corporation. Um, and then you're going to need your national criminal report. You need to plan to be in Panama for a couple of days to get this visa. And like I said, it's good for one year, and then you can renew it for another year and another year and another year so that you can be in Panama for five years total before to give you time to make sure Panama is right for you, or waiting for you to be able to collect your social security or your pension so that you can qualify for a Pensionado visa. So, this five-year visa is the perfect bridge between when you're going to move to Panama and when you can qualify for a Pensionado visa. If you look on our website at Panama Relocation Tours, I actually have an article about, um, staying in Panama for five years before you qualify for a visa. And it has more details in there. Plus, we have more details in our online Panama Relocation Guide. And now the relocation guide costs $595, but we worked out a special deal with one of our immigration attorneys that, um, they've reduced their fees a little more than $600 on for a corporation and their legal fees. They've cut those by $600. So, basically, you get the fee, and you're getting $600 discount on getting the five-year visa. So, you know, you're plus you're going to still have all that other information. So, um, if anybody, and by the way, with a five-year visa, yes, you can bring your spouse, yes, you can bring your children, yes, you can bring your pets with you, uh, when you get that five-year visa. Um, so there's more details about it in the online guide, and I have a little bit of information on our website at Panama Relocation Tours.
So, I've covered a lot of territory about setting up a plan B, and it's something that I think everybody should think about of, you know, if things change real quickly, what are you going to do? What are where are you going to go? You know, how can you go there legally? So, if anybody has some questions for me about creating a plan B here in Panama, you are welcome to, um, type them into the chat window. The rules are you have to put three question marks in front of it so that I know it's a question. So, um, Sunshine says, "For the five-year visa, can an adult child's connection to Panama be that their parents are there?" No, it cannot. So, um, for an adult child, they're going to have to get their own five-year visa. Um, only minor children can be added to that visa. Just because you're living here doesn't mean your adult child could child could come. The only way an adult child could come is if you were Panamanian, then they could. But an adult child's going to have to get their own five-year visa. It's so affordable. It's not a big, it's, it's super easy to get it. So, they can just get their own visa.
So, another question. If you have the Pensionado visa, can you contribute to the Panama Social Security system to have access to public hospitals if you're uninsurable due to pre-existing conditions? Yes, you can contribute to the CSS system. Um, I have details about that in our online Panama Relocation Guide on how much you have to contribute based on your income and also how to do it. The other really good thing about signing up for CSS or the Social Security system, there's several things. One of them, the day you sign up, you are instantly covered. If you needed, if you had a heart attack or stroke, you're instantly covered. All surgeries are covered 100%. No out-of-pocket expense. Medications are covered 100%. Also, after you've contributed for a certain amount of time, you even get a pension. They pay you a pension. Um, if you have a job and you get hurt on your job, um, they're going to pay you unemployment while you're, um, disabled from working on your job. So, contributing to the Social Security system is an excellent way to keep your health care costs down really, really low and also, um, take, take all the benefits in.
Next question. By the way, if your question scrolls up, you might have to copy and paste it and type it in a second time. Uh, nice to see you again. Can you talk a little bit about bringing goods using totes? Do we need physical documentation to bring them in? So, if you're bringing totes, um, and usually people use a 27-gallon tote. You can buy those at Home Depot or Lowe's. They sell them on Amazon also or Costco. Um, so the other totes are maybe too big and too heavy. But a 27-gallon tote is what's used most often. If you're just going to bring one or maybe two, you could bring that on the airplane with you as extra luggage. But what I really advise that you do is use one of our mail forwarding companies that we work with, and you would have the totes shipped to Florida. You could do that with FedEx Ground or, um, there's other ways that you could get the totes to Florida, and then they will from Florida, it will be brought directly to your house. Then you don't have to deal with carrying those totes around the airport and getting through customs and getting transportation for the totes. It's much better to just ship them.
Next question. How long do you have social security deposit showing in the bank account? At least one month of social security showing in your bank account. Then you can get that Pensionado visa. Once again, if you have, um, a question, you got to make sure that you put the three question marks in front of your question. Are there any moving companies that, um, want to drive there from Texas? So, in our online Panama Relocation Guide, we have recommendations for international moving companies. We have recommendations for mail forwarding companies that can get your, um, totes or packages here. Um, we also have recommendations for a company that can drive you from Texas, uh, to Panama. We've also done a couple of YouTube live streams about those, too. So, check that out.
