Many Canadians, Europeans and Americans have chosen the Ajijic area on Lake Chapala as their preferred retirement destination for a number of reasons. One reason is that we have a very large expat community.

The International Community Foundation is pleased to announce its “Retiring Responsibly in Mexico” research series with our first report “U.S. Retirements Trends in Mexico’s Coastal Communities:  Lifestyle Trends and Demographics.”  You can access the report here:  http://www.icfdn.org/publications/retireeresearch/. 
Forthcoming research studies will address trends in health care, volunteerism, philanthropy and civic engagement, real estate as well as the environment.  For more information on the International Community Foundation, visit our website at http://www.icfdn.org.

Outside of Mexico City, about a three hour drive through the mountains and passing the city of Toluca, is a small little Mexicanvillage nestled in a valley, alongside a mountain lake Valle de Bravo is translated as Valley of the Brave The little pueblo is extremely clean and is known for the narrow cobbled roads that weave through the steep mountain sides of the downtown zone.The architecture influences comes from the colonial period with much presence of wood beams, spanish roofs, and wine and white colors on the buildings.

HOW DO WE SPEND OUR TIME IN PÁTZCUARO?

A New Boomer Member recently sent me a message saying that she and her husband were looking for a retirement place in Latin America and asked if I could share our daily experience living in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico.  She asked, “Is the assimilation difficult? How important is the language? How are the locals treating you? What is the price of the real estate? How much on average does it take to live there a month? Sorry for this many questions, we cannot find any sources yet to have a good objective overview of living in Mexico.” I answered her with an email, but it seems to me that many people, who have not yet made the move to overseas living, probably have the same or similar questions.  So, I would like to share the comments I sent in my email to the New Member.

I work for the International Community Foundation (http://www.icfdn.org), a 501c3 organization that works to increase charitable giving across U.S. borders to benefit overseas communities and nonprofit organizations.  Last year, ICF donated over $5 million to organizations outside the U.S. in the areas of education, environment, health, community development, and culture and the arts.  Over 75% of our grants go to Mexico -- we focus primarily on the U.S.-Mexico border region and the Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez regions.

One of the most common permits obtained by Mexican Foreigners is the Resident Pensioner visa (FM3 or FM2).  On a previous post the classification of the differences between non-resident, temporary resident, and permanent residents was outlined (See Post).  The Resident Pensioner permit (temporary resident) is described as those foreigners who want to live in Retirement in México, subsisting on funds, interest – bearing securities or pensions generated from any country other than Mexico.