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A guide to moving to Latin America, finding work, and settling in.
Episodes
Sunday May 10, 2015
Sunday May 10, 2015
-Would you like to get in on one of my free live “webinars?
Check out www.Expatwisdom.com and sign up for one of my free one hour live “webinars”. They will take place about every two or three weeks for a very limited time so sign up now to listen in live. Contribute your own thoughts and questions about Latin America.
-Seems like everyone who’s been any kind of traveller at all occasionally checks in with the “Trip Advisor”. If you don’t know what the Trip Advisor is then you probably live in your basement. So today we have some comments, the pros and cons of using (and trusting) it as a free public service. Remember, you usually get what you pay for(including this show!)
-How “Trip Advisor”, big retirement magazines websites and vacation bloggers have slowly but surely put Roatan, Honduras smack on the gringo tourist trail. It’s not a good thing by any means. Adios Roatan! Formerly one of the best inexpensive, secret island paradise getaways. Guess we won’t be vacationing there anymore!
-Many inquiries come in from boat owners wishing detailed info on guarded/gated marina communities. Boat owners (and wannabees) are interested in places they can dock and live 24/7. They’re searching for 3rd world marinas that have adequate first-world style amenities in order to live out their dream life…. at 3rd world prices of course.
JULY 2015 -LATIN AMERICAN SEMINAR NOTICE: Make your plans today for the next Latin American Expat Wisdom seminar. Just go to the www.ExpatWisdom.com main page and click on the Latin Seminar link for full details. The seminar will take place from Saturday, July 11th through Thursday July 16th, 2015.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL: Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.
Friday May 08, 2015
Friday May 08, 2015
The descriptions for... EXPAT FILES SHOW #457-05-08-2015 (FRI):
-Tips on packing and protecting your prescription drugs, vitamins and supplements. What to keep in mind when packing for trips to and from Latin America
-Would you like to get in on one of my free live “webinars?
Check out www.Expatwisdom.com and sign up for one of my free one hour live “webinars”. They will take place about every two or three weeks for a limited time so sign up now to listen in live. Contribute your own thoughts and questions about Latin America.
-Now for a disturbing recent eyewitness in-your-face report on drones and chem-trails in Coast Rica and Mexico.
-Having invested in some “dud” Latin deals over the years myself, I’m very tuned in to the fact that there are many Latin business and so-called pure investment opportunities that seem to be specifically aimed at gringos. Note they’re not necessarily scams- but let’s just say are often way too optimistic from the get go. Latins are nothing if not overly optimistic about everything- including life itself! Why then you might ask, are the majority of these “fantastic” linited time only, land, agricultural, real estate and/or mining investments, etc., etc., most specifically aimed at gringos and yet they're rarely advertised or targeted to the Latin public in the Spanish language media? Easy, because gringos are gullible and easy to sell. We come ambling south of the border with rose-colored glasses and often an urge to invest in what's touted as a tropical paradise in a strong growth phase. True, we often have the available dough to invest... and if we lose a few grand, it’s not the end of the world to us or lifestyles. Not to mention, if the thing goes sour, we’re generally back in Cleveland some 2000 miles away and can’t do anything about it. Don’t forget, most gringos can’t speak Spanish well enough to start an action against the principals, whoever they are. Oh and did I mention that most Latin court cases can take years to settle and judgments are often never satisfied even when awarded? Sure, there are great investment deals down here but just be careful.
JULY 2015 -LATIN AMERICAN SEMINAR NOTICE: Make your plans today for the next Latin American Expat Wisdom seminar. Just go to the www.ExpatWisdom.com main page and click on the Latin Seminar link for full details. The seminar will take place from Saturday, July 11th through Thursday July 16th, 2015.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL: Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.
Sunday May 03, 2015
Sunday May 03, 2015
-Easter week in Latin America (called Semana Santa) can be a truly crazy and some say, nerve wracking experience for gringos and expats. Here’s why….
-Because the “gringo advantage” is alive and well especially off the tourist trail, eventually you will meet a Latin person with a gringoized name that seems so tacky or wacky that you think it must be some kind or nickname or inside joke. But don’t assume. Don’t assume anything! Just try not to laugh… that would be rude.
-Just a few comments on the latest theft in Mexico- another truck containing highly radioactive material. Are these just odd mistakes, or should expats be worried? This is the fourthreported incident of its kind in the last two years.
-Today we discuss advanced stem-cell therapies as well as blood/platelet therapies now available throughout Latin America
JULY 2015 -LATIN AMERICAN SEMINAR NOTICE: Make your plans now for the next Latin American Expat Wisdom seminar. Just go to the www.ExpatWisdom.com main page and click on the Latin Seminar link for full details. The seminar will take place from Saturday, July 11th through Thursday July 16th, 2015.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL: Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.
Friday May 01, 2015
Friday May 01, 2015
-Today we have a disturbing email from a female public high-school English teacher(in the states) hoping beyond hope that she can last just two more years and get her pension. Then it’s get the hell out of Dodge and down to Latin America.
