Of course, weather is a subjective thing. For reasons we've never been able to understand, some people actually prefer snow and ice. Others, again for reasons unknown to us, long for the kind of weather you find inside a sauna.

The point is that in many cases, 'offshore' isn't about banking and secrecy... it's really about internationalizing your life. It's about taking the best possible advantage of perfectly legal opportunities and structures in other countries that allow you live a better quality of life for less money.

Moving to another country with a lower cost of living is a great way to make a fixed income go as far as possible... but you may also find many opportunities there if you don't have a sufficient fixed income stream or simply want to keep working and earning no matter where you live.

Ask most retired expats why they've moved overseas and you'll get a variety of answers -- many having to do with a more comfortable lifestyle and a lower cost of living. But there's another reason ... and if you're currently on the high-stress, low-relaxation lifestyle path, you may want to read on.

Think you might like to try out the expat life? But not sure where to start... and maybe not ready to give up everything you have going on in your life right now?

Retirement in the States is getting more expensive all the time. But in the right places overseas, you can upgrade your lifestyle and live better than you can at home for a small fraction of the price.

You don't have to sell everything you own, say goodbye to everyone you've ever known, and take off for a new life in some distant and exotic place, never to be heard from again. That's not the only way to realize the benefits of retiring overseas. You could, rather, just dip a toe in.

For the potential retiree, Panama offers big and unequaled advantages. There's warm weather year-round and lots of sunshine; a low cost of living that gets lower the farther you travel outside Panama City; and a foreign-resident-friendly tax system, meaning it's possible to live and do business here 100 percent Panama tax-free.