# What do I need to know?



## gpfw2 (Sep 30, 2020)

I am planning to retire and live in Mexico in a few months if all goes well. I was there in the 1980’s for a total of two months and loved it, went from coast to coast. I could probably search around here and find answers, but since I have so many questions hope this post is okay. 

I haven’t started receiving social security, and when I do it is going to less than $1000.00 per month. Having done some research it seems I can rent a place for $300.00? I want to be on one the coasts and looking at Puerto Morelos. I don’t want to be in a large or touristy town, but close to a larger one where presumably I would get better medical and dental treatment. 

Speaking of that, is there any reason to keep medicare? That is costing me $144.00 a month and would eat into my meager budget. Isn’t it better to have social security direct deposit to my credit union and draw money from there, rather than get a bank account in Mexico?

Is it cheaper to get a laptop in Mexico or the states? I will probably drive there so what do I need to know about that? As I understand it, I can be there 6 months, exit the country for a day or so and start another 6 month stay 

That’s all for now and thanks!


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## PatrickMurtha (Feb 26, 2011)

gpfw2 said:


> I am planning to retire and live in Mexico in a few months if all goes well. I was there in the 1980’s for a total of two months and loved it, went from coast to coast. I could probably search around here and find answers, but since I have so many questions hope this post is okay.
> 
> I haven’t started receiving social security, and when I do it is going to less than $1000.00 per month. Having done some research it seems I can rent a place for $300.00? I want to be on one the coasts and looking at Puerto Morelos. I don’t want to be in a large or touristy town, but close to a larger one where presumably I would get better medical and dental treatment.
> 
> ...


My Social Security monthly benefit is starting now and is in the $1200 range, and will be more than sufficient to sustain me in the major city of Querétaro. I’ve been living here for five years on LESS than that in earnings. I don’t have a car, so I avoid those expenses. 

You can do even better than $300/mo rent if you shop hard. Depending on the area, of course. But I’m paying less than that now in Querétaro. 

One advantage I do have is that I already possess permanent residency, having lived and worked in Mexico since 2011. I have no idea at all about income requirements for retirees who are coming here just to retire. Others here can tell you more.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

gpfw2 said:


> ...Is it cheaper to get a laptop in Mexico or the states? ...


Generally electronics are cheaper in the US. Note that Mexican prices include all tax. When taxes are added to the US price, sometimes the price is nearly the same.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Exiting and re-entering Mexico every 180 days can get expensive, and being granted another 180 days is never guaranteed. If you have enough savings, you might investigate getting a Residente Temporal Visa approved by the Mexican Consulat closest to your home in the USA. Some have the requirements on their websites.
Coastal living is hot and humid, especially in the summer. Electricity can get costly for AC. The best climates are around 5000 feet above sea level.
Nothing is as 'cheap' as you remember.


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## PatrickMurtha (Feb 26, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> Exiting and re-entering Mexico every 180 days can get expensive, and being granted another 180 days is never guaranteed. If you have enough savings, you might investigate getting a Residente Temporal Visa approved by the Mexican Consulat closest to your home in the USA. Some have the requirements on their websites.
> Coastal living is hot and humid, especially in the summer. Electricity can get costly for AC. The best climates are around 5000 feet above sea level.
> Nothing is as 'cheap' as you remember.


I certainly agree about the climate! Here in Querétaro, we are at 6000 feet. My apartment doesn’t have or need an air conditioner or a heater. The daytime temperatures here are virtually always between 10 and 30 C (50 and 86 F). In the middle of the night in January, occasionally it will get as cold as 5 C (41 F). The mountain air and breezes are lovely.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

gpfw2 said:


> I am planning to retire and live in Mexico in a few months if all goes well. I was there in the 1980’s for a total of two months and loved it, went from coast to coast. I could probably search around here and find answers, but since I have so many questions hope this post is okay.
> 
> I haven’t started receiving social security, and when I do it is going to less than $1000.00 per month. Having done some research it seems I can rent a place for $300.00? I want to be on one the coasts and looking at Puerto Morelos. I don’t want to be in a large or touristy town, but close to a larger one where presumably I would get better medical and dental treatment.
> 
> ...


