Panama Cost of Living 2017.
How Much Does it Cost to Live in Panama in 2017?
Every year I write a post about our costs to live in Panama. This beautiful country is always ranked in the top 10 places in the world to retire. This means many people are looking for information.
There are normally two groups that I focus on. People on fixed incomes who are wondering if Panama is right for them and freedom seekers who want to live life by their own rules. If you are looking for a job in Panama forget about it! This country does not offer many well paying jobs so if you want to move here and still earn an income being an entrepreneur or digital nomad is a must.
Things I Recommend if You are Moving to Panama.
1. Live Outside of Panama City. - Panama City traffic is terrible and the housing costs are much higher. Cut your costs by more than 50% by moving to the outlying suburbs or interior of the country.
2. Choose a Gated Community. - Crime is not bad here but taking precautions never hurts. I have never had a problem in 7 years.
3. Do Not Buy a House Immediately. - Too often people come here and buy a house immediately. This is a terrible decision because it takes time to figure out what area of the country suits you.
4. If You Buy in the City Do Not Buy a Car. - This may seem odd but Panama City traffic is absolute mayhem. Uber is strong in Panama plus we have a brand new subway. If you live outside the city a vehicle is a must.
5. Hospitals. - If Health is a concern your best options are near Panama City or David which are the two largest cities.
6. Learn Spanish! - The basics are essential in Panama. It improves your quality of life.
Example of Our House in Panama.
We live in a neighborhood called Arboledas which is situated 40 minutes west of Panama City just off of the Pan-American Highway in Panama Oeste (Panama West). Panama Oeste is a newly created province and the capital of the province is La Chorrera.
Our rent is $650 a month but the rents start at around $450 for houses in Arboledas. Our house is one of the larger models.
The Ten Provinces of Panama.
The most common provinces for expats are Panama, Panama Oeste, Cocle, Chiriqui , Los Santos and Bocas del Toro. When you see the word Comarca on the the map that means regions set aside for indigenous tribes. The native people of Panama are highly respected. In the photo below you can see women representing their tribes at a march.
The Panama Cost of Living has Been Rising. Here is Why.
1. Inflation - The Panama Balboa is pegged to the US Dollar which is being debased. The inflation has slowed slightly but it really stressed the economy as housing costs have risen sharply over the last ten years.
2. Immigration - The Venezuela crisis has caused a huge spike of Venezuelan expats in Panama. This has put a burden on the housing and job markets. Sometimes when I visit Panama City I forget that I live in Panama. Panama is now making it much more difficult for Venezuelan expats to enter and stay in the country. I hope they can fix their countries economy soon.
3. Safe Haven - Big money flows into Panama. This money is used to buy up real estate and agricultural projects. The Panama government recently signed an agreement with the Peoples Republic of China which is sure to bring massive amounts of capital into this small country. The Chinese community in Panama is huge. Panama recently turned their backs on Taiwan and signed an agreement with the PRC.
4. Supply vs. Demand - Panama is a perfect example of the economic law of supply vs. demand. The supply of housing was very low and the demand was high. We have entered a buyers market as many projects are finishing up. This means rent and property costs are coming down slightly for the first time since 1999.
Our Monthly Cost of Living in Panama for 2017.
Housing - $650
Utilities - $50
Car Insurance - $50 per month for a 2013 VW Tiguan.
Food - $300
Two LTE Mobile Phones - Pre-Pay $50 for both.
Cable/Internet/Phone - $90
Health Insurance for two - $200
Gas for the Vehicle - $120
Total - $1550
Our Costs Jumped by almost $330!
Our cost of living in 2017 jumped so much because we have moved to a larger house. We bought a newer vehicle with Steem earned on Steemit and due to business we go to the city much more often.
I have not included our corporation taxes because it is personal information. Most people moving to Panama will not be operating a company. If you do run a business in Panama you have to pay taxes on the money earned within the country.
If You Want to Move to Panama and Apply for Residency I Do Not Refer People to Lawyers.
Lawyers in Panama have been my biggest disappointment. So much money and time wasted over the years. I am not the only one who feels this way. If you are interested in moving to Panama I recommend testing the waters for six months before making a decision.
When it is time to buy a house I recommend working with Kent Davis, he owns Panama Equity Real Estate.
We Live Off of Bitcoin.
Now this may seem odd to many of you but our personal economy is almost 100% reliant on the Bitcoin and Crypto Currency economy. When we factor this in our actual cost of living has dropped by 80% or more this year. We keep our money in Bitcoin and only take dollars out to pay our bills. As Bitcoin continues to rise our costs plummet.
This post is actually very useful by anyone who is evaluating the best country to live with bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Too bad I could not see him in time to repay him. I'll do it with another post from you!
