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Never heard of an American getting kidnapped in a 3rd world country? Right.
You wonder if I've ever been to Ajijic, after all of my details about living there for a year?
I would bet money that you have a property to sell in Ajijic. That you bought there, on the promises you read on the internet, and now you want the heck out. So, you're perpetuating the problem, by selling the place as some ideal location with no problems whatsoever, and you'll have some reason you are selling your place, even thought you love it soooo much...... Just like the last guy did to you.
On the contrary, we just bought a(nother) home in Ajijic....we will close on it and move in late April. Large home, stone walled interior, classic Hacienda layout, 1 blk from lake, great mountain and lake views salt-water pool and casista...total sq. ftg. is 4000. My annual tax bill will be about $200 USD.
BTW we bought a home in Ajijic about 10 years ago and sold it (at a considerable profit) when we returned to US to care for my elderly FIL.
I have been there and I've shopped in my fair share of department stores, grocery stores, and hypermarkets in foreign countries.
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Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe
Can you use your iphone to do this? Probably not. There probably won't be a signal. Better have your dictionary with you, and hope it has all the words relating to dandruff and shampoo...
Google Translate works offline, you download the dictionaries you want to local storage. Looking at my phone right now I have Albanian, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese, French, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Myanmar, Romanian, Sinhalese, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese.
I can buy a lot of shampoo with no signal man.
I still think you're greatly exaggerating the pain here, for one thing it is fairly obvious what areas things are in as they are usually clumped just like back home. I've never spent more than a few minutes before seeing an aisle that is obviously shampoo or whatever. You don't need to get all puzzled about what to buy with laundry detergent, just go pick out some powder in a plastic bag and put in about the same amount that you did back home. Doing a load of laundry isn't like trying to get the exact right amount of baking powder when cooking, there is some room for error.
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Great place to visit, although I won't even visit anymore. I know first hand now, that it's just not a safe place to even visit. You always have to be on your toes.
Not that it's not without it's charms. But, when I was living there, an educated Mexican asked me why on earth I wanted to live in Mexico, when they were all trying to get the the U.S. I think that says it all.
The debate over whether moving to Mexico/Belize/Thailand/etc. is a good idea cannot be resolved since there is too much subjective about likes/dislikes, so I'm not even trying to take one side or the other. Some people love it, some people hate it. Nobody is right or wrong.
I'm just doubting that fluency in Spanish is required to shop at a Walmart in Mexico. It isn't.
I have a friend who had nothing but negative experience with property ownership in Ecuador.
Her beach would wash away, $4,000 each time to replace. with rising seas, her home would flood every once in awhile. This went on for years. She totally lost her home with the last earthquake.
Sorry about quoting myself. But I got a note from someone I think is important for everyone to know. That said she never should of built on the ocean. Texted her and she said her area was greatly affected by climate change and the rising tides. Here'a another thing, the builder put in the roads. After the earthquake, the access road was totally destroyed. The country says they are not responsible for road care and won't replace it. It is impassable, have never seen a road like this. I saw a pic had one section for miles that looked like it was 15 ft higher than the other. All broken up. It looked like this was the fault line, but it wasn't
She had a long term lease staying at her property during the earth quake. They were from Europe on business, renting for 2 years. The earthquake hit, he was able to show and tell all the owners in the area a walk around their property vacant with the Ipad. Most were a total loss. No one can even get back to retrieve anything. The company he worked for sent a helicopter in to get him and his wife.
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Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe
Never heard of an American getting kidnapped in a 3rd world country? Right.
OH the stories I could tell about crime committed on Americans in third world countries. And we can be exactly what they want in a victim. Whether you are rich or not that is the perception they have of us.
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Originally Posted by pittsflyer
What about Russia?
I have a good friend born and raised in Moscow. Her whole family had money. They got out in the 80's and have never been back. To me that is like saying how about Iran? Which I also have a friend from there. Came here during the revolution. They wouldn't go back either.
I'm on the side of NO for Mexico. For many many reasons. Do know people who have homes there. We are no for even visiting.
Last edited by foundapeanut; 02-05-2017 at 07:03 AM..
1. Costa Rica is not like living on an Island, it has high elevations where the capital is. Living high elevations near the equator means temperatures do not vary during the year and the daily range is tight too more like 25 to 30 degrees from high for year to low for years.
2. Some people like an adventure others do not and don't know it.. which is why retiring over seas generates such differences in opinions. Try it short term before you go all in.
3. Yes you can buy American products you are use to in popular places where a large number of expats live, like Lake Chapala Mexico or Escazu Costa Rica but the cost of these same brands is not cheap after being transported there. So again your mileage will vary depending on your needs.
4. You can get health policies in places like the two popular ones mentioned above but if you have a complex heath issue like an impaired immune system the meds you need probably are not available in these countries. Can you have it shipped to you from the USA, yes but check the cost to you and if its a shot med like my wife has had to take monthly it is shipping on dry ice here, couldn't find a sure fire way to get it safely without spoiling to Costa Rica without coming back and taking it there myself.
5. A vacation is one thing living there permanently is another so try living there a longer period temporarily to find if it works for you.
6. There are higher elevations in Thailand as well as Mexico, San Miguel de Allende for one in Mexico. Same in Ecuador but not so in Uruguay.
I have a good friend born and raised in Moscow. Her whole family had money. They got out in the 80's and have never been back.