Is there someone who can go to the food markets with me so I don't get cheated? Well, you don't, you know, at the food markets, they usually have the price that's published, so you don't have to worry about it. I think, um, if you just get someone that's lived in Panama for a little while to go with you the first time, you'll see the majority of Panamanians are very, very honest and they're not going to cheat you. And if it says it's five for a dollar, then it's five for a dollar. So you don't have to worry about being cheated from a different price.
Do you know K through 12 schools in the areas visited during the tours of middle schoolers and preschoolers? So, during a Panama Relocation Tour, we do not visit any schools. Um, if you go on a private tour and you're primarily interested in checking out schools, then I would recommend, um, going on a private tour. Then they can take you to some of the different schools. Also on our website at Panama Relocation Tours in the upper right-hand corner, type in schools, and it's going to have a list of international schools. Now, some of them in Panama City are quite expensive. The further west you go, the more affordable they're going to be. But we don't check out schools during a tour.
What is the required income for a Pensionado visa? Good question. I should have brought that up earlier. So, for you to qualify for a Pensionado visa, you need to have a lifetime income for one person of at least $1,000 a month. If it's a couple applying together, then you need to show an, a lifetime income of at least $1,250 a month.
But can you open a bank account with your temporary visa? Yes, you can open a bank account with a temporary visa. One other thing that I should mention about having a bank account. Uh, when you get your bank account in Panama, then they're going to issue you a debit card. And there is like $5 per month.
fraud prevention fee for that debit card. So if you don't want to pay that $5 a month, you might want to decline uh the debit card and not use it. But the debit card does make it so much easier to get cash out of an ATM machine. You can use it to pay for groceries. You can use it for all kinds of things.
Now, when you do open up a Penma bank account, you're supposed to have activity at least every six months or they could freeze your account. Some of them won't. If you just make a phone call or send an email, then they won't. But if you have that debit card, you could use it anywhere and then that would be activity in your account.
How soon you expect a hospital to open in Bokeete? I have no idea when or if a hospital's ever going to open up. um in bokeh.
What's the difference between the friendly nation visa and the special visa? What's the visa called? So the the special visa, it's only available for five years. It's never going to lead to a permanent visa. It allows you to live in Panama for five years, but after that, if you want to continue living in Panama, you're going to have to either get the friendly nation visa or the pensionado visa or one of the other visas that are available. The special visa is only for five years.
The friendly nation visa, it takes three years to get a permanent visa with that. But once you do get the permanent visa that allows you to live in Panama indefinitely.
And next question, how much do you pay into the social security system? So I guess you mean the Panama social security system. The amount that you pay depends on what your income is. So, the minimum payment um is $47 a month uh to pay into it.
Will the will the train be running soon through Devid and Coronado? No, they haven't even started building it yet. They're not going to start building the train until uh next year.
Is the climate in Devid hot? Yes, the climate in Devid's hot.
By the way, time out a little bit. I just want to remind everybody that on Thursday, we have a brand new video coming out. We've interviewed Joan, who lives in a de Anton, which is about two and a half hours west of Panama City, but it's up on the Highlands where it's a little bit cooler. um So after this live stream, you might want to go to our YouTube channel at Panama Relocation Tours and set a reminder to watch it. It's going to go live at 5:00 Central time on Thursday.
um How much are the visas? I see the question, but I can't click on it. So, how much are the visas? So, the special visa that I talked about for one person um for um it's about $2,000 to get that visa. That includes the legal fees, the corporation, the immigration fees, multinational, your ID card, and everything. So, it's a couple thousand. And then for a couple uh for both of you to get that visa, it's about $3,000 for that visa.
For the pensionado visa, the fees are going to be about 1,400 uh for one person for the pinionado visa or 1,400 I'm sorry. Yeah, 1,400 for one, 2,400 for two. And now these are if you're using our immigration attorneys which offer a big discount to people. If you go with some other immigration attorney, the fees could be twice that much. So, if you want a discount, then you would use our immigration attorneys.
Uh, does owning a recently purchased home in Panama count as the connection to the country required for the 5-year visa? No, it does not um count towards the 5-year visa. However, um recently purchased home in Pakama, if it was at least $200,000, then you may be able to get that to count towards a friendly nation visa. You'd have to talk to an immigration attorney. It depends on how recent recent is like in the last month. um because not all properties qualify for the friendly nation visa.
