No offense taken, @lindyk8, but you should know that “the violence” you’re referring to is regional.
There are areas where there is violence, but many areas are fine. I checked into it and there were no travel advisories anywhere near San Miguel de Allende. That said, to each his own, but violence is not a major issue in San Miguel.
The problem for me (and I’m an admitted wuss) is I just don’t want violence shadowing around me. It could shift at any minute as far as I’m concerned. That’s just the way I perceive things. It may be wrong, but it’s me.
Also, you may want to read this article about the very areas you’re talking about. Just throwing it out there as another resource, not trying to dissuade anyone from their dream. A couple I know returned from San Miguel de Allende after living there for years and vowing to stay forever. I’m not exactly sure why, so it may or may not be relevant. But again, I just mentioned my personal concerns, which have validity for me.
So you never go anywhere near New Jersey (Newark) Illinois (South Chicago) or Southern California (Compton) ? Because the violence there “is shadowing around you” and could shift any minute?
@katliamom, Can’t we just agree to disagree without resorting to this? 
You love Mexico! That’s great. I don’t. And that’s fine, too.
And actually I stay as far away from Compton as possible.
I can see myself retiring in Newark Ironbound section within walking distance to the train station. Buy 2 family house that supports itself. 15 min to Manhattan and 15 min to the major Airport. You do not need a car and great restaurants abound. Very convenient to explore the world.
I’m just trying to show that some fears aren’t very rational. Like worrying about crime prevalent in Sinaloa in a discussion about San Miguel de Allende. There’s 600 MILES between them!
I too stay away from Compton. Doesn’t stop me from enjoying, for example, San Francisco, LOL.
As I posted above, a LONG rental (months/year) can help provide better insight as to some of these issues. Also, speaking candidly with expats to get honest ideas about the pros & cons of the location you are considering. I would want to live a short plane or car ride from my kids and potential grandkids, but that’s me. There are inexpensive areas in the US, even parts of CA, OR, the south, FL and elsewhere that I’d explore long before considering moving out of country.
H has a classmate who has moved to Mexico and is very happy some years ago. He did keep some real estate in HI, just in case they get the itch to move back. He says that the cost of getting live-in healthcare for his relatives is a fraction of what he would pay in the US, which was a major reason he moved to Mexico. He hasn’t noticed any crime to speak of and he and his wife are happy.
There is good and bad in living pretty much anywhere. Take the time to fully explore to minimize nasty surprises, especially as moving is challenging, especially as we age. Medical care is a big issue for me. Glad to hear that some in Mexico are getting such excellent medical care.
That’s a great point – a long rental is a great way to get to know a place and to make an informed decision.
BTW, I know a couple that just moved to Hawaii for their retirement. Their lifelong dream, after years of visiting for vacations and 1 long-term stay. Already half their friends back home have “threatened” to visit. They will not have a problem of being lonely 
Well, if they have space on their lot, they can build an “ADU—accessory dwelling unit” and charge rent for all those intended visitors to help pay all their bills (or even put it on AirBnB or VRBO). HI prices are sadly higher than we’d like but we can’t think of anywhere we would prefer to live, since most of our loved ones live here.
Personally, the idea of having a huge house in retirement (anything much larger than our current house of 1250 square feet) has no appeal for me. I do NOT enjoy cleaning and it would be a huge burden to take on that neither H nor I are interested in.
Yeah, it’s much safer in the US where you don’t have to worry about being gunned down in a movie theater or blown up watching a marathon race.
I would expect organized crime in Mexico to target locals & avoid US expats. Raising an int’l shitstorm isn’t good for “business”.
Or have your grandkids shot in a classroom–grade school through U. 
In some countries where the labor cost is relatively low and the population density is high, and if you do not insist on only eating food catering to people from the US, it is relatively cheap to eat out – if you do not care about cooking your food every day.
Another consideration is that in some countries (usually in a colder area), the vegetable and fruit could be more expensive than the same sold in the US. Not many varieties either. This could be important for some but not others.
Because of ACA, do US citizens who retire into other country still need to buy the health insurance in the US just because they are US citizens? They may not have a permanent address in the US anymore (and may not be residents of any state.) From which state should such a expat buy his/her health insurance if s/he indeed still needs to buy one according to the ACA law (I think.) I guess if they travel back to the US occasionally, they may most likely need to buy traveler’s insurance, not necessarilly the usual health insurance people who live here would buy.
