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As we research our options to retire in the Ajijic area, we are discouraged about the banking situation.  If we move, we'd liquidate everything and not keep a home in the US.  The only solution discussed is to maintain a US bank account with funds in US Dollars, is by using a relatives US address.  That just does not seem like a long term solution in today's banking and government environment - seems like sooner or later the option won't be viable.  We are in our 50's and plan to be there for life.  Our long term preference is to keep our savings in US Dollars and transfering funds to local banks on a as needed basis.  We also want to maintain our US Credit Cards along with our credit score (just in case).    Schwab International Brokerage with checking was close (no credit card option) but required Trading activity or acct would be closed. 

Do you know of any legal way to have a US bank account with a Mexican address?   And, maintain our credit history with a US credit card?   

This could be a deal breaker for our decision.  We really appreciate your help while we sort through all our questions! 

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We lived at Lake Chapala for 13 years with USAA as our bank in the USA and our mailing address was Laredo, TX via the local mail forwarders, like Ishop or Sol y Luna. The bank was aware of our residence address, but it was never a problem. We maintained US credit cards, debit cards and other accounts, doing all banking online and using ATMs for cash in Mexico.  If you are not eligible for USAA, set up your accounts with a full service bank before your move, and set up a mail service account at Lakeside. Change your address to that destination at the time you move.  Actually, there is no real need to even mention your Mexican address.  Asking too many questions in the USA just confuses people who have never traveled or resided abroad. Best not to ask.  No, we did not use a Mexican bank.  For large purchases, arrangements can be made for wire transfers or even a no-limit day for a purchase on plastic. 

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I have a Charles Schwab account withATM card you can use at any ATM.  They reimburse fees at end of month.  Not much money in account.  I use Handy Mail in AJIJIC which gives me a US address and MX address.  Works great.  If you want to live here nothing is a deal breaker!

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We've been here almost 13 years with no homes other than rental properties in the US. We have one commercial bank BB&T that we use for receiving monies from rentals and making payments via bill payer for rental expenses as well as a place for SSA deposits. TD Ameritrade has been a great institution for investments as well as no fee ATM cards. I thought Schwab provided similar services. We use an address of one of our kids for both of these institutions although he receives almost no correspondence and my 30 something year old "broker" at Ameritrade wants to retire to Mexico based on my stories.

If you are planning to move don't worry about credit scores. At some point they're irrelevant. You're more like likely experience fraud alert calls about unusual credit card activity if you go back to the US on a road trip.

I am a beliver in having a Mexican bank account; others posting here not so much. I user Bancomer and pay most everything online even large interbank transfers for a beach house remodel. You can either deposit cash from an ATM (as free as possible) or deposit a US based check so long as the exchange rate is to your liking.

Cash for the local folks, debit card for Costco and credit card for larger purhases assuming you have the stamina wait out for a usable credit limit. If you have a no fee card like some Amex cards that works too.

Banking is one of the challenges most people moving her face. It's somewhat a game with rules that make no sense. Everyone finds the best way to manage money here. There are lots of answers or perhaps suggestions and none of them are wrong. It's all based on your situation.

 

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Excellent information, I'm encouraged there may be options!  We are eligible for USAA and I will investigate.  I just researched HandyMail, another good option!  Basically we tell USAA we are moving to TX and give them the Lerado address.

Do most people keep their US Cell phone?  My husband was asking about what you do when you need to call the bank to activate a new/replacement credit card?   Based on experience, if you don't call from a registered US number you don't get through. 

We both appreciate all the help, I too hope we can make the move! 

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With USAA established as your bank, well before you move, you will do almost everything online, including setting up your various accounts.  There is no need to “tell“ anything on the phone before you move; just change your address online.  The important thing is to have everything set up before the move.  USAA does have phone access from abroad and activating a new card was never difficult; actually, you can do that online too.. You will find those details when you have an account and explore the various “contact us“ options.  They also respond efficiently to e-mail, which we always found very helpful.

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We keep all our money NOB with RBC Wealth Management. Use ATM's for living expenses.No fees to RBC but small +/-$20peso alien fee to the Mex ATM.  I don't feel comfortable keeping a large amount of money in a bank here (yes we have one) as I have seen the peso drop almost 50% against the US dollar in the past 8 years. The Mexican bank only serves as a deposit medium when we use xe.com to provide for larger expenses.

