The Expat Files: Living in Latin America

The Expat Files - Colombia - 02/16/14

- Today, another expat story proving that when you’re off the tourist trail the “gringo advantage” rides again!

 

- Why you might not want to become an expat in Brazil: reasons #8646 through #8679.

 

-If you decide to move to one of the handful of Latin countries that are not much recommended for expats, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some choice little paradises in those countries still left to discover. Do search them out with “boots on the ground” since you won’t discover much about these little gems on the internet…. which is actually a good sign you know. Little or no web PR is what helps make great off-the-radar destinations for expats. If that’s your goal, here are some general guidelines to help you on that search.

 

-With Colombia getting recent high marks from the first-world travel press like the AARP, International Living and a host of retirement newsletters, its no surprise that it didn't take more than a few short years for the top big Colombian cities like Cartagena, Cali, Bogota, Medellin to become first world expensive…. that is, if you want to live in a nice neighborhood. So if Colombia’s become first-world expensive, why go there? Well maybe because its beautiful, the people are educated, the weather’s perfect and there is no Big Brother, or even a hint of oppressive government. 

 

-We talk a lot about the so called ‘gringo advantage” but what about first-world Europeans? Do they have a kind of similar ‘European advantage” when in Latin America? You’ll be surprised to know that Latins themselves have very strong opinions- negative and positive stereotypes- regarding different European ethnic groups. So depending on the European country of origin, some folks have more of an advantage than others(socially speaking at lest).               

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.

The Expat Files - 02/14/14

-What every potential expat must know about the art and science of parking a car in Latin America:

-If you have a nice late model car or have any kind of items or packages in your car, parking lots and on-street parking can be unsafe. But of course we must all go shopping and occasionally drive here and there... sometimes loaded down with computers, boxes packages and other valuable stuff. So then, what parking options and precautionary measures should one take to secure and protect items left behind when leaving a car in a public lot or on the street?

-In Latin America private security guys armed with shotguns seem to be everywhere. Scary stuff, right? Well not quite. But its true that its quite unnerving for new expats when they see uniformed armed guards with shotguns riding along in Pepsi and water trucks.

-Did you know that if you have car insurance in Latin America and are unlucky enough to get into multiple accidents, your premiums will not go up. And surprisingly enough, companies will not drop or threaten to drop a client as long as the premiums are paid … no matter how stupidly one drives. I personally know some very, very bad drivers… and even they have not tested the patience, or limits, of their car insurance companies yet.

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.

The Expat Files - Parking Games - 02/09/14

-Part 2 of what to expect (and what you should do) if you’re pulled over by the cops or the transit police. Note that Latin cops are generally calm and non-confrontational. All in all, when dealing with Latin cops you’ll find it’s a totally different and usually a much more relaxed and friendly experience than what you might be used to when dealing with our more edgy and confrontational cops up north. But also note that all bets are off when dealing with Mexican cops!

 

-Want to know what happens if a gringo or expat gets nailed in Latin America on a DUI charge?

 

-Parking games in Latin America: The unwritten rules of neighborhood on-street parking (i.e., how to get your gringo advantage clipped).

 

-A discussion of speed limits, driving regulations,vehicle safety, and many other over-optimistic Latin fantasies.

 

-Do Latin cops eat Latin doughnuts?

 

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.

The Expat Files - 02/07/14

Divorce Latin Style: in macho societies like Latin America, divorces are on a steady upswing but still much rarer than in the first-world. For one thing, its not a litigious society, and secondly the majority of people stuck in bad marriages are too poor to pay a lawyer and can’t skip work for court appearances. But most of all, divorce rates are low because women nearly always get screwed out of the assets (if any) in the process. The lady ends up with the kids, he gets his freedom and any assets he may have tucked away in the prelude to the divorce proceedings…and gets way with it. With Latin American divorces the man is almost always the winner. Even if saddled with child support or alimony, the majority of guys become fast deadbeats since there is little enforcement in that department either.

 

-What do you know about the so-called National Police (Policia National Civil) and the other uniformed guys and gals: the Transit cops (Policia Transito)? Here’s a good primer on a subject that is certain to surprise you.   

