#865 – The Expat Files: Solar Power, Cultural Insights, and Expat Seminars

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came out to play and now I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Alright, let's get some of these emails out of the way by the way about your emails. I get a lot of them You know, I do read them all but I can't answer them all especially the ones that are very specific If you get too specific like you asked me what towns or cities in a particular country have the best real estate prices

[00:48] The most spectacular views or the least corrupt cops Well, if I can't give you a good answer, I sure could find out because have lots and lots of contacts down here But I'm not gonna read those emails on the air either because they're way too specific and naturally I don't have time to reply to everyone's email. In fact, I'm looking at the emails that came in this year at my gmail site It's 11,000 in some change. Of course, that includes all the exiled Nigerian princes who need my bank account numbers to help move their funds Yep, the expat files is number one with a bullet in Nigeria who the thunk Oh, and if you hear some noise in the background today right next door, there's some jackhammer and going down Can't do anything about it now as far as people sending me very detailed emails about their particular circumstance

[01:34] That's why I have one-on-one Skype and phone consults So if you're in a jam or confusion, you need specific answers Just sign up for a half hour or our personal consult with me first step I'll send you my consult questionnaire form. It's got lots of pertinent questions on it And by the way is a very good guide for anyone who's setting up a plan B So even if you're not looking to have a personal call with me I'll send you the questionnaire because it really does spell out all the things you need to be thinking about on your way to Accomplishing your own plan B. Oh and another thing I've done hundreds of one-on-one phone consults And I'd say in at least half the cases people divulge a lot of very personal information Sometimes it's absolutely necessary to move your plan along. Of course people tell me what they want to tell me

[02:22] However, a lot of times it's about assets finances banks medical problems divorces problems with the IRS debts bankruptcies problems with the law, etc Lots of that stuff is highly personal and you don't want it to get out on the net And if you use the traditional methods to talk phone skype magic jack, whatever well, they're just not secure In fact anything that's connected with a phone company google or facebook is is out there for everyone to see no problem though Because if you have some sensitive information to share we'll use a very secure Encrypted service. So if you want the conversation to go down that way and a lot of people do I'll set you up with a little program you can install from then on when we talk. It's completely private and encrypted All right. Speaking of moving along on your plan b we're getting close to the last call for my july

[03:13] 2019 expat insider seminar Now as this show is first going out on june 15th, then the seminar kicks off on july 6th We're about three weeks away and there's still time to sign up for a week-long blast from the fire hose Just go to www.thenewexpat.com click on johnny's seminar link All right, let's clean up a few emails now this one comes from hyek's ghost Hyek's ghost you libertarians out there know the famous philosopher slash economist frederick hyek, right? And if you don't well you should so look him up. Anyway, this email is from hyek's ghost He says johnny i'm interested in getting the solar lithium ion batteries you're talking about But just the batteries Can you refer me to where I can find just the batteries?

[04:01] I'm wanting to start installing them in my rental units and tesla power walls for my case that are just not cost effective All right, mr Ghost just a few drips and drabs of information here for listeners who don't know what the hell we're talking about now You know for the past maybe four or five months I've been dishing out little segments on how to set up your own solar power system here in latin america And I mentioned the industry standard for home solar setups is tesla Yep, just like tesla car. They have a division called tesla power wall And it really is the Cadillac of solar systems and the price reflects it actually it's the tesla of solar system Who even says things like it's the Cadillac of whatever thing these days talk about old school very old school I think it's time to Can that superlative don't you?

[04:47] Anyway, as mr Ghost says the tesla units aren't cost effective in his case Well, you know, they're really not cost effective for almost anyone living up in the states until you get that massive federal rebate Because setting up a power wall system if you can even get them because I hear now They're lagging six to eight months if you order one now and besides that who knows if tesla is even going to be around Looks like they're hanging on to the edge of bankruptcy, but you knew that already, right? Anyway to set up a tesla power wall. Actually, they're a power wall too Now they're on to the second generation to install a system like that and you have to have professionals install it They won't let you do it yourself. That's another negative and a big additional expense Anyway to set up the so-called Cadillac of solar powered home systems