Good questions! You're fine on a 6 month tourist visa to start out, but to engage in any economic activities in Mexico (other than spending cash) like opening a bank account or setting up utilities, you'll need a temporary or permanent visa. There are minimum income/wealth requirements. $1000 USD/month is insufficient-- last I checked for mine, they wanted to see at least twice that and I barely qualified. Sure, you can provide statements that indicate $100K in assets or so _but to prove financial stability they won't accept a mix of the two_--it's either one or the other. Yeah, the Mexican bureaucracy is extremely fussy--get used to it.
As for rent in Querétaro, IDK what $300 will buy you, but I've heard the town is higher than average. Certainly not like any coastal resort city, the _fresa_ neighborhoods of the large cities, Tijuana, or anywhere that large numbers of retired NorAms favor like Chapala and SMA. 
Far as expenses, services are much lower, even skilled ones like plumbers, mechanics, and electricians. Essential goods like basic food and beer is less as long as you're not extravagant and stick to local products. Electronics about the same now, way down from 20 years ago when they cost at least twice as NOB. Telecommunications far less for internet and cel service --can't really find anywhere in the world where it _isn't _less than in the U.S.--same with medical/dental. But you'll get killed on gas and tolls if you drive a car. Finally, welcome gpfw2! You're on the cusp of an adventure. Best Wishes.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

RVGRINGO said:


> The best climates are around 5000 feet above sea level.


I'd say that's a pretty subjective statement. Those climates are way too cold for me in the winter. I live on the coast, and yes, it's hot and humid in the summer, but I like that. I don't even have or want AC. And in the winter, I find some of the nights on the coast even too cold.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I like the 5000 feet climate in Mexico , in Peri you can go higher, much higher and still have wonderful climates to me.. I like to visit the coast but hate heat and humidity so it is not or me..


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

citlali said:


> I like the 5000 feet climate in Mexico , in Peri you can go higher, much higher and still have wonderful climates to me.. I like to visit the coast but hate heat and humidity so it is not or me..


Yes, "perfect climate" is entirely subjective. Some people like a cooler climate, others don't. To each his own. I just think that when someone is responding to a poster who is planning on moving to Mexico, they should give the facts, i.e. median temps, rather than subjective opinions on which places have the best climate, since that's a matter of personal comfort levels.

I've read posts by expats saying that "you can't survive on the coast in the summer without AC", which I got a laugh out of, since if that were true, all the Mexicans who've lived in that climate since they were born, without AC, would be dead by now. As would I, and many other foreigners who live on the coast year-round without AC.

I have observed that the majority of ex-pats seem to prefer cooler temps, but that doesn't mean we all do. I didn't move to Mexico to have to wear a sweater or coat in the winter. The one winter I lived in San Miguel, I was wearing 3 layers, gloves and a wool scarf in the evenings. I could have stayed in Canada if that's the weather I enjoyed.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

surabi said:


> Yes, "perfect climate" is entirely subjective. Some people like a cooler climate, others don't. To each his own. I just think that when someone is responding to a poster who is planning on moving to Mexico, they should give the facts, i.e. median temps, rather than subjective opinions on which places have the best climate, since that's a matter of personal comfort levels. ...


I agree. I live in Guadalajara at 1500 m above sea level. It is too cold for me in the mornings in January and February, but I tolerate it. My favorite months are April and May the hottest months of the year. Many people, maybe even most, find those months too hot. It is all personal.

I grew up in Alaska and, as an adult, spent many years working out doors in all seasons. I have had enough cold to last me several lifetimes. When I visit my brother who still lives in Alaska, I always go in January or February. I enjoy snow and ice for a few days then I am happy to come home to where I don't own a snow shovel.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

One other thought about climate and Mexico...

