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Ex-Pat Retirees More or Less Likely to Look at Mexico for Retirement?
Will Current Economic Crisis Drive More to Seek Cheaper Living Options?

I posted the Retirement Worries Article based on the Gallup Poll in another thread after it was forwarded to me from friends in the LA area. They want to come down next month and asked me to show them around before they begin to look at property. They are due to retire next year and are concerned that their investments have taken such a hit of late that the lifestyle they had planned for seems out of reach right now.

They shared with me that it has been a topic of discussion with many of their friends in the same age bracket and situation. Some are talking about Mexico while others are looking at just moving to another state north of the border with a lower cost of living. A few of them mentioned Costa Rica and Panama as options they were considering. Then there are still others who have simply decided to downsize their lifestyle, housing and reduce day to day expenses so to try and weather the storm, so to speak.

I spend most of my working time online and have seen a big increase in Ex-Pat websites, blogs. columns and newsletters. It does appear to be something a lot of folks are looking into to be able to get the most out of their "nest egg" and Mexico is mentioned frequently. I also believe that the recent reports of narco violence and security issues in Mexico has dampened some of those plans by some, but maybe that will only push them to look at some of the more more remote, non-traditional locations that are a bit off the map?

I get asked this question from time to time and it seems like more lately. Just curious as to what you guys all think and why???

We've been working 21 years with nothing but retiring in Mexico as our goal. It's going to take an awful lot to change that. Hopefully an "awful lot" won't happen. Of course if our plans were to retire to an area that's experiencing high crime, we would look somewhere else. Mexico isn't what it used to be and we definitely take a lot more precautions, but the environment we want to live in doesn't exist in the U.S.

We too have been planning for sometime to retire in Mexico. In our case we will have a home stateside as well. We bought a lot two years ago and plan to build on it eventually.

I will say the last two years have tested our resolve. The ongoing attitudes of friends and relatives that think were nuts everytime we head south keeps getting worse with every new report re Mexico. Our love for Baja runs very deep and up to this point we are unshaken. A full out revolution or the government stealing our trust (fido) would be another matter. I don't think that is probable though.

So for us it isn't more or less, it just is!

Life, down in Baja Sur especially, is very much like it has been for the twenty some years I have been going down there. Costs are higher sure, but so is my income. But honestly for us it is way more a lifestyle decision not a financial one.

Ken

I hear what you are saying Ken and personally I believe that most ex-pat retirees up until now are more motivated for the Baja lifestyle they seek than refuge from financial concerns.

I started this thread and poll, largely due to what I have been reading online lately as well as reading in other forums related to retirement. A lot of people are taking a second look at their future plans and I get the sense that many of the new faces moving down here in the coming years may be of a different profile than what we have typically seen in the past.

Whatever happens, I do think the next few years are going to be very "interesting"...

I was answering only for our situation.

If I was to predict what the trends going forward will be, I would have to say a drop off of people retiring to Mexico. The market for tourists will recover in the destination spots, Cabo, Cancun, PV etc. I believe. However, the growth of Baja Enthusiasts I think probably will decrease.

Mexico has got to simplify the process of buying Real Estate. There seems to be some momentum in that direction but whether it will happen is anyone's guess.

When gas prices rise again I think that will severly cramp the growth of travelers to Baja as well. As I have said not for me or the many that post here and elsewhere.

I haven't even brought up the drug violence issue.

A lot of negatives for someone new considering Baja. Hell, it has changed the minds of hardcore Baja enthusiasts I have known.

Ken

Personally, I have to wonder about those who are already there, and just what it would take for them to abandon. There are tons of retirees in the Rosarito area who are really wondering what they got themselves into.

That being said, obviously, the current drug war situation cannot prevail over the long haul. But it is the fear of violence that pervades the lives of many right now. Add the economy thing and the flu thing, and this hasn't been the best of times.

And yet, I must confess that I am awaiting my shot at retirement in Mexico. Just haven't decided just where yet. Don't know if I want the "comfort" of an easy border shot, like from Ensenada-North, or the much more relaxed lifestyle of Baja Sur.

Oh. Just wondering, with the huge housing decline in the States, How come I haven't noticed a similar phenomenon in Baja? So many folks that have second houses, who can't afford their first houses?? Just wondering.

Originally Posted by Bajahowodd

Personally, I have to wonder about those who are already there, and just what it would take for them to abandon. There are tons of retirees in the Rosarito area who are really wondering what they got themselves into.

That being said, obviously, the current drug war situation cannot prevail over the long haul. But it is the fear of violence that pervades the lives of many right now. Add the economy thing and the flu thing, and this hasn't been the best of times.

