From Our Webboard – September 2017

From Our Webboard

WWW.WEB.CHAPALA.COM

QUESTION:
Can An Over 70 Couple Find Happiness At Lakeside?

NEWSPAPER COLOR webboard

 

Mainecoons

To answer the question in your title:  Certainly but there are a lot of cool places in Mexico and other places where you can find happiness too.  This one is getting really busy and you might prefer something quieter.  If you are snow-birding that opens up a lot of options that you wouldn’t consider during the hotter months.

nothernewbie

We visited here for the first time about 4 1/2 years ago and stayed a week. Went home and put the house on the market and returned for another week to “make sure.” When we first moved four years ago we rented but now own. Haven’t been sorry for a minute. The kids don’t like that we live here and I hear that a lot. Otherwise no complaints.

tomgates

Depends on how much the SS income is and how much your home will fetch and how much other nest-eggs you have. I only ask that as I am a retired financial advisor so you can PM me with details. This is all pretty basic stuff. 

seoulguy

You’ve asked the one question I haven’t so far posted in these forums. I’m nearly 74, and I’ve spent a lot of time in a lot of places in Mexico, always on extended visitor status.  Now am considering temp visa. I’m very familiar with Chapala/ Ajijic. I’ve been all over the Mexican west coast and Baja, worked in DF and Hermosillo, studied Spanish in Cuernavaca in order to do business in that language. I have never tried the Maya Riviera. I like being on water, and Cozumel sounds nice. But….but…happiness, I wonder. My suggestion is get the practicalities out of the way first, like increasing COL for expats in high-density areas, such as Pto Vallarta, safety ( a big one; I’d never consider returning to Oaxaca state, or going south of Acapulco now; DF, well, you can’t breathe properly), what about your Medicare, can’t use it, banking, getting monthly cash, skimming is there and here, what about politics and with politics legislation, it can all change on a dime, to wit, USA, November 2016. Not lecturing, just saying happiness may be relative to settling the practical questions. One last thing, sell out before you try out?? Try it out for six months, a year, or as suggested above, snowbird. Travel around, get a taste to coastal living in Mex, visit GDL and DF,

rvanparys

I’m 77 and my wife is 75. We moved here a year and a half ago… We spent a month here and fell in love with the area. Upon returning home, we put our house on the market and it sold in three days. That put us on the fast track. We have lived overseas for 20 years so this was just another country and culture to adjust to.

We decided to buy immediately since we have pets and renting with animals is sometimes difficult… We made the right decision. As stated above, medical insurance is a problem although the care here is excellent. 

We brought 5000 lbs of “stuff” with us and that cost about $2 a pound… Not cheap… However, we wish that we had brought some more furniture…

Cost of Living is considerably less than in Washington state. For us, lower taxes and utilities make a large difference. We have been clocking our expenses since we arrived and I would be happy to share if you PM me.

mhopkins2

I am 74 (my wife is younger) and we narrowed our retirement locations to Cuenca, Ecuador and here at Lakeside.  We visited Ajijic first and never made it to Cuenca.  That was 4 years ago.  We had started to simplify (5 vehicles, 2 boats, etc.) and just continued until all was gone.  The difference in taxes and insurance will amaze you.  We had planned to rent the entire time but found a home we couldn’t pass up.  We have catastrophic insurance but don’t mind paying the $15 per office visit to the doctor.  Property tax is $150 per year as opposed to nearly $2000 per month in the NW.  I’m sure you’ve listed and prioritized what is important to you in retirement.  Safety and friendliness are probably at the top of the list and for that, Lakeside is terrific.  Our social calendar is far busier than it ever was when we were living in Oregon.  There’s a streak of adventure that runs through most expats here which is a good common denominator and fodder for many interesting stories.  You’ll find many NW brethren here.

El Saltos

Gracias and we love visitors. As the governor of Oregon used to say to Californians “Nice to see you come and nice to see you go”.

Don’t tell anyone but we are here 365 and have never used our air conditioning. The key is to live up on the hill where you get the sea and land breezes. We paid just under $25 US per month for electric last year. To each his own. No, we don’t have any solar power, it wouldn’t make economic sense. He used to say, “Come and visit but please don’t stay.”

 


For more information about Lake Chapala visit: chapala.com


Ojo Del Lago
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