Deciding on moving to Lakeside

Thank you Brigitte for bringing some honesty to some of the false generalizations being made! Here is a perfect example - back in 2005 when we decided to put our home on the market, our contractor/handyman agreed to perform some repairs on our house but since we were listing the home with an agent, he asked to be paid by the RE agent as he completed certain requested repairs. Worked fine until the RE agent decided to quit paying and the contractor quit working. Our Mexican/American neighbors attempted to find out the problem and resolve but that didn't work. Our contractor absolutely refused to implicate anyone but meantime, he hadn't been paid. When we went down for the closing and had paid for someone else to complete the work, we pressed the issue and managed to exert enough pressure to find out exactly how much work hadn't been paid for and took care of the obligation. And guess what, both of us slept quite well that night knowing that we had fulfilled our obligations!

Sorry to offend anyone, certainly am not trying to be insulting just sharing some thoughts based on information I HAVE researched online, in blogs etc.. I really seemed to strike a sore spot with the last few posts. The purpose of going on a blog for me is to ask questions to gain some insights from people who have experiences of Lakeside in particular, if you don't feel it's valuable to share your TRUTH or experiences than don't. No one is twisting your arm here! I am truly trying to gain as much knowledge as possible in making a good decision for myself, nothing more or less, there isn't any playing the fool as a mode of operation here! I'm a very upfront honest person just sharing things I've read from others living there.

By the way I don't watch the news, it's just media entertainment and never is the truth fully exposed, it's all selective truths communicated in such a way that it's just a form of being manipulated. I also want to stress I've also read that many women living there feel the Natives are extremely nice and friendly as my daughter did while living in Mexico City. If anything my opinion of the natives is they are genuinely nice, friendly and helpful, but there are some people that have a different story.

Mexicans are extremely polite as far as nice it is like everywhere else some people are very nice and some are not, do not confuse politeness with "nice".

Lady o I have this book and didn't feel it was helpful enough because much of what was written was done some time ago now. It's a good resource to a point though. I have many sites, books, and blogs I follow and use in doing as much research in planning for retiring. It's funny one person on here complimented me for being ahead of things in planning and researching and in these last posts it's like I'm seen as an idiot for asking opinions based on experiences from the members of this blog who live at or have lived at lakeside. Best thing about getting the feedback is taking what writers say and keeping the good advice that counts to help figure things out for myself, so that's what I'm doing here, that's my game plan in posting my question, and I thank you all for sharing everything.

Brigette, you must take me as fool, I know full well the difference between having manners and what nice is, just like I know full well that throughout the whole world there are nice people and mean evil people as well. I've learned a thing or two at by my age as a 62 year old, I'm not wearing blinders!

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I know some 62 year old fools , age has nothing to do with it, I do not know ou and frankly I do not care if you fall for it or not, just saying that many Mexicans are not as niceas people think they are. After that frankly my dear..

Pamarie, you have to understand that some people have seen this before. The new poster comes on and asks for members´ real life experiences. They get them. And, for most of them reply with something along the lines of "I have done that already," "...have read that already," "...know that already," and then say "... but, wait, I have more questions." Looking at it from our perspective, it gets frustrating. So, one by one, we give up, but others will persevere. Hope you find whatever it is you are looking for.

Moving on to bigger and better things to share with members here, does anyone have any desire to share insights about moving furniture there, and/ or valuable input for someone considering moving there?

I have received many great tips and very valuable information here, much of which has reinforced that moving to Lakeside is a great possibility for my retirement! I look forward to coming there to experience it for myself, I'll know for sure when I come for my first impression of it. I thank everyone who has shared information and stories of your own experiences and those that sent me private messages as well, as they were all very helpful for me. I'll be tracking this blog as it's really a great resource filled with all kinds of good info!

It costs a lot of money, which you have said you do not have to spare.  Parcel out on loan to family and friends those pieces you can't bear to part with and will want if you return north.  Provided of course you have that type of relationship with them.

We brought our most important pieces which meant home to us and to our children.  But we came when I was 50 and husband was 57 so we weren't ready to "leave it all behind".

Cost to us for a 28 foot trailer with all fees etc. was $10K in 2006.  We rent and our first house although sparsely furnished the good were not great and the landlord agreed to selling most all of them.  Our second house had a lot of riff-raff stuff which went immediately to the lower end secondhand stores and the better things which all needed reupholstering went to Barbara's Bazaar, again with the landlords blessing.  We have twice been the exception to the rule.

