I am planing to retire in Mexico.
I have been thinking about a middle-sized town in Michoacan.
Lately I've heard a lot of good about Guanajuato City in the state of Guanajuato.

Also I like to know about areas with:
Good climate
Low cost of living
High female-to-male population ratio

Anyone ?

How good is your Spanish and what will you do for income? If you can hook-up with a nice lady and settle in then you should havce it made. Keep away from Vera Cruz, jobs are tight! Good Luck!

Harry

SP, here is a link with some good information about the popular area around Lake Chapala:
http://www.mexicoliving.com/Valuable%20Reading.htm

Another good site is: http://www.internationalrealestatedirectory.com/country/mexico.htm

The second site lists a slug of real estate brokers in Mexico. What I like about this site is that many of the brokers also include a great deal of information about the areas that they deal with.

Finally, check with your local Barnes & Noble or Borders. There are several very detailed books out on living in Mexico. Obviously they are not written for perverts like us but they will give you a good idea on some of the things that you might run into. Plus, hanging out in these book stores by the food section lets you check out all the cuties that seem to frequent there.

My pension starts in August 2004 - 10,000 pesos/month for about 3 years, then it will increase about 60 per cent.

In my mind, the tighter the job market, the lower the prices.

Puedo hablar un poco de espanol, pero entiendo menos (poco a poco...)

I do NOT intend to live in an "American" neighborhood.

SP,

10K pesos should go a long way. I know that in Vera Cruz a nice two bedroom one bath house w/ secure parking in a non-"American" neighborhood can be had for around 1000 pesos/month.

Muy bien. Eso ayuda mucho.

Gracias.
Pero no puedo aguantar el calor alla.
Pauncho.

Yeah that and the mosquitoes (sp).

Hey Senor Pauncho a great place to retire but unfortunately very hot is Merida, Yucatan. I lived here in a Mexican neighbohood and rented a nice 2 bedroom house for 700 pesos a month but it is very hot there.

A very nice small town is in Veracruz named Catemaco. It is in the mountains and a good bit cooler than El Puerto. This is where the movie "Medicine Man" with Sean Connery was filmed. Catemaco has a large lake where you can ride a boat and see the monkees playing in the trees. I have several pictures of Catemaco if you would like to see them E Mail me and I will scan them and send them to you.

Beavis; your profile comes up blank.

srpauncho@hotmail.com

Thanks.

I bought a new 2br house in Tepic and plan to spend half the year there, and half in San Diego.
House cost $26,000, and I rent it for $150 mo. to some students at the university.

Tepic is about 2000 ft elevation, so the heat isn't like the coastal towns of Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta, both only two hours away. Guadalajara is two hours east.

Sr. Pauncho,

I live in Costa Rica, not Mexico, so I can't give you country-specific info, but having "semi-retired" here a couple of years ago, and knowing quite a few others who have retired here on modest pensions, I think I can give you the most important piece of advice you need to make a successful transition to living abroad in any Spanish-speaking country.

My advice is that you do everything you can to become reasonably fluent in Spanish and to gain a basic understanding of the culture before your relocation!

Don't try to tell yourself it will be easier if you wait until you're living here before doing this. Your first few months living abroad will be the most stressful, difficult, and important. If you can't communicate effectively and don't understand some of the subtle but vitally important cultural differences in behaviors, attitudes, expectations, and values, you are increasing your difficulty level enormously.

You will quickly discover that you can't get by relying on basic Spanish, or putting yourself at the mercy of English-speaking residents or other Gringo ex-pats who speak Spanish. This is a sure-fire recipe for being victimized by con-artists of both sexes and both nationalities and for feeling isolated, lonely, powerless, frustrated, and confused - not the best circumstances for building a successful new life abroad.

Unfortunately, most Gringos who come here to live never learn more than the most basic Spanish and, as a result, always feel like outsiders and are thought of as such by Costa Ricans. Surprisingly, despite their unhappiness and isolation, many of them remain here. Perhaps they don't have anyplace else to go. They are (or become) the epitome of the "ugly American" - bitter, lonely, culturally-insensitive drunks. You can see them every day sitting around on park benches and in bars in San Jose and through-out the country. They aren't living, just waiting to die, and making themselves and everyone around them pay the price of their misery. It is a sad but common situation. Don't let it hapen to you.

On the other hand, foreign residents who speak Spanish and who are interested in and sensitive to the local culture generally find themselves comfortable with their lifes here and are treated with respect, consideration and friendliness by the locals.