Few dwellings in Mexico are insulated like houses in most of the US and Canada. And old houses are not even sealed very well. So the inside temperatures tend to go up and down with the outside temperatures, just moderated a little bit. For example, I live in a 100+ year old adobe house. I have to go out through patios to get to some of the rooms. Because it is adobe, the walls absorb heat during the day and radiate it at night and tend to even out the temperatures. In Guadalajara the outside temperatures go from a high of 33C+/- on May afternoons, to a low of 5C+/- on January mornings (95F to 41F). With no source of heating or cooling, my indoor temperatures range from around 25C to around 15C (77F to 59F).

It may not snow in Mexico like Canada or Alaska, but in an unheated, uninsulated, unsealed house, the winters can be a lot more uncomfortable than those more northern places. I had some friends from Idaho, who spent a miserable winter in an apartment in Queretaro. The only place they could get warm was in bed.


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## gpfw2 (Sep 30, 2020)

Thanks for all the replies and it seems that I won't be able to get a temp visa or residency given my financial situation. Is there another country that is more amenable? 

Thanks.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

That's so true, TundraGreen. When I have told my friends in Canada who have never been down here that it actually can get quite cold at night in the winter (most NOB people who've never been to Mexico seem to think it's all desert and cactus and always hot), even here on the coast near PV, and they asked me how cold, I said it had regularly been about 55 F at night all of January that year. 

Their immediate response was "That's not cold!" and I reminded them that when it's 55F outside, they have their heat on, whereas no one in my area has any source of heat. The Mexicans were walking around in parkas with the hoods tied up tight that year, and people went to bed early, because too was too cold to stay up.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Yes I have heaters in Ajjic and San Cristobal in the living areas. I use them in Ajijc end of November , december and january and pretty much all year round in San Cristobal.. all day in the cold months and mornings and nights the rest of the year. 
I used to have a Tunisian friend who lived in Strasbourg, France where it gets very cold and he told me he had never been as cold as in inhe winter, same reason..no heat in the winter can be miserable.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

citlali said:


> Yes I have heaters in Ajjic and San Cristobal in the living areas. I use them in Ajijc end of November , december and january and pretty much all year round in San Cristobal.. all day in the cold months and mornings and nights the rest of the year.
> I used to have a Tunisian friend who lived in Strasbourg, France where it gets very cold and he told me he had never been as cold as in inhe winter, same reason..no heat in the winter can be miserable.


You know what I find so funny, Citlali- The Lake Chapala area is billed as having perfect spring-like climate year round. Yet every winter their webboards have threads with people asking where to buy heaters, because they're freezing, and every late spring and summer, they complain it's so hot and what AC units do others recommend.


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## sunnyvmx (Mar 14, 2010)

I don't see what's funny. The older expat population has poorer circulation, physical conditions and medicines that makes them feel temperature changes more and are less adaptable. Thankfully, I have excellent health and find this perfect spring like weather comfortable year round so you can keep your hot and humid coast. I grew up in Miami with no air conditioning and heat. Never again would I choose that climate when I can live in Paradise.


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## hyracer (Aug 14, 2011)

As far as the Lake Chapala area is concerned the "cold" temperatures or how it feels to each individual, depends on a number of factors, some of which have already been mentioned.
We've been wintering there for the past 4 years and this winter will be our 5th. We generally do not use a heater except for maybe 6 weeks during mid-December-January. However we lease an older condo with a lot of windows facing east and as soon as the sun comes up the house is in the heating mode. Last winter we cat-sat for an individual in a newer, modern house that felt "freezing" to us. The house was not oriented to the sun and it had a limited number of windows to take advantage of what little sun it got.
We also hike twice a week and always get a kick of seeing the locals in the cooler months wearing jackets, gloves, and maybe hats as they are boarding the bus to go to work. At the same time we are leaving our condo at 8:00 AM to go hiking in the mountains wearing shorts and a tee-shirt.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Our house faces north and is under trees near the lake ad it is plenty cold. We go outside in the garden to get warm but in April and MAy whe everyone complains about the heat we are very comfortable. Whe cold you can turn on heaters, wear warmer clothes or make a fire but when hot, it is miserable so I rather be cold than hot..


