Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into several key topics related to expat life in Latin America. He begins by discussing the challenges of learning Spanish, referencing Jack Brett's book 'Fast Spanish,' which he has endorsed. He emphasizes the importance of context and real-life exposure in language acquisition, noting that simply being in a Spanish-speaking environment doesn't guarantee language proficiency. Johnny also shares his own experience with learning Spanish, mentioning that he took five years to start picking it up and had a mental block with languages.
Next, Johnny endorses a book that he claims is the quickest, easiest, and most economical way to learn Spanish. He describes the book as a 'hell of a fun read' with 'cool boots on the ground stories' and mentions that he read through over 100 pages in one sitting. He highlights the cost savings of using the book's methods compared to hiring private tutors, which he claims can cost $10 to $12 an hour in Latin America and $20 to $25 an hour in the U.S. He also warns against paying 'gringo prices' and encourages listeners to do their homework before investing in language lessons. He shares personal anecdotes about being scammed and gouged by Latin lawyers, friends, and business partners, emphasizing the importance of being cautious and not investing more than one can afford to lose.
Johnny then discusses the social dynamics and superficiality in Latin America, particularly focusing on the behavior of the upper-middle and wealthy classes. He highlights how these individuals often engage in performative displays of wealth and status, such as using bodyguards, wearing expensive fitness gear, and attempting to appear more affluent than they are. He shares a personal anecdote about a woman who tried to purchase a fitness corset, revealing the classist and superficial nature of such behaviors. He critiques the stress and unhappiness associated with maintaining a facade of wealth and status in Latin America.
In the final segment, Johnny discusses the financial and practical challenges of health insurance for expats in Latin America, emphasizing the importance of local coverage. He warns against relying on international insurance policies due to their high costs and limited benefits. Johnny shares a story about a wealthy expat who appears financially stable but is actually in debt, highlighting the risks of assuming someone's financial situation based on appearances. He then transitions into promoting his upcoming seminar on health insurance and residency in Guatemala, encouraging listeners to attend or download his video course for more information.
Topics
Learning Spanish in Latin America, Expat experiences in Latin America, Language acquisition challenges, Endorsement of language learning resources, Endorsement of a Spanish learning book, Cost comparison of language learning methods, Personal anecdotes about being scammed, Importance of due diligence in expat life, Social dynamics in Latin America, Classism and superficiality, Performative displays of wealth, Cultural observations and personal anecdotes
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:26 Overview of the Show's Content and Purpose 00:01:22 Endorsement of Jack Brett's Book and Language Learning Methods 00:04:00 Discussion on Language Acquisition and Learning Challenges 00:05:56 Endorsement of the Book 00:06:10 Personal Experience with the Book 00:06:58 Cost Savings and Recommendations 00:08:47 Caution Against Being Scammed 00:10:35 Importance of Due Diligence 00:11:40 The Wealthy and the Illusion of Affluence in Latin America 00:11:56 The Performative Nature of Wealth in Latin America 00:12:35 The Cost of Status and the Reality of Affluence 00:17:18 The Paradox of Wealth and Happiness 00:18:06 A Lesson on Financial Solvency 00:18:28 Health Insurance for Expats in Latin America 00:23:01 The Cost of Mandatory Health Insurance in the U.S. 00:23:58 Affordable Health Insurance Options in Latin America 00:25:13 Cancer Coverage and Riders in Latin American Policies
Transcript
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 up to play and now as I wander Hello there all you expat 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 If I got some good news for you today You long time listeners remember about a couple years ago One of my early expat insider seminar attendees Jack Brett had an idea a very good idea How to find the easiest cheapest fastest and most pleasurable way to learn your Spanish whether you're a quick study or a
[00:52] Spanish dunce like me so he spent a lot of time more than a year I believe traveling all through Latin America on a budget but not exactly Backpacker style either and he went up and down in and out all through Latin America on a mission his goal again to find the easiest fastest most economic way to learn Spanish Because he knew and I know some of you have found this out There are just way too many options out there and we've all got only so much time money and attention span to devote to such a project So along the way a few years ago. He wrote a little book called fast Spanish you might remember that well since then a lot of Things have happened in the world of learning Spanish including all kinds of internet related links apps and products
