Hello from Panama City, PANAMA & Vancouver, CANADA

[DMKV]

"There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened." - Mary Kay Ash
- (Lol, great quote )

I am Dale - born in small town British Columbia, Canada. Life-loving, ambitious, world traveling, global-minded entrepreneur. Big dreamer and believer. Action taker. Doing what it takes to make my way!

My foundational belief system:
I believe in the unorthodox approach, the unconventional way of life and way of doing things. Things like communication, education, work and business. I dislike the system most are brainwashed to believe, the 9-5, and more. I relate well to the awakened. I believe one has all the information, energy and resources to accomplish whatever one sets their mind to achieve.

I am here to establish new belief systems in terms of my financial mindset and generating wealth. To really learn and take action, the Fastlane way.

A bit about me:

18yrs - After high school graduation, very first move out of parents house was to Moscow, Russia. Lived life there for 3 months. Enjoyed it immensely and learnt a lot.

19yrs - Back in Canada. Moved to Vancouver, BC. First sales job - sold residential energy contracts door-to-door. Learned, excelled and moved on to B2B inside sales at a marketing firm for the next 5 years. Two years into this position I wanted more so I took on a second professional sales role, this time B2C, face-to-face timeshare sales for a resort development company after hours from 5:00pm - 11:00pm. These days paid me to study and learn about building real relationships and sales.

24yrs - Came to understand the value of time and the realization that I didn't want to work for anyone else but myself. I wanted to build my own dreams, rather than my efforts to build someone else's.

Second realization was that I absolutely love business and traveling so I decided to form an international trading company. I figured the two go together quite well.

25yrs - Still in Vancouver. Spent two years building the business (import of new and used intermodal shipping container equipment and wholesale/retail across Canada), testing the systems and growing my customer base one by one.

Decided I wanted to live and be able to operate my business from anywhere in the world. Re-evaluated my business systems and made the necessary changes.

26yrs & 27yrs (today) - Living with my beautiful Panamanian girlfriend and operating my trading business from Panama City, Panama. I import from a number of countries new and used intermodal shipping container equipment and wholesale/retail across Canada, from Panama. Actively travel back and forth from Panama to Vancouver, mainly to visit family & friends. Not quite financially free, but working hard to get there and need help/mentorship!

Feeling the need to re-ignite the fire within, re-set my financial belief systems and wanting to learn and share valuable information within The Fastlane Forum community!

Cheers and wishes of great success to all

- Dale

How are you going to do it?
"One piece at a time. One step at a time." -Shahid Khan, Billionaire

P.s: Anyone in Panama City, Panama or Vancouver, Canada?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Rawr]

I keep hearing nothing but great things about Panama. Can you talk a bit more about the situation there, cost of living, and why does everyone keep on wanting to move there?

 

[DMKV]

Definitely Rawr - as you may know, Panama is a third-world country, a developing nation and there is a lot of opportunity to provide value.

Government
The government is somewhat stable but recently there have been a lot of government scandals and corruption by previous officials. Regulation and formality are starting to take its place. The fight against inequality is being heard.

Cost of Living
Since only being here for 1 year, I've been told that Panama City has become much more expensive than it was a few years ago because of the influx of foreigners. The currency here is the Balboa, equivalent to the US dollar (US dollars accepted). I've compiled some average costs below (from numbeo(dot)com) for your quick review in USD:

Restaurants
Meal, inexpensive restaurant: $5
Meal for 2, mid-range restaurant, three-course: $28
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught): $1
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle): $3

Markets
Milk (1 liter): $1.44
White Bread (500g): $1.94
Eggs (12): $2.15
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle): $0.68
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle): $1.50
Pack of Cigarettes (Marlboro): $4.50

Transportation
Gasoline (1 liter): $0.89
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff): $1.50
Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff): $1.50

Utilities (Monthly)
Basic (Electricity, Heating, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment: $68.20
Internet (10 Mbps, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL): $42.06