Can I get a pension auto visa and my husband get a work visa until he gets a social security? So you can do that where one person gets there isn't a thing called a work visa that that isn't a thing. A pensionado visa you cannot work in Panama. So if you want to work if you want to sell something you want to sell the earrings you make or if you want to start a business and you don't want to get the pension ID visa because you can't get the work permit. But if you want to just move here and be retired, the pension autoado visa is perfect for you. If you want to get if you want to be able to work in Panama, then you need to get the friendly nation visa because you can get a work permit with that visa.
The other thing I should mention, uh, Brooke, is that if your husband does not want to work, um, and if your pension is at least $1,250, then you can both get a pension auto visa.
um Do the storage places deliver? Do I need to hire a different company? So, if you mean the if you put stuff in storage, um, then no, they're not going to deliver to you. you'd have to get a taxi to go with you to pick it up. If you use the um mail forwarding companies and you deliver totes to Florida and then they deliver the bring everything to Panama, then yes, they deliver it right to your house.
Uh, when shot shipping totes from Canada, you have to ship them to Florida first. Do you have to pay duties? So, yes, you have to ship them to Florida first. And I don't think you have to pay duties because it's it's it's not something you're selling. It's your own personal items. But the best thing to do is contact one of the mail forwarding companies um that has that office in Florida and find out directly from them. If you have our online Panama relocation guide, just search mail forwarding and there's a complete list of them organized by cities.
um I want to live extra cheap since I want annual stem cell treatments in Mexico that you use. Have you seen incredible results from the sessions you and other members have used? So, yeah, I get stem cells every year in Mexico. Now, I don't have any aches or pains or illnesses. um But I get them for anti-aging because supposedly as you get older, you have less and less stem cells and the ones that you have are not as strong. So that's why I get stem cells every year. Now, they don't cost very much. I pay like $1,500 a year to get my stem cells. So, it doesn't cost very much. We do have a video about uh stem cells where I interviewed the doctor that I go to in Mexico um on our YouTube channel. Also, check that out if you're interested in it.
Can I work with clients in the US over the internet as a pension auto visa? Yes, with a pension auto visa, you can work with clients that are not in Panama. You just can't sell anything to anybody in Panama.
um If you have a pensionado visa, how can I find out about the Panama SSN or social security? If you have our online Panama relocation guide, just search CSS um in the online guide and we have a lot of details about it there.
uh Is a five-year visa $100 initially and then $100 a near a year to renew? It's $100 initially and $100 a year to renew. Yes.
um Someone asked, "How often is the online Panama relocation guide updated?" um I updated at least two or three times a month. um Just today I did two new updates to it, which are very important updates, especially if you're a veteran. um If you have the online Panama relocation guide, look at the May updates for important veteran information.
uh Do you have to be near retirement age in order to get the special visa? Is there an extra fee for setting up a corporation for this visa? So, you don't have to be. We just had someone uh this week uh that got that visa and he's 50 and his wife is 49 and they got that special visa because they work remotely and they want to be able to live in Panama for five years just to see what it's like to live in Panama for five years. um Then they might at the end of it they might decide they want to go ahead and get a different visa, but it gives them a chance to give Panama a test drive.
So those those prices that I quoted, um, it includes the cost of the corporation. Like I said, the attorney that we're working with for this special visa who has the most experience with it. um He's giving all of our clients a $600 discount. um So when you get the online Panama relocation guide that cost $600, you basically get that money back because of the discount for the visa. He also gives discounts for the pension auto visa and discounts for the friendly nation visa. So either way, you're going to be saving money on getting the visa, plus you'll get all the information that you need about relocating to Panama.
I'm not seeing information in this in the guide. So in the guide, search five years the number five years and then that has information about that visa.
On the pension auto visa, are you required to pay into Panama Social Security? No, you're not. When you get the pension auto visa, you are not required to pay into Social Security in Panama. You can if you want to, but you're not required to.
Are Amazon packages delivered to your door? So that's if there's some ways that you can order some Amazon items and they're delivered directly to your door. But many if you want to have the full array of all the different things that you can buy from Amazon, then they're usually not delivered to your door. Instead, they're going to be delivered to the office of the mail forwarding company um that's in the town where you live and they're going to send an email says you have a package. So you just go there to get a package the next time you go into town to buy some more pineapples.
um Is the elevator escalator industry protected? So, I don't know if it is or not. If you look on uh our website, we have an article called the professional residency visa and it's how you can get a visa based on having a bachelor's degree. And in that article, there's a link to the protected professions. So, look at that and you can see if it's on that list.