[01:37] Including the latest development live one-on-one face-to-face lessons and chats on Skype with real Spanish speakers now all the years I've been in Latin America myself in the seven years. I've been doing this show I've never come out and actually endorsed any particular Spanish learning method except for that one method That's extremely fast and has a hundred percent success rate That would be having a Latin boyfriend or girlfriend who doesn't speak a lick of English Or as expat Eddie likes to point out you'd be speaking Spanish like a native in no time if you happen to be Sharing a cell with a gangbanger, which is not the kind of lottery you want to win However aside from that there are so many hundreds of courses and methods out there to aid you in learning your Spanish It would be impossible to review them all plus some of them don't look all that great So how do you sort all that out though people ask my opinion on that all the time and I hear expats and gringos
[02:28] Talking about their success with this or that particular course and other gringos and expats saying they had no success at all with the very Same course is a material. Well, what are you supposed to make of that? Well, I'll tell you a few years ago when Jack first sent me his fast Spanish book I saw he had a really good handle on it. Then just a few weeks ago He sent me the galley of his second edition. He did such a nice job. I wrote the forward to it Now here's the thing. I run into gringos and expats and wannabes all the time down here in Latin America Of course, they've got stashes of CDs and workbooks and translation apps on their iPhones and a huge file It seems of everything else they can get for free on the web and there's so much stuff out there. It's beyond confusing Not only that I meet a lot of gringos and expats who've been down here months
[03:17] Sometimes even years and their Spanish still sucks And they've got a big pile of CDs and notebooks and mp3 files gathering dust too, you know to me It's like diets and diet books a third of all bookstores are devoted to that stuff yet You look around and you see there's a big-time disconnect By the way, how many audio Spanish conversation lessons? Do you have crammed in your iPhone or Android? All I can say and well, I didn't say it heard a lot of gringos and expats said it's beyond confusing Which is why I get so many emails from people saying Johnny. You're the expat files guy You've been down in Latin America 25 plus years What do you think is the best or right way to learn Spanish? Well, there's a loaded question because like I said, you'd think when you drop someone in a totally Spanish-speaking environment
[04:07] They can't help but pick it up fast. Well, some do and some never do And you know, it doesn't seem to have much to do with intelligence either In fact in my case I was pretty much of a Spanish dunce myself took me five years down here before I started picking it up With languages, I've always had a mental block Oh and by the way way back when when I first got down here to Latin America We had cassette players and cassette Spanish stuff No CDs yet hard to imagine but no internet either and I had a couple of shoe boxes Filled with that stuff and you know, what didn't help much at all Though I did get to the point where I could understand the guy speaking on the tapes Who happened to be a guy from Spain not a guy from Central or South America
[04:52] So he had a proper Spanish accent from the mother country Catalonia and you know what? No one speaks that way here in Latin America That'd be like a Spanish person learning English from a proper Englishman By the way, that's why for dozens and dozens of years Americans could never get used to movies and TV shows coming out of England with British actors and British accents Yep It took the British rock and roll invasion Monty Python and James Bond to widen our tunnel vision in that regard So anyway, it depends more than a little bit on the person who's actually giving the Spanish lessons in those audio courses So again people ask me all the time What do I think is the best or the right way to learn Spanish? And until now I've never endorsed anybody's particular CD or Internet course
[05:41] However, you've heard me talk about how I learned my Spanish and what not to do But I really do endorse Jack Brett's second edition fast Spanish book That means I'm still not endorsing a particular CD app or Internet course I'm endorsing a book that explains the quickest easiest and most economic way to go about the process Besides it's a hell of a fun read with lots of cool boots on the ground stories Which makes it easy to whip through the hundred plus pages in a single sitting I did my only negative comment is that I wish that book was around 25 years ago and Jack being the nice guy that he is is kindly offered to give the book out for free Yep for free no strings attached, but only to you guys my expat file listeners
