Tag: mexico

Mexico is the world’s #1 retirement destination, and there are many very good reasons for that. For US and Canadian residents it provides proximity to home, and other benefits. Here are the few advantages of retiring in Mexico

Free phone calls to the U.S. and Canada—and affordable phone/internet packages.

With your Mexico landline telephone or even your cellphone, you can call the U.S. and Mexico for free. No more international long-distance charges. The communication infrastructure in Mexico is thoroughly modern and reliable, yet extremely consumer-affordable. The telephone and internet packages costs her just $22 a month. You can call friends and family in the States anytime you like. No muss, no fuss, no extra cost.

Free healthcare coverage for those over 65.

You may know that the quality of healthcare in Mexico is first rate, with top-notch care provided through Mexico’s private healthcare system at one-fifth the cost of similar services in the U.S.. Same goes for the cost of private health insurance plans. But get this: If you are over 65 (foreign residents with visas included), you can join the public Seguro Popular health plan program for free. Imagine…free healthcare. By the way, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that well less than 1% of Mexicans have “impoverishing” healthcare costs. The number of U.S. citizens with bankrupting medical bills? 16%.

A tip to get you a free vacation to Mexico:

Need some dental work? In Mexico, it will cost you a fraction of what it costs in the U.S. A dentist in the USA charges $13,000 to cap eight front teeth. A dentist in Mexico with a state-of-the-art clinic will quote $2,144 for the same work. You will save  $11,000 that will not only pay for your airfare but also for a luxurious Mexican vacation—with lots of money left over.

Low-cost air carriers.

Speaking of airfares to Mexico, did you know that several new budget airlines are revolutionizing travel to/from and within Mexico? You can get back and forth to the U.S. for as little as $200 round trip, and travel from place to place within Mexico for less than $50 on sparkling new, clean airplanes.

Peso exchange.

Just wow. Fifteen years ago, one U.S. dollar bought you 10 Mexican pesos. Ten years ago, your dollar got you 14 pesos—a huge bargain. Today, you’re getting 18 to 20 pesos for your dollar, making Mexico more affordable than it has been in a very long time. Economists don’t think this will change any time soon. “It’s like getting a big raise just for living in Mexico,” expats often say (For just $1,865 a month, a couple can live very well in Mexico, and a single on much less.

Extremely easy visa process.

Of all the retirement destinations, in fact, Mexico is one of the easiest (and most affordable) countries to qualify for and obtain a resident visa. New Immigration rules allow you to start the process with a few simple documents at the Mexican consulate nearest your home. (There are more than 50 in the U.S. alone.) Then it’s a snap to finish the process in Mexico at a local immigration office, typically with an English-speaking staff.

It’s, overall, a very safe place.

Mexico sometimes gets a bad rap, largely undeserved. Most of the country is very safe…cities in Mexico often have lower crime rates than comparably sized cities in the U.S. In fact, at least nine U.S. cities have higher crime rates than the vast metropolis of Mexico City. Washington D.C. has an almost 50% higher violent crime rate than does Mexico’s capital city.

 

I have wanted to visit San Miguel—nestled just northwest of Mexico City—for many years. For one reason or another, I had never made the trip, but its allure kept it on my list.

After spending three months in Porto, Portugal, San Miguel was my second extended stay for my “roving retirement” planned for 2017. I arrived in mid-April for a two-month stay. I was in awe of its beauty—full of vibrant colors, stunning art galleries, and top-shelf international restaurants.

I rented a house through HomeAway in the Guadalupe neighborhood. Just a couple blocks north of the San Miguel city center, Guadalupe is a wonderfully authentic Mexican neighborhood, currently in the gentrification process.

My house for my two-month stay was a two-story home on an old cobblestone street a block from the neighborhood school. Across the street was a small, one-man mercado where I could pick up a bag of fresh pineapples, mangoes, and oranges for roughly $3. Most days my lunch was all fruit.

The house had two bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms, much more than I needed, and rent was $1,000 per month, including all utilities (electricity, water, gas, and WiFi) and a house-cleaning service twice a week. The first floor housed the living room and kitchen, the second floor the bedrooms, with a small sitting room between them, and the third floor held the rooftop and laundry room; all decorated in the beautiful colors and design of Mexico. I also had a rooftop garden, which I shared with the pigeons that roosted there every morning and some evenings at dusk.

Trash pickup was announced at 6:30 a.m. every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning with the clanging of a bell.

Which brings me to some of my most vivid memories, surprises, and loves of San Miguel: the sounds of the city.

At least twice a week, a vendor would slowly drive the neighborhood streets selling and bringing propane gas tanks right to your door. With a megaphone speaker, he broadcasted his presence for all to hear. Sometimes the megaphone shouted a message in Spanish, other times a jingle played. The farmers selling fresh milk and produce would also announce their pending arrival—some with stereos mounted on their trucks.

Most days I rushed to my window when I heard these neighborhood sounds. They were an unexpected gift of travel. And a peek into the rich Mexican culture.

From fireworks celebrations when the sun goes down, to roosters announcing the arrival of a new day, life in colorful San Miguel is lived, loved, and enjoyed out loud.

By Diana L. Davis