After 30 years of marriage my wife and I have decided to go our separate ways. We've been retired since 2002 and still have a small nest-egg we are going to split. I'm thinking that the cost of living in Mexico ought to make the money go alot further than here in the US. Does anyone know of a website or a book that contains information about relocating to Mexico and setting up housekeeping.

I'm picturing a place near the ocean, an hour or so from the border with a pretty senorita to keep house by day, cook real Mexican food and warm my bed by night. Is this kind of situation realistic or am I fooling myself?

I'd love to hear from anyone with experience in this area.

Your delusional...you might as well put a bullseye on your back.

Do you have ANY IDEA of how many gringos have been robbed, murdered or THE MEXICAN PASTIME of extortion over the last few years?

Quite a few.

I have had two friends murdered in the quaint little seaside town of San Antonio Del Mar in the last 3 years.

They were just like you, just wanted a simple quiet life close to the border.

A much better bet would be to move to Thailand. Very cheap, good medical services, that kind of thing.

If your nest egg is small, most countries aren't going to let you have a resident visa

But, in response to your question:

http://mexretire.com/
http://www.mexperience.co.uk/retirement/
http://peoplesguide.com/1pages/retire/1moveindex.html
http://www.amazon.com/Live-Well-Mexico-Relocate-Increase/dp/1562614320
http://www.amazon.com/Living-Abroad-Mexico-Ken-Luboff/dp/1566919223/ref=pd_sim_b_5

Bueno suerte!

I have family living in Mexico, and while some love it? I personally dislike even visiting them.

Alternatives you might appreciate are

www.medellintravelguide.com if you like the mountains and American standard of living this place rocks

or if the beach is important to you, the Philippines may be the way to go. No language barrier and a little can go a long way there if your local lady negotiates your deals

I live in Puerto Penasco which is 63 miles from the border, Is on the Gulf, and has a reasonable amount of Gringos. And all that "Don't go to Mexico, because it is so dangerous'. In a word-Bull. I travel all over the country and have never had any trouble. There are more drug busts and murders in Phoenix than one the border.

I agree with you that the US press over sensationalizes the dangers of Mexico. To say their are more drug related murders in Phoenix than TJ in a year is just irresponsible on your part.

I have lots of friends living in Mexico with ladies that take care of them. Keep away from prostitutes and you should be fine. All the nonsense with Americans getting robbed and killed have been because of guys going for scandalous chicas with criminal boyfriends.

Yeah stay away from prostitutes, especially Sampson's.

And no, my buds were victims of opportunity.

Their homes were in the supposedly secure and well patrolled beach area of San Antonio Del Mar.

Close proximity to the toll road and an easy jump over the fence...

I wouldn't paint a crime-free picture for the gentleman, it is far from it.

I hope this is not Ecjuan

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/18/bn18bajadead154216/?tijuana&zindex=168357

Just a guy looking to retire south of the border.

The victim was 58, EJ's pad info gives his age as 61 [info could be as old as 8yrs, depends on updates]so I doubt it was him.

No, it wasn't me. Sounds like a robbery that went bad.

Ecjuan, you can definitely achieve what you're dreaming about but of course you do have to be very extremely careful about who you may allow easy access to your home. One of my own long time TJ buddies was murdered by his ex live-in chica a couple of years ago but he was NOT careful at all. She had a dark past and knew all the wrong people and he knew that all along. I knew the chica over many years and warned him to keep her at a distance. He had actually sent her packing in as amicable a manner as possible after they were together for about a year, but she returned with malditos to steal the furniture and he walked in on them, there was a scuffle, and he was brutally killed and as much by the chica as the punks she brought along to clean the place out. Sickening story and sickening for me to have been close to it, but it is an extreme anomaly and the exception that proves the rule. Again, many many Americans living down there and something like this happens maybe once every couple of years. Not likely to be you.

A little bit of money goes a really long way towards renting or purchasing beachside or beach town property along the Baja coast that will be perfectly secure and at least as secure as living in a place like Los Angeles. There are many ex-pats and U.S. retirees living in communities from Playa in TJ going south along the coast beyond Ensenada.

Don't decide you need a regular chica right away. Just settle in and put yourself in social commerce and you will have no problem finding civilian chicas or FOBs in the zona who will be anxious to be your live in lover, maid and cook in return for fundamental financial security (which includes some money to send home to mama and the baby/babies). But no offers to chicas who you had a fantastic weekend with. Whether civilian or zona FOB, you have to really know them and have a basis for trust. It is true that many of the chicas and of course more in the bars than the civilians, who have malditos who could make visits that turn out to be most unwelcome. It really isn't so hard to figure out which chicas to trust over time.

Of course learn a decent amount of spanish if you haven't already. If you are going to live in a country, learn the language....just like we tell immigrants to our own.

If you purchase a residence make sure you have a good lawyer in Mexico to make sure that you go through the necessary legal hoops for a foreigner to purchase real estate along the coast.

Get a Sentri Pass which will let you drive across to the U.S. without the long waits at the border. You'll have access to all the medical care you need in San Diego and cheap meds in Baja. There are even inexpensive programs you can subscribe to which will provide emergency medical evacuation to the U.S. if you have an accident or get seriously ill. I get this for next to nothing as an add on to my annual Mexico auto insurance policy.

I wish I was in your position. But I will need to work until I'm 110 years old. Then I'll retire to TJ.