[06:27] So everyone else is gonna have to go to Amazon or the other usual suspects pay a few bucks and pick up the book So how do you get it from me? Well, just plug this into your browser the expat files comm all one word Backslash fast Spanish all one word again. Go to the expat files comm backslash fast Spanish That's it by the way because you're an expat files listener You're getting it for free here before Amazon and those guys ever get it In fact, Jack just sent me the latest edition yesterday You'll be the first group to get it. So download it read it have fun and save yourself a ton of money and grief I'm talking about the needless money time and grief people often go through to get over that Spanish learning curve hump In fact, just the other day I was talking to a gringo
[07:13] He spent a couple of months traveling through Latin America along the way He told me took some Spanish lessons with some private tutors a couple of weeks in Mexico Few in Costa Rica some lessons in Panama and then in Colombia the average amount he paid was around 10 to 12 bucks an hour Alright, so that may have worked out fine for him and I've heard up in the states to get a private tutor It's something like 20 to 25 bucks an hour So sounds like a good deal, right? But you'll find out after reading Jack's book you can find good tutors all over the place for around 5 bucks an hour It's just like everything else that happens to gringo is down here in Latin America when you come down all by yourself You stumble along and fall into things which mayor may not work out for you though Generally, you'll pay more you'll be paying gringo prices most of the time and even if in the moment
[08:01] It sounds like a good deal You don't want to find out later that you've paid twice as much as you had to that's why it really pays to do a little bit of homework ahead of time like for example listening to this show or Getting Jack's book or best of all coming down to my expat insiders seminar Then for sure we'll get you drinking from the fire hose. Yep. People say my seminars really are a boot camp for gringos Man, I wish there had been a seminar like that available when I first got down here, but there wasn't even an internet You know, I've been down here a long time and I've met hundreds and hundreds of expat gringos It would take me hours and hours to tell you the stories of gringos who've been ripped off gout scammed or just made Stupid decisions when they first got down. Yep
[08:47] Most of us come down wide-eyed and trusting which makes you a prime target for the gouge Especially when you're on the gringo tours trail and the gougers mostly gringos But you knew that already right, especially if you're a long time listening to this show Hey, and as far as my track record first couple years I was down here since I had pretty much zero Spanish under my belt. I was a prime target I got gouged and nickeled in time by a couple of Latin lawyers Then I lent some money to a few friends I thought were a bit down and out to Latinos and a German expat then they all skipped on me It wasn't a lot of dough under a grand apiece not enough to lose sleep over a ruined my lifestyle Then again years ago up in Chicago I lent to my good friends five grand apiece and that was when five grand which real money and both of them skipped on me
[09:39] Then in my early days in Latin America, I got into a bad deal with a Belgian guy who basically lied about stuff Then there was my Canadian partner in Costa Rica who skimmed from me So as expat Eddie always says prepared to get scammed and gouged at least a little that's just part of the gringo Expat gonna be and wanna be learning process Oh, and if you lend money to Latino friends or your maintenance man cleaning later your help consider it a gift That's much better than getting pissed when they don't pay it back You know, I always remember what my mother said to me the quickest way to lose a friend is to lend money to him Yep all of us gringos have those stories and they usually get told at cocktail parties and get together since such and most of us will laugh As we admit that we first got down here. We were mostly trusting rubes right for the picking
[10:29] So when it comes to business here and probably everywhere never invest more than you can afford to lose Now for most gringos and expats losing a thousand or even five or ten thousand bucks is not enough to destroy your lifestyle Sure, it stings at first, but you do get over it Plus now you got a good story with a moral that you can tell other gringos and expats at parties though You'll find they'll always be another gringo there whose story you'll top yours. Hey, but one or two nicks like that and you get smart fast Oh and remember a couple of shows ago when I mentioned that you should never get into business with a Latin person or any Person for that matter who doesn't have skin in the game Well as a corollary to that almost all gringos I know who hit it big except maybe a tiny handful did it by themselves without a Latin partner
[11:16] That doesn't mean they didn't have some help from the local Latins including a Latin lawyer But they just weren't partnered up with them They paid them for their services or whatever they needed to get done, but they had no partnership deals going Which really is the only way to go unless again that Latin partner of yours has some skin in the game some dough Not very likely in fact It's extremely unlikely because Latin America has a place where all the locals have ideas But none of them have any dough and if there ever was a place where looks were deceiving man That's Latin America seems like everyone except the middle and lower middle classes are putting on the dog Trying to appear wealthier more gringo eyes and upscale than they really are
