Were you surprised to learn — from yesterday’s Federal Report — that Panama is the favorite spot for American civil servants to retire?

The column looked at all the top countries, and the obvious question is why move? Especially to  a foreign country.

Monte M., a retired IRS worker from Dallas, said he and his wife decided to take the plunge and setup their new home astride the Equator, in Ecuador.  He’s white, she is African-American. He speaks Spanish, she is getting better.

In yesterday column, he explained the reasons they decided to move. And he talked about the local cost of living, climate, and crime their compared to Dallas.  To read the first part of this series, click here.

Here is part to of his report from Ecuador:

Culture: Slow and friendly. If you’re a type A personality, Latin America probably isn’t for you. I find the people to be extremely friendly, kind and helpful. On the other hand, mañana means morning, and tomorrow, and (often) “sometime in the future”. So if you want “German efficiency” here, good luck!

Crime: Petty crime is much more common than in the U.S. So, be very careful of pickpockets, etc. However, violent crime is quite uncommon. I moved from the DFW Metroplex. There seemed to be an average of one murder a day. This area has perhaps 600,000 people but there is much less than a murder a month.

Shopping: I miss Amazon.com. Finding some things can be like a treasure hunt — if they can be found at all. There are malls here that would be at home in any city in the U.S. There is a chain similar to Wal-Mart. There is a grocery chain which stocks some U.S. products, and has everything wrapped and displayed similar to what you would see in the U.S. However, imported goods are often at least twice the price of the U.S. For food, we usually shop at the mercados, which are open air markets with lots of competition. You need to haggle for the best prices, but it can be fun!

Expats: There are an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 expats here. Most are from the U.S. and Canada. Many chose to not integrate into the local culture. Most live in the downtown area or in “Gringolandia”, which is an area of expensive high rises. For people who want to transfer the American lifestyle here, they may find that they are not living less expensively. We choose to integrate with the Ecuadorians.

Medical Care: We have Ecuadorian health insurance. It costs $85/month for both of us. We bought it for catastrophic care and thus far have not used it. However, it received good to great reviews for those who have used it. It covers doctors, hospitalization, medicines and basic eye and dental care.

Since we’re healthy, we just have stayed with the private care providers whom I found when I first arrived. My first experience with a doctor was to get a change to my medication. He spent about 45 minutes with me. No insurance, nurse, reception, paperwork, etc. The cost was $20, future visits for the same issue are free.

Some months later, I had vertigo and couldn’t leave the house. I tried calling my doctor’s cell (it’s common to have their number), he was on vacation. So, I called my veterinarian. Not to be treated by him, but his wife is a physician, she made a house call and it cost $10. The medicines here cost less out of pocket than the co-pay I had in the U.S.

        Read more: Mike Causey

We love our choice. For us it is almost perfect. They use the U.S. dollar as their currency. The tap water is wonderful and cold year round. The Andes are beautiful mountains. The people are warm and friendly. Most people lose weight when they move here. I lost about 20 pounds, my wife about 50. More walking along with enjoyable, healthy food is wonderful! My wife loves the culture, learning Spanish and the beauty of the mountains.

Two things we wish were different: The noise level in our first location was terrible. Car alarms were going off at all hours and for long periods. Fireworks were set off at all hours as well. We’ve moved to a more rural area but still have frequent fireworks on the weekends.

The pollution on the main thoroughfares and in the central city is bad due to lots of diesel fumes. This should be much better in about a year when a new light rail system will be finished.

No location is perfect. An estimated half of the expats leave within two years. Some are homesick. Some miss their families. I even knew an American who moved to India because it was “too cold” here. But, for us, we made the right decision.” — Monte M., retired from the Dallas IRS call center.

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Michael O’Connell

An estimated 83 million people watched the Nov. 21, 1980 episode of the Dallas TV show, making it, at the time, the highest-rated television episode in U.S. history. The episode, entitled “Who Done It?”, answered the question “Who shot J.R.?”.

Source: Wikipedia

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