Bubba´s Axiom

Bubba´s Axiom applies to U.S. citizens retiring in Mexico an should not be inferred upon others; for instance, retirees from Burkina Fasso with nest eggs concentrated in real estate equities in commercial properties in Downtown Ouagadougou. One might wish to expatriate those investments if possible. Bubba´s axiom is really quite simple and should be adhered to without nuance or complicated theoretical suppositions:

"Never invest money in Mexico one cannot afford to lose."

OK, I suppose one could carry this thought out one more step:

If one partakes of investments in Mexico, try to invest in assets that might retain some residual value in the event of some unforeseen financial downturn. For example, if one has heavily invested in Mexican government bonds and, thereby, taken on both currency and sovereign risk with, I guarantee you, no true understanding of the extraordinary risks involved in such an investment portfolio, and the government defaults on those bonds for any number or unforeseen reasons or the currency denominating those bonds takes a dive, one is left with a bundle of worthless paper just as Dawg´s great-great-great-great granddaddy in Montgomery was in 1865 with all those damn fine looking Confederate bills he had in his safe protected from Yankee trash invading the homeland. Why, if those Confederate bills had ever proven to have any residual value after about 100 years, Dawg would be living in Santa Barbara, not Ajijic.

So, being the conservative investor Dawg is, when Dawg retired to Mexico in 2001, I decided to make modest investments in Lake Chapala real estate and invest equally modestly in bank accounts in Mexico for working capital and a reserve for emergencies. Therefore, our major investment was in a home which, barring chaotic insurrection bordering on or evolving into civil war, would have that residual value I discussed above. That is, even in the event of financial catastrophe, the home in which I would retain title as long as civil authority remained intact, would provide me with a roof over my head and, in such an equable climate, would provide me with the requisite creature comforts to retain a civil and fairly comfortable life style as long as beans and Spam were available or someone in my neighborhood or near there was truck farming with relative success.

So, we invested in a home at Lakeside and, later, after having become complacent about risk in general, we invested in another home in Chiapas just to get the hell out of Lakeside when necessary and enjoy a change of scene. Now, that was before Calderon took on the cartels with such ferocity so today we would probably experience some difficulty disposing of either property at reasonable returns on investment but, so what? Each place provides shelter and, when things get too hairy in one disparate place or the other we can take the chicken bus that 1,500 kilometers and escape any unpleasant local turmoil.

In all of the decisions we made involving any investments in Mexico whether in real estate or bank accounts or, at one time, Mexican liquid investment funds, we have always abided by Bubba´s Axiom so it remains as true today as it was in 2001; while we are far from wealthy and simply enjoy a comfortable life with a modest income, if our modest investments in Mexico tank and become worthless, we´ll be OK.

Now, please excuse me but there is this lady down the street from us here in San Cristóbal who serves up wonderful tamales out of her private kitchen at ridiculously low prices and a couple of those plus some icy cold XX Lager should see me through the night for a pittance.

Amen Mr. Dawg. Great advice and some that I plan on following to the letter.

I agree! Good insight.

Thanks Dawg, I did not know Mexico had X rated beer, is the XX stronger?

BILLBOGEY wrote:Thanks Dawg, I did not know Mexico had X rated beer, is the XX stronger?

I regret to inform you, BB, the XX Lager is no stronger than the standard 4.5% or so. Since I am now in Chiapas for a few months, I must settle for this insipid Mexican beer. When at Lakeside, however, I have found that some of the more high falutin liquor stores in Guadalajara sell excellent Belgian beer, brewed usually by monks, that have alcohol content around 12% mas o menos. Not only are these Beers from Belgium a kick in the ass but they are damned tasty if you like hops. On the negative side, these beers are very expensive in Mexico but I have yet to see the efficacy of moving to Belgium and freezing my butt off just to save money on drinking great beer.

Here in Mexico I recommend Herradura Blanco Tequila straight up in between sips of XX Lager or Tecate. That should do the trick which reminds me of a story.

