Quote: (09-03-2018 06:33 PM)Harryhonolulu Wrote:
- How do real estate prices in Mexico City or Bogota compare with, say, New York City?? Again I am getting a little confused. The fantasy of how far my dollar would go got erased when I looked up properties in Polanco, Roma, La Condesa. They weren't NY prices but they were surprisingly expensive.
- What's life in Mexico City like as a resident? I have this romantic idea that it's frenetic but also wildly exciting, a cauldron of fascinating characters, amazing food, warm people, Europe-meets-Azteca, art.
- To those who earn US dollars and live abroad, how did you deal with the whole taxation conundrum? Did you continue paying taxes in the US and also in Mexico?
- Does Mexico have health insurance?
- What type of Visa would I need to live part-time in the country?
Background: I have spent the last 3.5 years moving from country to country, spending between 1 and 3 months in every city I go to.
I "lived" in Mexico City for 4 months recently and seriously considering it as my semi-permanent homebase. Its very liveable as long as you have a decent income, and while mexico as a whole is somewhat dangerous and some parts even outright fucked up (Sinaloa, Michoacan, Guerrero) - mexico city is a very safe bubble and I never saw or heard of anything other than avoidable petty crime like pickpockets.
- Stay in Roma or Condesa, the nicest area with many parks, amenities and also where all the cool spots are. Neighboring areas are also good if you want to save on rent, but remember traffic is hell so location is important.
- Regarding taxes, as long as you spend less than 1 month per year in the US you can avoid paying Federal taxes and depending on your state of residence, also no state taxes.
You still need to pay self-employment taxes though. Read up more about this here and on the web:
https://www.thebalance.com/foreign-earne...on-3193474
Just search for "FEIE"
THIS IS HUGE. Think about it - By living outside the US but still making US income, you are effectively increasing your salary by around 30%.
Downsides to cdmx - in my experience:
- Mexican women are on average some of the ugliest latinas IMO. Only the wealthy mexicans are hot, and they act like little telenovela princesses. I found the wealthy mexicans to be fucking annoying, but I imagine that with enough time there you can learn how to game your way past it.
The more native-looking women have bodies shaped like a cinderblock thanks to their corn-heavy & grease-heavy diet and unfortunate genetics.
Luckily there's enough latinas from other parts of the americas, mainly colombianas and venezolanas. I tried to focus on colombianas while there.
- Lack of diversity. Coming from NYC and having lived all over the world, I enjoy diversity in people. Mexico City is probably 98% mexican, with the rest being immigrants from latin america and some US/EU expats here and there. I think this is changing fast though.
- Rainy season is in the summer (june-september) and that means daily rain.
That said, I will probably spend half of the year there and the other half traveling around the world. Maybe we can get some mexican craft brews when I'm back there in the spring. Cheers mate