‘It is an act of insanity to stay in the U.S.’: Why this 63-year-old teacher ditched Massachusetts to retire in the highlands of Panama

: Category: Economics; Published: 25 August 2019

Mary Taft lives with her two daughters, seven cats and two dogs in a mansion in Panama — and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

But the former teacher and school administrator didn’t always know that a Panamanian retirement was in store for her. Indeed, as she consulted with her two adult daughters about where to move, dozens of spots were on the table. “We had this blue-sky conversation — where can we all go and live together?” the 63-year-old former Springfield, Mass., resident recalls. “Canada was out because it was too cold. We wanted the tropics because we were sick of winter. We ruled out Asia because it was too far and [because of] the language barrier. Australia was too expensive.”

The Spanish speaker had been to Latin America numerous times, and her older daughter, a musician, worked a lot in Brazil, so they began looking around there. They ruled out Belize because of a “lack of infrastructure,” and Costa Rica because of its cost and “poor track record with health care,” according to Taft. But Boquete, Panama — a lush, mild-weather town in the Panamanian highlands that’s popular with expats — checked nearly all their boxes. ...

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White clouds above the small town of Boquete.

“It’s a place of indescribable beauty, and the culture is complex and vibrant,” she says. “It’s not a sleepy town in the mountains; there’s arts and culture, birding, sailing, hiking, restaurants with chefs from around the world — it’s a foodie paradise. There’s so much going on here.” (Travel guide Lonely Planet has this to say:^[1] “Boquete is known for its cool, fresh climate and pristine natural surroundings. Flowers, coffee, vegetables and citrus fruits flourish in its rich soil, and the friendliness of the locals seems to rub off on everyone who passes through.”) Plus, Mary says she and her daughters were fed up with a lot of things in America — including the high cost of living, repeated mass shootings and what she saw as a lot of “rage and hate.” “The U.S. has gotten so out of control — the social fabric is shattering,” she says. “It is an act of insanity to continue to stay in the U.S.,” she adds, noting that in Panama crime is low, you see guns less frequently ^[2], and life can be more affordable. (Indeed, Panama is a pretty safe country: The U.S. government puts Panama at a Level 1 in terms of safety, the best ranking you can get — though it advises Americans not to travel to parts of the Mosquito Gulf and Darien Region due to crime. And it’s important to note that some types of crime may be more prevalent in Panama than the United States, and there are plenty of countries that are even safer.)
^[3]^[4] In 2018,