I thought about the idea of retiring outside of the US/Canada as Plan C. Plan B is Canada (my wife and kids are citizens and health care is covered, although one may wish to purchase private insurance on top of that but it is not essential). I visited San Miguel – we have friends there – and Guanajuato (we have traveled all over Mexico). I didn’t love San Miguel – it used to be an exciting place for American artists in the old day but now seems to be a place full of 50 something lost female divorcees from the US who are trying to find themselves. I met them regularly. I considered Costa Rica and Nicaragua (not a good idea then as squatters take over property and you can’t get it back). Chile might be a great choice – very good health care, safe, decent economy. Panama has attractive programs for attracting retirees (perhaps like the program mentioned above in Malaysia). The other place I’d thought about is the south of France (very good health care but not clear it is inexpensive, although cost is not a great issue at this point).
One of the nice thing about some of the places is, as someone pointed out, that labor costs can be low. This means that you can pay people for many tasks that might become prohibitive in the US (at least in aggregate).
I’ve concluded that I don’t intend to retire – I love what I do – and so need to be in a place that will enable me to get to the places I travel (Europe a lot, the Gulf and South America occasionally, Asia and Australia every once in a while) so I would need a hub airport. Of all of those places, perhaps Panama might work. Panama City did not seem to exciting when I was there on business and the parts suggested for retirees (Boquete, David) are not easy to get to from the airport, IIRC.
@mcat2, good question about whether expats need to purchase US medical insurance. Here is the answer: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/expatriates-the-individual-health-insurance-mandate.html. Yes unless you live outside the US for 330 days in the year or “you must be a bona fide resident of a foreign country for an entire a calendar year. However, you do not automatically acquire bona fide resident status merely by living in a foreign country one year or more. Rather, you must be able to show that you intend to reside in the foreign country and have no immediate plans to return to the United States. Evidence showing this includes: the fact your family is with you; you buy a house in the country; you have a permanent foreign address; you speak the foreign country’s language; you participate in community activities in the country.” There are exemptions for poverty, I think.
The penalty for not getting insurance is pretty impressive, the greater of $95 or 1% of AGI. Because I would imagine I’d be in the US for part of the year anyway, I’d have to either pay the insurance or the penalty. Note that people with Medicare are do not have to purchase Obamacare, but Medicare does not generally cover foreign health care expenses.
Google is your friend–here’s the official word on ACA insurance when living abroad as an expat:
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/abroad/legal-matters/benefits.html
I am a working expat, not a retired expat, and have a Cigna int’l medical insurance policy which covers our family anywhere in the world, including in the US where the kids are going to school. Additionally, we all are covered by International SOS for emergency evac service in case the caca hits the fan medically or politically.
Low cost domestic help is one of the best perks of living in a low COLA country. In our various foreign postings, we’ve lived in painfully expensive European countries where we scrubbed our own toilet and paid 80 euros to fill the gas tank, and at the other end of the spectrum we’ve lived in cheap COLA asian countries. Having a driver, nanny, cook and fulltime maid service beats folding your own socks any day.
My daughter lives in Chile now, she is due to be back sometime mid to late 2016 (by bike from Chile!). But, if she decides to return to live there permanently (currently living with Chilean boyfriend), I would consider it, as well as anywhere in South or Central america as a retirement destination. Many diverse regions in Chile and some ex pats living there, but I don’t think as cheap as some of the other options. But, most likely, me and DH would prefer to continue to work as least part time, travel to visit, and go with long term rentals.
But, if we couldn’t work for any reason (termination, disability…) our retirement savings would work for a nice retirement in Latin America, but certainly not for the US.
Does anyone have a sense of how “cheap” it is to live in some of these places?
I consider being able to living well on $30K a year cheap living…
Yes, the language in Belize in English. The nation was formerly called 'British Honduras." Many of the “natives” English heritage goes back a long, long way.
My daughter and I spent two weeks in Dominican Republic this summer in Sosua, a small town situated between Puerto Plata and Cabarete. We immersed ourselves, attending a spanish language school each day. I fell in love with this town! I was warned not to go to the non-touristy towns, but we didnt have any problems. Yes, prostitution was rampant, but they didnt bother us.