[12:02] In fact the other day I was in one of the biggest malls in Latin America man They've got everything there Walmart Tommy Hilfiger diesel TGIF Starbucks Sears Ace Hardware Dairy Queen Forever 21 even chucky cheese for the entitled gringo wannabe kids of the rich and 100 other of the usual suspects just like the malls up in the States Anyway, and this small they happen to have one of the most expensive gym and fitness centers in Latin America In fact, it had the very first Gold's Gym South of Mexico They even sponsored my syndicated radio showdown here for a while anyway The gym is spectacular and the memberships out of reach for 95% of all Latin Americans the cost around 50 bucks a month Yep, even in the States. That's kind of high, huh? 50 bucks a month and remember
[12:47] I'm talking about way off the gringo tourist trail So I see no gringos when I'm there even though it's a huge mall and in the parking area next to that gym Wow You'll see high-end cars and bodyguards loitering around trying to look menacing waiting on their charges Mostly uppity gringo wannabe women in the gym who they're supposed to be protecting from what I don't know It's just a show However, those are the rules of the game for high-end Latin Americans on the town for that crowd You ain't nothing unless you have a bodyguard twos even better. So anyway, just the other day I was getting my parking ticket validated in one of those little machines and right next door Not six feet away was a little kiosk a new one. They were selling the first world upscale fitness outfits
[13:32] You know, you gotta have the right clothes if you're gonna hang out in an expensive gym, right? Anyway, I just look what have it and this is Latin America I put my ticket into the machine and it didn't come out got stuck in there somehow Oh, you know typical Latin maintenance issues and all that so floor walker came over got on his walkie-talkie and hailed someone that could come And open the machine, you know the drill or maybe you don't so all that took five or ten minutes Meanwhile, I'm standing there right next to that little kiosk and a 40-something bleach blonde Latin lady walked up to that kiosk She was already wearing fitness clothes. So I knew she was coming from the gym Not surprisingly, she was flanked by two hot-bellied bodyguards that were shorter than she was Now when I see something like that, whether it's at a mall Costco Sears, whatever
[14:20] Sometimes I just roll my eyes. But what it really calls for is some obscene hand gestures However, as you know being a visitor in a foreign land is proper to show some restraint But talk about a stereotype in a nutshell superficial snobbish Classist idiots putting on their show for the sweaty masses just because they had the dumb luck to have been born into an upscale family Now that's not to say there aren't a lot of nice people in that mix But guess what, you know We talk about the happiness factor here in Latin America and how it's off the charts Sometimes that happiness thing does not seem to extend to the upper middle and wealthy classes because they're always on a mission Subliminal or not to prove that they're wealthier classier have more stuff and are more gringo like then everyone else
[15:09] Man, that's not happy. That's the definition of stress And it seems like every encounter I have with people like that proves that point over and over again Like for example when I was trying to get my parking ticket validated What happened next was that bleach blonde Latin lady in the gym clothes with the two bodyguards? She selected one of those fitness Corsets, you know a rubberized thing with a line of hooks and clips on it the object of course being to reshape your spare tire Into an hourglass form, right? I'm sure you've seen the ads on TV. They're all over down here So they have to be up by you Yep down here Latinos are nuts about the stuff they sell on TV Infomercials like those corsets, you know ab crunchers miracle mops and pocket circumcizers and all that
[15:56] Yep down here in all the big malls. They have as seen on TV stores That's the title above the store because you know unlike up in the States You can't really order that stuff by mail because government snail mail service is pretty undependable here in Latin America Then couriers like FedEx and UPS. Well, they're perfectly fine though expensive So anyway, the lady with the two bodyguards selected a fitness course set She tried it on right there No shame at all people walking by and everything and it actually did rearrange her spare tire or Yanta And though she couldn't breathe much it put a big smile on her face the miracle of modern elastics, huh? All the while I'm standing about six feet away trying not to stare but listening intently Then she says to the lady behind the counter. How much is it? She says 50 bucks lady says I'll take it