By my reckoning, retiring abroad is akin to immigration. Immigration is tremendously challenging, even more so for elderly people without a support network in the destination country. Yes, of course, resourceful and adventurous people can do it successfully. But most native-born citizens of most countries have a stilted, cartoonish grasp of immigration - pro or con. I can't help supposing that similar opaqueness conveys to retirement abroad.
The above quote prompts a different question: should people who immigrated as kids or teens or young- adults, return to their native country for retirement? They would have no trouble deciphering the labels on shampoo bottles at the local Walmart, but they wouldn't know any better than American expats, as to whom in the local constabulary to bribe, or how. To return to Moscow after 30 years would be appealing from a cultural and social viewpoint, but logistically it would feel nightmarish. How even to do electronic funds transfer of one's pension, without attracting undue interest from the MVD (Google it)? One becomes a target, not so much of petty crime or outlandish threats like kidnapping, but of the authorities. And this threat is magnified, the more affluent the prospective retiree happens to be. Just imagine trying to buy an apartment or a dacha in the countryside. Or registering a car. And then there's the while healthcare thing. And on and on.
By my reckoning, retiring abroad is akin to immigration. Immigration is tremendously challenging, even more so for elderly people without a support network in the destination country. Yes, of course, resourceful and adventurous people can do it successfully. But most native-born citizens of most countries have a stilted, cartoonish grasp of immigration - pro or con. I can't help supposing that similar opaqueness conveys to retirement abroad.
And this threat is magnified, the more affluent the prospective retiree happens to be. Just imagine trying to buy an apartment or a dacha in the countryside. Or registering a car. And then there's the while healthcare thing. And on and on.
OTOH, there are advantages. What is the people don't have much of a support network here? My wife and my have no kids, our siblings live far away, and we're more a support for them than vice versa. The only parent left for us to think about is her mother, and she's quite independent and lives near her younger brother. We're both on a government insurance plan which likely offers us overseas health care (I know mine does at least).
Not only that, how many retirees get stuck in the same humdrum life day in and day out with no change or challenges? Retirement is merely the act of not working anymore (or at least reducing the amount one works). It doesn't mean you're dead, demented, or relegated to a mind numbingly boring life of knitting and macrame. The intellectual and physical stimulation involved with moving to an entirely new country can be a great thing for a retiree. At least that's my perspective, but I must admit to having more wanderlust than the average human.
OTOH, there are advantages. What is the people don't have much of a support network here? My wife and my have no kids, our siblings live far away, and we're more a support for them than vice versa. The only parent left for us to think about is her mother, and she's quite independent and lives near her younger brother. We're both on a government insurance plan which likely offers us overseas health care (I know mine does at least).
Not only that, how many retirees get stuck in the same humdrum life day in and day out with no change or challenges? Retirement is merely the act of not working anymore (or at least reducing the amount one works). It doesn't mean you're dead, demented, or relegated to a mind numbingly boring life of knitting and macrame. The intellectual and physical stimulation involved with moving to an entirely new country can be a great thing for a retiree. At least that's my perspective, but I must admit to having more wanderlust than the average human.
Exactly.
And I feel sorry for retirees (or anyone) without a sense of adventure.
Go....explore! Go for a few months, rent a place....see how it pans out.
The OP was planning to move for political reasons. As populism is apparently spreading in Europe in particular, I would look at potential changes in countries there before deciding. You mentioned the UK, a fun fact about the UK is that more than half of retirees there choose to live in another country.
My family and I live overseas and we are planning to move back to the USA for 5 years at some point in the future. My Wife who is 30 years younger than me is not a US citizen. According to social security regs, She must live in the USA for five years in order to collect my social security when I pass.
We are currently considering TX and FL. We have a bit of trepidation over FL due to Hurricanes/Tornadoes/flooding/bugs/sinkholes/etc but apparently is better than TX for the following:
Texas is infested with scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, crazy raspberry ants, cockroaches on steroids, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, brown recluse spiders, love bugs, swarming crickets, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, alligators, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty beaches, polluted air, dust storms, drought, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, rednecks, huge piles of flaming mulch, spontaneously combusting playgrounds, roads hot as flowing lava, the stench of natural and unnatural gasses, pirate attacks and amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, the highest homeowner insurance rates in the US, unbelievably high property taxes, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions, polygamous religious sects,etc.
We thought we would retire to Mexico and spent considerable time looking for the right place. The reason for going there was a combination of weather, an adventure, and we thought we could get more for our money.
After a few years of research and many trips to Mexico we ended up moving to Hawaii. Reasons we gave up on Mexico:
- Friends of ours who own property there have to hire a house-sitter to guard the place while they are away.
- Crime is a problem - more of it and less effective police.
- We did not want to live in an American enclave but we realized that we would never fit in to the Mexican culture. We have no children and are not religious.
- Land ownership there is complicated if you are within 50km of the ocean, which is where we were looking. Legal protections for home buyers is far different than the US and we felt a little too exposed to risk.
- No support for senior citizens. Mexico relies on families to support their elderly.
- Medical care is too iffy.
- Living in a foreign country is romantic but the romance wears off and you are left with all the above challenges. They are manageable when you are 40 or 50 but not what I want when I am 70.
We are glad we gave up on the Mexico idea and ended up in Hawaii. Except for the cheap living we got most of the other things we were looking for when we retired.
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