Oh. Just wondering, with the huge housing decline in the States, How come I haven't noticed a similar phenomenon in Baja? So many folks that have second houses, who can't afford their first houses?? Just wondering.

Ok now we are talking about me and those like me.
I retired in 2000 and moved to Ensenada in 2001.
You ask what it would take for me to abandon what I have here? It will not happen I will die here.
I am commented to my life here with a Mexican wife and her family now my family. My 16 months old granddaughter is the love of my life. She has spent 16 months of her life training me. Her 8 year old brother tells everyone I am his grandfather. When he needs something for school or his baseball he comes to me. I cannot and will not walk away from what I have here.

Those that live in gringo enclaves and socialize only with other gringos will look at things different than I do of course.

As for the housing decline. Much of the housing is govt. subsidized and cost the people very little.
It is those selling to the high dollar gringo market that are hurting.
Construction aimed at the general Mexican population is going strong.

As far as dealing with the cartel scene and crime problems I am more involved than I care to say here.
But you can ask about the thief I caught last Saturday night and introduced him to an ex police baton I keep handy. But not on this thread.
Hijacking of threads is not allowed.

Gruñon........Why do I get the distinct feeling that we've met?

OK.........

Originally Posted by DENNIS

Gruñon........Why do I get the distinct feeling that we've met?

Maybe because we have... twice.

Originally Posted by Gruñón

Maybe because we have... twice.

Yeah...I remember. Good to see you. I'll let you get back to work in peace. I know nada.

So why do I get the strange feeling that there is an inside joke here lurking around?

Originally Posted by beachbum

So why do I get the strange feeling that there is an inside joke here lurking around?

Go buy yourself a pad of yellow postem notes and then I'll tell ya'

Man, did we ever hijack this one or what???

Sorry Gruñon...

And just who's going to reprimand you two for hijacking?

I'm already here (two years now) and not moving any time soon. I retired and moved just a short time before the market crashed and ate a big hunk of my already iffy retirement savings. Maybe a year later I'd have chickened out, but the deed is done, and I'm relieved that I was spared agonizing about it. If I have to spend the rest of my life poor, I'm in good company, in a beautiful place with nice weather, and not working. I wasn't living in the US, though, so my attitude may be unusual.

A friend of mine with whom I have corresponded for several years recently sent me an email after overcoming a moment of depression while looking at the current value of her investments. She gave me permission to share parts of her email here that I think are relevant to the topic. I believe she is expressing something many are going through or considering right now:

"Whether I move back to California or stay here in Mexico, the reality is that I have accepted that to avoid having to move in with one of my kids I needed to make some major changes. I am a poorer woman now than I was before and I don't see that changing any time soon.".

"At least here my home is paid for and I pay less than two hundred dollars a year in property taxes. My little casita is made of block, stone and concrete and so no need for fire insurance. My general cost of living here is lower than what it would be back in California and I don't feel the need for weekly salon appointments, manicures or yet another pair of shoes".

"I suppose the greatest reason for staying here now is that after looking at the quality of life of the poor in the USA when compared to Mexico, I have found that most living down here on very tight budgets seem to be generally happier and more accepting of their fare in life than those back stateside who we call 'poor' and yet most likely have a much higher standard of living than the working poor we see here in Mexico."

"I have simply made the decision to learn to live more like the locals in terms of diet and lifestyle. In the process I have taken your advice to improve my Spanish and attempt to blend in with the local culture instead of watching it from my front porch. I now walk the 10 blocks or so to the store instead of taking the wagon. I clean my own house and do my own gardening and I canceled my directv and vonage accounts. The old wagon is going to stay in service for awhile yet. Maybe I'll splurge and give her a tune up, oil change and even a transmission service. After looking at what most of my neighbors drive I realize that it would be shameful not to try and get at least a few more years of service out of her. What good would a new model with navigation do me down here anyway?"

"Life has been a series of adjustments, and in the process I have actually lost 8 pounds. I now know most of my neighbors first names and seem to be getting the hang of telling a good chisme. My lovely new friend Lorena is the local expert in that fine art. No need for soap operas with the juicy stuff I get to hear now every day."

"An unexpected outcome was coming to realize how much I have wasted in a lifetime of giving into each and every whim and desire that my checking account allowed me. Life is becoming much more basic now and in that simplicity I am finding a lot of peace and a new sense of contentment I never experienced before. It's called acceptance of life as it is. For some reason I lived the first 60 years of my life terrified at the prospect of such a thing. Now it is teaching me how I can live a life even richer than I ever expected to."

"My 'perspective' as you always like to call it, has certainly evolved"