There are some good posts from both sides. EconProof makes some valid points but so do the other posters about the violence and crime.
I speak from experience. I have extensive experience working and living in Latin America. I own several corporations in Latin America as well as owning real estate in 4 different countries in South America.
Are there investment opportunities in Mexico and other countries? Absolutely. But there is a LOT of crime, violence, corruption, red tape, bureaucracy, inefficiency, and tons of other problems.
I’ve done business in many countries and I can tell you that in many of these countries the judicial system really doesn’t work in the event of some dispute. Or even in countries where it does, judges can get bought/bribed, etc.
The police in many of these countries are totally corrupt and in cahoots with the bad guys.
People can say what they want about the USA but for the most part everything is totally efficient here. The banking system is excellent and works. The legal system is excellent and works. We have remedies like Small claims courts that mostly work. Judges here can’t easily get bought/bribed and it’s NOT common. Police officers for the most part are totally clean and not corrupt.
Even countries that are considered relatively safe and stable have lots of shady things going on. And FORGET about it if you come from an affluent or wealthy family.
Let me give you one example. I’m working in my office one day and my wife’s friend’s husband calls me panicked. This guy is worth millions. He keeps a VERY low profile but his family owns several businesses. Well, he calls me late afternoon and asks me if he can borrow the equivalent of $50,000 US in cash.
I immediately know something is wrong because this guy is worth tens of millions of dollars and I personally know he isn’t having any financial problems. And I can hear he is panicked and almost crying. So I tell him he can confide in me.
Well he tells me that his daughter has just been kidnapped. We’re talking about a 12 year old girl. She was walking to her friend’s house. (They live in a VERY affluent area). A black van pulled up to them. They left her poor friend and only took her. They call him and tell him if he doesn’t give $50,000 in cash and drop it off in a trash can on the street corner they designated, they would cut off all of her fingers one by one.
So, he wants to talk to her. Well, these guys are pros and they tell him that if he calls the police they will kill his daughter. And they claim the police is in on it with them so if he calls them they will kill her.
So they ask him if he wants to talk to her. So all of a sudden he hears “Daddy, I”m bleeding..they are cutting off my fingers”. Imagine this as a parent!
The banks had already closed as they close early in Latin America. And he didn’t want to get too many people involved. I owned a financial firm and we always had cash so he knew I could help. Absolutely I helped him and he paid the ransom and they let his daughter go.
The positive thing is they didn’t cut her finger off or harm her besides a small cut. The girl was so panicked she was yelling so they knew exactly what they were doing. But she just had a breakdown and he immediately moved his family to the USA. And needless to say, shortly after that I also moved back to the USA as I couldn’t imagine going through that with my family.
So when people talk to you about all the opportunities, or lower cost of living, or booming economy, yadda yadda yadda in other countries. Remember this true story.
Allen from Fallbrook said it best, “Personal safety always trumps economic opportunity”. That is SO true. Trust me on that.
Am I saying this kind of thing is a common event with retirees? Nope. Not at all. But you have to keep in mind in many of these countries, the levels of poverty are very high. And in many cities like Rio de Janeiro, you have really wealthy and expensive neighborhoods like Ipanema right next to slums.
These low lives feel it’s worth the risk for this type of crime.
Does this stop me from visiting these places or even continuing to invest in them? No. Would I want to raise a family in some of these cities again? Absolutely not.