It's a tad more expensive to live in Australia especially for housing (and that's not in a capital city) but some things are similar.
Prices in AU$ 1 : US$0.79
Monthly costs unless stated
Housing - $500pw
Utilities - $150 electricity is now almost $0.30/kw
Car Insurance - $100 depends on car insurance history
Food - $500 approx
Two iphones Mobile Phones - $150 for both.(can do cheaper on prepay with own handset)
Cable/Internet/Phone - $100
Health Insurance for two - $250
Gas for the Vehicle - $AU $1.30/l
Where I live is sub tropical near the ocean so not too hot rarely over 32c Ave max 29c / min 23c and not too cold winter max 21c/ min 10c
Downside for anyone looking for expat lifestyle is getting a residency Visa is very difficult and expensive. We have plenty of people who do live as expats here especially British, South African, Canadian and a few from USA.
I like this post a lot because I find cost of living data interesting (also helpful for travels) and because I lived in Boquete, Panama for about 6 months in 2011-2012. I'm new to SteemIt and when I saw in your profile the other day that you lived in Panama I decided to follow in case you wrote up any Panama specific posts. Glad to see one so soon.
Our move to Boquete was the first time my family had left our home country for more than a multi-day trip and despite the short stay it was a real move. We sold our car and our household goods were in storage. I hope I always remember the feeling of riding the bus from David into Boquete on the night we arrived and wondering if I'd made the right decision. It turned out to be a highlight of our lives to date.
In any case we saved significantly during our time there. Our monthly cost of living turned out to be about $1300 per month. We didn't get a vehicle so we just used taxis and buses (and walked a lot). The largest expense was our $500/month apartment.
Have you been to El Valle de Anton? If I needed to be near Panama City but wanted to avoid the sea-level heat I think I would try to live there.
I'm pretty curious to see the new improvement in public transport in PTY whenever I return. I think in 2012 they had just eliminated the old school buses for city bus use.
Enjoy some plantains for me!
Panama City has changed a ton since 2012. The public system is much better now but overwhelmed. El Valle is one of my favorite places in Panama but I could not live there because I don't do well with mold. Due to the moderate climate and constant rain the mold flourishes.
That makes sense about El Valle and mold. I remember it being quite wet.
A tip for any readers who are considering moving to Panama: If you search for information on the "Friendly Nations" residency option you might find some helpful information on gaining residency. I don't know the best resource to link to for that (perhaps @hilarski does or has more to say on that topic).
I don't help lawyers in any way. ; )
I love the Panama posts! I plan to move three within the next 18 months so the information you offer is really valuable to me.
Do you know where in Panama you plan to move to yet? I chose Boquete because I read of it's pleasant climate due to the elevation (I'd always thought of Panama as a hot, humid place prior to that. Hot and humid is quite true of Panama City, David and other sea level locales).
Glad to answer other questions if I can although my experience is not as extensive as Randy's.
We also live in Panama, but we live in Volcan and love it here. It's so quiet, but there is a great expat community here. I am new to steemit but plan to do some writing about things around here. :)
Wow, so cool that our Panama peeps are showing up!
I've been chatting with your mom on here some. Sounds like she enjoys when she gets to come visit! We live up in Volcan and love it here. The weather is nice! I'm sitting in a sweatshirt right now - chilly night! Have a good one! Hope we can meet up sometime. I've gotten 3 other people in Volcan into steemit. :)
well panama is the best place and you are really living the life of a lifetime :)
This is great information, thanks very much for sharing. I'm currently weighing options between Mexico and Panama. saludos!
Our Crypto community is amazing.
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Do they have fast internet there? Yeah, that's my main concern 🤣
For sure, not as fast as you are used to but it will suffice. The mobile system is LTE so it comes in handy if the cable internet speed slows.
I might have to take a trip there in 2018 😎
The internet in Panama is better than the internet in Australia. Do it! Come on down @stackin!
I might have too @choogirl 😂💯
funny enough that's the first thing I thought about. But it can hardly be
as bad as in (rural) Ireland. Unless one is willing to spend more than $100,- for internet alone a month (satellite) it really sucks. Having a teen in the house with a phone and an 8 and a 9 year old who love their gaming, makes our connection sooooo slow.
Very frank and open account of living in Panama - thanks for the insight. Haven't been myself but know Costa Rica next door, which I love!
This is great and useful information, thx so much for sharing this with us all. I've always been curious about loving somewhere like this after reading the 4 hour workweek year ago. Maybe one day our small business will take off and it will be an option.
Great job Randy! How about you do another post on just the Panama City traffic? It would be great to see this mayhem on video. ;-)