Your New Life Overseas--Mexico (Mazatlán)

by Kathleen Peddicord

  If you find that too warm, you stay indoors July through October, as the locals suggest, or travel elsewhere during those months. Many locals escape to cool locations in the nearby mountains, such as Guadalajara or Durango.

  Are these downsides and challenges more than you’re willing to put up with? Would you really be happy living in Mazatlán? These questions are why you rent before you buy.

  IX

  THEY’VE DONE IT . . . AND YOU CAN, TOO (REAL-LIFE MAZATLÁN SUCCESS STORIES)

  How Greg and Jodie Hit Reset for Their Young Family

  “Every move like this starts with somebody or something nudging you into taking action.

  “In our case,” Greg Derksen remembers, “it was a somebody, a good friend named Rod McKay . . . sometimes known as Rockin’ Rod or Crazy Rockin’ Rod.”

  The story goes like this . . .

  One fall weekend, Rod and his wife decided to have a garage sale. They wanted to simplify their lives and decided to sell everything that they didn’t need. As the sale was winding down that chilly afternoon, a man asked if Rod had anything else to sell.

  “The house!” Crazy Rockin’ Rod responded.

  Rod hadn’t set out to sell his house, but he did. The guy who suggested the idea bought it the following Tuesday.

  Rod called Greg to say, “Buddy, I am moving to Mexico!”

  “Next thing I knew,” Greg remembers, “Rod and his wife had packed up their car and moved to Mazatlán.”

  Following their sudden relocation, Rod called Greg and his wife, Jodie, at least monthly, sometimes every two weeks.

  “Every call was the same,” Greg says. “I’d pick up the phone and Rod would say: ‘Greg, you need to see this place . . . you really need to come down here.’”

  Greg had all the typical concerns. He was too busy. What about the kids? What about the business?

  In their late twenties, Greg and Jodie had started a business. By the time Rod moved to Mazatlán, Greg and Jodie were in their midthirties and their firm was one of the biggest structural concrete construction operations in western Canada. This meant long days, hard work, and little time off.

  Then one snowy, windy day, Greg called Jodie from the office.

  “Get the kids together, pack a few bags, and meet me within the hour. We’re going to see Rod,” he told her.

  “Where exactly is Mazatlán?” Jodie responded.

  “I have to admit,” Greg recalls, “that neither of us at that time could have found Mazatlán on a map, but we packed our VW Beetle, loaded the kids, grabbed some bottles of water, and drove over fifty hours south to Mazatlán.

  “When we arrived,” Greg continues, “Rod suggested we hike to the top of Mazatlán’s lighthouse hill, the second-highest natural lighthouse hill in the Americas. The view was spectacular. We looked down on Mazatlán’s historic center, its beaches, and the surfers playing in the waves.

  “We spent another three weeks enjoying Mazatlán’s amazing winter weather. Once we got back to Canada, I kept picturing the view from that lighthouse hill. I couldn’t get the picture out of my mind. I began to feel like I was really missing out.”

  At this point, Greg faced the challenge of everyone who is tempted by the idea of chasing adventure overseas: how to get from the daydream to the reality.

  “I thought to myself, ‘Okay . . . if we really wanted to do this . . . what would we do?’” Greg remembers. “So I called Rod. His response?

  “‘Don’t worry. I’ll figure everything out. Just get down here!’”

  “I remember thinking, we’ve got to give this a try. We could always go back home if it didn’t work out. If Crazy Rockin’ Rod can do it, we can do it.

  “Rod really is crazy,” Greg continues, “but I thank him every day. Because if it weren’t for Rod, we wouldn’t be living this life we’re living.”

  Greg and Jodie packed up their Honda Odyssey and their VW Beetle. They loaded in their eleven-year-old son, Noah; their ten-year-old daughter, Faith; their three dogs; and their Russian Siberian cat.

  The adults took the driver’s seats. The kids and the pets went in the back of the Honda. The cat rode in a homemade hammock slung between the clothing hooks, suspended over the heads of the kids and the dogs.

