TalkBaja.com » Baja Mexico Forums » Moving to Baja Full/Part Time

In light of shrinking 401K's. stock portfolios and general economic downturn, I am curious as to what adjustments / changes are you making in your lifestyle / budget? Or are you skating through these times unscathed?

We have made a lot of adjustments including putting off buying a new car; we are just going to take care of the "old" truck and maybe add a few "accessories" to it instead. We are changing our vacation plans for this summer, staying closer to home with less frills and we haven't been dining out as much as we normally do.

And as much as I would like to play golf with Tiger, we decided to pass on building a home at Punta Brava.

Not scathed too much; we thought this might happen and tried to prepare. More concerned about where this goes from here, we have done some belt snugging across the board. A "wanna do in 2010" vacation has been pushed to "someday" for now.

I get regular email from my personal website about living in Baja. It used to be 1 or 2 emails a day asking about the cost of living/housing, DirecTV, internet, border crossing, etc. In recent months it has increased to the point that if I don't check my inbox on a regular basis I get overloaded with mail.

Lots of people asking questions about moving down south of the border. Each one has a story and they usually are based on the bad economy and/or dwindling real estate values and investments they had banked on for retirement.

One couple who now live outside Sedona, Arizona have probably sent me over one hundred emails asking just about every question imaginable. In the chain of correspondence they have shared with me that they have been hit very hard in their investments in the last two years and at the current rate they will have to cut their monthly budget in half to make it last twenty more years. They have their home on the market and have just decided to accept an offer for $470,000 - just about equal to what they paid for it in 1994. Their plan is to use that money to buy a couple of small places down here; one to live in and one to rent out and then put the extra cash away for living expenses.

I told them they should consider themselves lucky to find a buyer.

I retired and moved just before the crisis hit. My retirement funds were already barely adequate and were hit hard, though less so they might have been. So now they are less barely adequate. I'm making the best of things by taking early social security to give the investments time to recover, and by trying not to overspend. That's about it, but then I'm a fatalist.

What I'm seeing on web forums is an increasing number of folks from the US who want to move to Mexico and work, without having much of a clue about the scenario here. Some seem to be envisioning open hiring and Mexico living expenses on US salaries. Ouch! But at least these folks are asking questions. Can't help wondering how many will simply show up with a load of unrealistic expectations.

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

I get regular email from my personal website about living in Baja. It used to be 1 or 2 emails a day asking about the cost of living/housing, DirecTV, internet, border crossing, etc. In recent months it has increased to the point that if I don't check my inbox on a regular basis I get overloaded with mail.

Lots of people asking questions about moving down south of the border. Each one has a story and they usually are based on the bad economy and/or dwindling real estate values and investments they had banked on for retirement.

One couple who now live outside Sedona, Arizona have probably sent me over one hundred emails asking just about every question imaginable. In the chain of correspondence they have shared with me that they have been hit very hard in their investments in the last two years and at the current rate they will have to cut their monthly budget in half to make it last twenty more years. They have their home on the market and have just decided to accept an offer for $470,000 - just about equal to what they paid for it in 1994. Their plan is to use that money to buy a couple of small places down here; one to live in and one to rent out and then put the extra cash away for living expenses.

I told them they should consider themselves lucky to find a buyer.

Ron.....this sounds like a great opportunity to put together a FAQ's page that you can refer people to.

Originally Posted by Teniente

Ron.....this sounds like a great opportunity to put together a FAQ's page that you can refer people to.

Funny you mention that - I am actually in the process of putting together that very thing in the forum and just start referring them here...

Great minds think alike.

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

...Great minds think alike.

We were lucky and purchased our Ensenada house during the first phase of construction about 4 years ago. House selling prices have increased about $35K since we purchased, and yes, people are still buying houses and lots in our development.

I am a retired government employee with a defined benefits pension plan, and also have a small military retirement plan. My wife will retire in about 18 months from government service with a defined benefits pension. We both contributed to a deferred compensation plan. She is still contributing, I closed my account and placed the funds in other investments. We will also be eligible for a small Social Security benefit.

We have a house in Nevada that is paid for and we plan on holding on to it until the market improves or until someone with horses is looking for a place to live. The house sits on 3 1/2 acres and is one of the last remaining parcels that will be available zoned for horses.

Although we watch what we spend, we anticipate no drastic changes in income.....unless things get worse. In which case we will have to re-adjust. Iff the economy picks up, all the better.

We meet with our financial advisor on a regular basis and adjust our investments as necessary. We have actively been planning our retirement for about 10 years. I stress the early planning part, don't get locked in to only one idea, and be flexible.

As a side note, about 4 months ago I looked at buying Ford stock when it was listed at $2.08 a share......didn't do it..........today it is at $5.68 a share...............and that's why I'm not into financial planning!!!!!