Part one · 3 steps
Visa & residency
Start the Pensionado (Pensioner/Retiree) Visa path
Panama's route for retirees. Plan on roughly $1,000/month of provable income — pension, Social Security, dividends — and expect the consulate to want it documented. The current read:
From our Coronado research
Widely considered the world's most generous retiree visa: $1,000/mo guaranteed lifetime pension (govt or private, incl. US Social Security) for a single applicant, +$250/mo per dependent (≈$1,250 for a couple). Drops to $750/mo if you buy property worth $100k+. Grants immediate permanent residency plus legislated discounts (25% restaurants, 50% entertainment, etc.). Requirements current as of 2025.
Read the full Coronado profile →Get key documents apostilled + certified-translated
Birth/marriage certificates, background checks — start early; it's slow, and every residency application wants them.
Our visa paperwork guide →Decide who runs the move — you, or a concierge
Part two · 3 steps
Healthcare
Map your care in Coronado
Know where you'd go before you need it — the hospital for something serious, the specialist, the pharmacy that speaks English. Here's our current read:
From our Coronado research
Local San Fernando Clinic (Panama City hospital offshoot) and Clínica Hospital Brisas handle routine care with English-speaking doctors and receptionists. For anything serious, residents drive ~80-90 min to world-class Panama City hospitals — Pacífica Salud (Johns Hopkins affiliate) and Hospital Punta Pacífica. That drive is the catch for a true acute emergency (stroke/heart attack) from the beach.
Read the full Coronado profile →Know what Medicare does — and doesn't — cover abroad
Original Medicare generally doesn't cover care outside the US. Whatever your plan becomes, it has to answer that gap.
Medicare abroad, explained →Compare international / expat health insurance
See what international health plans actually cover — and what they cost.
Part three · 5 steps
Money & taxes
Pressure-test your Coronado budget
A comfortable month in Coronado runs about $3,000 for a couple, at current exchange rates. Build your own version on top of that base — your rent tier, your healthcare, your flights home — and see what's left over.
Build the real monthly number →Understand US taxes as an expat in Panama
You still file US taxes abroad, and FBAR applies once foreign accounts pass $10,000. The country side matters just as much:
From our Coronado research
Territorial tax system — Panama taxes only Panama-source income. Foreign pensions and US Social Security are fully exempt from Panamanian tax. No US-Panama income tax treaty and no totalization agreement, so US citizens still file/pay US tax on worldwide income with no treaty relief (FEIE/FTC only).
Read the full Coronado profile →Set up low-fee international money transfers
Bank wires quietly cost 3–5% in bad FX; specialists are far cheaper.
Have someone check the retirement math before you commit
Plan day-to-day cash + card access (and a backup card)
Check your cards' foreign-ATM fees before you go, and carry a backup card on a different network in case one gets swallowed.
Part four · 4 steps
The scouting trip
Book the Coronado reconnaissance trip
Not a vacation — a rehearsal. Rent in an ordinary neighborhood for a few weeks and live a normal week: groceries, buses, a doctor's appointment, a quiet Tuesday. Getting there and back:
From our Coronado research
~90 min drive to Tocumen (PTY), a major Latin American hub with frequent nonstops to Miami, Houston, Atlanta, NYC, LA and more. Among the easiest retire-abroad spots to reach the US from. Uses the US dollar, so no currency exchange friction.
Read the full Coronado profile →Compare trip insurance for the scouting trip
Read the safety picture for yourself
Coronado sits under a US State Department Level 2 (“exercise increased caution”) advisory. Check the current one before you book, then weigh it against the on-the-ground picture:
From our Coronado research
Coronado itself is a quiet, gated-community beach town with low violent crime; petty theft is the main concern. The country-wide risks (Darién, Mosquito Gulf — both Level 4) are on the far side of the country and irrelevant to daily life here.
Read the full Coronado profile →Test the season, not the postcard
Every place has a month the brochures skip. If you can, scout in the worst one:
From our Coronado research
Tropical lowland: hot and humid year-round, 77-87% humidity. Sits in Panama's drier "Arco Seco," so less rain than the rest of the country, but the May-Nov wet season still brings heavy downpours and the local infrastructure can flood. No cool season — expect to run A/C, which raises electric bills.
Read the full Coronado profile →Part five · 6 steps
The move itself
Rent first — live a full season before you even think about buying
The single biggest regret-saver. The market isn't going anywhere.
Book a short-term furnished rental for your landing
Give yourself 1–3 months to find the right neighborhood.
Decide what to ship, store, or sell
Shipping a household is expensive; many movers regret over-shipping.
Re-home your US mail before you go
Banks, the IRS, Medicare — the mail keeps coming after you leave. Keep a US address you check from anywhere, or hand the whole job to a service.
Sort pet import + airline requirements early
Timelines for vaccines and paperwork can be months.
Our pet-move guide →Scan and cloud-back-up every key document
Passports, prescriptions, insurance cards, the marriage certificate — one folder you can open from any phone, anywhere.
Part six · 4 steps
Settling in
Find your people in Coronado
Loneliness is the #1 reason people move home — build the community before you build anything else. What's already there:
From our Coronado research
One of the most established US/Canadian retiree enclaves in Latin America — purpose-built around expats, with English-speaking services, clubs, and a full beach-town support network. Easy to land softly; harder to feel you've actually left the US.
Read the full Coronado profile →Join the expat community before you arrive
Start the conversations months before the flight.
Our community guide →Set up a local SIM + home internet
If your phone's unlocked, an eSIM can cover you from day one; sort home internet once you have an address.
Start the language — even 20 words changes everything
Spanish is what your daily life will run in — the clinic front desk, the market, the neighbors. A head start pays off from day one.
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