  Today, nine years later, Noah is twenty, Faith eighteen. They’re both college students and have spent almost as much time in Mazatlán as in their home country.

  Greg is managing director and CEO of the Derksen Real Estate Group at Solutions Mazatlán, a local real estate and property management company, and consults occasionally for concrete construction companies in Canada and Mexico.

  Greg and Jodie live in a home on a quiet street in Mazatlán’s historic center. When they’re not working, they enjoy walks on the boardwalk, dinners out, and day-to-day life in a city with 350 years of history.

  “People called us crazy,” Greg says, “but I wish we’d made the move fifteen years earlier.”

  Lee and Julie Saved the Best for Last

  For Lee Harrison and his wife, Julie, Mazatlán was not the first stop on the overseas-retirement trail.

  In 2001, in their late forties, Lee and Julie took early retirement from their successful engineering careers.

  “We didn’t have enough of a pension or enough retirement savings to live on for the rest of our lives in the States, certainly not living the level of lifestyle we had been enjoying in New York up until that point,” Lee explains, “so we started looking around.

  “My eyes were opened to the ‘retire overseas’ idea by a book on retiring to Costa Rica that I happened upon in a bookstore one day. At that point in our lives, Julie and I wanted a big change, an adventure. We craved culture shock, the bigger the better.”

  Lee and Julie were both immediately sold on the notion of retirement to another country and began adjusting their view of the “correct” retirement age. Instead of asking themselves how much money they could accumulate for retirement by age sixty-two, they began asking themselves how soon they could retire with some degree of financial security. The answer was twelve years earlier than they’d been planning.

  “By moving to a low-cost destination abroad,” Lee explains, “we cut at least a dozen years off of our work life and added twelve years to our retirement. For us this has effectively been a strategy for extending our lives.”

  The couple chose Ecuador, which then and still today offers an almost unbelievably affordable cost of living.

  “We sold everything that wouldn’t fit into a twenty-foot container and moved to Cuenca,” Lee remembers.

  At that time, there were virtually no American retirees in Cuenca. It was six months before Lee and Julie met another English-speaking couple. Their Spanish skills improved quickly, out of necessity.

  Julie began volunteering at the music academy and performing piano with the Cuenca Symphony Orchestra, and Lee started writing about living abroad. Both continue to earn supplemental income from these activities today.

  Lee and Julie were happy living in Ecuador and had no plans to move. However, about five years after making the move to Cuenca, they took a vacation to Uruguay. In this country they fell in love with the European ambiance, the predominantly Italian culture, and the seaside life. In 2006, the couple purchased a home in Punta del Este, Uruguay’s premier beach resort town, where they lived for six years.

  Then, in 2010, Lee found himself on a writing assignment in Medellín, Colombia. He was so struck by the beauty and sophistication of the city that he called Julia and persuaded her to come join him to see for herself. Life in Punta del Este was great, but, when the couple saw what Medellín had to offer, they were inspired to launch the next stage of their adventures overseas. They bought an apartment in leafy El Poblado, Medellín’s prime address.

  Again, Lee and Julie were content and had no thoughts of moving on, but, in 2015, on a whim, they decided o
n a monthlong stay in Álamos, Mexico. During that trip, they took a one-week side trip to Mazatlán.

  Being in Mexico, after all their years abroad, was a revelation for Lee and Julie.

  “We had ignored Mexico for years, passing it by on our way to South America,” Lee says. “I think we thought of it as too familiar, with too many amenities to be sufficiently exciting or challenging. But during that visit, we experienced and appreciated the cultural familiarity and convenience of life in this country.

  “Mazatlán is only seven hundred twenty miles from the US border, a straight shot down a single freeway,” Lee continues. “This makes it easy and inexpensive for children and grandchildren to visit. They can also fly here, as we’re only an hour and a half flight from Phoenix.”

  Mexico is a big country, offering lots of living options. Why did Lee and Julie focus on Mazatlán?

