How do we go about retiring in Mexico?

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Sam D

My wife and I had really good luck with these guys:

http://stevetee.mexicoogle.hop.clickbank.net/

Stay away from the tourist cities and try to settle in an area where you know people, if possible. I assume you're Spanish speaking ?

Charlie

Where you live depends on whether you have a high income or modest, like beach climate ( hot, humid) or mountain climate ( moderate, far less humid), want to live where there are lots of gringos or live in the "real Mexico", like a big city or smaller town. Big cities, tourist and beach areas, and areas with lots of gringos cost more to live in. Most cities away from the border areas are quite safe. Lake Chapala and San Miguel de Allende are very high gringo areas. I prefer to live in an areas with a few, but not many gringos, small to med sized town, 1/2 hr from a big city for conveniences. There are many sites on the internet with info on "retiring to Mexico" or "moving to Mexico."

sparks_mex

You need to make a lot of visits to different parts of the country to make a decision on size of town and type of climate. Climate differs greatly between beach and central highlands and time of year. Do you need to live with lots of other gringos for English?

I detest the troll

This is a pretty good place to retire because American currency is alot in Mexican currency; pesos.

larpmanx

Some good advice above from Charlie and Sparks.

If you don't speak Spanish or it is very limited, plan on taking lessons. It will greatly improve your experience.

For a wealth of info, go to
http://www.rollybrook.com/

Mikey

Mikey is retired in Acapulco. I decided on Acapulco for few reasons.
The airport being nearby. Few hurricanes . The weather and beach's. Big city so I can obtain things easily and quickly.
As you can tell choosing the correct location for your lifestyle is important.
Mikey suggests to everyone to come down to the city of your choosing and look around first. It will take about 2 weeks for you to get the feel of the town.I feel the first week you will still feel like a tourist but into the second week you'll start to feel more at home. Look at it from a residents point of view - not a tourist. Where will I do laundry ? Shop ? Transportation ?
Tips - Don't haul all your belongings to Mexico. The cost and hassle is not worth it. Have a garage sale and use the $ to buy your things here. Having local art , furniture and such will make the mexico experience more enjoyable anyway. Learning basic Spanish will also ease the transition. Mikey came down with very little spanish and wish I had learned more at the outset.
Bring your patience - Life here moves at it's own pace - slow. Bring your compassion - things here can be a little rough for spoiled Americans.
i also recommend going to Rollybrook.com and read every page as it is a great website to get a feel for this life

Hearty

There are discussion groups about living and retiring in Mexico. There is one on Mazatlan called MazInfo on Yahoo. Just look up Groups and type in MazInfo or just Mexico if you are looking anywhere in Mexico and see what pops up.

Mazatlan is a tourist area but it is also a vibrant city with all types of housing available. If you like to meet other Americans and Canadians, there are a lot of ex-pats living there full-time. It has all the amenities of an American city - Wallmart, Home Depot, Mega theatres, cultural events, etc. There are also service groups like Friends of Mexico and Hands Across the Border that do charitable work. They are also socail groups and have monthly meetings with guest speakers. We go there 6 weeks every year and plan on upping that to 5 months when I retire (Canadians - we need to stay in canada 6 months because of medical insurance and pension requirements.

Spanish is not a requirement for living there. Our landlady doesn't speak Enghlish and we no trouble communicating! If youa re living there full-time there are lots of opportunitie to learn the language from the beginners level.

You need to join each Yahoo group that you are interested in but that is a snap.

Keke S

omg its awesome in mexico were going there really soon its awesome
i would say do it!!!!!!!!!!!!! sory its awesome there my grandparents live there and youll love it i even went to school there!!!!!!!!

anyway i think its an awesome i dea

TIPS
+frst if your white wear sunscreen but not like too much unless your sensitive but once you live there for a while you wont really need sunsceen
+in some places depending were you live there will be some scorpions but i havent seen them for a while but i sugjest you wear like slippers on your feet in the house
+

humanwars

I would think twice about this Currently, the situation in Mexico is very bad (and getting worse). Back home, the Mexican city that my city borders has seen a huge increase in violence, as have a lot of other places around Mexico. A lot of innocent people are being killed.

But, if you're convinced you want to go there, try this page:

http://www.mexperience.com/retirement/retire_location.htm

It lists different types of places that are commonly chosen for retirement (bigger cities, and also more colonial towns). Just give it a look and try to decide what sounds appealing.

I would not suggest retiring to a big city with the way t hings are right now. Definitely try to stay out of Mexico City, Juarez, Tijuana, where some of the biggest drug cartels operate.

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