[05:33] It's going to cost you fifteen to twenty thousand bucks way out of the price range for average people Of course tesla and practically all the solar power installers throughout the world offer finance plans But I think that's rather stupid like my mom always said if you can't afford to pay cash for something other than a house You've got no business buying it now. My dad wasn't of that mindset at all. He didn't give a And that's what 99 of all the household battles were about money and my dad's poor handling of it But I digress now, where were we before I so rudely interrupted my own rant? Oh, yeah tesla power walls and how expensive they are. Well, mr Hikes ghost you're asking me if I can refer you to a place you can find just the batteries Well, here's my opinion on all that

[06:19] You know One of the reasons I started talking about putting together your own off the grid or even partially off the grid solar system in the first place It's because now they're so much more dependable. They're all packaged in one unit and they're virtually maintenance free for years on end It's a completely different story than it was just two or three years ago You don't have to have three four five or six separate solar devices strapped to your wall That means you don't have to mess around with a bunch of wires clips cables and special connections and tools and a stack of Batteries on the basement floor more importantly You don't have to constantly keep a watch on that stuff and monitor it like you did just a few years ago And you know when the power wall came out, I thought man, this is so cool, but it is very expensive

[07:06] Well as predicted didn't take long for the chinese who supply the lithium ion batteries for tesla By the way and most lithium ion batteries used throughout the world for everything Well, it didn't take the chinese long to come up with their own power wall clones For more or less half the price with the same guarantees That means there's just one box that's got everything in it Except of course the solar panels which have to be outside somewhere That means you've got a no-brainer no maintenance system that practically anyone could set up Even someone who can barely screw in a light bulb You just locate the unit in your house You have someone with a little know-how maybe even a professional installer mount the panels and run the wires to the unit Have an electrician come in for two hours to wire up the 110 60 cycle output coming out of the solar unit

[07:54] To your own circuit breaker box and install a cutoff switch and basically you're done. You're off the grid You don't even have to read the manual who reads manuals these days. Anyway, when you've got youtube So mr Ghost, I can't recommend a place for you to get the batteries because I don't recommend piecing these solar power systems together part by part Unless you're a veteran do-it-yourselfer and love tinkering with things Sure, I could tell you to go to alibaba olx.com ebay craigslist and check the surplus sites They've all got listing after listing of lithium ion batteries for sale But unless you have some basic electrical skills yourself, it's a pig and a poke Now the thing is here what i'm trying to do i'm trying to make this transition for people to go up the grid

[08:41] As painless as possible. It's supposed to make your life less not more complicated One thing I know for sure if you start piecing a system together one part from this catalog one part here from craigslist The system might work fine, but you'll be babysitting that thing forever. Oh, and by the way, mr Ghost those portable solar systems i've been talking about they come with a couple of suitcase panels You can just take with you anywhere and throw them out in the lawn. Those things are spectacular They're a real breakthrough too and can save your life there You've got portable suitcase solar panels and a very light and super powerful all-in-one unit In fact some of the very best ones i've seen lately they put out around a thousand to two thousand watts And they only weigh at the most fifty pounds So you've got a unit with a battery that can hold a thousand to two thousand watts. What's that really mean?

[09:29] That'll run your refrigerator computer TV a few lights and other small gadgets for eight or ten hours Then the next day when the sun comes up the panels will recharge the system and you've got another ten hours If you're really good at planning your energy usage, you could squeeze even more hours out of it Normally what i'd recommend is two of those suitcase panel units 200 watts each. That's a total of 400 watts of charge power When you've got them out in the sun So during the day you just throw them out in the lawn or wherever you are And while the sun's shining on those panels, you can run some small appliances computer refrigerator stuff like that while you're still charging the unit So your solar panels are supplying the power you'll need during the day while the sun's shining and at the same time It's recharging your batteries for use in the evening

[10:16] I'll be going into a little bit more detail on the portable power unit in a couple of weeks So stay tuned for that. Oh, and by the way, I just ordered another unit like that from china. It's on its way I'll be checking it out shortly. And I think it's the one i'm gonna recommend that everyone get but we'll see stay tuned Again, let me repeat. This is the portable unit i'm talking about not the whole house unit with the 15 panels and weighs Four to 500 pounds and costs eight to ten grand i'm talking about the emergency solar power station One you should all have even if you're living up in the states, especially if you're living up in the states But note it's not for powering up big items like air conditioning your washing machine or electric range But it'll certainly get you through power outages just fine whether they're prolonged or just a few minutes