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We have been with USAA for over 50 years... We have resided in numerous countries and never had a problem with the bank... If you eligible I would certainly recommend using them. RVGringo was spot on with his information... We like many others, prefer not to have a local bank account. All of our bills are handled by our property manager and we pay using a USAA check... Her services have been excellent and worth the small monthly charge...

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Keep a US address.  I use my families address in US and have used it this way for eight years.  Whats to change if your relatives don't move?  I keep bank and credit union accounts in US and a Mexican bank account.  Good reasons to have all three. I politely disagree with rvanparys about having mexican bank accounts.  We live in Peso and dollars whatever is best to use and a local bank can be very helpful.  Sometimes banks screw up.  I notified my bank on my travels and they still would not let the cards work on one of my trips.  Luckily I had backup cards.  I travel in Mexico and use a Mexican debit card. When I travel in world or US I use USA bank cards.  Backup Backup Backup

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On keeping cell phone

 

I would say no and get a pay as you go Telcel phone that works in mexico/us/Canada. They use the same minutes for all three countries. They also have fixed plans.   When in Mexico it says Telcel when I got off this morning in LA and turned it on it said Tmobile.   No roaming with this plan it just changes to partner outside of Mexico.  I am very happy with my new pay as you go plan.

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On the Cell Phone issue, I have an unlocked iPhone. TelCel here. T-Mobile(and my US cell number) when in the US. T-Moble charges a whopping $3/mo to keep it in the pay-as-you-go mode when not being used and when headed to the US, do on-line and change plans to the $50 or $60 a month plan.

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AT&T ..No fees  calling the US from Mexico or Mexico from US, plus data and texting..Best deal around for now...Also can call Canada for free..

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We have been expats for over 16 years, not all of it in Mexico.

In each of the situations, I NEVER gave up my US accounts, but I also had accounts in the countries in which I lived.

Do NOT move all your $$ here. Not necessary. Not, in my opinion, a wise move, to do, even if you decide you want to be here full time. 

We do not use a mail forwarder, as we get mail rarely. Social Security mails items here at my house and they seem to get here quickly enough.

I do not have a cell phone, just a land line, which has more free time on it than I seem to able to use. 

I use American Credit Cards or cash. 

15 hours ago, Beverly said:

The only solution discussed is to maintain a US bank account with funds in US Dollars, is by using a relatives US address. 

It is a viable option. Use it until it no longer works and then seek another solution.

Live here for a few years and see how things go.

 

 

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We use US Global Mail in Houston.

https://www.usglobalmail.com

For about $15/mo. they receive and hold all of our mail including packages. No holding charge on packages for the first month. We usually buy several things at a time from Amazon, etc. and have them sent there. They will then open everything and consolidate into one package to save space and weight. We send it cross town by UPS to Estafeta USA where Mariana inspects the contents and then tells us the cost to ship it here to Puerto Vallarta. We give her a CC number over the phone and they send a large truck to Laredo every Monday. We usually receive the package that Friday or Saturday and there is never any extra cost. She has never advised that something is not eligible to be shipped and the price she quotes is the final price you pay. We have had some "unusual" things in the box like Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix. No problem says Mariana and it seems to be about $4.00 US per pound with a $40 minimum. 

We get a box about every 6-8 weeks with between 10 and 30 items and we have never had a single problem. I don't ask too many questions but it is obvious they have a very good relationship with Mexican Customs.

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1 hour ago, Floradude said:

Keep a US Bank!

I'd add to this and say "keep two US banks" just in case one ever decides to drop you.  Money can be moved between them on line, usually with ease, should it be necessary.  Make sure one of them has an ATM card that does not charge fees or international transaction fees, if at all possible. For us BBVA Compass does that but you need to be in an area with Compass Banks to start with.

