Retiring to Mexico

D

DCLonghorn

1,000+ Posts
I'm in my late 30's and still 20-plus years from retirement but I think about where I would like to relocate when I retire. I really like the Playa del Carmen/Tulum area for vacation and have heard there are a lot of US expats in Mexico, especially Acapulco and south of San Diego. Anyone know how difficult it would be to retire and move to Mexico? Do you have to give up US citizenship and pay Mexican taxes? Just curious because the US does not allow foreign nationals to retire in the US. If I'm not mistaken, a foriegn national cannot stay in the US longer than 6 months at a time. Anyone know anyone who has done this?
 
Check out La Paz on the Gulf of California. If i remember correctly, there is a huge ex-pat number in that area. Might be a great time to buy, but i am purely guessing.
 
San Miguel de Allende.
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I prefer Playa del Carmen over all the other places listed.

I'd love to retire there as well, so I'd like to see if someone who knows some details about retiring in Mexico might chime in.
 
i'm in akumal right now and met a guy who's grandparents did just this. he's in town for a couple weeks. if i see him at the bar tonight i'll ask him what he knows.
 
my buddy Larry, who's a mexican (and a great guy, despite being a UCLA bastard), his mom did this. She and her husband (also a mexican-american) moved near Rosarito Beach. After about a year they said **** it and came back to SoCal. It was too scary for them. Crime, etc.
 
Crime exists in every country. How much you encounter it depends a great deal on where you live. What country AND where in a country.
For instance, I would avoid South Central LA, AND Mexican border towns. San Miguel de Allende has a HUGE expat community, and not just Americans buth many many Europeans as well. It has a great climate because it is up in the mountains, but not too high. There are flights from Texas to Leon International Airport which is about 45 mins. to an hour from San Miguel. About the same as Concun airport to Playa del Carmen.
I also love Playa Del Carmen for vacation, but could much more see retiring in San Miguel. Just a personal preference of where to live v. visit.
As far as I know, Mexico doesn't mind or have laws against retirees settling in Mexico. I do know that there are fairly affordable health insurance plans as well, but not sure if/how medicare would work (which might be a consideration for many retirees).
Also, the tax structure is vastly different in Mexico, but I don't know all about it. I know that property taxes are really low compared to most places (like Texas) in the US. You will definately want to check with an accountant about tax law and how it would affect you to live in Mexico.
While maybe not a major consideration for retirement, I do know that Mexican banks do NOT do mortgage loans at all. You have to either pay cash for a house, or get financing here in the States.
Now, if I can just convince my in laws to go ahead and get a place in San Miguel like they have talked about....
 
I studied Spanish in San Miguel de Allende at the Instituto Hispano Americano one summer. I loved living there. There's also another big art school there--painting, music. Lot's of ex-pat "artists" as well as real artists live there.
 
back at the bar last night i found the guy i talked about yesterday. he was with another fellow that said f it and left the houston area. he grew up in austin and went to UT. i didn't talk to him long and i'm not sure i remember everything, but he said he had to get some form and get a job. after 3 months he gets another form. after 6, another. 12, then he said it was something like 6 yrs after that. after 6 you can get a passport from there.

i don't know if any of his **** is worth listening to. and obviously if you're going to retire in MX this doesn't sound like the way to do it. as with anything, enough money will get you whatever you want. and i bet it wouldn't even be that much.
 
Ditto on San Miguel de Allende... I love that place.... Thats where my wife and i want to retire... Long way to go though.
 
There are 3 visas for Mexico.

IIRC, the FM3 is the one that applies to retirees. It is renewable annually and carries the possibility of converting to Mexican citizenship after 5 years in country. (You cant work there legally, but some people pull it off anyways. Plus, you can always be an investor/trader)

I surf and have been all over the west coast of mexico since the 1970s. My fav spots are Puerto Escondido, Ticla and Sayulita. San Blas used to have a neat break but the living conditions there are kinda tough. Someone above mentioned Zihua which is a great spot. No surf right there, but there is some nearby. It's probably the only popular beach spot in the entire country saved from concrete highrises (so you get that old Mexico vibe). Baja can be pretty cool too if you dont mind all the Californians (Ive always thought of it, visually at least, as West Texas meets the Pacific Ocean).
 
There are huge ex-pat communities in Costa Rica. It has an added benefit that Mexico does not: it's very safe. And I don't mean safe by Central America/Mexican standards, I mean SAFE. Not only that, it has the same climate has Hawaii.

Now, a lot can change in 20 or 30 years as far as Mexico's concerned, but I'll take the 100+ year of democracy, >50% of the population speaking English, and health care standards on par with the rest of the industrialized world in Rica over anything else Mexico or Central America has to offer.

What I'm rather curious about is Peru.
 
Bob in Houston,
There is no issue with owning property that I know of in Mexico. As I said, my in laws were looking to purchase in San Miguel and talked to an agent there just off the main plaza and he said there is no issue with owning there. My dad also know a guy who at one time owned 3 properties in Mexico. Now, none of these were full time primary residences, but I have no idea why that would make a difference at all.
 
I have one memory of Rosarito... ok, two.

1) The guacamole at some restaurant with a gnarled tree growing in the middle of it was so expensive, it was more expensive than in LA. I was thinking... this is F'ing MEXICO. We must be in the biggest tourist trap in the city.

2) Back in ~2002, all of the taxis were Ford Country Squire stationwagons from the early '80s. I grew up in a couple of different '70s versions, but the faux wood paneling really warmed my heart. I really wanted to buy one of those things and take it back to LA to use as a beach car that you could slap the surfboards up on top on the way to the beach and then slide them inside when you went to eat afterwards.
 
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