I sort of chose to make my life here nearly 50 years ago. I did not think about retirement iisues.
Nowadays, with some sort of retirement looming, let's look at what I can do:
I can lay on a beach with no vendors, eat fresh caught fish each day, soon I will be able to get WIFI/internet access and phone service. No crime that I know of.
Or I can stay at home and relax. Have the cooks come in every day and fix a meal or two and when the mood strikes, I'll do the cooking and crow like a rooster if it turns out to be really good.
I wish I could help you guys, but since I "live" here, this is home, and not a retirement destination.
All that BS said, let's look at some reality:
Casa de Campo-> a million plus for a nice villa and then a few thousand a month for the lifestyle. La Romana, much cheaper, but you need to know Dominican and Dominican ways of doing things. Little crime.
Punta Cana-> Don't know, My experience has been in multimillion dollar places that I could never afford so I cannot recommend. Chiri and Auntie Clara live in the town so they might have a much better take on things out there. Mike Fisher is off the beaten path.
North Shore offers incredible opportunities...it truly does, but caution and patience are needed to cope with the reality of doing buisness in the DR.
However, there are literally hundreds of places to live out your life in relative comfort and safety. You just need to get the duck into line...
But for foreigners, it is a stretch because everyone is there with their hands out, liiking for a killing. That would turn most people off. This must be why I always tell people (like most of you all do too) to rent for a few months before you decide to settle down.
Ramblings for a tired old guy...
HB