 

-The more time you spend in Latin America the more chance you have to get pulled over at a road block by one type of cop division or other. Its inevitably going to happen so you might as well be ready for it. So what’s that all about, will they violate your rights(do they even know you have rights?). What's the best way for a gringo or expat to deal with it? Get ready for more surprises..

 

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.

Expat Files - Facebook in Latin America - 02/02/14

-Latins have discovered Facebook, Twitter and social networking in a big way and they’re becoming addicted just like so many US folks have. Copying the bad example of privacy-ignorant first-worlder's, Latins are freely giving up all their personal data etc., to anyone, or any pop-up window that asks for personal info. They’re making all of the same mistakes first-world people make, even more so. It’s that “lag time” effect again multiplied by the strong desire to be “gringo wanabees” that's driving the Facebook craze… 

 

-Most middle and lower-class Latin bathrooms are genuinely disgusting, and to put it kindly... quite scary. Expats really need a few Latin restroom / bathroom tips to keep a sane mind. Be sure to listen to this rant if you want to avoid unspeakable colonic grief and anxiety.

 

-Internet access with smartphones in Latin America and almost everything else you wanted to know about prepaid (non-contract) cell phones and service plans south of the boarder.

 

-The inside track on using your Latin lawyer, and what to expect when both on and off the gringo tourist trail

 

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.

Expat Files - 01/31/14

-Here’s the lowdown on what happened at the latest January 2014 Expat Wisdom seminar that finished just a few days ago. As usual we had a very intelligent highly-motivated, like-minded group, loaded with excellent ideas regarding expat businesses as well as just about anything else one could think of. Yes the seminar is over but many attendees are still down here exploring and hatching plans and incubating amazing new ideas…. again, as usual! 

 

- No matter how your mother may insist.. no one likes to carry an extra pair of underwear for emergencies, especially in a foreign land! So to avoid uncomfortable and embarrassing situations, here are some general tips to keep you smiling, happy (and regular) while on the Latin American gastronomic trail…     

 

-Have you ever wondered how the third- world video DVD and CD pirates get those great copies of first run movies sometimes weeks before they ever hit the Cineplex? Well listen to this, because the mystery has been partially solved. Even of you’ve never wondered about such things- because you’ve never seen or bought a pirated DVD up there in Milwaueke or Cleveland- here’s another interesting, convoluted and quite un-PC but true expat story that needs to be told.           

 

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.

Expat Files - Back in Business - 01/19/14

-Today we're talking Expats doing business again!

I can’t tell you how many emails have come in over the years from folks with dreams of boating down to Latin America from the states and either living on that boat full time and traveling around permanently in the tropics, or docking in some version of paradise and homesteading right there. Others write and ask questions about charter boat businesses, since some want to look into that venture too. The good news is that we can kill two or three birds with one stone today as we hear from a gringo who has recently done many of those very same things himself. He not only brought his sailboat down from the states, he took it through the Panama canal locks, landed on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, and started a successful charter fishing and sailing business there that's been in operation for about two years. Listen to this very neat and daring story.

-Few people know that I had my own charter fishing business experience in Costa Rica some 18 years ago that was definitely NOT a success story. Here's how that went down and the lessons learned...  

 

-You may have heard some very strange things are happening in Venezuela right now, and none of it is looking good for the common people. That said, I sometimes get emails from contrarians reminding me that since conditions are so chaotic and frenzied, and the black market dollar exchange rate now at 1000% of the official rate, doesn’t that signal the perfect time to scout out opportunities? My answer? Its complicated and dangerous, and thanks to Chavez’s negative propaganda machine, Venezuela (NOT Cuba) is really the only Latin country where people are not warm to gringos….           

  

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.

Expat Files - 01/17/14

-Man expat wanabees and gonabees want to know if commonly available medicinal herbs and natural plant supplements like turmeric (curcumin) are available in Latin America too. If so, are they are imported, and thus first-world expensive or grown and produced locally. Well, lets talk about curcumin, called “curcuma” in Spanish. 