Of course it is easier to become conversationally fluent if you are totally immersed in a Spanish-speaking culture, but there is still a lot of study and preparation you can and should do before-hand. It will make a huge difference!

If you have a chance to go to Mexico for a few weeks and study in a language school there, I'd certainly recommend it. However, whatever your situation, you can study, learn, and prepare yourself before your move. If you can motivate yourself to do this, it will pay big dividends when the time comes to make your move. However, if you are like the majority of potential ex-pats who dream about living a great life abroad and meeting beautiful women on a modest, fixed-income budget, you are dreaming the impossible dream.

If you lack the motivation and sincere desire to prepare yourself in advance for life in a foreign culture, chances are you will have (and deserve) a highly unsuccessful experience.

Best wishes and good luck! I hope you don't take my advice the wrong way but I've seen too many men fall for the dream and the inevitable disapointment they experience when they attempt to actually live out an unrealistic fantasy.

Pura Vida,
TG

Hey TampaGringo

That was the best description of the Costa Rica ex pats I have ever heard. I spent a lot of time there in 97,98, and 99 and I sure can relate to that. Senorpauncho has a pretty good command of spanish at least from what I have seen in his posts he does.

There are a lot of guys who retire thinking the old myth of "you can live like a king on $500 a month". If eating beans and rice and living in something substandard to a garage is what you call living like a king indeed you can. If you want to have any of lifes luxuries you are going to find that it isn't much cheaper to live in CR or Mexico than the US. I have lived in both places and I have found that there are some things that are cheaper but many things cost more. The thing that makes life so much easier is the absence of money hungry leeches that we have to deal with on a daily basis I.E. Doctors, Lawyers, Insurance Companies, Banks or any person or business who has a chance to blindside you with an unexpected fee or service charge. No offense to any of the above as we understand the equation but my theory is that is what has destroyed the US. People have to charge more because they have to pay more for insurance as if somebody falls and skins his knee here he comes with this asshole lawyer who has his picture on a billboard or a TV commercial to sue the shit out of them and they have to have the insurance to cover their ass.

One thing that you might want to know concerning health care in Costa Rica believe it or not their health care is ranked above that of the United States. As for Mexico's it is somewhere comparable but CR is statistically higher than the good ole USA.

I will retire in Mexico myself in which I am already gearing towards it. Probally a dog ranch somewhere near the Mountains.

I agree with beavis that Merida is an excellent city. I spent extended amounts of time in Campeche and also found it ot be a good place. Both cities have a tropical feel everything is very very relax. But it can get unbearably hot and humid.

Nyarit mentioned Tepic. It is also a great place.

I personally think that for clilmate and nothing else you can not beat the area around Guadalajara or Morelia. I think I will retire somewhere around one of those two cities.

Tampagringo gave some good advice. Learn the language. A healthy understanding of the language and culture will save lots of stress.

Hey Beavis. Good to see you over here on this site.

Hey Batster

I agree. I always liked the area between Campeche and Merida where the small mountains are. The great thing about this is you could build you a house overlooking the water, out in the boonies and you could sit on your front porch, sip Tequila and watch the sun set over the ocean. Then you and your senorita could retire inside and you would remember why you chose this great country to retire.

I am planning to retire here but I have a few years left before that will be possible (probally about 19 as I turned 40 in April). I am thinking somewhere between Monterrey and San Luis Potosi but I might do Catemaco like I told Senor Pauncho. Time will tell. I did the Dominican Republic in November and I didn't really care for it. A lot of pretty dark skinned girls and a lot of nice people but it is about 20 years behind Mexico or CR.

As for being over on this site I found it to be the only one where the intelligence level is above grade school. Very little BS here and when there is it doesn't last long at all unlike the "War Zone" on the WSA. I still post a little on the WSG but it is not any better than the other. Lets all keep our notes and trip reports and when we are all post viagra we can meet up wherever we are in Mexico and tell some yarns to the youngsters who will be coming along. Then we can dream about what it would have been like had we had all of the options available in our days that are available to them. After this we can all take our geritol and put our old asses to bed.

I am forming a Mexican corporation in order to own the lot I am paying on in Ensenada.
It’s 80’ x 80’ up on a bluff over looking the bay about 1 ½ miles from the water.
At $16,000 it was a steel. How much would a lot like that cost in Calif.????


I’m going to spend about 10 to 15K a year in Building a 3000 sq.ft. home per my design. When it’s done, fully furnished, and the time is right. I’m making the jump. Vida de lento mang.

Mi espanol falta mucha, pero, no tengo miedo de hacer tonto de yo practicando.

