BBC coming to film pensioner search for retirement

Coming to Ajijic and the general Lake Chapala area in a couple weeks to film is the BBC series Marigold Hotel where a group of pensioner celebrities travel the world looking for a retirement place. You can see it on YouTube. I like the Cuba one best. We all know that every once in a while HGTV shows up here wandering around. This a whole new level of exposure. Hold onto your hats, the times they are changing.

Yes, hang on to your hats if Britain completes its exit from the European Union. British pensioners would no longer have full access to inexpensive European retirement spots and Euro healthcare. I remember at one point hearing that 66,000 people per year were leaving the U.K. to live in Spain.

I would love to see an influx of UK retirees rather than a lot of the “types” I’m seeing on Facebook. The latest long thread had them whining about greedy landlords here and how there should be rent control. One complained that she worked so hard for so many years for very little money and the rents keep going up. How that is anyone’s fault but her own beats me.

I said that if I wanted to rent my house for $500.00/month but 2 different people offered me $1000.00 I would be an idiot to turn it down and neither would any of them. And let me add that most of these people haven’t moved here yet. Still NOB. Boggles the mind.

I am getting very tired of people sending me YOU TUBE of interviews and surveys. Seems "they" always find and talk with the same people!!!

How many of "us" enjoy being a BIG fish in a small pond, when back "home" we are mere minnows in a ocean....

I do find many of the ex pats observations and comments patronizing towards certain class of Mexicans.... as if they never saw a poor or disadvantaged person in their own home country.
And why don't expats get upset about the Thieving, Stealing, Dishonest, and Corrupt Politicians who have cheated the Mexican people for the last 60 years

I must admit I am getting more surprised hearing from folks who are leaving the USA because of the outcome of the last election....and then subscribe to SHaw , because they miss the US news
As if by coming to Mexico you somehow are divorced from the day to day actions of what Congress or The President does..

I wonder how many USA or CAD ex pats would stay in Mexico if the US/Canada froze their pensions from the day they moved here...(Read like the UK)...Maybe that would be a good question to ask in the next survey

Interestingly whilst on holiday and talking with travelers from Australian. Those on a government pension will lose it if out of the country for 6 months. There is a different law for people who have "private" pensions. So guess what.... not too many Aussie retire out of OZ


course Ajijic/Mexico is a bloody paradise. For the last 25 years I have live in Mexico I have ALWAYS benefited from the appreciating $, Pound or Lonnie

Strange that none of the folks interviewed shared their thoughts about illegal's camping out on their yard or property. Or asking Mexicans trying to apply for legal entry are they happy getting pushed further and further down the line

BUT...Maybe this is the seismic sea change coming, when we begin to see more folks (Baby Boomers) leaving the US/Canada, than Mexicans trying to get into the US/CAD....

CanuckBob wrote:Well hopefully this area is getting just expensive enough to keep out the ones that think about coming solely for financial reasons.

Exactly and that seems to be mostly the type most vocal about all their “shoulds.” I left that at the border. None of us were sent for. Mexico got along without us and would do so again if we all left. There are nice places right on the lake less expensive than most of the north shore and if I were coming here now and found this to be too expensive, I would investigate those options but not so for some of these entitled types who stamp their feet and since they saw a YouTube touting a $300.00 a month 2 bedroom house everyone here are just greedy assholes and capitalist pigs. I tried to say that they AND those of us here are the reason for the gentrification but that was ignored.

Yep. We, and Mother Nature, have created a very desirable place to live.

CanuckBob wrote:Well its a double edged sword......the gentrification also brings all the amenities that everyone wants. It isn't just the gringos responsible for this. The wealthier tapitios are just as guilty and really it is all about supply and demand. Being near a body of water is always desirable.

Exactly right but I get the impression that those from their lofty perch NOB think the word Mexican is always preceded by "poor." And of course, their heartfelt concern is for the poor Mexicans being pushed out of their homes by the greedy NOB landlords.

