Where to spend the winter months

[TomJoMO]

My wife and I plan on retiring in '06'. I will be 62 and my wife will be 60. We have been to Mexico several times on week long vacations and love it. We are thinking that we would like to winter there. We would like to rent (not buy). Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Would like to hear from people who do or don't like it.

[renferme]

Personally, I like AZ. Someday, hope to live there, if it's still affordable.
I've heard and read good things about San Miguel, Mexico.
Perfect weather, very inexpensive to live in the Colonial Cities areas, San Miguel, Gaunajuato, Dolores Hidalgo, etc.

[TomJoMO]

I have also heard about San Miguel, but have not talked to anyone that has actually wintered there. We are thinking about going there this fall for a week to check it out. By the way, thanks for the reply.

I too have heard good things about San Miguel, but forget where. Damn ginkgo biloba has stopped working again When we were looking at Mexico or Central America we were finally stopped by the realization
that we did not want to go through the period of adjustment, even on a snowbirding basis. Seemed like too much hassle for the benefits and I am quite hassle averse.

JG

San Miguel is too cold for us. We prefer Chapala or lower elevations. But there are a lot of Gringos living there.

Billy
website www.geocities.com/ba264

[LEX]

I like the idea of living in AZ and, given the absence of a border down here, being for all practical purposes in Mexico. *Now if I can figure out how all these Mexicans get to drive without insurance, get free medical care, and live tax free in the underground off the books economy, my retirement stash will last forever! It seems when I cross the Mexican border they ask me to post a bond on my car, get insurance, and everything seems to cost me more than I thought it would. *I guess I really am just another silly norte americano gringo! Perhaps I should try to sneak into Canada and burden their system! *Lets all start a conga line north....

Re. a "conga line north to Canada", if you like miserable weather and enjoy living in a leftist "people's republic"
then by all means...........go for it!

JG

[bruce1]

Re. a "conga line north to Canada", if you like miserable weather and enjoy living in a leftist "people's republic"
then by all means...........go for it!

JG

-14F last Friday was not too bad, warmer than Minnesota or the Dakotas a lot of the time. Besides my Latitude is just a few minutes north of the northern border of California if one were to check a map. I am on the north shore of Lake Erie.

I at least know that I will not be broke if I get sick. I pay high taxes but I cannot be denied medical insurance at the whim of a for profit company. The insurance would cost as much as my taxes anyway.

That being said there is a ton of waste in Government but there is too much profit motive and short sighted cost cutting in business

Have a good one. I am off to play on a snowmobile

Bruce

Let's see............... " -14, high taxes, ton of waste in
government". I think Bruce just made my point

From "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich"

The overwhelming majority of Germans did not seem to mind that their freedoms had been taken away, or that their life and work had been regimented to a degree never before experienced. They supported it with genuine enthusiasm...................by the autumn of 1936
unemployment had been licked and almost everyone had a job again.............."Gemeinnutz von Eigenutz!"
(The common interest before self) was a popular Nazi slogan in those days.....................

Ring any bells?

JG

[bruce1]

John has ignored the points in my opionated post that are most pertinent and only used those that would apparently lend support to his point of view.

He missed:

warmer than Minnesota or the Dakotas a lot of the time

I will not be broke if I get sick

I cannot be denied medical insurance at the whim of a for profit company

insurance would cost as much as my taxes anyway.

This is fun.

Besides, this is south when compared to some places I have been and am not going back to in the winter.

Have a good one.

Hello Bruce and all!

I didn't "miss" anything, but I did "cherrypick" Bruce's post, so sue me.
And, I agree "this is fun"

JG

[Zipper]

John, didn't you say you lived in the Detroit area for awhile. I'm 2 hours east and Bruce is probably 3.

I don't like winter.....anymore than you. The fact is we live at comparable latitudes. The Lakes keep us slightly warmer than you in winter and slightly cooler in summer.

The Southern ON climate is similar to Southern MI and your area in Northern Illinois.

We can both drive to FL or TX in a couple of days.

And didn't I hear you say that your most favourite city was Toronto?

HI Zipper! Gosh, I love it when you are paying
attention

Yes, I worked in Detroit for 3 years and lived in the area 4 years. Then, I lived in the Michigan Upper Peninsula for 11 years. Thus, I am no stranger to snow and cold.
The turning point for me was retiring. When I was working (except for traveling) I could just stay inside and work even more, which at the time I viewed as
almost an advantage since the nasty weather discouraged
any nonproductive slacking.
Anyway, I now just hate the winters and soon
(God willing) I will spend them in milder climes.

Regarding Toronto, indeed it was once my fav. big city,
but I was very young and had not seen that much of the world. Also, my political senses were not so finely honed back then.

JG

[MJ]

JG, I finally figured you out.

You supplement your income by being an (working) apologist for a number rich ultra radical rightist groups. Anytime someone expresses a centrist to ultra liberal opinion on any website, you either negate their opinions or twist their words, to meet your job requirements.

Come on level with us, how much are you earning from your employers, $50k, $100k or $200k a year and where are you really living, a 5,000 acre Texas ranch, a high rise apartment in the Northeast or both? 8)

We're all friends here, you can tell us.

MJ

Hello MJ and my good friends. MJ, good theory, but no,
I am quite honest in my politically tinged posting
(pretty scary huh?) Of course, I throw in a lot of dopey jokes and puns. Remember though that most
good humor has truth at it's core....................

As for the "rich ultra radical rightist groups", yeah I support them. I support the poor ones also.
I am an equal opportunity radical.

JG

[bruce1]

Hi all

John cherrypick is an excellent word for what I intended. Much better than missed.

Snowmobiling is a heck of a lot easier than watching wrestlemania or whatever it is with four kids and two adult wrestling nuts.

good night

[JonnyM]

What's a Winter?

[polloloco]

We are having winter now: 45 degrees F, cloudy and raining. I always know that 60 degree days will follow quickly, in January or February.

[LEX]

Its a bummer that, based on a recent study, about 50% of all us bankruptcies are a result of medical costs. Hey, maybe the bankruptcy code is a de-facto American version of cost transfer to facilitate socialized medical care. And perhaps The Great White North, while not perfect, is at least honest in accepting the social responsibility of spreading medical costs through the whole tax base.

The real hype on medical costs in the US: "We'll tax you and spend 100's of Billions liberating the third world whether they like it or not, but if you are poor and sick in in America, though we'll tax you as if you were a slave and servant, you are less than zero to the system. Get sick, and go broke, who cares". Don't knock Canada for at least trying to address the issue.

Okay, fair enough. I will knock Canada for other stuff

JG