Los maestros mejores son ninos (y ninas), por que hablan claro y usan vocabularios pequenos como yo.

El fin de semana pasado, Yo paso' una hora leyendo libros (for beginning readers) a la nina de mi amiga y sus sobrinos. Estuvieron en turnos leer.

Gracias.

Pauncho

Senor Paunhco,

No esta nada mal tu espanol. No dejas de practicar y vas estar hablando bien en poco tiempo. El ingrediente mas importante para aprender una idioma es ganas. Si tienes ganas, vas a aprender.

Suerte.

Yeh, but I can only guess that "ganas" above means desire or will to learn.

It is certainly a new usage to me.

Thanks.

Additionally, let me put in another blatant plug for;

"NTC's Dictionary of Mexican Cultural Code Words"

as an aid to understanding the culture.

Now I don't get mad when my amiga says (when comfronted with a big lie of hers) "I didn't really lie to you, my sister told me to..."

Is this thread about retirement in Mexico or Spanish idioms. Well I heard a new one on the radio the other day. My wife was with me and explained it as I had no idea what it ment.
The announcer was talking about some thing when he say, "aguas de gallo", coughs a little then continues talking. What had happened was he choked a little on saliva or phlem in his throat.
So he told his audience to "look out" he had something in his throat, then he cleared it.

My wife laughed and said that the expression "aguas" is very old and refers to traveling on a road full of potholes with water in them. So people say aguas to mean becareful or look out "for the water". She says people in Mexico say "aguas" to give warning for anything.

Gallo is a word people use to refer to the Adams apple.

So this will be my warning to my chica friend in TJ next time I receive head. Just before I blow.
"Aguas de gallo!"

Recently, while riding the trolley in San Diego, I got a couple of more tips:

Melaque or Barra de Navidad Jalisco
Two adjacent beach towns in lower Jalisco

Topia, Durango - weather more mild than Tijuana
population of about 12,000
Truly located "Donde da la vuelta el aire" (in "The Sticks")

Does anyone know ANYthing about these places ?

Thanks.

Pauncho

Bara de navidad is a great place. It is a little beach town that only gets busy on weekends when people go from Guadalajara.

I would also reccomend Morelia and Patcuaro as good retirement places also. Nice climates. And not to busy.

In a "Wal Mart parking lot" conversation, a kind gentleman & his wife suggested:

x Acambaro, Michoacan (NOT Tacambaro)
x Moroleon, Michoacan
x San Francisco de Rincon, Guanajuato
x San Francisco Purisimas, Guanajuato

The two Guanajuato sites are near each other, the second one has hot springs.

My question: Does anyone know anything about these places ?

I think almost anyplace in Michoacan would be good. I do not know Moroleon but Acambaro is nice. I think any of the small towns around Morelia and Patzcuaro would be great places.

Guanajuato, Guanajuato is a great place. But I don't know the other two pueblos.

SP, All the places you mentioned are in Guanajuato, the only one thats in Michoacan is Tacambaro. Still though, I've always liked Guanajuato and my wife has been to most of the places you mentioned and thought all of them were very nice. She did say Moroleon was a little touristy. She also mentioned that Irapuato was one of the nicer cities she's visited in Guanajuato.

I'm also interested in a low cost locale.
Thanks, everybody!

Does anyone have comments about the state of Colima - about 100 km east of the ocean.

Thanks

Don't buy any real estate there, the state is about to sink into the ocean.

So is Socal

Mr. Pauncho,

My contribution to your Club Hombre retirement in Mexico is the following:
I would look for a piece of land, or a small apartment near the beach in Rosarito Beach.
Before you dish me, IMHO, Rosarito is a great little beach town with the advantage that you have San Diego, CA available anytime you want it. If you get homesick from your usual life from the past 50 years, you just get in a colectivo taxi, pay about 2 bucks, and 25 minutes later, you are crossing the border to America's finest city.
Rosarito has so much to offer, small town attitude, global tourism, nice restaurants, TJ, Zona Norte close by, nice weather, neighbor to CA., what else do you want?
Sure it might be a little more expensive than pueblitos down in Colima, or Oaxaca, but I think its worth it.
Also, following Tampagringo's advise, you won't have any problem with the culture, and most everybody speaks ingles.

Suerte AMigo

The masterater

Masterater,

Thank you for you kind input.

I'm a little different in that I almost never speak english in Tijuana unless I have to.

And most of Baja California (including Rosarito) is in the restricted zone.

But still, thanks just the same.