on Feb 21st, 2006Tommy Bahamas’ Retirement Beach Plan (Jimmy Buffet be damned)
Buying a Property: Retiring Abroad
by Ben West
With the way the world is going, you have to wonder if the beach bum knows something the rest of us don’t know; namely, the earth is a beautiful place if you have the time to enjoy it.
Retirement is meant to be such a place, a land where everyone walks around in Tommy Bahamas’ clothes, wearing fine leather sandals, carrying an expensive bottle of red wine (let’s make it Bryant Family), with nothing but time to engage in spirited conversations that occasionally produce shouting matches about the politics of genteel subjects like global warming, poverty, and racism.
At the height of the buildup to the Iraq war, I recall several people declaring they no longer wanted to live in America. They felt their government was selling short the very principles that made this country great, like privacy, the right to a fair trial, and a foreign policy that’s based on humanity not greed.
Welcome to Baja, Mexico, the new Shangri-La of retirement, where the beach beckons and the margaritas can’t be made fast enough. All that’s missing are the grandkids and a copy of the New York Times, but who cares, the world is virtual and nobody needs face time anymore anyway. So pack up that gas-sucking Winnebago and head south of the border. Just remember, though, Mexican law enforcement may be a little different than those black-booted California Highway patrol officers when they pull you over for indulging in your free-spirited ways.
These aren’t aging surfers seeking beachfront shacks or Midwest retirees fleeing the snow in their Winnebagos, though those folks still come here in large numbers. Real estate agents say at least 80% of the people buying today on the Baja coast are baby boomers who are spending $300,000 and up to purchase high-rise oceanfront condominiums and large, single-level homes with enough room for kids, dogs and toys.
They’re Building in Baja, and Boomers Are Buying
By Evelyn Iritani, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 21, 2006
Expert Expatriate : Your Guide to Successful Relocation Abroad-Moving, Living, Thriving
by Melissa Brayer Hess