[11:03] Man, i'm telling you if these things were available during hurricane katrina would have been a whole different ballgame But they weren't it's new lighter longer lasting and streamlined technology and they're just coming online now So you've got two suitcase solar panels That means they look just like suitcases when you flip the latch to open up double size They've got a little mounting stand and feet built right into them and the little all-in-one solar unit Well, it's got a handle on it and one person can carry it around easily Anyway, just hold on a bit in a future show i'll be giving a lot more details on that Again, just a strong reminder. Even if you don't have any plans to go off the grid you're going to rent or whatever You really should buy one of these portable solar units. It's as valuable as Having extra water around you won't believe how convenient they are and the batteries which in any solar system are the weakest link

[11:51] They're generally guaranteed for 3000 charge cycles. That's easily 10 years plus once again zero maintenance Speaking of solar i've got this email from scott. He says thanks for all the great info, johnny Though i'd prefer the solar episodes you're doing as complete episodes instead of piecemeal Knock them out in a few episodes then get back to the health care and whatever else those geezers want to listen to Hey, wait a minute scott. Are you calling my listeners geezers? I don't know scott if I had to be stuck with one person on a desert island I think i'd pick a geezer over a millennial at least for survival skills Anyway, and make that a good looking hard body extra fit female geezer. Of course. Hey, why not if given the choice, huh?

[12:39] Then he says my electric bill states that in 2018 we used 6102 kilowatt hours question is johnny what size off the grid system might that translate into for me? All right, scott meet johnny here. You're right in the ballpark for that exact system. I was talking about in a previous show Now I don't know what part of the states you're living in but you'll get less sundays than you would if you were living In latin america, but if you had that kind of power usage Let's say in panama costa rica practically anywhere in latin america except way way south argentine way All you'd need is around 5 000 watts of solar panels. That's about 15 330 watt panels And you'll find 330 watt panels everywhere. They're very cheap these days Probably around 150 bucks a panel or less and you get yourself a 10 to 13 kilowatt all-inclusive unit

[13:29] Like I mentioned in a previous show and you're set you have to grid man Total cost probably around eight to ten grand. Of course up in the states You'll probably get a 3000 rebate too, but we're talking about latin america No one down here is offering a rebate like that But who cares getting off the grid and out from the tentacles of the power company is its own reward And scott these are ballpark figures. Yep ballpark figures that brings to mind a lost in translation story that happened in just about two weeks ago I was in an uber and as soon as I got in the uber driver switched the radio station to a gringo classic rock station Like my life won't be complete unless I hear the bg's or lion old richy. Just one more time gag me with a You know

[14:15] Anyway, I was asking him about what it would cost to take a day cruise to a popular nearby island He said about 75 bucks in the stadium and I said in the stadium He said yeah 75 bucks in the stadium He was speaking spanish, of course I was confused that island is way too small to have a stadium Then it finally dawned on me. He was trying to tell me it was a ballpark figure around 75 bucks However, if you say it in spanish, it comes out a stadium figure not a ballpark figure But a ballpark is a stadium Nope, I didn't try to correct him no point in big explanations better to quit while you're ahead Just goes to show you no matter how long you've been in latin america things are lost in translation every day

[15:01] All right. There's a little more to scott's email. Let me read it to you He's referring now to the fact that when someone asked me what do I listen to what podcast I told him I listened to richard martin's wake-up call gary null stuff some others But I mostly do a lot of reading though. I mentioned I listened to caravan to midnight too, but not all the episodes And our emailer scott's got a few things to say about that He says johnny ask for caravan to midnight. I'm surprised you dole out 60 bucks a year to listen to it He has some great guests, but i'm not so sure about the host He says the corporate report and the peace revolution podcast are by far more informative Now scott I listened to the corporate report Just forgot to mention it. Listen to some joe rogan episodes, too All depends, you know, there's only so much time in the day and about caravan to midnight

[15:47] Well used to like that show a lot. He has some terrific guests Or I should say about every other guest because since the host johnby wells had an apocalyptic moment Crashed his harley and said jesus plucked him from the wreckage Well since then it seems every other show has a very religiously motivated guest nothing wrong with that But it seems even very interesting and educated people talking very seriously about a subject They'll always seem to toss off a bible quote or two into the mix Problem is most of the time they're cherry picking and they've never really read the whole bible That's why a long long time ago. I quit listening to rush limbaugh alex jones and most of the other conservative media blabbermouths Though people call me a blabbermouth too So maybe i'm calling the kettle black who knows now since so many of these blabbermouth talk show hosts and their guests