-It’s not Carnival time, so why are there hundreds of thousands of people marching in the streets of Brazil? Here’s a hint… the Brazilian president’s popularity is at an all-time historic low of 13%. Yes, it’s a political corruption of massive proportions (again) but this time the media and the people have solid goods on the crooks in office. The snakes won’t easily buy or squirm out of this one.
-Each year many tens of thousands of Nicaraguans immigrate illegally to Costa Rica and Panama. They easily find low-end, basic grunt work jobs working for less than crap wages. However, even as local Latins hire Nicas, take advantage of them and get away with the practice indefinitely… if a gringo hires one, look out!
-Banking and US dollar withdrawal problems are on the upswing in Latin America. Today we have the story of a Canadian citizen down in Mexico who cannot get his US dollars from the Mexican branch of his very own Canadian bank.
-The Philippines do have a solidly Latin based culture, very similar to Latin America. But note there are some disturbing differences that make it a very volatile place.
SIGN-UP FOR JOHNNY’S WEBINARS AT WWW.EXPATWISDOM.COM: Get in on live discussions and ask some questions of your own.
JULY 2015 -LATIN AMERICAN SEMINAR NOTICE: Make your plans now for the next Latin American Expat Wisdom seminar. Just go to the www.ExpatWisdom.com main page and click on the Latin Seminar link for full details. The seminar will take place from Saturday, July 11th through Thursday July 16th, 2015.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL: Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.
Monday Apr 27, 2015
Monday Apr 27, 2015
-Today we tie up some loose ends in the process of transitioning from temporary residency in a Latin country to permanent residency. Specifically the subject of getting the required police report for the transition- a clean police report, that is.
-All big Latin American cities have hundreds if not thousands of parking meters, mostly in the business and hotel districts. And you plug in the average of 50 US cents an hour. It’s a way for municipalities to make dough, naturally. However it’s impossible to figure out how any Latin city can hope to even break even when the parking meter crews- the slugs that empty the change from the meters- often consist of six guys riding around in a single golf cart emptying those things. It’s a one man job for sure, but this is Latin America!
-Some disturbing “boots on the ground” facts concerning unwed teenage mothers and the ever-present Latin baby boom: In getting to know middle-class Latin families, and also just walking around and observing Latin society, we expats soon realize there are a lot of very young pregnant women and young unmarried ladies with kids living at home with their parents. Why is it so widespread and why are Latin parents so forgiving (and happy?) when their underage daughters making “mistakes’ like that?
-Big pharma is trying to get a foot in the door in Latin America via drug reps. Its an old page from the same first-world drug company playbook, but a brand new game down here.
JULY 2015 -LATIN AMERICAN SEMINAR NOTICE: Make your plans now for the next Latin American Expat Wisdom seminar (and get in on the early-bird discount). Just go to the www.ExpatWisdom.com main page and click on the Latin Seminar link for full details. The seminar will take place from Saturday, July 11th through Thursday July 16th, 2015.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL: Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.
Friday Apr 24, 2015
Friday Apr 24, 2015
-Would you like to get in on one of my free live “webinars?
Check out www.Expatwisdom.com and sign up for one of my free one hour live “webinars”. They will take place about every two or three weeks for the foreseeable future so sign up now to listen in live. Now you can contribute your own thoughts, insights and questions about Latin America.
-What’s inflation like in Latin American countries? Do their governments lie through their teeth just like first world governments? Of course they do. And even with the 30 to 50 percent drop in gas prices, there seems to be no deflation in sight down here.
-Latin TV stations have been making bad copies the old Jerry Lewis MD telethon playbook for some years now. Nope, Latin telethons are NOT for Jerry’s kids. They’re just a glossy, happy, sanitized pretext for Latin promoters to skim big dough with zero transparency. It never fails, every year there’s a newspaper exposé or two describing how some good Christian telethon promoter has bought a yacht or disappeared with a large chunk of cash. And they always get away with it too! In Latin America, public memories are extremely short (sound familiar?) so right around the Easter season the telethons start anew with another round of sad, malnourished, sick, disabled kids exhibiting their symptoms on TV. Don’t fall for it!
-Autism in Latin America. Yes, autism does exist. However it’s quite a strange phenomenon in that it’s somehow much more prevalent in the entitled children of the wealthy (spoiled kids at the helicopter schools). Whereas teachers of middle and lower-middle class Latin kids are aware of the condition but seldom see it in their school kids …
-Only 16% of Latins have a permanent internet connection in their homes. Meaning in the next few years there will be an automatic and unstoppable growth in Latin households hooking up to the net. That means starting any business that has a heavy internet presence will give you a big leg up.
JULY 2015 -LATIN AMERICAN SEMINAR NOTICE: Make your plans now for the next Latin American Expat Wisdom seminar (and get in on the early-bird discount). Just go to the www.ExpatWisdom.com main page and click on the Latin Seminar link for full details. The seminar will take place from Saturday, July 11th through Thursday July 16th, 2015.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL: Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.
