What a mess the world seems to be in?
The world is in a mess isn’t it? Financial news is so depressing as we are told daily [if not hourly] in every which way, that everyone is or should be suffering from this ‘global recession’. There are models of course to differentiate between ‘recession’ and ‘depression’ but at the end of the day, the bottom line is ~ such emotional turmoil for everyone.
Financial problems are surely one of THE biggest issues affecting both individuals and groups [as in businesses] in the world today and even more so with this ‘credit crisis’.
As individuals, the emotional turmoil we feel when under financial pressure is enormous and is really damaging to our personal health, wellbeing, our relationships AND our future.
From a business perspective the problems are compounded because first of all we have to take account of those ‘individuals’ we employ in the business and who rightly rely on the business to provide for them and their families. Business owners then have the turmoil of steering and guiding the business through the shark infested waters which is that diminishing pool we call the ‘marketplace’. With fewer people buying commodities, etc and businesses failing, this can be a horrendous and such a draining task in more ways than one.
Make no bones about it; the world will not recover from this current situation within any short term forecast. The world dug itself in to such a deep pit that it will take time to crawl and build out of it. Greed, avarice, power and envy are such powerful global ‘drivers’ and have been for such a long time. These are traits that need addressing because be in no doubt, the Financial Institutions [Banks, Insurance, etc] and Big Business are responsible for our dilemma not Politians. Politians are puppets ‘dancing on strings’ pulled by finance and power.
So what can be done? What can we as individuals do?
I don’t have any magic wands as many economic commentators seem to ‘wave’, nor do I have any ‘crystal balls’ in which to divine a rosy future……no. But what I do have is experience, your common garden, real life, living, experience.
Long ago I was young and free with my money; I was a young apprentice, then a newly married man complete with loans and mortgages, a new father [phewww, what responsibilities came with that one?], a worker who worked hard and conscientiously but even then lost jobs, made redundant, and yes, have even been fired [for a variety of reasons], served at Her Majesties Pleasure [as a Police Officer], retired from the Police to then change direction and lifestyle and devise, operate and run my own business employing people all over the UK. So, as they say ~ ‘been there, done it and got a wardrobe of Tee Shirts’ so to speak.
So what, I hear you say, has all this got to do with the current global malaise? It has plenty, but only if you dissect the situation and then apply empathy and experience.
I can empathize with so many people as either individuals who are fearful daily about losing their jobs, of meeting the next utility bill, of what the Postman make drop through the letterbox in the door, of being able to buy decent good quality food, expectant parents worrying about their futures and those of their children, sick, ill and infirm people worrying about their healthcare, business people frantic about keeping hold of their businesses and creations.
There are just so many negative aspects which are taking up so much of the ‘psyche of society’ at the moment and yet, turning on the television, seeing the News, we all see the suave neatly dressed Politicians smoothing over the creases which are our emotions and fears. They just don’t comprehend what it’s really like ‘for us’.
So, where am I going with all of this?
Well, for very many I can only empathize because to try to do otherwise would be impossible. However, there are sections of society to whom I can make certain mention and to whom I can offer some guidance, some alternative thinking.
There are sections of people in society no mater in which country who, in the past, have been careful, have been prudent and who have either saved or who have made wise choices in their investments.
There are also sections of society who have retired but have been fiscally wise insomuch as they have no mortgages but liquid assets deposited in the Bank or safe investments waiting to be realized.
There are also those who have been frugal or determined in their future forward planning and who have saved for this very period in their lives; a period where being ‘stress-free’ is ‘key’. Where being ‘debt-free’ is ‘key’. Where having the ability to pursue their ‘dreams’ are ‘key’.
I come from England, a wonderful, wonderful nation filled now with wonderful people but seeing a growing and very diverse and complex society. I come from an environment which is exceedingly expensive just to ‘tread water’, where living is a nightmare for everyone [other than the wealthy and even those people are feeling the painful pinch]. I come from a place whose weather is euphemistically and actually is cold, damp and grey for most of the year. Oh yes, I admit and agree that there are wonderful, spectacular areas in England and the sun does shine but……. I simply could not afford to live there now, could not afford the lifestyle I feel I deserve, wanted and dreamed about and could not follow ‘my dreams’. So where am I now, and what does this have to do with the global malaise we are all floundering ?
