I get asked on a weekly basis why, out of all the countries in the world, did I choose Panama to live in?

Well, I thought I would share with you some of the reasons why I chose this small country in Central America as my home as well as some thinking behind my decision.

First, it is worth mentioning that I have been an expat for a very, very long time. I have lived all over North America, I was in the South Pacific between Australia and New Zealand for 4 years, I live in Singapore for a year, the Arctic for 366 days, then I was in the Middle East for 8 years, and I have lived all over Latin America in Brazil, Guatemala, and now, Panama for the last 4 years.

I think it is also worth mentioning that I will most likely live in additional countries in my life, I have residencies and citizenships in more countries, and I spend time travelling and checking out new locations that I think might make sense for either living in as an expat or for setting up businesses, purchasing real estate, or doing banking. 

Anyways, I have already written in this article about a couple of the reasons why I left Abu Dhabi after calling the UAE home for 8 years. To be honest, there were a dozen or more reasons I felt it was time to leave the UAE and find somewhere else, at some point, I will look to flesh out this article and list everything…

But for now, it gives a good snapshot of what was going through my head during that time.

When my wife and I started having the conversation about moving again, we wrote out a shortlist of what we were looking for, a kind of Freedom Criteria; it was something like this:

• Homeschooling is legal 
• Food independent, water independence, and energy independence 
• Stable & safe country
• Pro-business environment
• Zero tax (super important to me on a moral basis)
• US time zone
• Well connected airport because I travel for work and pleasure
• Easy to get residency, that will lead to acquiring another passport
• Good infrastructure and amenities 
• Warm weather, beaches & natural beauty 
• A language that is easy to learn and understand
• Good medical facilities
• A vibrant international community of people
• Somewhere we could have a large home because we homeschool, and I work from home
• Strong asset protection laws

A pretty good list I reckon, and all still important things to me today.

Some of the countries we were looking at were…

Thailand looked good, we love the culture, and the food is amazing, except the visa situation is crappy and will never lead to another citizenship and passport. The cost of living is amazing, but good luck learning Thai. Add to that it is exactly 12 hours different the US time zone, I was already struggling trying to keep US business hours when I lived in Abu Dhabi, this would be even worse!

Portugal was a serious contender, except the Golden Visa was a bit more than I wanted to spend at the time, and the NHR tax system is not what most people think it is, so I would have ended up owing taxes, which is a complete non-starter for me.

Hong Kong was an option five years ago before all the problems erupted with mainland China. My wife and I both loved Hong Kong when we went there for holidays. There is a massive amount of opportunities there for business and lots of money to be made. However, the real estate for anything except a shoebox is insanely expensive, and I homeschool my children, plus I work from home. So we had to cross this off our list.

Costa Rica was in the conversations; I had fond memories of hitchhiking through Costa Rica when I was in my 20s, except nowadays, their immigration process is not great, and they just don’t have the infrastructure of a proper city which is something we really wanted.

There were other countries we played around with, but one by one we crossed off countries, and Panama was the last one standing, it just seemed to tick all the boxes:

✅ Homeschooling is legal; we homeschool both our children and have a good homeschooling community in Panama

✅ Food independent country that can easily feed itself. Add to that, we have the Panama Canal that brings massive amounts of food into the country

✅ Water independence, loads of freshwater lakes and rivers, plus a strong rainy season, all things missing when we lived in the Middle East

✅ Energy independence - Panama doesn’t have much in the way of oil & gas, but they do produce all of their own electricity via hydroelectric dams. Over 20 of their 23 powerplants are hydroelectric

✅ Stable & safe country -  Panama is a politically stable country and Panama is safer than most other countries in the region, plus much safer than US cities

✅ Panama has a pro-business environment. Doing business is easy in the country; Panama is not a nanny state like so many other countries in the West

✅ There is zero income tax in the country if set up correctly

✅ US time zone - half the year we are on Easter Time, and the other half of the year on Central time. Panama actually doesn’t change; the difference is the USA and Canada on daylight savings time that causes the change

✅ Well connected because I travel for work and pleasure - Copa is the oldest airline in the world, and they fly direct all over North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Caribbean. Also, there are international carriers, and you fly direct to places like Istanbul with Turkish Airlines (13 hours direct!)

✅ They have one of the best residency programs in the world, and at the time I did it was even easier than today. Now simply making a real estate purchase of at least $300k USD can qualify you for PR in 30 days or less, in the wold of immigration this is very good

✅ After 5 years of living in Panama and holding PR you can apply for another citizenship and passport

✅ Good infrastructure and amenities - we recently opened the new cruise terminal, a brand new convention center, they have world class restaurants, bars, and cafes, there are activities for families. Compared to Costa Rica, Panama wins hands down in infasturcture

✅✅✅ Warm weather, beaches & natural beauty - Panama is arguably one of the most beautiful countries in the world, you have the Pacific side with Las Pearlas, and the Caribbean side with the San Blas Islands, we have the highlands and mountains in the interior and the Jungles with tons of bird watching and animals 

✅ A language that is easy to learn and understand - Spanish is probably the most easy second language in the world to learn for Native English speakers. Certainly better than Thai…

✅ Good medical facilities - we have a Johns Hopkins Hospital as well as many other internationally renowned hospitals in Panama; I have even done an entire YouTube video just showcasing how excellent the medical facilities are here

✅ Panama has a vibrant international community of people from all over the world, and not just Americans and Canadians, Latinos from all over South America move to Panama for the same reasons we do, so you really have an opportunity to meet tons of amazing people

✅ Somewhere we could have a large home because we homeschool, and I work from home (we ended up getting a 4700-foot penthouse apartment with an amazing view of the Panama Canal for a really excellent price)

✅ Panama is the center of the offshore world and has very strong asset protection laws that are in our favour and protect our privacy

Now after living here the last 4 years I can say we are very happy here. Is the country perfect, no not at all, but after travelling and exploring for over 20 years straight I can tell you that no where is…

But Panama works for my family and both my wife and I are happy with our choice to move here.

If you would like to learn more about Panama and see if it might make sense for you and your family, either as a place to live, or as a place to invest and get a second residency then I invite you to join us for the online workshop I am hosting with my colleagues here. 

Registration is free, however, there are a limited number of spots available so please register today:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_B81YsTQrQgqtaeuzPpo3Fw#/registration

Hope to see you on the presentation, this Saturday 11am Central Time.

Speak soon,

Mikkel

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