They completely ignore any suggestion to look at the south shore which is very nice and so far a lot less expensive (for now at least.) They want center of Ajijic for $300.00/month because they saw a Youtube saying it could be found. There's going to be huge learning curve for the ones who actually move here and for the type I just described they are going to be plucked like chickens and when they race back to the border they'll be bitching about how horrible it is here. Might be fun to watch.

CanuckBob wrote:Well most Mexicans around here own their houses. Even the poorer ones. I doubt there are many (if any) renting from "greedy NOB landlords". If anything, they are bought out and their shacks are torn down and replaced with upper scale houses. The real effect here for them would be the ancillary things going up in price however as we know there is the "gringo" price and the Mexican price.

A totally profound and correct post except for the last sentence.
Walmart and a multitude of other stores and shops do not post "Mexican" prices and "gringo" prices. Neither do car dealerships or government agencies fees, except of course immigration fees. If you are a wage earner, either Mexican or foreigner, you pay the same income taxes (ISR) or sales tax (IVA).  True, some tradesmen and service people will do, what I prefer to give what i call a discount to the less fortunate and maybe less financially viable people that have lived here long time or are related, sometimes even foreigners. 
Believe me, there isn't any break in prices on anything for Mexicans moving here from elsewhere in Mexico or especially those from Guadalajara.
They, the Mexicans get charged, but they are much more vociferous about complaining than the foreigners, because I hear it all the time. And don't think that rent and real estate is so much cheaper in GDL, in all Mexican neighborhoods, because it isn't.

Comparing rents and purchase prices of real estate in Ajijic with the south shore of Lake Chapala would be for Americans like comparing the same circumstance, with prices in NYC or San Francisco with Lincoln, NB

When we first moved to Ajijic, we soon learned about pricing as we were setting up a brand new empty house. Our first example was the purchase of a propane tank. We bought one in Ajijic right away, so that we could cook. That Sunday, we went to Tlaquepaque for lunch and some music. On the way in, on Niños Heroes, we noticed the same tank at a hardware store with a price 40% less. On the way home, we bought it. From that point on, we shopped in Jocotopec and Chapala, where prices were lower than Ajijic, but still usually significantly higher than in the Guadalajara area. It is not really "gringo pricing", but "tourist pricing", I think. Later, when we were recognized as local residents in Chapala & had some ability in Spanish, we noticed that our cost of living became a bit lower as we shopped locally for our groceries, medications, and other daily needs. I guess we were no longer seen as 'tourists', and we also had friends and neighbors, as well as employees who were also known in the area. To this day, it still feels like 'home', even though we cannot be there.

Have you ever sit and watched how many Mexicans come and go at Walmart, in SAT or any anywhere else where the hundreds of Walmart's are located in Mexico from one  end of the country to the other.
The so called electrician or plumber that goes to these really poor Mexican homes are probably a yerno, cunado, or primo.
It's awfully hard to avoid paying taxes these days. even for small businesses, as you can't last long without a business license, CURP, RFC, and being registered with SAT.

If you are just talking  about  tianguis business and a brother-in-law repairing a pipe for the lowest income people in Mexico, you are talking about one grain of sand on a beach.....in the commercial world,

RVGRINGO wrote:When we first moved to Ajijic, we soon learned about pricing as we were setting up a brand new empty house.  Our first example was the purchase of a propane tank. We bought one in Ajijic right away, so that we could cook.  That Sunday, we went to Tlaquepaque for lunch and some music. On the way in, on Niños Heroes, we noticed the same tank at a hardware store with a price 40% less. On the way home, we bought it.  

Did you have to show your INE card or Acta de Nacimiento  (Mexican), to get that 40% descuento?

¡Claro que no!

You are one smooth and lucky gringo......none of my Mexican family would have let you get away that humungous Mexican discount.  

Perhaps not. It was a long time ago, too. But we learned....fast! We had to.