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I agree with lcscats 100%...backup!  USAA is definitely the best route for your basic US account.  Don't fear having a Mexican bank account for ease of peso access. You can keep a lower balance if you want, just stay over the average ($4000 pesos monthly over a 12 month span with Bancomer) so you don't get any fees.  You then have a local debit card (and later on they'll offer you a credit card that earns points for a $50 US annual fee if you want it...I use it everywhere the debit card can be used and after about 4 months I've broken even with my points covering the fee, so I get 8 months of benefits.)  You set it up to be automatically paid from your debit account and you never miss a payment or pay exorbitant interest.  You then never need to carry larger sums of cash to pay for things.  I carry about $400 pesos in my pocket and use it mostly for small purchases and restaurant meals, everything else earns me points on my Bancomer Oro card.  Both my debit and credit cards are chip cards and PIN protected so even if they were to get cloned or stolen, they can't be used with a fake signature with the thief's cashier friend at a large store.

While you still have a stateside address, also open at least one or more backup accounts...I kept my long standing Wells Fargo account as I still have business income in the US and my SS goes into that one.  I opened a free BofA debit card account back when it was free to use their cards at Santander...but that ship sailed a couple of years ago, so now I use it as my exclusive link to my PayPal account...another good backup to consider.

I would strongly urge you to open a Schwab investment/debit account pair.  It's done in two steps, the investment one first which you link to an existing US account for online transfers (you would use your USAA account for that.)  Then you pair it with a Schwab debit account which you can also link directly to the USAA account.  You put $25 in the investment account and you never have to do any investing with them.  In fact after the debit account is opened, you can transfer the $25 into it and keep a $0 balance in the investment account.  You cannot go paperless with them as they have to send out paper statements for investment accounts even if you don't use it.  When the time comes to move, either leave your address alone or change it to a relative's.  Later on when you're here and have established your Laredo forwarding address through whichever service you decide on using, call them and say you're going to be travelling a lot and using a forwarding service for your mail.  Don't change your basic US address as they won't accept a "PMB" address as your home.  DO NOT ever tell them you're "living" in Mexico but put a travel note on your account for whatever they allow 6-12 months for Mexico and make a note in your calendar to renew it when it's up.  If you travel to other countries while here, just change the travel notice for the trip and your card will get you fee free money at any ATM in any country.

You can go through the same process with CapitalOne360 for an online debit card account.  That card will only get your fee free cash at Allpoint ATM's which in Mexico are Banorte machines at their branches in larger cities and Lakeside at Oxxo ATM's.  You don't need an investment account with them, but you follow the same instructions as outlined with Schwab above to link the account to your home account and then make the mailing address Laredo.

Don't carry all your cards together, keep one backup at home in case your wallet is lost or stolen.  I carry two cards of the four I have with me as sometimes one machine is off line or out of cash and then I just use the other one.  This happens often after the weekends and sometimes the machine isn't back online for 2-3 days.  Keep your options open to be able to go to another machine.

Although this post is lengthy, it's what I've experienced being here 6 years and it's worked well for me.  I was prepared for glitches and when they've happened, I've always had a workaround.  I can't count the number of times I've had to lend cash to friends who relied on a single source of transferring dollars to pesos and for some reason they couldn't get cash when they needed it right away for something important.  

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Cell phones...AT&T and TelCel offer basically the same deal with unlimited calls to US, Canada, and Mexico and 3G data for about $10 a month either by paying monthly (TelCel) or getting a "deal" by paying for 10 months and getting 14 more months free (AT&T.)  When back in the US you can then call all of your friends and relatives from your Mexican number to their US number.  Let them know because the caller ID will look weird to them and they might not answer...a longer number starting with 52.  What you will need is a way for them to call you without calling Mexico, assuming they don't have the US version of a similar plan.  For down here you can use free Skype or pay for cheap minutes to dial a phone from your computer.  I also use MagicJack and find it worth its small cost of $2 a month on the 5-year plan so I can keep a "virtuyal presence" in the US with an AZ number for credit cards, Medicare, doctors I see up there, family and friends who can call me for free on that number and it costs me no extra either.  You also need a way to call US 800 numbers which you can't do from Mexican phones without a charge, so MJ or Skype work for that too.  Vonage is also available but it's way more expensive at $29/mo.