  “We’ve always enjoyed Spanish-colonial historic centers,” Lee explains, “and Mazatlán’s is being beautifully restored. We love having the city’s best restaurants, cafés, shops, and theaters all within easy walking distance. Plus, English is widely spoken here in Mazatlán, which is a nice convenience when we have visitors who don’t speak Spanish.

  “The ocean and beach are just off our front balcony. For us, that’s the best feature of all. Then there’s the convenience.

  “I’ve been doing home projects in Latin American countries for sixteen years. Having a Home Depot nearby feels like a real luxury. We feel the same about having Walmart, Sam’s Club, OfficeMax, and the other American stores here. We never thought we’d miss those kinds of places as it turns out we have.”

  Lee and Julie applied for their residency visas at the Mexican consulate in Phoenix, Arizona. They both obtained their visas in less than one hour.

  “We’ve now obtained residency in four countries,” Lee says, “and Mexico was the fastest and easiest experience of all.

  “This is just the lifestyle we were looking for at this stage of life, available right now at a very attractive price. I have to say that it’s good to be back in what feels like familiar territory.”

  X

  FREQUENTLY ASKED MAZATLÁN QUESTIONS

  Q: Can I bring my pet with me?

  A: Yes, with very little hassle and no quarantine. Your veterinarian must sign an International Certificate of Good Health (Form 77-043) and provide proof that your pet has been immunized for rabies and distemper no more than fifteen days before entering Mexico.

  Bring duplicates of the required documentation, as some officials may want to keep copies.

  Q: Should I ship my car?

  A: Most Americans and Canadians who move to Mexico drive over the border. If that’s your plan, you don’t need to wonder about shipping a car to your new home; you’re bringing it with you.

  To bring your car into Mexico with you, you need a vehicle permit and Mexican insurance, both of which are available online. If you’re on a tourist visa or a temporary resident visa, you can obtain a vehicle permit good for the length of your visa.

  If you become a permanent resident or a citizen, you will need to obtain Mexican plates for your car or buy a Mexican car.

  Q: How do I get a driver’s license?

  A: You can drive in Mexico on your valid US or Canadian license for up to a year. Even if your US license isn’t due to expire for more than a year after the date of your move, it can be a good idea to renew it. Keeping your US license current is a good backup.

  Driver’s licenses in Mexico are administered by the state, so requirements can vary from state to state.

  Here are the three authorized locations for obtaining a driver’s license in Mazatlán:

  Calle Río Culiacán

  Unidad Administrativa, Fraccionamiento Tellería

  Mazatlán, Sin. CP 82016

  Tel. (669)982-06-69

  reca.mazatlan@sinaloa.gob.mx

  Open Monday through Friday eight a.m. to three p.m.

  La Gran Plaza

  Av. Reforma y Apolo, Local g-20 y g-21

  La Gran Plaza Fracc. Alameda, Mazatlán, Sin.

  Tel. (669)990-35-25

  use.mazatlan@sinaloa.gob.mx

  Open Monday through Friday eight a.m. to four p.m.

  Plaza San Joaquín

  Blvd. Clouthier N° 9122

  Fracc Villa Florida, Mazatlán, Sin.

  Open Monday through Friday eight a.m. to four p.m.

  When applying for the first time, bring the original and two copies of the following documents:

  Proof of address (such as a utility bill)

  Official identification (your residency card)

  Birth certificate (translated and authenticated, to be on the safe side)

  You’ll be required to take a written exam and a driving test. The license will be good for two years, after which you can renew it without retaking the tests.

  Q: Can I own a gun?

  A: Gun laws are strict in Mexico, but yes, you can own a gun. You can purchase and keep a gun in your home for home defense, hunting, target shooting, shooting competitions, and as part of a collection.

  However, you cannot carry the weapon in public. To transport your gun (such as to a shooting range), you must have a permit, renewed annually.

  Caliber restrictions apply, with some calibers reserved for the police and military.

