A 65-year-old American woman living on Social Security and whatever she makes from freelance writing pays $420 a month for a 2-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot apartment with 10-foot ceiling only half a block from a beach.
She can “also walk to a plethora of cafés, shops and restaurants.” Her apartment is on the first floor, making it easy to get her bicycle and surfboard “in and out.” Utilities are cheap: Water $4.50, electricity $25 in summer, half that in winter.
Where is this? Not in America. She lives in Mazatlan, Mexico. And there’s a trick to all this: Housing is hard to find there, but she’s lived there for years, so knew how to find it.
Also, it’s Mexico. Land of violent cartels, corrupt police, murdered tourists. That much closer to the violence and upheaval in Central American countries farther south that sends hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers to the U.S.-Mexico border. You’re not a citizen there, and don’t have the same rights as here.
There’s no denying that limited incomes go farther south of the border. I’ve known, or heard of, several retirees or about-to-retires who opted for the ex-pat lifestyle. I don’t know how it worked out for them.
Anyway, you can read the story (which appeared on CNBC) here. At the bottom of that story you’ll find these links: