Panama Inflation

[Arif]

Getmeoutofhere and I were talking about the inflation rate in Panama. From 1999 to 2004 the inflation rate averaged 1.56%.
This got me thinking about the firecalc so I input our info with a 6.15% withdrawal rate and firecalc spit out a 91.7% success rate. Now keep in mind I used a zero inflation rate because I couldn't figure out how to input the 1.56% inflation rate (only options are 0, PPI, and CPI). So my thinking was that 1.56% rate would reduce the withdrawal rate to 5-5.5%. Funny thing is my mom had mentioned that prices in Panama hadn't changed that much in 25 years when she left for the US. While this is all academic because my plan is to save like I was going to retire in the US (worst case scenario) with the applicable inflation and current prices the data sure is interesting. I never looked at it this way. Any thoughts?

Edit: Moving to a low inflation country also has the effect of increasing your real returns as well. So someone living in the US might average a 7% real return and that same person in Panama will average 8.5% all else being equal. Extrapolate that scenario out for 10-15 years and the growth in your portfolio is considerably more by just moving.

Edit 2:Here is a list of countries and their 2004 inflation rate: http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?c=pm&v=71