[16:45] Then she pulled out her wallet and fanned out a handful of credit cards None of them went through now. Remember. This is a lady with two frickin bodyguards However, that didn't seem to faze her she dug in her purse and pulled out a 20 and the lady behind the counter Sensing that was all the cash she had on her and not wanting to lose the sale she said if you like we can put you on a six-month payment plan and the Supposedly wealthy lady with a bodyguard said sure fine Build out a form pulled out her national ID gave her the 20 got 10 bucks back and she was on her way Happy as a clam with her brand-new figure altering device. Oh, wait a minute. I just said people like that aren't very happy, right? Well, let's just say she had that momentary kind of upbeat joy you get when you first buy something new
[17:31] You know what? I mean, and it doesn't last long. But the point is and there is a point here There's a moral to this story Here's a lady who's got a membership at the most expensive gym in the country She's got two bodyguards certainly a couple of SUVs in the parking lot. Yep It's gotten to the point I can spot him a mile away a bleach blonde gringo wannabe with her credit cards all maxed out Not even enough money in her wallet to buy something for 50 bucks yet more than willing to buy something useless on the payment plan Why not? It's the American way and now it's getting to be the Latin American way So reflecting back on what I said earlier Let that be a lesson to you if you're thinking about becoming a business partner with a Latin person Don't be fooled into thinking just because the Latin person looks like they're living high that they're actually solvent
[18:18] Back in the States Texans call it the all-hat and no horse syndrome Expat Eddie calls it the nice car and no gas syndrome Now I'd like to switch gears and talk about the very important topic of health insurance for gringos and expats here in Latin America And remember if you come down to my January 2018 expat insider's seminar I will be spending a whole day talking about health care Insurance and visiting hospitals and doctors and remember if you sign up for the seminar before December 1st you can still get in on the early bird discounts that would be $500 discount for a single and a thousand dollar savings for a couple sharing double occupancy And if you're a single person looking for a roommate so that you can share double occupancy and get that big double occupancy discount
[19:04] Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com Just mention you're interested in sharing space with a roommate most times we can work it out And don't forget if you just can't make it down to the seminar get boots on the ground yourself The very next best thing is to take my nine hour expat essentials video course you can see what it's all about and why people are raving about it by going to expat plan B comm and No matter where you are in setting up your own plan B Even if you're just thinking about it and haven't got any solid steps in place yet Do download my free expat plan B consultation questionnaire form a lot of good ideas there You'll find it at the new expat.com website That's also where you'll find the information on those great John Galt pre and post seminar trips
[19:52] too if you are coming down to the seminar and making your plans Do try to add a couple extra days to the front end or back end of your trip So you can take advantage of those famous John Galt tours and remember since we're doing the seminar in and around Guatemala that gives you a chance to kill two birds with one stone That means while you're at the seminar at the same time you can apply for your permanent or temporary residency in Guatemala Of course that leads to a passport in five years So you don't want to miss taking advantage of that opportunity for one thing It'll save you another trip down if you plan on doing it in the future and the longer you wait the more hoops You'll have to jump through because residency requirements in all Latin countries are getting tougher and more complicated all the time Alright now I'd like to read an excerpt of an email sent to me by Georgie. Hey there Georgie girl
[20:41] Thanks for that talks about a few health care points We haven't brought up in the past concerning insurance companies that offer worldwide coverage And I'll paraphrase this as usual The title is moving overseas is the only way to escape the outrageous cost of health care in the US Now if you're living in a Latin country You can buy extremely cheap health care insurance, and if you choose you can extend that coverage to other Latin countries You can also buy from first world international insurance companies worldwide health care coverage, too And some of these companies allow you to pick and choose the countries you wish to have coverage in now in talking about International medical insurance policies, which I don't recommend by the way I always recommend you buy a basic Latin American insurance package
[21:28] That's local to the country you're living in and even if you're living there part time Maybe half of the year it'd be foolish not to buy local coverage since it's so inexpensive. In fact as I'll explain shortly Ridiculously inexpensive however a lot of people who are living outside the United States even full-time will buy a policy with International coverage thinking anything can happen so it's better to be safe than sorry however You can buy international health insurance coverage like for example through Cigna and elect not to have coverage in the US That'll make the policy a lot cheaper as you might imagine as soon as a US or first world countries added to the policy the premium skyrocket and Now Georgie presents a case that could happen to any expat Listen to this if for example an expat decides to move back to the United States this year could be from any foreign country
