Boomer retirement

[Mexico Resident]

I know some of you on this forum have interest in Latin America. My beloved Mexico is a place people either love or simply don’t love at all. I have experienced both scenarios. In Mexico you can buy a house in Ajijic or San Miguel de Allende for $300K or in “real” Mexico for $30K. Do you think the boomers will be coming here in droves because of the prices, the weather, and the culture/people or do you think this will not be a major movement?

[powayseller]

This topic is worth some research. I believe the boomers are in for a rude awakening, as their #1 retirement fund (their home) will not fund their retirement after all. No more reverse mortgages when the credit bubble contracts. The recession will wipe out 1/3 or more of their stock portfolios (and who knows when that portfolio will recover?) Part-time work and scrimping will replace the cozy union pension lifestyle. So will some of those folks consider moving someplace cheaper? I think the decision will be a pull between being close to kids/grandkids/friends and living someplace they can afford to live comfortably. Maybe you can do some research on this (google) and report back. Interesting possibility.

[34f3f3f]

Latin America is a place of great interest to me, and Mexico being so close is an obvious first place to explore, and retirees will always move to where their dollar goes further.

I was initially drawn to Costa Rica and went there for a seminar about retiring or living there. It is reputedly one of the safest places in Central America. When we arrived, we took a tour of one the upmarket expat communities, and where shocked by the razor wire and fortress like buildings everwhere. The stories we then were told, and then read about in the local press, made us cut our trip short, and we hopped on the next plane home. (I am well travelled, and have been to some pretty unsavoury places)

If you were to draw up a list of the main things retirees value, security is going to be high up on that list, because the older you are the more vulnerable you are. If you argue that Mexico is as safe or safer than many places in the US, you still have to get over the barrier of “perception”. If Mexico wants boomer dollars, it is my view that the government needs to make a concerted effort to clean up, and reverse the negative “perception”. The nature of the relationship being what it is, I don’t see that happening any time soon.

My wife and I are lovers of all things old, and would love to see some of the old colonial towns in Mexico. If you are Mexican then who better to ask.

[Anonymous]

I think that the next 10 years will be (very) tough in the U.S. And, I expect that it will make life in Mexico very tough and unattractive:  today, the U.S. is the relief valve for Mexico's unemployed; in the upcoming recession/depression, the Mexicans will return home, and there will be (rightfully) great unrest, maybe even a revolution.

I know that we have crime here in the U.S. But, when I read, as I did last week in the Union-Buffoon, of two U.S. visitors on a Mexican ranch for a hunting trip being kidnapped, I shake my head and say 'No way am I going there.'

Harbinger of the future in the U.S. in the upcoming recession/depression?:  two days ago, in the Union-Buffoon, I read of a woman stepping out of her vehicle at a local Wal-Mart, being accosted by two men, being forced to withdraw $1,500 from her checking account and being forced to take a $6,000 advance on her credit card, turning over the $7,500 to the robbers. Horrible if true.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20061203-9999-7m2crime.html

I don't think Americans will move in substantial numbers to Mexico.  I assume that old folks will move in with their children, or vice versa, as happened in the ’30s, to save money and provide security and support.

[barnaby33]

Hi Mexico Resident, I would vote for the middle course. Part of the problem is that most retires are on a limited budget, but are still used to an American style life. One of the attractions of Mexico is that its cheaper. As a counter balancing issue, services aren’t readily available (at least at an American level.)

Another issue is the rule of law. Its still quite tenuous in Mexico. Even though crime against gringos isn’t particularly bad in most of Mexico, Americans are still scared. Foreigners are always in a weaker position than a Mexican citizen in the eyes of the law.

The third big issue is ownership. Within 50k of the oceans and borders we can’t own anything. Even though my father has 50 year lease with two guaranteed renewals, its not the same in our eyes as owning.

I think that as these macro issues are worked through more Americans will move south for retirement, and some even to work and build careers. We have a very long way to go though before the trickle south matches the torrent going north.

Josh

[Anonymous]

Retiring in Mexico is an interesting propostion MR, I have certainly considered it. I doubt there will be a major immigration, however. Primarily due to the significant difference in language, culture and most importantly quality of life. Most Americans I don’t believe would be capabable of making such a dramatic lifestyle shift even if they saved a lot of money.

Additionally, in my experience in mainland Mexico, it is actually quite expensive to live a lifestyle consistent with what we are used to in middle class US. Surely you could live a simple life in Mexico very, very cheap. However, living in a modern Mexican city with modern conveniences and the luxuries that we take for granted in the US is not as affordable as many may belive.

[LookoutBelow]

Mexico is a dirty, politically corrupt,  3rd world dump mostly inhabited by uneducated poverty stricken populace. Sorry to say this, but the facts are the facts. Its getting QUITE dangerous for the gringo down there and other central american countries too.

I have spent a CONSIDERABLE amount of time down there for business and saw the best it has to offer over the years and its no place for me at all. 

 

The few places gringos would consider living have eventually been destroyed by the mexicans taking back the properties they've built down there…… Yanquie…Go home but leave your dollars here.

 

[PerryChase]

I too love Mexico but I doubt that there’re will be a mass migration of Boomers to Mexico.

Think about it, $300k for a house in San Miguel de Allende is a fortune. You can buy a house for that in Orlando, Atlanta, Panama City, Tampa/St Pete, etc…

Retirees will want to stay near their children and children will not want their parents spending their inheritance in exotic locales.

I also want to echo deadzone’s comments that living a 1st world life in a developing country is quite expensive — more so than in America. So unless you’re willing to lower your standard of living, living in Mexico would not cost less.

Americans are not the adventurous types. Few will want to move to a country where English is not spoken.

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