Too many websites are "faceless", anonymous collections of text and images. I often wonder who is behind the site and what their purpose is. I think that's a mistake and I don't intend to repeat it here at Retirement Wave. The following paragraphs will introduce you to me, the creator of Retirement Wave, and describe why and how this website is different.
My name is Robert Adams, but everyone calls me Bob. I've spent nearly all of the five decades of my adult life (I am 78) working globally in more than 40 nations in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. I have worked for non-profit humanitarian agencies, the "foreign aid" programs of the UN and the US, and several international business firms.
Bob
I've taken an active role in global affairs and done my best to promote ideas that I hope will ease the development of this new "global community" that is forming around us. I've been widely interviewed and published. I have written on six occasions for Barron's, the well-respected US financial journal, on topics including American migration to other nations. In addition, I was interviewed by Erin Burnett when she hosted CNBC's "Street Signs" financial program. I also have written at the Wall Street site, Minyanville, as well as at Business Insider, the Asia Times, and others. I have been interviewed many times in the past for media ranging from Singapore’s Straits-Times to Australian public television, BBC, USA Today, etc. I have made public presentations over the years at various locations ranging from the National Press Club in Washington DC (on the left below) to the Universidad Latina in Panama City (on the right below).
I have combined my global experience with my attitudes toward aging to create Retirement Wave. It is as much a "labor of love" as anything else I have ever done.
Why This Website is Different
I have a good reputation that I have built over many years. I have no intention of losing it by establishing some kind of useless or illicit website. What I write here is what I believe. Others will feel differently and I respect that, but my opinion and recommendations are not for sale.
I have been well compensated in years past. Retirement Wave is in no way a basis for any income. If I were ever to have a sponsor here, they would be expected to share in the costs of operating the site, but they would never direct the site. Simply put, I don't need their money. To date, none have been remotely acceptable, so I pay for everything out of my own pocket. Retirement Wave does not even have a bank account!
I will focus on what I know. As a result, you may not find what you need here, but if I don't know what I'm writing about, I won't write about it.
I dislike "retirement sites" that are masses of links to other sites on every imaginable related topic. Retirement Wave will be focused. Any links offered will have a clear reason for being there.
I really care about my visitors. The Internet is a marvelous communications medium, but it can't be one-way all the time. I'll do my best within my limits to respond to your messages. In addition, I offer an occasional free newsletter that you can subscribe to and a YouTube channel where I also answer questions.
What Visitors Tell Me
I am the beneficiary of many emails from visitors to and members of Retirement Wave. Here are a just a few of the comments received. They are real and they are my primary "payment" for the effort I put into this site.
Thank you for your unbiased and very informative website. Being a Panamanian and knowing the country, yours is the most accurate and objective site about retiring in Panama and purchasing a home there I have found. - Rafael
Just a note to let you know how much I continue to enjoy your postings and articles. You are a voice of reason and wisdom, and I cannot express how much your help has meant to me. For those of us who anticipate our move to Panama, it is so great to have a trusted forerunner already in place! Thanks for all you do. - Blake
It was a refreshing surprise to find honesty and integrity at your site. I do share the same values. - Antonio
I feel like I found a gold mine having discovered your site. - Daniel
I wanted to compliment you on your site. It is refreshing to just hear an honest opinion without any hard sell. - Julie
What a pleasent surprise...a clearly informed, objective overview of Panama on a website where the author doesn't obviously have something to gain! You have succeeded in expressing all my thoughts in a manner I would never have been able to. Great job! - Robert
Loved your insight about retiring to Panama. Your thoughts are exactly why we are retiring there. We did our research for 3 years comparing countries. Have not found another site with down-to-earth and useful information you provide. Most were primarily selling something! - Fred and Linda
Just wanted to congratulate you on your website and your "point of view" on every subject you mention (you have a way of explaining things that makes them most interesting). - Catalina
I have so appreciated this web site. The information provided together with your unbiased commentary on so many subjects is invaluable. Thank you for taking the time and effort. - John
Just wanted to thank you for your excellent "Retirement Wave" web site. I find your thoughts and observations about Panama most illuminating, your personal philosophy refreshing, and your recommendations very useful. Thanks for taking the time to share such information with others. - Monte
Just ran across your site! How refreshing. I agree most of the websites about Panama are trying to sell you property, or all kinds of immigration services. I haven't explored every tab, but I certainly will. Thanks for the perspective, which is sorely missing from the other sites. - Franceen
Howdy Bob from Nevada USA and thanks so much for providing a real sane and cogent site on thoughtful retirement in Panama. - Chuck
Hi Bob. Mike and I would like to send you a huge THANK YOU!!!! for providing via your website such incredibly wonderful information and guidance. We found your website and the info contained in it to be completely accurate and most helpful...I can't tell you how many times Mike and I said to each other: "Thank God for Bob Adams and his retirementwave website!" - Marianna
My husband and I plan to retire to Panama in two years and are currently researching "retirement sites". Your web site, found today, with your honest comments and genuine facts is enormously helpful. It is comforting not to have to consider what parts of the web site one should take with a pinch of salt. Thank you for your generosity in running this helpful, trustworthy site. - Teresa
An Afterword
For those who make it this far down the page and who have any interest, here are a few parting comments.
My philosophy of life is simple. Death is not the opposite of life, it's the opposite of birth. Life is the period in-between and has no opposite. Life is a gift, completely unearned and undeserved. What I do with this gift is incredibly important, even if I'm not sure why.
Mi filosofía de vida es sencilla. La muerte no es lo contrario de la vida, es lo contrario del nacimiento. La vida es el período entre el nacimiento y la muerte, la vida no tiene un contrario. La vida es un regalo, ni ganada ni merecida. Lo que hago con este regalo es tremendamente importante, aunque no esté seguro porqué.