If you want to keep your former US cell number, you can get a dual SIM unlocked phone (buy on Amazon before you come down) and your US calls will also ring on your phone.  I do this and have T-Mobile, the $3 a month pay as you go plan, so only $36 a year to keep my old number active.  I use it a lot for incoming calls when I'm in the US, so the cost is OK with me.  I make all my outgoing calls on my "free" Mexican plan up there so I don't get charged 10 cents a minute.  Might not be for someone who never goes back though.  When that US number rings down here, the roaming charge is $1.79/min!  I don't answer any call, I just call the number back from the Mexican number for free!  You can also set your US cell phone to call forward to your MJ or Skype number and avoid the high roaming cost while here.

Your Telmex land line you'll have with your Internet access will give you free international calling up to 100 calls (total monthly use for all calls) for the basic plan which is a real deal...at the current exchange rate it's $20.50 a month ($389 pesos.)  You can chat all over the world unlimited with Internet included.  I am sure this is the best deal anywhere in the world.  We actually use the land line to call the US as the connection is crystal clear.  The other ones, MJ, Skype, and cell phone, are affected by Internet and wifi strength and can sometimes be bumpy at times depending where you live.  We're lucky in Chapala that our online connection is stable and strong and it's rare that the VOIP phones don't work fine.

So for the reasons outlined above, I have four lines here...Mexican land line and cell phone, US cell phone, and US MagicJack phone.  Each one serves an important service, there is some redundancy, but that's always good in Mexico...have backup!

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Ditto on everything said about USAA -- I've been with them for 48 years.    I should add a few things, though:

1)   Consider porting your number to a VOIP phone account like Magicjack, Ooma, Vonage etc.  so you can call the US anytime, including USAA,  for little or nothing.   And people NOB can call you using your ported number.     MJ renewal is about $35 per year.   That gives you a US number for your US bank accounts.

2)  With the USAA expansion they now have a lot of undertrained, inexperienced support people so if someone seems clueless, just ask to talk to a supervisor or end the call and call back to get someone else.    This has been a very real problem for the last couple of years but the workaround is easy!

3)  USAA is in the process of converting all their Mastercard accounts to VISA this year which means that they have to send you the new cards.   If you are new with them  you will get VISA cards, and no problem.   However, if you have existing Mastercard accounts with them you will quickly find that USAA doesn't do very well sending cards to us in Jalisco.    They used only Fedex to do that.  As of six months ago, the USAA software would not allow them to enter the proper address -- it looked okay from our side when viewing online but USAA had to enter the address into another part of their system to send the card and that address was always wrong.    It took 4 tries to get me the first card, which included an account number change each time, and eight hours total on the phone with both USAA and Fedex.     That's when the inconsistent quality of the USAA support team really hit home.     The second card was a little better but since I've accumulated several accounts over the years, all but one of which is not presently used, I decided to let USAA send them to my mailing address in the States and I now pick them up when I go up there.

So,
if you use USAA make sure you have all accounts as VISA before you move.  

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Our USAA cards always arrived in Mexico at our mail service via Laredo, TX. Never a problem.  Yes, the change from Mastercard to Visa is now in process, so watch for the new cards.  The new Visa card will eliminate the 1% foreign exchang fee that was charged by Mastercard.  It will also be valid in USA Costco locations, which just changed from BoA to Visa.

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2 hours ago, RVGRINGO said:

Our USAA cards always arrived in Mexico at our mail service via Laredo, TX. Never a problem.  Yes, the change from Mastercard to Visa is now in process, so watch for the new cards.  The new Visa card will eliminate the 1% foreign exchang fee that was charged by Mastercard.  It will also be valid in USA Costco locations, which just changed from BoA to Visa.

Was yours addressed by USAA to Laredo or to Chapala?   It sounds like Laredo is part of the chain so that senders in the US can address things to a US address, Laredo in this case, and then your mail service takes over.   

It would be interesting to get some input from some of the other members here who have had the cards sent via expedited delivery and directly to them here during this transition.   As I mentioned, USAA  used only Fedex for this, as of this past winter/spring.     In late winter, I talked to enough of them at USAA, including several support supervisors, to hopefully wake them up about getting their software editing routines updated to meet the current need.    My first card was sent in February, fairly early in this process, so maybe they have it working properly now.

USAA has been giving me a monthly rebate to offset the MC charges.

 

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