Bob Dhillon - Business and Retirement Guide to Belize: The Last Virgin Paradise

Copyright Bob Dhillon, 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

Cover image: Valerie Matthews/iStockphoto

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Dhillon, Bob, author

Business and retirement guide to Belize / Bob Dhillon with Fred Langan.

-- Second edition.

Includes index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-4597-4159-1 (softcover).--ISBN 978-1-4597-4160-7 (PDF).-

ISBN 978-1-4597-4161-4 (EPUB)

1. Belize--Guidebooks. 2. Retirement--Belize--Planning. 3. Investments,

Foreign--Belize. I. Langan, F. F., author II. Title.

F1443.5.D45 2018 917.282045 C2017-906923-3

C2017-906924-1

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the artsto Canadians throughout the country, and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and the Government of Canada.

Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. Lan dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollarspour mettre de lart dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

The publisher is not responsible for websites or their content unless they are owned by the publisher.

B elize . I told you so. When the first edition of this book came out in 2011 Belize was a hidden gem. There were only two U.S. airlines flying into the country. Now there are at least seven, along with two Canadian airlines, WestJet and Air Canada. Copa, Colombias national airline, flies from Panama, and Avianca also flies into Belize. On a typical sunny day at Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport just outside of Belize City, there are six big jets lined up, disgorging or taking on passengers. The terminal has just been expanded to handle the rush to Belize. There could soon be two more international airports in Belize: one in Placencia in the south, the other at the north end of Ambergris Caye.

Why are all these people from the United States and Canada flocking to Belize? For the same reasons I came to the country many years ago. Once many of these visitors get a taste of Belize, they decide to move here to do business and/or retire.

The basics are still there. Belize is an English-speaking tropical paradise, with a Caribbean coast. Its water is as blue as a cloudless sky; it has an accessible rainforest, lost jungle cities, and a cost of living that makes it affordable for Americans, Canadians, and Europeans, as well as the emerging middle class of Mexico, Central America, and South America.

This book is an introduction to living and retiring in Belize, as well as a guide to doing business and owning property there. In this book I will try to make the reader familiar with the country, its beauty and friendly people, as well as its economic attractions. Belize is a movable feast the better you get to know it, the more you will enjoy it.

I will also tell you everything you need to know about Belize, from why it is a great place to invest to why it is a safe and sensible place to retire. While Im at it, Ill discuss everything from bonefish-fishing to Mayan ruins and throw in a bit of my own business philosophy.

Belize is a little-known tropical paradise. Many people I speak to think its an island. It does have more than 400 islands, 108 of them uninhabited, but it is an independent nation on the mainland of Central America, bordered by Mexico just south of Cancn and Guatemala on the west and the Caribbean on the east. While it is the only English-speaking country in the region, it is a mix of many cultures, from Hispanic to ancient Mayan, and increasingly the home of modern expats.

This is the story in a nutshell. Belize is a few hours by plane from the largest cities in the United States and Canada. Property prices are a bargain; beachfront sites are still among the cheapest in the world. North Americans feel at home with Belizes laws. Its legal system is based on British common law. Belize is a parliamentary democracy with no history of civil strife in a region exploding with it.

Map of Belize.

The economic situation in the country is also very positive. Foreign investors will feel comfortable with the way property is surveyed and transferred, along with many aspects of daily life with a pro-business government. The regulations for newcomers are simple; there are no taxes for retirees and other expats. The banking system allows you to operate a business at arms length from your home jurisdiction.

The way I see it, Belize is still a ground-floor opportunity, as we say in the financial world. Why should you believe me? Well, Im a successful real-estate entrepreneur and Ill give you details of my own ventures and how they mesh with the future of Belize. As Ill explain in detail throughout this book, the phrase the Last Virgin Paradise is not some marketing slogan; its a reality.

The Story of Belize

Why Belize?

B ack in the late 1990s, I went on a personal quest for a tropical paradise. For one thing, I wanted to get away from the cold winters of Canadas Alberta foothills, but I was too restless and too young to just head south and flop on a beach. First I tried the Caribbean, but it was overcrowded and overpriced. I was born too late to get started there. The best spots in the Caribbean were developed twenty or more years before I set out on my search.

The prime parts of Mexico were also overdeveloped. A forest of high-rises filled with tourists on package tours was not my idea of paradise. I prefer boutique hotels to mega-resorts. So I started looking in Central America. Costa Rica attracted me. Whats not to like? Its peaceful and prosperous with everything from mountains to beaches and a democratic government to boot. I bought some land and embarked on a small venture.