International Living re: Mexico

[Ajijic]

Posted verbatim although realize some marketing in here.

DAY 2 IN MEXICO

- Health Insurance for $1 a Day

- Beachfront Condos for $60,000

- World's Best Weather

- And More!

Nov. 17, 2009

Dear International Living Reader,

There’s a reason old standards are old standards, and favorites are favorites.

And sometimes what’s old becomes new again.

It’s tough to forge new ground. To be the first foreigner in town. To learn a new language. Being the first to wade through the jungle or carve a path around the mountaintop isn’t what most of us want to do these days. Especially those close to retiring.

That’s why Mexico makes so much sense. While there are places here where you can be a pioneer (and we learned about some of them today), there are many more places where everything you could need or want is already in place.

I’m Suzan Haskins and I’m your Conference Insider from the Live and Invest in Mexico Seminar taking place in Puerto Vallarta this week.

It was refreshing to listen to Marvin Golden describe (and show photos of) his adopted hometown in Mexico. He and his wife, Barbara, live on the shores of Lake Chapala. It’s the largest community of foreigners in Mexico. In fact, it’s the largest community of U.S. retirees outside the U.S. And it’s been that way for the last 80 years or so. Right around the time of World War I, families and retirees from the U.S. and Canada started moving here. And they haven’t stopped.

The World's Best Weather

That means there are plenty of amenities, clubs, social groups, medical clinics, and stores that cater to English-speaking foreigners. And that can be a very welcome thing when you move overseas. But when you combine the convenience of the Chapala area with the world’s best weather, you’ve definitely got a winning combination.

(Okay…Chapala has the world’s second-best weather, according to a National Geographic study…somewhere in Africa is #1. But I lived in Chapala for a year and I can attest that this area has the best weather of any place I’ve ever lived.)

The point of Marvin’s presentation, though, is that if you are looking for the easiest move possible from the U.S. or Canada to a foreign country…you should move to Lake Chapala. Because being a pioneer is tough. And in Chapala, the way has been paved for you and you won’t get lost. Guaranteed. (And if you don’t know a lick of Spanish, no problemo!)

Of course, if you don’t want to live in a “gringo-ized” community, you’re also in luck in Mexico. During today’s jam-packed schedule of seminar presentations, we heard from Glynna Prentice. She told us about the uber-intellectual town of Xalapa in the lush verdant coffee-growing mountains of Veracruz. She also gave us the lowdown on the Pacific Coast beach town of Manzanillo, where you can buy a one-bedroom condo across the street from the beach for $71,000.

And Winton Churchill got everyone stirred up about his newly adopted hometown on the Pacific Coast. It very well may be the hottest, coolest, sexiest, and most beautiful seaside location in Mexico. No kidding.

As Winton explained, several years ago the Mexican government had plans to develop this area as “the next Cancun.” But for various reasons, he said, “There was a ‘failure to launch’ problem. But the momentum is certainly there now. The government is investing massively here. ($1.4 billion investment in the last year alone.) There are direct charter flights from the U.S. and even more from Canada—there’s even a direct flight from Manchester, England.”

Sure, you can get here by flying through Mexico City. But plans are underway for U.S. carriers to begin direct commercial flights here very soon. When that happens, watch out. Mexico will have a new, extraordinarily beautiful and (for now) extraordinarily affordable hot spot. Get here soon if you’re interested in getting in on ground-level real estate prices. As Winton told us, this place is very affordable….for now.

Want to know how to find this little paradisiacal spot? You can when you order our Fast Track Mexico Package.

You’ll also learn about two things you should always do when buying property in a foreign country. I wish I had learned these lessons a decade ago…but I’m so glad we can share them with you now.

By the way, did you know it’s easier than ever to get a mortgage in Mexico? In some cases, as David Schwendeman of Mexlend told us, it’s easier to get a mortgage in Mexico than it is in the U.S.—and at rates as low as 6%!

David explained exactly what we need to do to qualify for these loans. And he offered some strategies that can help us capitalize on the assets we have now (no matter how meager they may be) in order to buy our dream homes in Mexico. I found myself daydreaming about buying a luxury condo in Winton’s secret hideaway…and then I realized I needn’t daydream. David can help me make that dream a reality!

And David can help you, too. Just listen in on the presentation he gave to seminar attendees here in Puerto Vallarta. And then give him a call. In your Fast Track Mexico Package you’ll get contact details for every speaker. Names, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers. It really is the next best thing to being here.

