What’s Your Plan B: Safety Insurance

I first wrote a version of this article in 2019, before COVID-19. The world’s problems were different then. There are even more problems now, which should be a wake-up call to have a Plan B! I am making modifications to the article to reflect the current situation.

Three kinds of people come on a Panama Relocation Tour:

(1) Those ready to relocate to Panama and looking for an affordable SAFE place to move to ASAP.

(2) Those who are investigating places to move to later, and

(3) Those who want a Plan B just in case they need to leave their country quickly.

Today, I will write about the Plan B group

I don’t watch the news very often. Instead, I get my news from people worldwide who email us or come on a Panama Relocation Tour every month. Friends and family forward news articles to me, too.

What I’ve learned about what’s really happening around the world is a bit scary, and it makes me ever so grateful that I live in Panama, where there’s peace, and everyone just gets along.

Sadly, other countries are not so lucky. This is what tour clients were reporting in 2024:

In Canada, inflation is making it harder to afford to live there, and government policies are eroding freedoms more and more every day. Their “free” healthcare system is a joke because you can’t get an appointment.

In South Africa, people are afraid to go to a grocery store or walk down the street unless they have a gun or a bodyguard to protect themselves. It’s dangerous to let their children go to school. It’s even dangerous to stop at a red light.  South African farmers are murdered every day. This is still happening.

The United States has become a country divided by ideologies. Many I’ve talked to fear that it will get much worse.  Extreme violence, mass shootings, looting, tent cities, and riots have become the norm in some areas of the United States.   There’s a problem with tens of millions of migrants flooding the southern border. I don’t think things will improve in the US in my lifetime – if ever – because it is so divided.

People in Europe are concerned about a nuclear war with Russia. Tour clients report that the migrant problem has made locals feel unsafe living in their own country. Even ex-pats who have lived in Europe for many years don’t feel safe anymore, so they explore Panama as a Plan B. Since the Ukraine war, energy costs have quadrupled in Europe, making it impossible for small businesses to survive.

What’s next? You may decide it’s time to escape when the problem is at your back door. But where and how?

What will you do when your Social Security is insufficient to pay your monthly expenses?

If the pandemic has taught us anything, things can change VERY quickly!

It’s a good idea to have a Plan B with legal residency in a different country to have a place to go if necessary.  You should set it up before you need it!

Legal residency means you have a visa that allows you to live in the country as long as you want to. Unless you have legal residency in a different country, you may not be able to stay for more than 30 to 180 days.

You can see why it’s important to have a legal residency in a different country that you can go to “just in case” things get bad where you live.

STRESS!

Despite the unrest in much of the world, some are not in a position to just sell everything and move to another country.

Perhaps they can’t afford to quit their jobs or sell their businesses. Selling their house, where much of their money is tied up, may be impossible especially since interest rates are so high now that many cannot afford to get a loan.

Or maybe they don’t want to leave family and friends.  I’m sure everyone is hoping things will get better.. someday soon.

Whatever the reasons for wanting to go but not being able to go, it could cause a very stressful situation.

Alcohol sales, high blood pressure, and anti-anxiety medication sales are at an all-time high worldwide because of the stress so many people are under.

So, what’s the solution?

You have health insurance just in case you have a major health problem and so a major medical bill does not bankrupt you.

You have house insurance just in case there is a fire or hurricane and your house is destroyed or damaged.

You have car insurance just in case you get into a wreck and your car is totaled.

What about safety insurance?

Maybe it’s time to get safety insurance in the form of a residency Visa in Panama so you know you have a safe place to move to “just in case” things get so bad where you are living now that you don’t feel safe living there anymore.  Panama offers many affordable residency Visa options.

Even if you don’t move to Panama soon, knowing you have a residency Visa to live in Panama indefinitely will give you peace of mind.

When you get a residency visa in Panama, you are not required to live there. Once you get a Visa, you must return every two years for a few days to maintain your residency Visa.

Tourists in Panama can only stay for 30-180 days, depending on which country they are from. That’s why it’s important to actually apply for a residency visa: You may need to, or want to, stay longer than 30 or 180 days.

While you’re in Panama, opening a Panama bank account might be a good idea, too. You’ll need to deposit $1000 initially to open the account. Then, you can wire additional funds later. Ideally, you’ll keep enough money in a Panama bank account to live comfortably for a year or two “just in case” it temporarily becomes impossible to wire money out of your country later. You can even have Social Security direct deposited into your Panama bank account.

To make you feel even more comfortable, as part of your “safety insurance” (Visa & bank account), getting familiar with different areas in Panama would be a good idea. You should learn about the different microclimates, various price ranges, and which areas have the medical facilities you’ll need so you know exactly where you can move to if the need arises.

With all these things, you’ll have your Complete Plan B Safety Insurance.

WE CAN HELP!

During our 6-day, 7-night all-inclusive Panama Relocation Tours, we can help you with your entire “safety insurance” plan. We’ll show you around Panama, teach you about the pros and cons of each area, you’ll learn the prices in each area, learn how to get your pets into Panama, the best way to get health insurance in Panama (some with $0 monthly fee), learn how to start an online business for income, etc, AND after the tour, we will even help you get a residency visa. Some visas even come with a work permit. Then, you will have your complete “safety insurance” in place.

We also offer INSTANT ACCESS to our new ONLINE  Complete Panama Relocation Guide.  With The Guide, you can learn everything you need to know to set up your SAFE HAVEN in Panama.  You’ll get all our reliable contacts for immigration lawyers, honest real estate agents/property managers, learn how to get your pets to Panama, discover the best places to open a bank account in Panama, learn about the most popular places to live, and MUCH MORE.

You never know what the future holds, so you get insurance, like safety insurance.  At the very least, get legal residency in a different country that you can flee to if things start heading in the wrong direction where you are now.   During the pandemic, many countries closed their borders to anyone without citizenship or a legal resident.

Hopefully, you never have a health problem.

Hopefully, you never have a house fire.

Hopefully, you’ll never be in a car accident.

But you protect yourself from these dangers with insurance… just in case.

You might never need to flee the country where you live now. But if you do, knowing that you already have complete “safety insurance” in Panama will be comforting.

If you do need to move to Panama, it could be for just a year or two until things settle down in your home country or indefinitely. With “safety insurance,” you’ll already have everything in place.

Why Panama?

Panama has a completely different vibe.  There’s a live-and-let-live attitude.  Everyone is so friendly. 

In Panama, fresh food is grown 365 days a year, plus there are fish from two oceans, so you have everything you need to survive (THRIVE) in Panama safely.  

A couple can live well in Panama on less than $2000 a month, including rent. Of course, you can spend much more if you prefer an upscale lifestyle. Health care, utilities, insurance, and other basic needs are significantly more affordable in Panama.

Having “Safety Insurance” will reduce stress because you’ll know that you already have a Visa, money in a bank in Panama, and know which town you will move to just in case the need arises.

NOTE: I first wrote this article in August 2019, long before the pandemic or the intensified civil unrest. I made modifications to the article again in June 2024.

Having a Plan B in place in Panama, or somewhere other than where you live now, is more important than ever with all the crazy things happening in the world.