Please do not bring your books it is a waste of money, especially when you haven't much to spare. This place is drowning in unwanted books.

Wow that's expensive moving fees, I was thinking that I would not move big pieces of furniture, rather start fresh once there buying a piece at a time. First invest in a good bed, and couch, and build from there, which is what I did when I moved to Oregon from MA. I can make enough hopefully selling what I have here to move the smaller stuff with me like the electronics and things I don't want to part with like my sewing machine, artwork, framed pictures, decorating pieces that mean a lot. Furniture pieces hold no great sentimental value for me and most books I would not move with me. I was hoping it would be cheaper to move things this way. I read on another blog they some posted how they moved all their belongings with them and it wasn't all that difficult to do or that costly. Also most of what I've read if you rent a place unfurnished it's really bare bones right down to no appliances in the kitchen or light bulbs in any fixtures. I guess I would look into seeing if those things could be left in the rental agreement through working with the landlord. I imagine it will unfold once I come to experience Lakeside, as it appears this is the overall opinion on what to expect or not expect from everyone so far. When I came to Oregon it took me about four years to really feel acclimated and deciding I'd stay put. Seems the rule of thumb that has worked for me when relocating to a new State is usually five years to adjust and grow into feeling it is home. So I imagine it would take at least that amount of time if not more for me to feel it's home, but certainly having some of my own things will make me feel more comfortable in moving there.

Pamarie, relax and just keep on doing what you are doing.  There are lots of opinions on this forum and you can figure out which ones you want to listen to and which ones not.
One thing I know for sure is you are always better off getting input from those who are in front of you rather than finding out on your own.
BTW - there are lots of good, well intentioned folks on this board and some days they might come across a little rough or mean.  But I presume you will be on this forum for a while, so don't let people get under your skin and if you really don't want to hear what a specific person has to say use the foe/ignore function in settings and poof you'll never see their posts again.

pamarie wrote:Having a car is a must for me, so is it best to buy one here or there?

This is a complicated question.

The problem with US cars is that once you bring them in, you may not then leave again without them. So for example, if you are here on a tourist card and brought your US car, then every 180 days you will have to drive that same car all the way to the border and renew its permit when you renew your tourist card. You will not ever be able to fly to the States (or anywhere outside of Mexico) from Guadalajara.

Now, if making that drive is not a problem for you, and you don't have a need to fly back to the States between times, then I would say bring a US car. In most cases, a comparable car will be more expensive here than in the States. (However, you will want to choose a car that has good suspension for cobblestone roads, a high clearance for topes (speedbumps), and for which parts are readily available in Mexico, all of which requires some research.)

But that's only true if you are certain you will stay on a tourist visa and not ever become a resident. You say you do not qualify now for Residente Permanente status, but what about Temporal? Four years as a Temporary Resident and you can convert to Permanent without the additional income. Residential status means less hassle in the long run. However, although temporary residents can have a foreign car (under the same restrictions as for tourists), permanent residents cannot.

We tried to live without a car always close to Centro in Ajijic. It just didn't work for us. We found Taxis were great during the day but at night it just didn't work.  Taxis is some parts of Mexico are cheap  (30P).  Here there are much more. The buses were great until they shut down at 9. Now don't get me wrong many many folks live without cars here I just can't.  My problem.  We drove down here three times from NOB to bring out stuff down. Doing it over about the same in costs I should have shipped it down early on.  Costs I heard are still going up. We bought a Mexican city car and drive it anywhere. One just doesn't go faster than 100KpH (62MPH) and hey we are retired and stay in the slow lane. Good part about small car is the thing gets 30 to 60MPG from 1.4L motor and this allows us to afford traveling in mexico. It was not too hard adjusting from the normal US/Can bigger car or truck. Try parking a bigger vehicle here. We can always find a space to fit a Micra. I strongly suggest you thinking outside the Gringo Box. We couldn't be happier with our Jalisco plated small city car.

We moved furniture down and it was extremely expensive 7 years ago, about twice the cost for moving a similar distance state side. I'd say that unless you have heirloom furniture, don't bother. There are constant sales of good quality used stuff here. One member of this board, Julie Hensley, specializes in moving and yard sales and she gets some nice stuff at good prices. There are also a number of well stocked consignment stores.

