question: any expats living in Mexico or Central America...?

[mike_c]

I've intended to retire "down south" for some time now, but increasingly find myself wondering whether I can leave sooner and work outside the U.S. I'm sad to say that it's not really my country anymore.

I am nearly 50 years old, a university professor with a doctorate in entomology, a working scientist and educator. I'm divorcing, my daughter is grown, and I don't own anything worth staying for. For the most part I am working for my pension. I love my work, but I can do it anywhere and I'm not at all averse to a career change-- the point is that except for the faculty pension I have little real investment in remaining in the U.S.

On the other hand I truly love Mexico and have likewise enjoyed my visits to several Central American countries. I wonder whether it's possible for me to start over in Mexico. My spanish is strictly utilitarian, but I can fix that if I put my mind to it. Any advice from expats or others who have done more research than I?

[XNASA]

1. I'm not, but I did eat at a Guatemalan restaurant Sunday night...

And if that's any indication of the kind of food down there, then I say....

What are you waiting for???

[Momgonepostal]

2. Not an ex-pat, but...

I know lots of people have done what you're considering.

My husband and I were in Mexico several years ago. At the time, there were a lot of retired Americans moving to San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico. It struck me as a pretty and kind of artsy colonial town. Very nice. I doubt all those retirees there spoke fluent Spanish either. I imagine with a decent pension, you could live quite comfortably there.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[mike_c]

4. I'm wondering about working in Mexico rather than waiting...

...for retirement. If that can't be done then I'll certainly retire in either Mexico or in a Central American country, preferably a bit off the gringo trail. But I'd like to go sooner rather than later....

[NV Whino]

3. May I go with you?

Ummm... you don't mind an older woman, do you?

[mike_c]

5. send a photo and a recent bank statement....

:evilgrin:

[SCDem]

6. Lived in Honduras for a year

Not an ex-pat but met many from US, Canada, Australia and Germany there. I lived in the capitol Tegucigalpa which is probably where you'd find work. There are two nice islands off of Honduras (Honduran islands) that barely any one knows about and the coral reef is amazing, the bigger of the 2 islands is Roatan and it is pretty darn small, but I don't imagine that there is work to be found there other than bein a bartender!!

And stability wise unfortunately it is stable as you can get. And what i mean by that is that I was there during political elections... there were 3 candidates... 1) crook no one would vote for, 2) ok but did get anybody fired up and passionate but everybody said he'd probably win and 3)loved him to pieces and he would be a breath of fresh air for Honduras but I won't vote for him because I know #2 is going to win. Drove me batty listening to everyone say this!!

My mother spent a year down in Mexico near Quitana Roo (on Gulf side) teaching Mexicans about ecotourism so that they could then become ecotourists as that is becoming the trendy thing for Americans to do.

Good luck wherever you go! I hope to be down there in 30 years or so!!

[mike_c]

9. Honduras and Nicaragua are both on my list of possibilities....

eom

[SCDem]

12. Honduras would be the more stable one of the two

but I'm sure I'm no telling you anything new. Boy I wish I could go down there but I know my day will come in a decade or two to go back down there. Other then rent I lived off of $1500 for a whole year down there and that included traveling to Roatan and the Mayan Ruins near Guatemala.

[Zorra]

7. I have lived in Mexico for almost 4 years.

My advice would be to do as much research as possible prior to leaving. Have enough cash saved in order to live without an income for at least a year or two while you get established. It is far less expensive to live in Mexico than in the US once you learn the ropes, and you apparently already have some experience down here.

Explore your options for housing and location depending on your climate, personal needs, social preferences, and economic situation.

Learn as much Spanish as possible. Even utilitarian Spanish is useful, and the Mexican people seem to have a lot more respect for gringos that make an attempt to learn their language. The Mexican culture, IMO, is rooted much differently than the culture US, and the longer I live here, the more these differences become apparent and I realize how little I really understand about it. I am not sure that anyone that has not been born in or perhaps lived most of their life in Mexico can really grasp the culture here. It is an adventure.

It is still very possible to vote and be active in US politics from here also.

In truth, I love living here, and most of the ex-pats I know, (myself included), dread going back to the US. Life is generally so much slower here than in the US that it is difficult to re-adjust to the pace of life and attitudes back there. It is common for ex-pats to say that they breathe a sigh of relief when they re-enter Mexico from the States. I've personally heard this expressed an awful lot.

Mexican people are really very nice in general, and IMO the measure of respect that you have for others here will be the measure of respect that you get.

[mike_c]

10. thanks Zorra....

Do you think it's realistic to hope to find work as a teacher or biologist?

[Zorra]

13. IMO, your chances of finding work in these fields is dependent upon

your language skills and/or specialty in the field of biology, and if I were in your position I would research the possibilities as much as possible prior to making plans for employment in these areas, and if possible get some type of "guarantee" of employment.

Unfortunately, finding lucrative employmment is not easy for most ex-pats in Mexico. Most of us down here that are not on fixed incomes have found that we have had to be creative and adaptable in finding employment, and this is often some type of self-employment.

It helps to get a "Green Card", (or FM3), become a resident (FM2), and/or a work permit. Temporary visitors can get a Visitors Permit for a stay of up to 6 months, and if you bring your car to mainland Mexico you will need a motor vehicle permit. Baja California does not require a motor vehicle permit.

You can get property here by getting a trust called a "fidei comiso", or by establishing a Mexican corporation. Property in certain areas is going sky high. (La Paz, B.C.S. has recently been rated the best place in the world to retire).

[bmbmd]

8. Here's a good place to start-

www.escapeartist.com

See-you ain't the only one toying with that idea!

[mike_c]

11. thanks-- great link!

Now I'll never get back to work this morning.... ;)

[Squeech]

14. Free advice (and worth what you pay for it)

I've been vacationing in Brazil for a few years, and I've been thinking along the same lines. (And my Portuguese is no better than your Spanish, and probably worse!)

The one thing that stands out is, don't settle in a touristy area. The cost of living in Rio de Janeiro is almost comparable with that in the USA, whereas in the other places I've spent time (Vitoria ES, Salvador BA, Recife PR) it's about a third of that. There's more street crime in Rio too. The downside is, in Rio you can get along in English; much less so in the other parts of the country.

I don't anticipate getting a technical job in Brazil, but actually, I don't anticipate getting another job in my current field at all-- I'm a computer programmer, doing COBOL on IBM mainframes, and that's a dying breed. There's a lot of demand in most of the rest of the world for English language skills, so you could always teach, even if it's under the table. There's a certification to teach English as a second language, and there are schools around here that teach to that test in a six week course, and I intend to do that in the next year or so.

Hope that helps!

[mike_c]

15. thanks, Squeech-- I'm curious about the ESL jobs too....

My first impression was that they were essentially dead-end, temporary jobs that kids took right out of college. Now I'm not so sure-- some seem to offer long term contracts, insurance, pension plans, and so on. Best of luck!

[Squeech]

16. ESL isn't terribly lucrative

We have a Brazilian friend (long story short: he overstayed his visa by about ten years, they caught up with him and deported him, and he can never come back and is extremely bummed about it) who acquired enough English while he was here that he teaches it there. But he only makes seven reals an hour (less than US$2.50), after four years on the job, and he doesn't work full time. He could almost certainly do better at some other school (the one he works at sucks in several ways), but his next job might be just as bad, I dunno...

He was broke enough at one point that he'd starve at the end of every month so he could pay his rent. When we found out, we bought him a one-bedroom condo-- for about US$8,000. (Talk about your low cost of living! This is in Recife, an old and very cultured city in the northeast-- but there's very little industry there, nor money.)