Sunday Apr 19, 2015
Sunday Apr 19, 2015
-We’ve been getting conflicting reports on the situation in Argentina. Some long term expats living there say it’s deteriorating rather slowly while others say its in the fast lane heading for a nearby cliff. Some say its heaven and other say hell. The answer all depends if one is flush with US dollars or stuck dealing day to day with the local peso. Though all agree there has to be an all-out economic calamity of sorts, what with a 40% yearly inflation rate and near general prohibition of US dollar use. Even if Argentina faces somewhat the same fate as Venezuela (they’ve been through it many times before) it’s still a land of opportunity for expats … but not for the inexperienced or faint of heart. At least for now, it can be recommended only for more adventurous chance-taker expats- and of course the wealthy folks who can buffer themselves in exclusive areas far from the maddening crowds. Note, they’re getting madder and madder by the day.
-Drones in Latin America: glimpsed my first Latin American drone last week, it flew right over my head- and you’ll never guess where. Because they’re so very rare down here (at least as of now) it’s amazing how Latins just go ga ga over them. So even when it comes to drones the “gringo advantage” rides again.
JULY 2015 -LATIN AMERICAN SEMINAR NOTICE: Make your plans now for the next Latin American Expat Wisdom seminar (and get in on the early-bird discount). Just go to the www.ExpatWisdom.com main page and click on the Latin Seminar link for full details. The seminar will take place from Saturday, July 11th through Thursday July 16th, 2015.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL: Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.
Friday Apr 17, 2015
Friday Apr 17, 2015
-Part 2: Obtaining Residency in a Latin country (as of April, 2015):
Today we finish our discussion on the complete, unabridged, very up to date, step-by-step process of applying for and receiving temporary and permanent residency in Latin America… leading to naturalization, citizenship and a passport.
Here’s the tail end of the complete process describing the hoops and hurdles a gringo must go through… to get residency. In this, our real-live case study, Guatemala is the country selected specifically because many prospective Expat Wisdom seminar attendees have been inquiring (and wondering) if they can come down for the seminar this July and apply for residency immediately afterwards. Some want to get started and forgo a second trip down to avoid taking yet more time off their treadmill. Yes, it’s possible to do the Expat Wisdom seminar and start the residency process all on the same trip. And here are the remaining steps one needs to accomplish before coming down….
JULY 2015 -LATIN AMERICAN SEMINAR NOTICE: Make your plans now for the next Latin American Expat Wisdom seminar (and get in on the early-bird discount). Just go to the www.ExpatWisdom.com main page and click on the Latin Seminar link for full details. The seminar will take place from Saturday, July 11th through Thursday July 16th, 2015.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL: Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.
Sunday Apr 12, 2015
Sunday Apr 12, 2015
-Part 1: Obtaining Residency in a Latin country (as of April, 2015):
Perhaps for the first time anywhere, today we discuss the complete, unabridged, up to date, step-by-step process of applying for and receiving temporaryand permanent residency in Latin America.
In fact we go through the complete process in great detail and all the hurdles big and small a gringo must go through to get said residency. In our real-live residency case study, Guatemala was the country selected, specifically because many Expat Wisdom seminar attendees and prospective attendees have been inquiring (and wondering) if they can come down for the seminar this July and apply for residency immediately afterwards. Yes they sure can, and here’s how….
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JULY 2015 -LATIN AMERICAN SEMINAR NOTICE: Make your plans now for the next Latin American Expat Wisdom seminar (and get in on the early-bird discount). Just go to the www.ExpatWisdom.com main page and click on the Latin Seminar link for full details. The seminar will take place from Saturday, July 11th through Thursday July 16th, 2015.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL: Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.
Friday Apr 10, 2015
Friday Apr 10, 2015
Today we hear from two different ER trauma doctors: one who works in a busy, standing room only, free PUBLIC government crapola hospital (I won’t describe the smell)…. and another doctor who works the ER at a PRIVATE, 1st world style hospital where 18 of the twenty seats in that pristine ER waiting area are routinely empty!
-You’ll never guess the top 10 reasons why Latins walk (or crawl) in to their own hospital ER’s. They’ve slightly different list of routine problems and symptoms than first world US doctors are used to treating at common ER’s up in Davenport or Cleveland.
-Unfortunately, Latin doctors get to see many of the sad, first-hand effects of spousal abuse. Today we hear a Latin doctor’s take on what he sees as a sick societal problem that cuts through all social barriers. He often tries to offer suggestions to women patients who suffer that fate. But to leave a Latin husband is much more difficult (and complicated) in a macho society than it is up in the states.
-Hear an Expat gringa’s take on her own jealous Latin husband’s macho habits… and how, since her marriage, she caught him spying on her at the local gym.
JULY 2015 -LATIN AMERICAN SEMINAR NOTICE: Make your plans now for the next Latin American Expat Wisdom seminar (and get in on the early-bird discount). Just go to the www.ExpatWisdom.com main page and click on the Latin Seminar link for full details. The seminar will take place from Saturday, July 11th through Thursday July 16th, 2015.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL: Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.