Billy and Akaisha Kaderli Archives | Panama Relocation Tours

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli have almost three decades of experience being retired even though they are only in their mid-60s. They both retired in their 30s to travel and experience the world. They are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. This “Three Lessons on Retirement” article is reprinted with permission. Read Billy and Akaisha’s advice about how to approach retirement:

Retirement is a great achievement, but it’s not static. It’s not like once you arrive you can forget about it and put it on auto-pilot. It’s an interactive manner of living that continues to respond to our input, the new skills we learn and how our goals modify. Hopefully we continue to grow and change, making our retirement sustainable and sweeter to live.

Below you will find three of our most effective lessons on retirement that will enrich you and increase your enjoyment along your path in financial freedom.

Control housing costs and you can live anywhere

This is a well-kept secret of retirement. The cost of housing is one of the largest financial outlays in anyone’s household no matter what age you are, and if you modify the price you pay for your residence, you have the financial freedom to virtually afford living anywhere in the world.

In other words, if you could save tens of thousands of dollars a year on mortgage payments or rent, insurance, maintenance and repairs, how would that affect your life? What if you could live in Paris or on a Caribbean island for free? You can do that, if you house sit.

Fortunately, these days the number of housing options are vast. Depending on the style of retirement you would like to enjoy, you can live on a boat or snowbird to warmer climates for a season or two. Airbnb offers rooms or cottages for rent or you might downsize and live in an apartment or condo to lessen your monthly outlay for housing.

We often negotiate with a hotel for a monthly rate and enjoy great discounts. This allows us to stay in foreign countries at a reasonable price and still have all the amenities that hotels offer: maid service, Cable TV, WiFi, and convenient locations. And we don’t have to worry about repairing the swimming pool, the water pump or the roof.

Shared housing with others, living in community, or renting out a room or section of your own home are also opportunities to contain costs. RVing or living in an Active Adult Community or utilizing Workampers to allay the price you pay per month for lodging are enjoyable alternatives too.

Satisfying housing selections have never been more exciting and creative as they are are today. Don’t box yourself in! Enjoy the world, meet new people, take a leave of absence from your neighborhood, the familiar and your routine!

three lessons on retirement — Billy & Akaisha – Almost three decades of retirement and we still have a great time on a boat ride across Lake Atitlan

It’s a lifestyle not a vacation

Keep things simple. Life has a way of becoming complicated. Once retired, you no longer need to live your life like a two week millionaire. You know, the way you might have lived while on vacation, picking out the best hotel rooms, eating at the best tourist restaurants, trying to pack years of adventure into a two week period before you return home, and purchasing tons of souvenirs for your friends and family.

Retirement is now a lifestyle and there is no push or rush to get it done by the end of the week and go back to work. Relax!

Retirement is a work in progress, and you’re in charge. While you may have done your homework on the retirement front, there’s still the chance that your dream lifestyle might need some tweaking. If you find that this is the case, it doesn’t mean you are a failure. You are the captain of your ship and can decide what to shift if something might fit better. Life is not motionless. Leave room for some serendipity.

Don’t take life so seriously, have fun with it! It’s later than you think! No matter where you are on the continuum of life, it’s later than you think. We can’t tell you how many friends we have lost over the years – those seemingly so young with lots of living yet to do! If you focus only on the future without a moment to enjoy the present, life can be unfulfilling.

Think outside the box

Traveling doesn’t have to cost and arm and a leg. Cruises are great but for the price of the cruise you could stay a month or more in one of your bucket list locations. When rambling around, learn to use the Dollar’s strength to your advantage. If you have never been to Mexico it is on sale right now at almost a 50% discount to what it cost a year ago. Australia, Vietnam, Canada, the Philippines, Eastern Europe, Panama and Thailand offer great values as well, so watch the exchange rates and plan accordingly.

In general, go slow and let events unfold and come to you. Sit in cafes and chat with locals to learn about the area and get suggestions on restaurants and rip-offs. It takes time to absorb a new culture so relax and let it happen. You will be rewarded for this.

Another way to save money that you can use for fun and adventure, is to eat one meal a day in your hotel room, and we are not talking about room service. We prefer to eat a simple protein-filled breakfast as we like to leisurely move through the morning. Then we pack some water in our day bags and perhaps a healthy snack and then we hit the streets of the town we are visiting, take a bus, or even a boat to check out what’s going on.

Arrange to volunteer. This is one of the most rewarding things a retiree can do in their new life. People everywhere need mentors, or perhaps they need the skill you can provide, whether it’s dentistry, teaching English, helping in an orphanage or local prison, teaching math or science. Utilize your time helping with clean water projects in developing countries, or use your musical skill to bring live music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. Work at a food bank or rescue animals, help our veterans with PTSD or join the Peace Corps.

Now is the time to re-describe who you are, what you want to accomplish, and what you want to do with your next decades. You have so much to give, so many skills that you have honed over the years. People everywhere will benefit from you just being you and giving of what you know. The fact that you now have the time, the money and the ability to be creative with your life is a powerful combination.

The future is yours! Make the most of it!

We offer Panama Relocation Tours to help you be more prepared for your move to Panama. You’ll learn about the technical things you need to know, like getting a visa, finding a rental, and bringing your pet in to the country. During a Panama Relocation Tour, you’ll also learn about the the Panamanian culture and customs plus other important emotional and psychological aspects of adjusting to a new life in Panama. The more prepared you are with this advance knowledge, the easier your relocation to Panama will be.

This article is by Billy and Akaisha Kaderli of Retire Early Lifestyle. They retired about 25 years ago when they were in their mid-30s.