Sports and Leisure
Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult: $60.82
Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend): $11.25
Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat: $5

Clothing and Shoes
1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar): $46.67
1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range): $83.46
1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes: $73.75

Rent per month
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre: $996.43
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre: $516.07
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre: $1590
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre: $843.33

Buy apartment price
Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment in City Centre: $1912.50
Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre: $1533.33

Salaries and Financing
Average Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax): $740.72
Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly: $5.17

For my first year I have decided to rent (for a number of reasons). I personally pay USD$1450/month, excluding electricity. 1 bedroom, 2 bath. 16th floor, ocean and city views with roof-top pool on 52nd floor. I've attached a few pictures from the balcony of my apartment (first two) as well as a few additional pics of Panama City.

Off the top of my mind:
- Panama has a lot of commercial, residential and industrial development and upgrade projects including the Panama Canal expansion and resorts outside of the city.
- Customer service and waiting times from businesses/restaurants is very slow. It's the normality around here. Be patient! Life moves a lot slower compared to my experience in Vancouver and Moscow.
- Crime such as kidnappings, assassinations, robberies, drug related crimes are frequent. Be aware and alert, just like in any major city.
- The banking sector is large. Many multinationals and small to medium sized businesses call Panama their home base for banking and corporate set-up.
- Reliable infrastructure and modern amenities.
- Panama is an international business hub with a free trade zone.

There are a number of reasons why people want to come to Panama. Some of them being: investment, cost of living, healthcare benefits, sunshine, tropical beaches, welcoming locals, government incentives for foreign retirees and real estate investment incentives (i.e., 20 year exemption on real estate taxes for all assets of the enterprise, no property taxes for 30 years, no transfer tax and, income from the sale or rental of your property is exempted for 10 years.).

Panama is on the rise and things are just starting to get going here. Those with foresight stand to make some very decent gains.

Very brief but I hope this helps!



-Dale

 

[Rawr]

Wow, that definitely doesn't look like a third world country. What a nice view for the $! But what would someone who doesn't run his own biz do in Panama - are there jobs available for those people coming from say US or Canada? How do RE agents fare coming there?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DMKV]

People coming from the US and Canada as well as other countries can definitely find work here in Panama. Some level of Spanish proficiency would be helpful too, but not required.

Here are some ideas:

• Many multinational corps. have their HQ's here and employ foreigns for call centre work.
• Administration of the Panama Canal (APC).
• The Panama Canal and Tocumen International airport are currently under expansion (I've personally met a few foreign workers all the way from London working here).
• Shipping Lines, Freight Forwarders, Customs Brokers, Trading firms and Port work.
• International and domestic real estate companies (Century 21, Sotheby International Realty, Premier Realty, etc.)

Above all, I would still recommend one to create the jobs!

 

[Dunkafelics]

Hey DMKV I am in Vancouver, BC. How often do you come out this way? Looking forward to hearing more about your story. Looks like you have a beautiful home.

 

[DMKV]

Hey DMKV I am in Vancouver, BC. How often do you come out this way? Looking forward to hearing more about your story. Looks like you have a beautiful home.

Hey @Dunkafelics, I am actually flying back into Vancouver this Sunday, July 19th and returning back to Panama on August 23rd. Are you born and raised in Vancouver or if not, what brings you there? I'm interested in your journey to or in the Fastlane - what do you do?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[naveen257]

how is the night life scene in panama?

 

[DMKV]

There is a night life scene here. Most of the action is on Calle Uruguay (Uruguay Street) not far from the banking district and in Casco Viejo (one of the older parts of the city; also where the Presidential Palace is located). Apart from those areas, you will find everything from high rise rooftop social hangouts/pool parties to social gatherings and clubs (discotecs) at many of the hotels.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[Coalission]

Moved here to the Punta Pacifica area back in March (Trump Ocean Club), and loving it so far. It's funny, your avatar actually looks like what I do sometimes from my floor's hallway windows at night:

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.