  Contrary to popular belief, you can bring a gun into Mexico. You must prove that it was purchased legally (by you) in your home country and you must have an importation permit. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to bring a gun (or ammo) into Mexico without this permit, even if you and the gun meet all the requirements for legal ownership. The penalties are severe.

  Q: How do I ship my household goods and personal belongings?

  A: If you have either a temporary or permanent resident visa, you can ship (or bring) your household effects into Mexico duty-free.

  To ship a container to Mexico, go to the intlmovers.com website. This is an online brokerage service for international shippers. I recommend opting for door-to-door service.

  Q: Is Mazatlán disabled-friendly?

  A: Mazatlán is more disabled-friendly than much of Latin America but not as accessible as the United States or Canada. In the center of the city, you’ll frequently see people in wheelchairs making their way from their homes to restaurants and cafés on the waterfront and elsewhere. Note, though, that many public buildings are not equipped with wheelchair access.

  Q: What about banking?

  A: Banks in Mexico offer good account products and services, state-of-the-art online account management, and good interest rates. Mexican peso accounts come with the risks and rewards associated with investing in any foreign currency account.

  You likely will need at least temporary residency before you’ll be able to open an account. This is the case with HSBC, BBVA, Santander, and Banamex, for example, where you won’t get past square one without a residency card.

  One notable exception is CIBanco, which is seeking foreign depositors with or without residency cards.

  If you have resident status, you should be able to open a bank account in about an hour and without a bank reference letter or the other documents that can be required in many countries today. Mexico is one jurisdiction that does not seem to be implementing discriminatory banking practices directed at US citizens as a result of FATCA.

  The current overnight interest rate is 6.25 percent. It can be possible to buy a certificate of deposit (CD) with an interest rate of as much as 8 percent. Banco Inmobiliario Mexicano (BIM) is offering a 540-day CD with a rate of 8.1 percent, and Banco FAMSA offers twenty-four-month CDs at 6.55 percent.

  It’s important to understand that these are Mexican peso accounts, meaning they come with exchange-rate risk.

  Q: Is the LGBT population welcome?

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p; A: Mazatlán is not a top choice for the LGBT community or same-sex couples. You have better options elsewhere in Mexico—Puerto Vallarta, for example.

  Q: What taxes might I be liable for in Mexico?

  A: Mexico has the lowest tax burden among all OECD countries (a group of the world’s thirty-five wealthiest nations). Tax brackets range from zero to 35 percent.

  This country’s policy for categorizing you as a tax resident could be described as lax. Unlike most countries, Mexico does not use a time-in-country measurement to determine tax residency. You are considered a tax resident of Mexico if you have established your primary home or center of business there.

  Non–tax residents are subject to tax on their Mexican-source income only, paying zero, 15 percent, or 30 percent, depending on your income. Capital gains for non–tax residents are taxed at either 25 percent of the sale or 30 percent of the gain (the highest tax bracket), whichever is less.

  Tax residents are subject to tax on their worldwide income, although much of your income can be exempt. For example, any income that had tax withheld is considered final and not declared on a Mexican return. In addition, Mexico has tax treaties in place with the United States and Canada designed to prevent double taxation.

  Tax residents pay tax on capital gains at ordinary income rates. Mexico imposes neither an inheritance nor a wealth tax.

  Q: If I move to Mazatlán, could I ever return home?

  A: Yes, of course. Living overseas, even full-time, even as a legal resident of another country, does not affect your ability to spend time at home. You’re still an American (or Canadian or British or Australian, etc.) citizen, after all. You can come and go as you please.

  Q: Living in Mexico, would I lose my original citizenship?

  A: Again, no, your residency status abroad has no effect on your citizenship.

  Residency and citizenship are two different things. If you’re a US citizen, the only way to lose your US citizenship is to renounce it formally. This is a serious step that you can’t take accidentally.

  Q: Do I need a passport to move to Mexico?

  A: You need a passport to travel anywhere in the world, no matter how long you intend to stay.