In preparing for a retirement overseas, we would wager that most people occupy themselves with the practical concerns of residential visas, banking, owning property, finding a doctor they like, medical care that they can afford and dealing with any language barriers. These are pragmatic topics with realistic solutions, and we say that these areas are almost the easiest part of making this lifestyle change. While the above mentioned topics are important and must be solved, we want to share with you what it really takes to move overseas.

It may surprise you, but what we have seen take people down, destroying their retirement dreams and sometimes even their marriages, are the emotional and psychological challenges one faces in adjusting to their new lifestyle overseas.

How do you prepare for these obstacles ahead of time? We hope the following tips and insight will shed some light on the topic.

Just like home only cheaper

Many people trip themselves up with their giddiness over the fantastic cost of living in their new location. They often come into a new country talking themselves into believing that living in their new destination is just like home, only cheaper. We want to tell you that no place overseas is just like home. Customs, foods, weather cycles, housing codes, the treatment of pets, the laws, the language, cobblestone streets and workmanship quality are all different.

We have seen folks love the quaintness of their new town but then fall apart because they can’t find parking near to markets where they shop. Their charming town might not have one-stop-shop with a parking lot tying several stores together so they find that market day involves stopping in six locations, perhaps fighting traffic in between. Instead of taking their time to enjoy their enchanting town, they find this situation to be annoying and they carry the frustration with them all day.

Culture and customs

Animals are treated as animals in developing nations and not as family members. Street dogs are common and if your heart is easily broken, then this might pose a problem for you. While we have seen Expats adopt up to a dozen dogs as pets, this is not something we would recommend. One could become involved in animal rescue, retraining and home placement but even that will not solve an issue that is culturally so different than what one is used to “back home.” We urge you to become involved as you feel comfortable, but then there will have to be a certain level of acceptance of the situation or you will be miserable. Resisting cultural differences is a never ending battle that really isn’t satisfying.

The lackadaisical attitude of workers could drive you up the wall with them telling you they will come tomorrow to fix something and instead, show up several days later. Finding just the right maid, gardener or plumber could take some extra effort on your part. Once again, if your personality tends to the uptight and precise view of things, life in a foreign country could be a continuous challenge. It’s really much better for your health and for getting things done to just roll with the flow of it all. Ask other Expats which plumbers, electricians, gardeners, attorneys, construction workers and maids they would recommend and start with them first. There is no point in getting yourself upset and then holding this tension as a permanent posture towards life.

Flexibility of mind and attitudes

One of the best tools in your toolbox is having flexibility of mind. A friend of ours says the difference between an ordeal and an adventure is attitude, and it’s true. If you are finding that your blood pressure is rising because a sense of timing is different in your newfound county than it was back home, take a deep breath. Step back. Enjoy what this new lifestyle has to offer and realize that it’s a package deal.

Try to get less done in a day instead of tackling those six different locations before noon. You are retired! Enjoy the leisurely pace instead of battling against it. Practice your communication skills with vendors or with your maid and gardener and reap the benefits of learning a new language. If street dogs proudly do their business on sidewalks learn to step around it, accept it, or scoop it up yourself to dispose of it.

Differences abound

In foreign countries, celebrations will occur on dates that have no meaning to you. Processions will assemble, stopping traffic and shutting down streets. Banks will close. Rockets will be set off at odd hours of the morning and evening perhaps disrupting your sleep schedule. Neighborhood dogs will bark, interrupting your peace.

While living on the tropical paradise island of Nevis, in the West Indies, a local man tied his donkey outside our bedroom window. This donkey brayed early every morning and throughout the day. What an unexpected sound!

You can allow these things to rupture your contentment, or you can roll with the events and choose to be unperturbed. Focus on the fact that the weather is glorious, the prices are affordable, medical care is abundant and accessible and you actually have house and garden help which make your life easier.

Adjust to living locally

Some people allow themselves to become upset because they insist on eating certain brand label foods. In a foreign country these foods are now “imported” costing outrageous amounts. The more one insists on eating imported foods, the higher the cost of living, and the benefit of lower pricing in your new location is undermined. As much as possible, purchase local brands of cheese, butter, chocolate, mustards, syrups and sundries. Local products are often quite good, so save that imported item for a special occasion and enjoy the savings to your wallet.

If there is a large Expat community, chances are there will be a selection of international restaurants. This can be so enticing and eating in these locations will probably appeal to you. Just remember that the prices in these establishments are generally higher than in local businesses. If your budget will tolerate these prices, then there is no issue. If you are trying to live well on less, it’s best to choose to eat local and save the tourist haunts for a special time.

Weather conditions

Even though for ages one might have dreamed of living in a tropical climate, actually living in one might not be what you expected. Many southern countries have two seasons, wet and dry. Dry season can be windy or dusty and could aggravate one’s allergies or sinuses. When it’s the wet season, often times in the tropics, buckets of water will fall drenching the landscape.

It’s far more beneficial to one’s lifestyle to focus on the crisp clean air and green hillsides during rainy season, and the spectacular sunny days of the dry season than to find things to complain about.

Generally speaking we have always suggested renting before one purchases property in a foreign country. If you find out that you are not as flexible as you might have earlier assumed, then changing your mind is far easier than getting into the entanglement of selling your property in order to pursue a new location.

Not everyone can mentally and emotionally adjust to their new home country. When planning your dream retirement life, take what we have offered here into consideration. Be willing to adapt. If you are not inclined to align yourself constructively with your new locale, you will be setting yourself up for some unnecessary misery.

About the Authors

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their popular website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. They wrote the popular books, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your Retirement Dream IS Possible.