[16:38] Throw in their favorite cherry picked bible verses. I just for once here would like to throw in a few of my favorites For example lividicus chapter 19 verse 28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh nor print any marks upon you Now technically that should put every tattoo artist out of business, right? I know i'm digressing here, but just saying which begs the question. Why are narcos and gangsters so vicious yet? So devout they've all got religious icons medallions rosaries tats of jesus Mary and the saints and you know bible verses are huge in tattoo land for gangsters and normal people alike But did you ever notice they only print the nice bible verses? Why is it for example? I never see one of my other favorite verses tattooed on a person

[17:26] This is lividicus chapter 11 verses 20 through 22 It says and you can look it up all flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean However, there are some you may eat those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground Of those you may eat any kind of locust catered it cricket or grasshopper But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean Wow pure poetry, huh? Now, why haven't I ever seen that tattooed on somebody's neck? Well, maybe it's too many words in the canvas too small though. It's odd, too I've never heard a single priest or pastor utter those words on the sunday pulpit in church Unless I missed it, but I don't think so I went to cath go to mass and hear a nice long sermon And after 12 years of sitting through that you think i'd have heard every verse in the bible

[18:15] But nope, the priest and padres are cherry pickers too But as for the mindset and morality of narcos, I don't get that either They all love their mothers and have little alters with candles statues open bibles in a place to kneel As do most all latino homes I don't get it nor do I get the fact that many latinos when buying a new car will have the priest bless it Hey, i've actually witnessed that though if you've ever driven down here You'd know that asking for good luck on the road from anyone under any circumstances is not a bad idea All right continuing on with pertinent emails. We've got one here from mr A a lawyer from the late great city of atlanta. He said johnny i'm curious about something You seem obsessed with the cost of utilities in latin america

[19:02] What's up with that power and gas sets represent such a minuscule portion of one's life expenses so as to be virtually irrelevant Not sure if it's just my american white male attorney privilege But i've never once nor would I ever contemplate even one second the cost of utilities in terms of where I might be Moving or living those costs would have to exceed the world average by a hundred times or more to be relevant in the analysis for me 50 versus 150 versus 500 a month for utilities pretty much all the same in the grand scheme of things. I think Johnny you mentioned costa rica having high natural gas and power costs High as in how much more than 500 a month for a small household. Surely not probably not even 200

[19:48] So why is that even worth mentioning? Is it maybe your average listener or seminar attendee really is strapped for cash What would you say is the median net worth of your seminar attendees? 100 000 or less or in the high six figure low seven figure range Presumably the former if they're worried about the cost of electricity signed. Mr a Attorney at large, you know if you were to translate that into spanish would be large attorney Nope, i'm not fat shaming again It's just a quirk of the way they transpose the noun and adjective in spanish language Actually, our counselor mr A is a very trim and fit feller He's got an icon here and I can see what he looks like by the way You heard mr. A say something about his white male privilege Well, the other day I was talking to expat eddie He was saying that women may bitch about white male privilege, but they've got a supreme female privilege that trumps everything. It's called

[20:40] multiple orgasms By the way, speaking of lost in translation and transposing nouns and adjectives. Well, I predict that you heard it here first There's going to be big trouble brewing shortly When lag time kicks in and the social justice warriors start appearing here in latin america You don't see them yet, but they're coming. I predict it's going to be a really big deal in one particular area The language itself now the spanish and french languages in particular don't conform at all To the sjw vision of the world why because both the french and spanish languages are sexist Why is that can you guess that's because a huge percentage of nouns are designated feminine words that end in a

[21:25] And masculine words that end in o that's against everything the social justice warriors are pissing on about Yes, I predict when the sjw has finally arrived down here They'll try to force the language moderators to make the proper corrections That would be the gender neutralize the vocabulary probably even issue an institutional apology Then you've got real problem words like the word casa which means house it ends in a meaning it's feminine So think about it. Uh-oh the casa the home the hearth ends in an a a female designation That would be according to sjw's not only sexist but classist Designating the house as a woman's domain But there are also ironies throughout take for example the word tequila or