Your best bet is to make a trip down here first for, say, a month. Stay in a B&B and explore the area and the availability of rentals and moderately priced properties for sale. Then you'll be in a position to make some hard decisions about what to bring and where to live.

Going back to the OP re: realistic budget.

You're 62 and will be 63 when you come here.  Have you researched medical insurance?  If you think you won't need it, listen to what others have posted re: out of pocket.  Unless you have substantial savings you are willing to risk, you need insurance here.  

You also said when you turn 65 you'll decline Medicare, but you admit you won't qualify for Permanente in Mexico.  
Like most in their early 60s you are likely healthy and expect to remain so.  Wish that were always true, but it's not.

I'm sure you read TOB; look at Fred and Barbara Habacht's story about why they are happy they did NOT self-insure.  They have lived here a long time; listen to them.

And I know a lot of people who have lived here a long time and are happy they "self insured" versus paying $6000 US per year in medical insurance. Many times people don't even surpass their huge deductibles when they take ill so they are also out of pocket those expenses every year. It's like rolling the dice I suppose. Personally if I get that sick I'll be heading back to Canada. I never could understand those that stay here with prolonged, incurable illness and huge medical expenses while free medical is waiting at home for them.

we were expecting problems so we created a med slush fund[self insurance[?] to cover it. so far so good but a goodly chunk has been spent recently. we will attempt to build it back up by being a bit more frugal.
we signed up for sp merely fer in case of a road accident.never used it or imss when we had that.

CanuckBob wrote:And I know a lot of people who have lived here a long time and are happy they "self insured" versus paying $6000 US per year in medical insurance. Many times people don't even surpass their huge deductibles when they take ill so they are also out of pocket those expenses every year. It's like rolling the dice I suppose. Personally if I get that sick I'll be heading back to Canada. I never could understand those that stay here with prolonged, incurable illness and huge medical expenses while free medical is waiting at home for them.

Bob, you must be from a province that allows you to keep your health coverage even though you aren't living there.

Nobody in Canada (that I am aware of) can keep their medical coverage beyond two years out of country however everyone can get back on their provincial dole if they move back home. In BC you are back on the medical system after a 3 month waiting period.

CanuckBob wrote:Nobody in Canada (that I am aware of) can keep their medical coverage beyond two years out of country however everyone can get back on their provincial dole if they move back home. In BC you are back on the medical system after a 3 month waiting period.

That's what I thought. Self-insuring for three months can be pretty expensive. I know you're young, but you may not feel the same about insurance in 15 years.

CanuckBob wrote:Nobody in Canada (that I am aware of) can keep their medical coverage beyond two years out of country however everyone can get back on their provincial dole if they move back home. In BC you are back on the medical system after a 3 month waiting period.

And private insurance during the waiting period is quite inexpensive. A few years ago, we brought my wife's 90-something grandmother back to BC from the US where she had been living after she broke a hip. And 8 years ago, we moved back to Canada (Ontario), after living overseas for several years. In each case, premiums were only 2 or 3 hundred dollars.

I don't recall in either case whether there were any provisions for pre-existing conditions.

Bob

That would be the plan Bob. Thanks for confirming.

I think self insuring is the route I will go in the beginning and then go from there when it comes time to decide on whether to opt out of SS or not I actually can't go on medicare until I'm 66 anyway. Just based on Pat's experiences of breaking her ankle and how much cheaper and better the care was in MX compared to the cost in the US, when a friend of hers had the same exact surgery and the cost difference was unbelievable...hmmm MX total $2000. / US total 30K kinda of no brainer to me guys! Also doctors don't make house calls anywhere that I've lived in the US and they do in MX that's pretty special in my opinion. My gut for now says I'd still opt out of SS medicare, and if I moved back to the US I would just pay the penalty fee to go on it and work it from that perspective. I will have a little nest egg for medical emergencies so I think maybe going on SP would be a good decision as well. I just don't see the point in paying for medicare in a place that I can't use it just for a big what if! I choose not to live expecting the worst to happen so far God has taken care of me so I have Faith that will continue :) But that said I am going to plan to take some responsibility to care for myself in case I got hurt and needed medical care. I sure don't want to be a bother to anyone most of all my family.