When we drive between Lake Chapala and San Cristóbal De Las Casas semi-annually or so, we like, occasionally, to stop off and visit Zapoteco friends in Teotitlan Del Valle, Oaxaca near Oaxaca City and they always offer room-temperature Corona Beer and, sometimes some locally distilled mezcal. That room-temperature Corona is pretty bad but that doesn´t detract from the fact that their hospitality iis greatly appreciated. Well, the last time we rode into town, I bought some ice, that cheap Corona and some more expensive Tecate for myself. We had one of our Zapotec friends over at our guest quarters for an afternoon of sipping beer and, when she arrived, I proudly opened the ice cooler and offered her either Tecate or Corona thinking, of course, that she would opt for the traditional and cheap Corona. She insisted on icy cold Tecate and refused to even touch the Corona. Her words in Zapoteco were something like, "Are you kidding, I'm not drinking that crap when you´re buying. Another Tecate, please."

Dawg, I don't know about you but the more she drinks the better I look. SO, the high class beer may be a good investment. When I worked in Germany I got used to drinking the Dunkle, or dark beer.
I will be in Ajijic in 2 days and look forward to seeing grass on ground. Am tired of looking at snow ground here. At least I know the yellow snow ain't lemonade.
Isn't it amazing how some peoples taste change when they ain't buying!
Unfortunately, when it come to women I have champaigne taste and a beer (cheap beer) pocketbook. I think few American like room temp beer.

hound dog wrote:

BILLBOGEY wrote:Thanks Dawg, I did not know Mexico had X rated beer, is the XX stronger?

I regret to inform you, BB, the XX Lager is no stronger than the standard 4.5% or so. Since I am now in Chiapas for a few months, I must settle for this insipid Mexican beer. When at Lakeside, however, I have found that some of the more high falutin liquor stores in Guadalajara sell excellent Belgian beer, brewed usually by monks, that have alcohol content around 12% mas o menos. Not only are these Beers from Belgium a kick in the ass but they are damned tasty if you like hops. On the negative side, these beers are very expensive in Mexico but I have yet to see the efficacy of moving to Belgium and freezing my butt off just to save money on drinking great beer.

Here in Mexico I recommend Herradura Blanco Tequila straight up in between sips of XX Lager or Tecate. That should do the trick which reminds me of a story.

When we drive between Lake Chapala and San Cristóbal De Las Casas semi-annually or so, we like, occasionally, to stop off and visit Zapoteco friends in Teotitlan Del Valle, Oaxaca near Oaxaca City and they always offer room-temperature Corona Beer and, sometimes some locally distilled mezcal. That room-temperature Corona is pretty bad but that doesn´t detract from the fact that their hospitality iis greatly appreciated. Well, the last time we rode into town, I bought some ice, that cheap Corona and some more expensive Tecate for myself. We had one of our Zapotec friends over at our guest quarters for an afternoon of sipping beer and, when she arrived, I proudly opened the ice cooler and offered her either Tecate or Corona thinking, of course, that she would opt for the traditional and cheap Corona. She insisted on icy cold Tecate and refused to even touch the Corona. Her words in Zapoteco were something like, "Are you kidding, I'm not drinking that crap when you´re buying. Another Tecate, please."

And do tell Dawg - why would beer made in Belgium, made by monks, have such a high alcohol content? Could it be necessary in order to deal with being a monk?

Superama on Lopez Mateos South also stocks some good imported European beers (according to my beer loving friends).

And do tell Dawg - why would beer made in Belgium, made by monks, have such a high alcohol content? Could it be necessary in order to deal with being a monk?

Which begs the question; if one has taken a lifelong vow of silence since joining th brotherhood but gets loaded one night on the brew he is making to sell to support the brotherly order and, consequently, starts jabbering uncontrollably about all sorts of inane matters for a few hours prior to passing out in blissful surrender to noxious chemical intoxicants even though for the previous 25 years he has not uttered a sound, is he destined to an eternity of damnation in the fires of hell as a result?