Defining Your Retirement Lifestyle: Things to Consider When Retiring in Another Country

Whenever someone tells me they are thinking of selling their home and moving somewhere like Mexico because of the lower cost of living I get nervous.

I usually end up asking them a couple of questions to make sure they have thought things through.

The first question I ask is where they got the idea from and the usual response is from a retirement planning article they had read in the newspaper.

I then ask if they have ever been to Mexico. The usual response I get is yes for vacation a couple of times in the winter.

I then ask if they have ever spent time in Mexico during the summer and the answer is usually no and therein lies the problem.

Before you make a major life change like selling everything and moving to a place like Mexico to benefit from a lower cost of living or for a different lifestyle you really need to think things through and test things out.

While living in Mexico might dramatically improve your retirement cash flow living there in the heat of summer and not being able to speak the language isn’t a lot of fun for some people.

Before making a major life change you want to make sure your lifestyle design works and that there are no unexpected surprises.

I could tell you many horror stories of retirees who packed up their entire lives and moved on a whim only to discover it was a bad move for them costing them a lot of money along with a lot of stress.

The importance of relationships

Another important detail that many people forget to consider when planning a move to someplace like Mexico is the importance of their existing relationships with friends and family and the community they live in.

When you move somewhere far away you may lose your support network of friends and family.

The community that we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves can have a profound effect on both our health and our happiness. There is something magical about having people to talk to, people that care about you and will be there for you in time of need.

Studies have shown that strong relationships make for a good life. People who are more connected to family, friends and community have fewer health problems, live longer and experience less depression and cognitive decline later in life.

The pandemic showed us what loneliness feels like.

The pandemic gave us a taste of what spending a lot of time alone feels like. We all need social connection and even though we could Zoom not being able to meet in person with family and friends put many people on the fast path to loneliness and depression. Having close, positive relationships can help to reduce the stress in our lives and significantly impact our overall well-being.

So if you are not good at making new friends quickly, maybe moving to a place like Mexico isn’t a good long term move for you.

Could you use some help in defining your retirement lifestyle? Be sure to check out the book Retirement Lifestyle by Design - you can download it for free!