Recently Paul Owens of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported, "For the first time in 30 years, United Van Lines Inc. says it moved more people out of Florida than in. Fed-up Floridians are moving to other parts of the country, in part to escape rising property taxes and insurance rates. Many residents now say they can't afford to move elsewhere in Florida because of the huge hit they'd take on taxes. What's more, busy hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005 led to massive rate hikes from the state's largest home insurance companies."

Regrettably, it seems no one told Paul that Panama has no taxes on new construction*, low home insurance rates (about 1/3 of Florida's) and NO HURRICANES!

(* Tax exemptions apply to new construction and last for up to 15 years. The exemption is transferable. The exemption just recently changed to 15 years. In past years it was 20 years. So, resale homes built in the last few years may still have transferable exemptions left for up to 18 years!)

I'll address the cost of living issues in another article but for now let's talk about hurricanes and violent weather - how they can affect your vacation, your retirement, your investment and your peace of mind!

Hurricanes are essentially tropical phenomena, that are driven by the evaporation of a large pool of very warm water somewhere not too far from a shoreline. Local geographic conditions may cause them to strike (i.e. cross the shore) in non-tropical locations, e.g. Florida, Louisiana, Atlantic coast, as well as Japan or Taiwan (where they are called typhoons). Hurricanes can strike the Pacific coast, but less commonly than the Caribbean, typically between about Acapulco and Panama. Source: MadSci Network: Earth Sciences

It's almost something we expect each winter season: we hear horror stories about cancelled trips or worse being stuck in a hotel room, "Riding out the Storm"; we still have those haunting images of poor familes lost and homeless in Louisiana, Florida or some tropical local. Well, your Panama vacation will never be re-scheduled due to natural events and your property investment will always be safe from hurricanes and earthquakes. This translates into lower insurance rates - lower risk, and lower tax rates - the government doesn't need to pool revenues for that inevitable clean up. Panama is blessed by nature, unlike the rest of her Central American neighbors, with no hurricanes - amazingly it's in a special climate area that is hurricane-free. It also has no major earthquakes.