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Retirement Is Easy In Mexico By Stephen J. Butler

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Many current and future retirees are considering more economical lifestyles outside of the United States -- especially after the market jolts of the past year. The trend may have started with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when they retired to Bolivia. In the same spirit, Mexico may offer one of today's best opportunities for a convenient, pleasant and cost-effective retirement locale.

I just completed a 3,000-mile round-trip motorcycle ride from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta by way of the Baja peninsula. My three friends and I went by ferry from La Paz, near the southern tip of the peninsula, to Mazatlan on the West Coast, and then on to PV through jungles, villages and banana plantations.

Along the way, we chatted with numerous American retirees who have made their homes in Mexico. These conversations convinced me that there are major advantages in Mexico for those who can come to terms with "the fear of the unknown."

The Economics

First the economics. Anna, a former supervisor at a Borg Warner transmission factory in Muncie, Ind., showed us her attractive ranch-style home built about 10 years ago for $12,000. It took a dozen workers three months to build, and it is located 50 yards from the beach in a small fishing village about thirty miles north of Puerto Vallarta.

Anna also built an eight-room hotel that caters to long-term visitors from the United States. If she needs to go home for extended periods, the guests run the hotel. Speaking of her three children and grandchildren, Anna says, "Hey, they don't want 'Gramma' back up there in Muncie. They would much rather come visit me here in Mexico ... especially around Thanksgiving, Christmas and spring vacations."

At a party, we met just about the entire American community living in this village, which is called Punta de Mita. One person had just developed the town's Web site, and another was teaching English in a Mexican school. Dinner for eleven persons at a local restaurant serving great Mexican food came to a total of $16. The consensus is that an income of about $2,000 per month can provide a very adequate lifestyle anywhere in Mexico, outside the hardcore resort communities. Many retirees living on their sailboats manage comfortably on $500 per person per month.

In the Lake Chapala area, as well as around Mazatlan, there are large communities of Americans and Canadians. Many of the Canadians have renounced their citizenship to avoid Canadian taxes. Taking this initiative is a major cost-reducing step.

With regard to health care, Mexico offers some good resources. On a previous motorcycle trip, one of my travel friends (a surgeon himself) had a little accident and broke seven ribs and a collar bone. The attending physician in Mexico was a McGill-trained specialist working in a hospital with first-class surgical facilities. A knee or hip replacement costs half to one-third as much as the same operation in the United States For obvious reasons, Blue Cross loves it when its U.S. members receive medical care in Mexico.

Apart from good medical care, the cost of around-the-clock assistance for, say, a spouse who has had a stroke or who suffers from Alzheimers can be a fraction of the prohibitive cost in the United States. This is another compelling reason for retirees to consider this adventurous alternative.

'Funky' Lifestyle

Some aspects of Mexico take getting used to. Outside the resort communities, little English is spoken. You have to learn at least the basics of Spanish, but when you're there, the basics come pretty easily. Spanish is an appealing language to learn, and a reasonable amount of study and diligence can make you conversational. There's also the issue of climate -- it tends to be dry and dusty for much of the year and humid in the summer.

Overall, things are just "funky" compared to life in a typical United States or European suburb. The resources are just not there to create the same degree of neatness that people enjoy in, say, Holland. But everyone certainly tries. The warmth and friendliness of the people more than compensate.

The legal system is different as well. To oversimplify, it is easier to ask forgiveness in Mexico than it is to ask permission. The law is just a starting point for discussion. It reminds me of what they say in Hollywood: "After the contracts are signed, the negotiations begin."

Thankfully, there is not the same sense of personal liability that we have in the United States. Best example: A popular beach activity is to be pulled by a speedboat while sitting in a para-sail that rises 200 yards above the ocean. Riders motion that they want to be pulled closer to the beach so their friends can videotape them. A strong puff of wind sends them into shore and beyond the beach, where they often splatter like mosquitoes against the sides of their high-rise hotels.

To the dismay of the American legal profession, there is no liability issue here. The law serves a different function in Mexican society than it does in this country. Many, including the dean of the Harvard Law School, maintain that aspects of the Mexican legal system are an improvement over ours.

Mexican culture is as different from ours as, say, an Asian culture. One example: time is infinite, rather than something considered from minute to minute. Retirees suffering from heart conditions or high blood pressure may live a lot longer in this slower-paced Mexican culture.

Spending money is not as important to Mexicans as it is to Americans. The country has one of the highest per capita savings rates of all industrialized nations. Other cultural differences trace their roots back to Spain and the influences of the Moors and the Middle East. A single Spanish word, for example, means "It is Allah's will."

Differences that exist today between California and Mexico are evaporating. One-third of all Californians are now identified as Hispanic, and people of Mexican origin constitute the largest group within the Hispanic communities.

Meanwhile, the Free Trade Area of the Americas moves one step closer to reality this week. It extends NAFTA by creating a free trade zone of all of the Americas -- a market that includes 700 million people. Further cross-pollination of cultures and economies is inevitable.

Want to know more? An excellent book on the practical aspects of Mexico is "People's Guide to Mexico" by Carl Franz.

The Web site www.puntamita.com shows what a typical coastal town has to offer. Of course, an exploratory vacation trip to see things for yourself is the best strategy -- even if you choose to leave your motorcyle at home.

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