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

citlali said:


> Our house faces north and is under trees near the lake ad it is plenty cold. We go outside in the garden to get warm but in April and MAy whe everyone complains about the heat we are very comfortable. Whe cold you can turn on heaters, wear warmer clothes or make a fire but when hot, it is miserable so I rather be cold than hot..


That is very much personal preference. As long as I have enough water to drink, heat doesn't bother me. But I have frost-bitten toes and fingers more than once working in the cold. And working on my computer in a heavy parka with gloves on is not my idea of fun, but I have to do that a few days in the winter.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

sunnyvmx said:


> I don't see what's funny. The older expat population has poorer circulation, physical conditions and medicines that makes them feel temperature changes more and are less adaptable. Thankfully, I have excellent health and find this perfect spring like weather comfortable year round so you can keep your hot and humid coast. I grew up in Miami with no air conditioning and heat. Never again would I choose that climate when I can live in Paradise.


Wow, what a weird interpretation of what I wrote and aggressive reply. 
Of course people have their own internal thermostats, influenced by a combination of factors. 
I didn't say it was funny that people feel cold or hot, I think it's funny, as in ironic, that what is touted as perfect springlike weather obviously doesn't feel like that at all to many of the people who live there. Why is it touted as having perfect weather when not everyone finds it so? 
That would be like me claiming that the coastal weather is objectively perfect, when many people would find it quite uncomfortable.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

By the way , I have looked for that article saying it was the best or second best climate in the world and never found it anywhere...
Was it ever published??
I always heard Cuernvaca had the best climate in Mexico and it does sound great since within a short distance you can pick your climate but never heard of Chapala or its climate until in moved here... I guess 2000 it the year I heard about it.. Heard about the great climate of Nairobi as well but Chapala never...

I worked in Anchorage , and it get cold but not nearly as cold as other areas in Alaska.. I also worked in Montana in the winter and it get mighty cold there too.. I am sure happy I do not have to do that any longer.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

When it comes to weather, I personally hate feeling cold. Yes one can bundle up, but when I have to be bundled indoors, I am not a happy camper. I also have had frostbite (from when I was a kid). I guess I’m a bit of a Goldilocks, preferring “not too hot, not too cold” temperatures, but I’d rather be hot than too cold. Even Puebla or Mexico City are too cold for me. Tepoztlán in Dec through Feb might get a bit chilly at night, but in the daytime it warms up beautifully. In general, like Cuernavaca, it is “eternal spring”. Perfect for me!


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

I'd also rather be too hot than too cold and as long as I'm at home, I'm never too hot, because I can always jump in a cool shower. I'm really thin, so I'm always colder than most people and I hate wearing layers of clothes. Also, my joints hurt when I'm cold, and all my aches and pains disappear when I'm warm.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Puebla Mexico, Toluca are freezing cold in the winter.. A few years ago I was in Puebla staying with friends for a few nights and the pipes were frozen in the morning.. Not hard frozen to the point of bursting but there was no water coming out.. The house was large and it was very cold inside.. I hated it... Toluca was even worse.. got in Atlacomulco late at night and the hotel had no heat, and the hot water was not working... I have good memories of the place..The day are beautiful and sunny but you can have the nights and the mornings and the cold houses..

I have to say I miss the beautiful early mornings on the coast or in the jungle when you know the day is gong to be miserable and when the morning is heaven,,, I like the nights too until I have to go to sleep and then not so much ..


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

I have some friends who were some of the longest ****** residents in my town- They were in their late 60's when I met them and they loved road tripping around Mexico, going to little out of the way towns that tourists never go to, and collecting cool folk art wherever they went.

They knew how cold it gets in some areas, so they had a little space heater they carried with them they could plug in. They checked into some little hotel in a town in the mountains, where it was freezing at night, plugged in their heater and got in bed to read before going to sleep. Suddenly all the lights went out, the room was dark. When they went down to the front desk to find out what happened, the hotel owner had seen the electric meter start spinning and shut off the power to their room.


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