At the moment I am in Panama, brave soul that I am. I set out on a new adventure from England bringing my pension with me to a more affordable environment. My wife and I bought a 3 bedroomed Panamanian house with 2 bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, living room and studio, a very large garden with exotic fruit and nut trees all on 1 hectare of land [10,000 square meters which is about 2 Rugby/Soccer pitches in size] and the views to die for.
I won’t tell you how much we paid other than to say, it was inexpensive. I know of nowhere in the UK you could do such a thing at such a price for so very much. I have also been all over the US, Canada and many European countries and of which again, I don’t know of anywhere were I could have bought such a place with such a ‘year round warm climate and environment. Yes, Eastern European countries offer some nice inexpensive properties with wonderful outlooks, etc, but year round living? I couldn’t take that cold weather any more. Heating bills really feast on your financial resources so best to do without them I say.
So, having bought this idyll, what now? Our monthly bills [outgoings] are; electricity $25 = GBP14, water $3 = GBP 1.70, gas [cooking] $2 = GBP1 [yes that’s about one pound per month] and NO taxes. My combined monthly outgoings are about $30 = GBP19.
When we got here we bought a large, what they call an SUV, which is a 4 x 4 vehicle which ours is bigger than the Range Rover. Wow, that must be expensive to run ~ I hear you say. No, it isn’t. I called in to a Shell garage the other day and it cost me $38 to fill it from empty [that’s about GBP22]. Car Insurance was around $120 for the year [GBP70 approx] and again, NO tax.
Food wise I have access to everything I want and am used to ~ virtually because they don’t sell Marmite or hard crumbly cheeses here. And the costs are about a quarter of what I would expect to pay back in England. We eat out 2 or 3 times a week [with wine] it’s that inexpensive.
Panama is a very special place. The weather is generally warm to hot [but can be cold/cool at altitude depending on where you live], the countryside is awesome, beaches on both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea are to dream about and within easy reach and the wildlife……. well, its just stunning.
There is a good and growing ex-pat community here and we have made some wonderful, wonderful friends. We have money in the Bank and in our pockets, have options AND ….. are debt free. It really is living in a holiday, if you know what I mean.
Living the holiday also provides you with that most precious of commodities….. time. Time is what we all have and spend but can NEVER, ever recoup. Forget gold, forget diamonds, forget all that stuff, what you have to realize and fully appreciate, is that ‘time’ is the most precious thing we will ever have so we have to spend it wisely.
So again, where is this taking us? It’s taking us to ‘frames of mind’, of ‘choices’, of opening our eyes and hearts and soul, of doing………. something……… different.
Often [and it’s a vast majority of oftens] people sit in their chairs in the same place bemoaning their situation and yet fail to see that perhaps, just perhaps, there may be an answer. They may have choices. Whether they choose to exercise them is another matter and theirs is a personal choice/decision. But which ever choice is made you have to accept responsibility for them don’t you?
Choices are those personal engagements that require work however, require effort, determination and fortitude. It may [or may not] require relocation, it may require a totally different outlook with different expectations but usually, it’s for something you have thought about, dreamed about, fantasized about.
Being here in Panama, I left behind my family, friends, and ‘life’ in a fashion; and it really is an enormous step. But I started another adventure with my wife. Another chapter in MY book, MY diary. They say ‘scratch an Englishman and reveal a Pirate’ well…… for me, it’s all about living life as an adventure…… but living life as you should live it because it is yours to live and as far as we know it, we only have one chance to live it. When I told my elderly mother what I was thinking of doing do you know what she said to me bless her? ‘Michael, go and do it because you have to live your own life not pander to someone else’s’. What a wise and loving mother she is and was.
If you have the wherewithal the resources, if you have that inclination, if you have those choices available to you, consider them, seriously. Look to other climates, other environments, where you can ‘live and breathe’ without fear, stress and strain. I believe that life really is for living and not for working, struggling and worrying. I even help some other people now because my wife and I devised, designed and published a site that helps people sell their properties…. Check it out………. It’s called www.choosechiriqui.com
Panama is a wonderful place to live. I live in Chiriquí, a province near the Costa Rica border but there are other parts of the world too. Just don’t be swamped in the delusion that ‘there is no way out’. There is always a way if the will is there.
Written by;
Michael Boase