Plan Your Move to Lake Chapala Mexico the Right Way
You’ve read about the beauty of the Lake Chapala area and how enticing it seems from the descriptions in the pictures and articles. You’ve done some research on this as a possible retirement destination. It looks very promising – even exotic! But reading about moving to Mexico and actually doing it are two different things.
Relying on what you read on the internet or what you hear from other people can be dangerous – how much of it is “Fake News” or just out-of-date information?
So without a doubt, it is a good idea to do your “due diligence” and check it out thoroughly BEFORE you pull up the stakes from where you are now. After all, what if you find out that Lake Chapala is NOT for you AFTER you move there? Ouch! That would not be a good time – more like a waste of time, a waste of money, and a lot of trouble at a time in your life when you probably can’t afford it.
Retirement in another country is definitely doable – thousands do it every year – so what should you know before making the move?
Let’s examine the essential things you need to consider before retiring or moving to Mexico.
When Moving to Another Country – It’s Even More Important to Plan Ahead
Planning your retirement involves financial, health, and lifestyle issues. This is a “cross-roads” decision-time of life. The decisions you make around retirement or moving will impact the rest of your and your family’s life. When retirement includes moving to another country we add a few more items to the “My Plan to Move to Mexico” list.
For instance, if you retire near “home”, then you don’t need to worry about speaking the language, the currency exchange rate, immigration requirements, cultural differences, or a different medical system to name a few.
This added complexity can stop people from considering the move. You might feel it’s too much to think about! But in fact, over 15,000 people have made the move to Lake Chapala’s beautiful lakeside towns. All you need is a checklist of essential things to consider, a source of reliable information, and a sense of adventure!
Ultimately, you will want to make an exploratory trip to Lakeside to get a feel for life there and answer questions or confirm the information you have gathered. So, let’s get into making this dream a reality.
“Moving to Mexico?! Are you crazy?” Dealing with Loved Ones
“…so just what are you thinking! Retirement in Mexico!? – well, that’s just crazy!” – just to paraphrase what some of your family and friends might say. So not only do you need to find out the essentials listed in this article for yourself, but you may also need to show others that you know what you are doing.
FocusOnMexico.com has been running educational programs on moving to Mexico for over 20 years. We have seen more than one instance where one spouse is all “gung-ho!” on making the move, while the other is not so sure and eventually quietly sabotages the notion. We have also seen the adult children of ready-to-move couples put up such a fuss that they wind up abandoning their dream of retiring to Mexico.
One good strategy is to show them some pictures and perhaps a video like the one on this page; Magic of Lake Chapala that is worth watching to give you a flavor of the area.
Another idea is to sign-up for our Online Move2Mexico RoadMap Programs. The seminar and programs provide up-to-date info and perspectives directly from the local experts.
If you are part of a couple, it is natural that one of you will have a higher interest than the other. It is good to talk this through so that you both know each other’s feelings and thoughts about making the move ahead of time. Moving to another country does indeed take some openness to the strangeness of another culture, as well as a sense of curiosity and adventure. If one spouse completely lacks in those qualities, expect the road to be very bumpy!
So in summary, getting clear on essential “need-to-know” information will help you and your loved ones make the transition more peacefully and without the risk of expensive set-backs and hard feelings.
Getting Clear On Your Motivation; Write Down Your Reasons for Moving
Putting your own thoughts and reasons for wanting to move onto paper is highly recommended. It helps you become clear about your motivation, and it will act on you at a psychological level to help you move forward. Be clear about your motivation for why Mexico and why Lake Chapala, and also be clear about “why staying where you are is not an option”. Writing it down is a step in making the dream concrete.
So why are you attracted to moving to the Lake Chapala area? Need some help on your list? There are many sources to quote from, but here are links to 4 articles that expound on the benefits of living in this slice of paradise;
- Article from this Focus On Mexico; Top 8 Reasons to Move to Lake Chapala
- Article from International Living; Retiring To Mexico: The Transition To Expat Life Is Easy At Lake Chapala
- Article from The Telegraph; Glorious weather, cheap living: a lakeside retirement haven in Mexico
- Article from TheStreet.com Why So Many Americans and Canadians Move to Ajijic Mexico
Why not stay where you are?
List the reasons why you see where you are now is not ideal. Why is it NOT the place for spending your next chapter of your life? Very likely it might be the flip-side of some of the previous list…such as the climate sucks, it’s a lot more expensive, it’s not friendly, not much to do locally, it’s “same all – same all” of being without a sense of adventure, and so on.
Essential Need-To-Know Areas Before Moving to Mexico
You don’t need to become a complete expert on all matters relating to Mexico before moving. But there are some areas you really should have a clear idea on. It’s important to avoid major disappointment or a costly about-face. Doing some basic research on these key areas will help you check off these important boxes.
Lifestyle and Cultural Issues
List your Must-Have “deal breakers” i.e. bridge, sailing, golf, medications, pets.
You or your spouse may have developed some real passions in life that partly define who you are. You may be an avid bridge-player, you might crave for being on the water sailing or fishing. You may have a sport that you really want to continue with.
What Are My “Must Haves”? So make of list of “must-have” activities and then find out if they are available at Lakeside. You might be able to find out by searching online or asking someone online. Focus On Mexico’s Facebook site is a great place to have a conversation and find out about the availability of your “must-haves”. Then confirm your “must-haves” when you make an exploratory trip to Lakeside
The good news is that the ex-pat communities at Lakeside have been evolving for over 60 years. That means you will most likely find everything you can think of in some form at Lakeside. It also means you might find a ready group of takers who would be interested if you started something up yourself!
Mexico’s cultural differences can be both charming and frustrating. To enjoy the flow of life in Mexico, it is necessary to drop value judgments based on how things go back home. For instance, 
the slower pace of life can either help you relax or it can become a source of anger and frustration. Adopt the mind-frame of a curious explorer vs. thinking that “my way is the only way”.
Fortunately, at Lakeside, one of the things that make our community great is that most of the “mexpats” who actually move here have a natural openness to these cultural differences. They know that Mexico is not going to change for them. We tend to attract the open-minded and those with a sense of adventure! Those few who must have things done like back home usually wind up frustrated and go back.
Do I Have To Speak Spanish?
Spanish is the native language of Mexico, but in communities around Lakeside that expats have been for decades, it is quite easy to get by without knowing any Spanish. This I think is a negative thing. I highly recommend that learning Spanish becomes part of your adventure. By doing so, it will open up a vast range of lifestyle activities and deepen your appreciation for the Mexican culture. Many options exist for learning Spanish at Lakeside, so no worries there.
The safety issue gets a lot of media exposure. Nearly everyone at Lakeside thinks the general perception of Mexico as dangerous is a gross misperception. Like any country, there will be areas of high crime – Lakeside is not one of them.
However, you will be able to put this hesitation to rest by talking to residents around Lake Chapala – part of your To-Do list when taking an exploratory trip.
Financial Issues
Cost of Living (including the cost of housing)
There is much info online on this topic. For instance, check out the – where you can enter your current town or city (or something close) and compare the cost of living to Ajijic. (I was doing a check on some of Numbeo’s Ajijic prices and for sake of typical accuracy, I would add about 10% on what you see online.)
People that have done detailed comparisons often find that the same lifestyle in the US or Canada will be 30-60% cheaper in Lakeside.
Generally, people find that they can live quite well on say $1,500/month USD for a single person, or around $2,000/month for a couple. There will be those that can live just fine on much less – or seem to need more, so this really varies.
An exploratory trip to Lakeside will definitely help in pinning down a more precise cost of life.
The vast majority of rentals and homes for sale wi