(We learn something new at every seminar. I did not know this before today, but interest rates from a Mexican mortgage are tax deductible on your U.S. taxes. And lending is collateralized against the Mexican property. Perfect!)

Wish you could have been here? So do we. And through the magic of technology, you can be.

We know that not everyone can attend our events in person. Your personal and business obligations come first, after all. But in today’s uncertain times, we think it’s more important than ever for you to be privy to the information being shared by our speakers here at the Live and Invest in Mexico Seminar.

You need an exit strategy. You need to protect the money and the lifestyle you’ve worked all your life to achieve. And you deserve to live a better, fuller life.

So we’re offering our Fast Track Mexico Package to help you streamline your move to Mexico, where you can not only live better, but you can live more affordably than ever.

I’ll tell you all about how to get your hands on it in just a minute.

As you know, my husband and I live in Mexico. Here’s why:

Mexico is the closest retirement haven to the U.S. This may not seem like a big deal, but believe me, the convenience of a short plane ride makes all the difference in the world when you want to get back home to family and friends or attend to business matters. Flights to and from Mexico are plentiful and inexpensive and most take less time than a coast-to-coast U.S. flight. Plus, you can easily and safely drive here. We’ve done it many times and have no misgivings about doing it again. Any time and any place in Mexico.

It is easier to get a resident visa in Mexico than in any other country. You might think Panama, Belize, and Costa Rica have easy resident requirement. Well, forget everything you might think you know about obtaining a visa anywhere else. The Mexican government has made it very easy for foreigners to live here. Again, I know firsthand that this is true. The requirements are less restrictive than any country that I know of.

The cost of living in Mexico is low, low, low. With rapidly rising fuel, health care, food, taxes, and travel costs, it's nice to know there are still places where you can live well without burning through your savings. Mexico is one of those special places. Here, you can enjoy a lifestyle that's all but unaffordable for most Americans and Canadians. The cost of real estate, for example. Could you find a beachfront condo in the U.S. for less than $100,000? A home smack on the beach for less than $150,000? You can in Mexico. And you can live very well here on just $2,000 per month or less. Dan and I do...

You can get full-coverage health insurance in Mexico for less than $1 per day. Hospitals and health care providers in Mexico are of excellent quality. (Again, I know this from firsthand experience. Last week, my doctor made a housecall to my home for $38.) Many doctors were trained in the U.S. or Europe and they speak English. Private health insurance (through a major global provider) costs one-fourth to one half what you may be paying in the U.S. It’s so inexpensive, in fact, that many expats just pay out of pocket. But get this: if you have a resident visa, you can get health coverage through IMSS (Instituto Nacional de Seguridad Social). There's no age limit for signing up. This full-coverage health insurance runs from about $100 a year for children and adolescents, up to almost $300 for those over 60—and it includes prescription medications.

(Glynna Prentice, International Living’s dedicated editor on all things Mexico, told us all about IMSS in her presentation yesterday at the Live and Invest in Mexico Seminar. And Dr. Peter Gordon will be on hand tomorrow with all the details about the Mexican health care system. You’ll hear all the details when you reserve your Fast Track Mexico Package.)

Taxes are ridiculously low—need I say more? Taxes are a fact of life, we all know that. And like all countries, Mexico levies a value-added tax on goods and services. But other taxes are practically non-existent. At the beginning of this year, for instance, we paid the annual property taxes on our 5,400-square-foot home in Merida. It was a laughably low $139! The annual tax bill on the beachfront lots we own on the Gulf Coast...$10. Unless you're working here, you probably won't pay income taxes. But if you are working...and you're self employed or working for a Mexican or other foreign corporation...you can legally exempt up to $91,400 in income on your U.S. taxes for 2009...for both you and your spouse!

[Shira]

International Living charges realtors to sign up with them so that IL then pushes people to go to that realtor.

Several years ago IL was here and pushed Lakeside until most realtors were not interested in what they were offering. They then wrote a scathing report about the area and published it.

[MtnMama]

We attended the International Living Seminar held in SME just after Dan and Susan had left Ajijic and moved to SME. Which was the new best of all possible places. They were definitely damning the Lake Chapala area with faint praise. I sat near and observed the woman who was going to be marketing Merida in the near future. Dan and Susan moved there a few years later. And it became the new best of all possible places. Very enlightening.

To be fair, there was some good information, and some take with a huge grain of salt information.