The best places to retire? Start thinking outside of the box, or the United States in this case. Have you considered Honduras?
Honduras is a Constitutional Democratic Republic with three independent branches of government, the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary to provide checks and balances to any single concentration of power. Elections, like the United States are held every four years for president and his three, yes three vice presidents!Honduras has never had a civil war and is not a country that boasts guerrilla activity or terrorists. Of course, this is not to say that an American tourist should be walking alone at night in the big cities, common sense should prevail.
Real estate is still very affordable on the mainland and in the Bay Islands, like Guanaja, Roatan and Utila, a waterfront lot on the Caribbean can still be had for under $100,000 US. The islanders are warm, friendly and many speak English.
The currency in Honduras is the Lempira and is named after a national hero that led the unsuccessful resistance to the Spanish conquistadors. One US dollar equals about nineteen Lempira or “limps”, as everyone calls them, and when you buy locally and see all the prices in hundreds of limps it confuses Americans at first, but just divide by twenty and you will be pretty close.
Honduras, lies in the tropics and while temperatures are affected by what elevation you are at, generally speaking temperatures range from roughly seventy degrees at night to about eighty five degrees in the day time. This would be the average for the year around. The rainy season is from October through January with the average for the year at about ten and one half inches per month.
The government offers several types of residency. One type requires that you prove $2,500 per month income and another that you make a $50,000 real estate investment. There are various other types of residency, but many retirees just choose to leave the country every 90 days, for 3 days and everyone is happy!
When the time comes for you to consider the best places to retire, maybe you should put the Central American country of Honduras on your radar screen!
