Is Belize Really Right for You?

By LAN SLUDER

Belize, along with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and other countries in the sunny, sea-swept Caribbean Basin, even Cuba, could be part of a big, new Sun Belt retirement and relocation area, according to trend spotters. The market is huge: 78 million U.S. baby boomers will begin to retire in the next decade, reports the Trends Research Institute, a Rhinebeck, New York, consulting firm. This doesn't include affluent Europeans, Canadians, and others around the world who are reaching retirement age by the tens of millions.

Others aren't waiting for the traditional retirement age to pack up and move to warmer, happier climes.

The New York firm predicts that a "massive new migration" of retirees and others will start settling abroad, lured by low living costs and warm weather. Other experts, however, call that conclusion speculative and predict that the total number of expats is likely to be small.

Belize offers a lot to potential retirees and other new residents. Land and housing costs are still cheap, especially compared with already popular areas of the Caribbean such as the Cayman Islands, the BVI, St. Maarten, and Anguilla. The availability of inexpensive household and other help allows retirees to spend more time on personal interests and community involvement. The official language of Belize is English, and the historical and legal background of the country is more familiar to those in the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain than most other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. Belize has a stable and democratic, if sometimes colorful, tradition. Recreational activities, on land and in the beautiful Caribbean, are almost limitless.

But the realistic prospector for retirement jewels will find problems, too: high costs for many food and household items; crime and drug problems in some areas; culture shock for those unaccustomed to the ways of a semi-tropical, developing country with a true multicultural population; red tape and plenty of it; and medicine that in some cases isn't up to first-world snuff. Sometimes, it's the little things that bother you: Can you do without a classical music station or "All Things Considered" on National Public Radio. Are you willing to live without The New York Times, the latest best-sellers, or trendy gourmet foods?

Here, in this series of special reports, is some information to help you decide if Belize is right for you.

For the full-tilt look at your options for living, retiring, investing, working and starting a business in Belize, get Adapter Kit: Belize by Lan Sluder, published by Avalon and available at bookstores or from Amazon.com. Or download the new-in-2004 eBook by Lan Sluder, Easy Belize! You can get it today from www.escapeartist.com

Lan Sluder is editor and publisher of BELIZE FIRST Magazine. He has had a long-time interest in Belize and the Caribbean Coast of Central America. Among his many books on Belize are Adapter Kit: Belize, San Pedro Cool, Belize First Guide to Mainland Belize and Fodor's Belize & Guatemala Guide (co-author). The author of Frommer's Best Beach Vacations, Carolinas and Georgia, Sluder has contributed to many magazines and newspapers around the world, including Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, St. Petersburg Times, The Tico Times, Bangkok Post, Caribbean Travel & Life, Canada's Globe & Mail, and the Miami Herald.

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