Next question. Do the resources you recommend in the online guide consult on best strategy for your visa, health insurance, moving goods based on your needs before you start the process? Yes, they do. So, that's a good question because if you um if you contact one of the immigration attorneys and you tell them, you know, I would like to move to Panama and this is my situation. you know, I'm not going to get a pension for 3 years. uh So what are my visa options? They're going to tell you, well, you could get this 5-year visa or you could get a friendly nation visa. One's going to cost you a couple thousand dollar right now. The other one, you're going to have to uh spend $200,000 to invest in a three-year CD, or you're going to have to set up a corporation, and it's going to have cost of about $6,000 total. So, they'll give you all the different options and then you pick the one that's best for you.
Same thing with health insurance. We have a list of insurance agents. You contact them. um They're going to say, "Do you have any pre-existing conditions?" You're going to say, "Well, yeah, I take this pill, this pill, this pill." And then they're going to um let you know which insurance options are going to be available to you and what it's going to cost. So, with all of those things, same thing with moving your household goods. We have a list of um moving companies and you can say if I ship a a 20 if I ship one pallet that's you know 4x4 I'm sorry 6x6 by 8 ft tall what's that going to cost versus if I ship a 20ft container and I bring even more stuff and then you can do the comparison and decide how much you want to spend before you ship things to Panama.
You need to know the majority of places in Panama come completely furnished. And even if you rent a place that's not furnished, you can buy furniture here. um And whatever it would cost to ship your things here, um, there's a good chance that you could buy it all brand new for less money here. Now, you might want to bring your family pictures and your favorite blanket and, you know, a picture that your kids painted or something. There might be some things you want to bring, but as far as shipping furniture, you probably don't want to do that because you can you can buy furniture here.
So, can you get Panama citizenship after the pensionado visa? Yes. After you get your permanent visa for the pensionado visa or the friendly nation visa, 5 years after that, you can apply for citizenship. Now, citizenship is going to require that you take a test in Spanish. um And you have to be able to answer 10 questions in Spanish. By the way, we have study guide and the online Panama relocation guide so you know what the questions are and what the answers are. um So, we have that in there. You also have to do an interview and I think it cost $600 to get citizenship in Panama. So, it's really, really cheap, but you do have to wait the 5 years.
So, one more question, then I'm going to call it a day. Do you need a return ticket to enter Pan if I'm applying for a pension auto visa? So, if you're coming to Panama and you don't have a residency visa, then you do need on to show onward travel. Now, you can do it a couple of different ways. You can have a onward travel, a roundtrip ticket. um There's also ways that you can buy an onward travel ticket for about 10 bucks that you can just show that instead. And we have details about that also in our online Panama relocation guide.
So, um, some of the other benefits of Panama that I didn't mention is that if you are, if you have a remote job and you are not selling any products or services in Panama, then you don't pay any taxes in Panama. If you are selling products or service in Panama, then you're supposed to pay taxes here in Panama. The other big benefit of Panama that makes it a perfect plan B is if you have a remote job, if you're US citizen, you have a remote job working for somebody in another country or even your own business in another country, you're able to deduct up to $132,900 from your income based on the foreign to earn income exclusion. That's $132,900 that you can make and you don't pay any taxes in Panama and you don't pay any taxes on that in the United States either. So, how cool is that? And I think that just makes Panama the perfect place to live so that you can significantly reduce your cost of living, but also significantly reduce the taxes that you're paying as well.
So, there's so much more information that I can share with you, but it would take hours and hours and hours to explain it. All the details are in our online Panama Relocation Guide or we also share it during our Panama Relocation Tours. So, consider both of those. Check out our website at Panama Relocation Tours. If you haven't already done so, make sure and subscribe to our newsletter on the Panama Relocation Tour website because you'll get weekly updates about important topics like foreign earned income exclusion and any new laws that happen or any new things that happen, big changes for veterans in Panama. um And I'll send out updates about that as well.
So, I hope you enjoy the rest of your week. I'll see you again on Thursday uh when we have that new video coming up about living at Vaya De Anton. I hope you all learned something new today. Please consider setting up a plan B. It'll just give you peace of mind to know if things change real quickly or if I lost my job or if I just couldn't afford to retire, where am I going to go? Well, I think Panama's the perfect place to go to and I hope you get educated about it and consider it. Goodbye everybody. Thanks for being here.