# This One's for YOU!! (Expats)



## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

Here's an article that popped up in my daily internet news offerings - one that I felt you guys (there in Mexico) could appreciate & relate to:

Common questions for expats in Mexico

I found myself wondering if any of you were in the article or the comments section...? What else could you ad to it for discussion here in "La Chatarrería"?


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## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

What?? Nobody recognized themselves or a neighbor in the article?


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## dwwhiteside (Apr 17, 2013)

I read Mexico Daily News regularly and remember reading that article. Regarding healthcare, we (my wife and I) are exactly the same as the article states; we pay for the services we need at the time we need them. Now, we are actually quite fortunate that my wife's brother and all three of his sons are physicians. So, if anything truly catastrophic were to occur, we would probably rely on "family connections" to get the best prices on the best services we could find. But still, I am VERY MUCH MORE comfortable with healthcare here in Mexico than I was with US healthcare.

Owning property is also not a big deal. My wife is a Mexican citizen and so any properties we own are kept in her name. And we feel very safe here. Yes, we have invested in security for our home. That is just a common sense thing to do here. But, otherwise, we do not really take any additional or any different precautions than we did when we lived in the US.

What I do with my time is also the same as when I was in the US. I have a job in the technology field that I can do from anywhere that I have a high-speed internet connection and a phone. One difference though is that, now that I am living in Mexico, I can think realistically about retirement in a few years. If I was still living in the US, I would just have to keep working until I fell over dead.

As for what I miss the most, probably getting together with friends for sports; particularly football (the American version, of course). I have some great friends here and we get together for various activities. But, I have no appreciation for the sports commonly played (and viewed on TV) here and my friends have no appreciation for or understanding of the sports and the teams I follow.

But, all in all, I feel extremely blessed to be able to live in this climate and this culture.


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## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

*Why Mexico for Me (er... us)*

My wife & I always talked about returning to Mexico someday to either live or spend the majority of our time there. Through the years we went back there often (at least every other year) for vacations & celebrations. We considered this very important in raising our children to be bi-cultural, bi-lingual & appreciative of their Mexican heritage & family down there. I can proudly say that it worked! When I retired from the Army in 2001 (and again upon graduating college & later upon retiring as disabled) the question came up, as a family, about if we were going to move to Mexico... not from me, but from the rest of the family!

In the interest of our kids' educations we decided to stay; later it became more difficult to decide as the kids became more enmeshed in their social circles & technology as associated with school. Sometimes I wish we had taken the plunge as a family and made it happen! I think everything would have come out as good or better than it has already. I never knew or planned that I would end up retired (again) from teaching after 8 years because of my service-connected conditions... otherwise, financially & economically it would have been a better decision to move. Still, I'm very thankful that my benefits have allowed us to live a good lifestyle without much change... and still have Mexico to look forward to once my wife decides to retire.

Like "dwwhiteside" & others on here, I look forward to a more comfortable & healthy lifestyle there in Mexico, plain & simply because we will be better able to afford it there compared to here in the US. We've spent enough time there to see that for ourselves & to help with our planning. This forum has also been a great help. It's not that I feel like an island here - but it feels like living a very "solitary" existence sometimes compared to when I'm in Mexico. When there I so enjoy just hanging out with people - visiting & being visited just because there is a friendship or "because I was in the area". I enjoy the necessity of walking more there - and if I don't want to walk, there's the convenience of public transportation or comparatively cheap & available taxis to get me where I want to go.

On occasion I've had to seek medical or dental care there and often have found it to cost less than our co-payments & premiums here in the US (WITH benefits)... so far. If we need something more critical, we'll be able to go back to the US for it. I still need to investigate, but I understand that certain costs of care can be re-imbursed by my US coverage... that would make a great situation even better! I'll have to get back to you on that one unless somebody else already has information to offer on that possibility.

For sure it won't be a "perfect" existence in Mexico, but at least it will be a more comfortable one of our own making compared to what we could do with our resources here in the US. Finally, great food, travel & exploration are passions of ours that can be fully indulged there on a whim with such wonderfully ancient & historic places to visit (near & far)! I could cite more reasons for going, but this is getting long... I'm sure you have others to offer that I haven't thought of, yet... so fire away!!


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