[22:11] Cerveza beer those are feminine the end in a how'd that happen? Anyway, I predict sooner or later the sjw agenda as it lands in latin America will launch a full-scale attack on the genderizing of words Being that the spanish french even portuguese cultures are way out of step with the lgbg Wtf society and sjw culture. The question is will it succeed? No way, this is latin america, you know, the question is how can all you intelligent people up in the states put up with all that crap? Do you really need another reason to get the hell out of that? Oh, and you might wonder have social justice warriors landed in latin america already? Well, I can tell you right now There's always going to be some at the college campuses. We're all allowed to be somewhat idealistic moronic idiots at that age

[23:01] I stand guilty myself But as for real sjw's with power trying to infiltrate and elbow their way into latin society insert left track here All right before I so rudely interrupted myself, where were we? Oh, yeah Counselor. Mr. A asks in his email. Why do I seem so aimly obsessed with the cost of utilities? It's not even worth mentioning according to him. Well counselor I'd say about 10 to 20 percent of the people that come to my seminars are very well off They could live anywhere even build their own compound up in the states Go completely off the grid with their own private security force, but they still know and they tell me this all the time Money won't help when the poop hits the ventilator up in the states All bets are off and that's why they want to have a nice safe plan b where they can watch the first world

[23:52] Implode from a non-strategic site far far away. So you've got that 10 or 20 percent their intentions For having a plan b are somewhat different than the bottom 10 or 20 percent Basically backpacking tree-hugging geography teacher types Most of them had backpacked through latin america a long time ago when they were college kids Often as peace corps volunteers or with do-gooder church groups And now that they're close to retirement after they've gotten their years in as a geography art or science teacher Or even government worker They just know by firsthand boots on the ground experience that latin america is the place they want to retire They've been down before they really like the climate the culture and the people As for the others that come down to the seminar the majority about half of those have their own small businesses

[24:38] They've got assets and are really good savers. They've got rental units pension plans 401ks, etc Etc, but they're old enough to know how the united states used to be and they don't like where it's going They know nothing can fix it. It's not going to get better only worse They want to get off the treadmill get healthy and lower the stress That's why they're formulating a plan b Then we've got the other half of that in-between group who are on a fairly limited pension budget or social security They know they'll never be able to live a first world style of life when they finally get to retirement age So there's a lot of people coming to the seminars and listening to this show Who are just about ready for their social security or pension to kick in and they want out knowing It's just not going to be enough So consular if you think i'm too anal or obsessed with the cost of utilities because I bring it up quite a bit

[25:28] It's a very popular item and it's true as you pointed out whether it's 50 versus 150 or 500 a month for utilities That won't make a difference to someone who is living on five grand a month But remember the average social security checks only around 12 to 1500 a month So even if the utility bills were two to three hundred a month, that's a pretty good chunk Now you mentioned that I mentioned costa rica's gas and power costs are rather high Just figure they're about three times as high as yours are in atlanta Now I know for example during the four months of summertime in chicago can get pretty hot In fact, my mother has a small house north of chicago built in 1960. It's only around 1400 square feet She lives alone except when my brothers and sisters are in the marital dog house

[26:14] She tells me her electric bill in the summer is around 250 a month Then the winter kicks in and it drops down to around 80 But then her gas bill kicks up because she's got gas central heating So she's got this little house and her utility bills are around 300 bucks a month on average Let's contrast that with latin america. I don't think i've ever met a gringo expat yet Who's been living down here same kind of situation small house air conditioning or not who pays more than a hundred bucks a month For all utilities combined. So counselor Yes Most of the people who listen to this show and who go to the seminars Are concerned about the cost of living at home and here in latin america And that's why we keep hitting at it And when the request for that kind of info drops off and people want me to concentrate on other topics No problem. We can switch gears in my jammy segundo and counselor about the net worth of the people that come to the seminar

[27:06] I'd say it's probably in the high six or low seven figures That's because a couple of really high rollers generally skew the curve Though i'd say a much more important number than the net worth is how much debt you're in I'll tell you what? I know lots of gringos and even more latinos who look like they're doing awful damn well, though. They don't sleep too well at night Yep, perpetual debt has a way of gnawing at you, doesn't it? You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b, you can schedule a one-on-one phone call with me But first download my free plan b questionnaire at www.thenewexpat.com Better yet if you want to get your plan b going from right up there in the states Just sign up for my nine hour expat essentials course Get the perfect plan b blueprint by going to the expat files.com slash academy. Los bemos