 

-A bit about the rising popularity of diesel cars in the states and the associated costs, etc., versus buying and owning a diesel car in Latin America.  

 

-Those Prepper TV shows from up in the states have now landed here in Latin America(translated and dubbed in Spanish of course). And the Latins don’t understand what’s up with that concept at all. They don’t get it and think the they are either nutcases or scripted actors. To Latins the world’s great powerhouse, the almighty US dollar and the so-called first-world luxury lifestyle they aspire to could never crash and burn like the Preepesr predict. Latins can't believe US citizens would never sit in the basement with jugs of water, cans of beans, and pallets of ammo. 

 

-More creative business tips and ideas for fresh gringos and expats who need to make a living (or just need a productive hobby) once they've landed in Latin America.

 

-Some folks who land in Latin America, have hopes of starting internet businesses. In fact, the majority of expat wanabees and gonnabees surveyed in our ExpatWisdom expat "wish list" survey expressed just that sentiment. If internet portable busineses are in your future, here’s a very good place to start…  

 

-Brazil is now known as one of the worst markets in the world for consumer electronics items, and here’s why…   

  

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.

The Expat Files - Currency Primer - 01/12/14

-Now for some straight talk about expats and US dollar bank accounts in Latin America. These days practically every large and small Latin bank offers US dollar accounts, though surprisingly enough only about one in 80 accounts are in US dollars.

 

-A streetwise Central American money and currency primer

 

-There are many assorted, beautiful and endangered birds in Latin America. Some businesses, restaurants, hotels and resorts have them as pets and mascots. You even see many of the endangered ones as pets in captivity. So how is that possible? Well the fact is anyone can have one or more of them in the house or garden. But don’t do it. It’s NOT recommended and there are many reasons why…

 

-With all the bad economic news coming out of the first-world on a daily basis: job losses, cuts in hours, benefits lost… you’d think that Latins living in the states would be feeling the pinch as well. But the fact is that for the past 3 years, the remisas sent back to friends and relatives in Latin America have been on a steady increase year over year. So it seems the Latins up north are either getting hired more frequently, their earnings are up, or both. Does that make sense? I shouldn't.

 

-Politically correct language, phrases and terms are just now beginning to creep into Latin society. Even so, us expats and gringos stumbling along in the Spanish language are generally clueless about such things- we just hope to get our basic conversational points across. But there are some hotspot PC things to be aware of.. even if they don’t make much sense to us.          

 

 -Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.

Expat Files - 01/10/14

-We all know that the IRS is an agency that’s been out of control for the last few decades. The tax nazis with with their ungodly 60,000 pages of tax code will snag you if they can. It’s understandable why everyone grumbles about it. That’s why its important to know about huge tax advantages for gringos and expats living outside the USA.

-Some broke, highly bureaucratic Latin countries (the “usual suspects” being Panama and Costa Rica) in their quest to be just like the big tax and spend countries like the USA have been trying to slip in their own subversive first-world style tax bills without open hearings or debates. Here’s the dirt on what’s just happened in Panama…

-For some adventurous folks one of life’s great dreams is to take a cruise around the world and through the Panama canal. Some romantics even dream of taking their own boats through the locks. How might that work out in real life and how much would it cost? This will really surprise you…

-Due to pressure from its citizens, Cuba is slowly opening up commerce and a limited amount of street-level capitalism. But when the government loosens the noose a bit they always seem to dole out a fair dose of pain along with the deal…. as seen by the new 2014 liberalized auto purchasing laws. Now, for the first time since the 1950's revolution, residents can buy a car without waiting years for special government permits. But the hitch is that uncle Fidel has raised vehicle taxes to a point where cars now cost about 400% of their first-world sticker price!

-People often want to know how they can earn a first-world salary in Latin America. Expats who start businesses do it all the time. But some people don’t want the usual business headaches and prefer working for the man… on a first-world salary of course. Yes, it can be done but it’s not at all easy- or everyone would be doing it.

-My January 2014 “Expat Wisdom” seminar is filled. For those of you who wanted in on that and didn’t sign up in time, you’ll have to wait some months and see if I’m going to do another (maybe, maybe not).

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.