Ultimate Pleasure

International Living Postcards--your daily escape

Sunday, August 6, 2006
Panama City, Panama

Take a first step, we encourage you regularly. Do something…anything…today. You can't imagine right now where your initial effort might lead you…how your life might organize itself as a result…but I guarantee you this: You won't regret your action, no matter what form it takes. It's inaction that'll cause you sleepless nights…it's the would've, could've, should'ves that'll keep you awake at 3 a.m. years down the road.

I've no doubt this is true. On the other hand, I also realize that, when you take a first step…things can get complicated.

It can start innocently enough. "Boy, wouldn't it be nice to escape to some sunnier clime?" you might wonder aloud, one icy, gray winter afternoon, almost rhetorically, to your nearest and dearest as he walks through the kitchen door, kicking snow from his boots and rubbing his back after shoveling clear the back walk and driveway for the third time in two weeks.

"Yes, it would," he might respond flatly, setting the snow shovel against the wall.

That simple, articulated yearning for snow-free winters might lead you…who knows where.

Maybe the pair of you sit down that very afternoon, go online, research tropical destinations on the International Living website, and, almost on a lark, send off an e-mail to one of our Country Consultants in Mexico or Nicaragua…Panama or Honduras…Ecuador or Belize…

Then maybe you return to the kitchen for some hot chocolate and a game of gin rummy before dinner.

Little do you realize that you've begun a conversation that could reinvent your life. For, next morning, when you again go online, you see, in your e-mail in-box, a response from International Living.

"How can we help you?" our in-country staff is asking.

Well, gee, you think…let's see…maybe you could give me an idea what it would be like to live in your country…and how much it would cost to buy a little house on the beach there.

The conversation that ensues leads to an initial visit to the country…which leads to a real estate tour…which leads to…

Wait a minute…we're getting ahead of ourselves. Already, things have begun to get complicated. Because every step leads to options…which means choices must be made.

Many countries offer year-round sunny skies (sticking with the we-want-to-escape-snowy-winters couple we met earlier). Which one makes most sense for you today? And where, specifically, in that country should you consider? Should you buy a lot to build a house…or buy a ready-made house?

How much time are you going to spend in the country each year? When you're away, would you like to rent your beach house to other sun-seekers? If not (that is, if the place will be vacant for extended periods), should you engage a full-time caretaker? And, if so…how do you find one?

If you're going to rent, you'll need a bank account, from which local expenses can be paid and into which rental fees can be collected.

Regardless, you'll need a telephone installed and electricity service started.

When you're in the country, will you want a car of your own? Or will you rent one? Will you need a driver? A maid? A gardener? Where will you find them?

Depending how much time each year you intend to spend living in your new second home in the sun, will you need a residency visa? Typically, a country offers more than one kind of residency visa…meaning more choices. Which visa is best given your personal circumstances?

If you're making rental income, will you have a local tax obligation? If you decide to resell your turnkey beach home…so you can instead buy a lot and build your own custom beach home…what capital gains tax will be due…and to whom?

Now interested in building a house…where do you find a contractor? An architect? A builder?

Once you're in residence in your sunny Shangri-la, you'll probably want to learn the local language (assuming it's not English, as it is in Belize and the Bay Islands of Honduras). Where's the best program?

Having mastered the local lingo, what next? How will you fill all those sunny days? Maybe you'd like to start a business? Volunteer at a local school or orphanage? Start an expat community group? Join a bridge club? Renovate old colonial haciendas and flip them for profit? Buy up stretches of beachfront for resale to other sun-seekers following in your footsteps?

If you're considering some profit-related venture, you'll want to know how entrepreneurs are treated locally. Are there restrictions on foreign investors you should know about? Labor laws that might affect you? Import duties you'll be asked to pay? And, most interesting, what incentives are on offer that you might qualify for given your area of business or investment interest? How should your new venture be structured? How should assets in the country be held? In trust? In a local corporation?

How will you stay in touch with family and friends back home? How will you pay your credit card bills? Manage your investment accounts and portfolios? Renew your U.S. driver's license (yes, you should keep it, no matter where you roam and how long you reside there).

If you have children, it gets more complicated. Where will they go to school? How will you help them navigate the cultural adjustments?

Likewise, if you have a health concern, the complications are greater. What is the standard of medical care in the country you're considering? How would you get to the nearest, best hospital in case of an emergency…and how long would it take?

No matter your interests, priorities, and agendas, you'll want an attorney. You'll probably need a banker, too. Maybe a title insurance agent.

Maybe you're in the market for a business or an investment partner. Or maybe you've got some capital to play with…and are looking for a man (or a woman) with a good idea.

As I said, little did you realize that snowy, gray afternoon that your off-handed yearning for sunshine and freedom could lead to this head-spinning new world of opportunities, options, choices, and decisions…

For 26 years, International Living has operated on a simple premise: The world is alive with opportunity for fun and for profit. Indeed, the opportunities are more and greater every time we take a closer look. Seizing at least some of them is often irresistible. Our job is to help make the road from dream to reality as smooth and as straight as possible.

Therefore, I am delighted to announce today International Living's first-ever "Ultimate Event." It is everything the name implies…and more.

We cover many beats: Retirement, relocation, lifestyle, real estate, investment, business opportunities, emerging markets, offshore structures, taxes, banking, residency, citizenship, visas, banking, travel, adventure, education, employment, import/export…even shopping, festivals, language study, and travel writing. Now, for the first time, we're preparing to cover every one of these beats, at once, live, and in person. The event we've conceived is our biggest, most ambitious ever. No matter what dreams you're entertaining, the Ultimate Event will help make their conversion to reality easier, quicker, and less costly than you might ever imagine possible right now.

We're organizing the four-day event around four big ideas: Retire Overseas, Own a Second Home in the Sun, Reinvent Yourself in Paradise, and Profit Offshore. And to pull off this most comprehensive event in our 26-year history, we're calling in all favors and requesting all hands on deck. As a result, at our first-ever Ultimate Event, you'll meet our in-country staffs, our roving editors and correspondents, our top contacts and colleagues worldwide, fellow expats, friends…even special keynote speaker P.J. O'Rourke, travel writer, world adventurer, and satirist extraordinaire.

We'll cover every destination offering opportunity for the would-be expat, retiree, investor, and traveler right now. And we (all 40+ of our experts in attendance) will tease and tempt you, morning 'til late, with every one of those opportunities we've been able to identify in every one of those destinations to date.

No question--a new life, a retirement, a second home, a fresh start, an investment overseas…none of it is easy…but all of it is possible.

An adventure abroad is full of pleasure and (no argument here) of pain. Let us help you minimize the hassles and maximize the fun…and the profits.

I can say with confidence that no-one else could pull this off. In other words, this is a one-of-a-kind chance to spend four days in the company of the world's most savvy, experienced, qualified, and tested group of international opportunity seekers ever assembled.

I can't wait. And I look forward to meeting you there.

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living

P.S. Almost forgot to mention that we've decided to hold this first-ever Ultimate Event in Panama. This is shaping up to be the biggest offshore event in history. Where else could we stage it but in the world's premier offshore haven? For the four days of our Ultimate Event this October, you'll find every far-flung IL staffer, colleague, friend, and expert in residence at Panama City's new Playa Bonita Resort. Fifteen minutes from downtown…with killer views of the Bay of Panama. Not a bad setting for launching your new life in paradise. Full details here: http://www.il-ireland.com/il/promos/ultimate_event/e_il.html. Register by August 18 and receive a $100 per person Early Bird discount.