[22:19] He would now find himself in the middle of the Obama fiasco, even though there's no Obama anymore as an expat He was exempt from Obamacare Now that he's back in the States. He's subject to the requirements of Obamacare just like every other US resident Suppose he's self-employed and doesn't have health care coverage So he must seek coverage through his state's insurance program and all he really wants is major medical with a high deductible The insurance company that's the only option for his particular state won't sell that to him The only health insurance plan available to him is what he calls a prepaid medical care plan This includes regular doctor visits checkups and all that stuff But it comes with a low deductible and a very high price In fact the cheapest option available for him totals more than
[23:08] 17,000 bucks a year for he and his family of four he stuck that means he's railroaded into a health care insurance Policy he does not want or may not really need but it's the law so he's stuck now the average cost around the US For a man in this situation with a family is around 14,500 bucks a year though some premiums are higher as in this case So you can't shop around but the options are limited and becoming more limited as time goes on Then it says in some US states. They do allow for higher and higher deductibles, which lowers your premium dramatically But with such high deductibles, it could still wipe you out In fact in some states there are policies for a family of four that across you around two thousand bucks a year
[23:54] However, there's a five thousand dollar annual deductible Meanwhile in Latin America, you can buy a family plan. That's very cheap But escalates slightly every five years depending on the age of the oldest adult and a typical policy with a five hundred dollar deductible or less sometimes no deductible at all might range anywhere from less than a hundred bucks to maybe 250 a month by the way at my expat insider seminar We discuss a number of Latin health care policies in great detail one in particular that I like a lot All you have to do is get a bank account and you can sign up for the insurance plan And it's also prorated by age. Let's say you're 50 years old Well that plan would cost you around $80 a month with get this
[24:39] No deductible unless you enter one of their hospitals through the emergency room That'd be an unscheduled visit and you'd pay a deductible of get this 50 bucks no matter how many days you end up staying after you've been admitted you heard me 50 bucks However, if you came into the hospital for a procedure as a regularly scheduled patient There's no deductible now the downside to some of these plans is there can be some exclusions like for this plan Used to be an exclusion for cancer not good right and an exclusion for heart surgery not good either But just this year on that same policy they added a rider that covers cancer However, that'll cost you an extra 25 bucks a month Wow now We're talking about a premium of maybe a hundred to a hundred and ten dollars a month again
[25:27] Depending on your age bracket, but wait a minute you heard me say that plan does not cover heart surgery, right? Well as it turns out you really have to know the fine print in some of these policy and they're all in Spanish Of course and in this particular policy if you enter the hospital through the emergency room Your coronary problems are covered now Like I said at my expat insider seminar we cover all this and much much more in fact after talking about the details Then checking out the hospital and the doctors when the day is done. Every attendee is amazed or in disbelief Yep, it's one of those cases where you just have to get boots on the ground and see it for yourself Now you could come down on your own and hunt this stuff out to which I say good luck Happy hunting which brings me to an email
[26:13] I just got a few days ago from Eric who tended my last expat insider seminar He said Johnny get a load of these health insurance rates and he gives me a table here for his healthy family of five Then he says if this doesn't put a fire under our butts I don't know what will by the way. We have our house up for sale now I wish we were coming to the seminar in January as repeat offenders. I just love to have my brain overloaded again Then he says get a load of these US health care plans that I've outlined below Starting with a company called Medica. Their bronze plan is 1527 bucks a month That's 18 grand a year man. A lot of gringos live a really nice life down here for that kind of money
[27:00] Oh, yeah, and that plan has a copay deductible of 13,700 bucks. Wow, that's their bronze plan kind of makes you wonder how much their silver and gold plans are How about the platinum plan? I'd probably get a heart attack if I saw those premiums Oh, well, if I had a coronary at least I'd be covered, right? So bottom line for what most people pay a month in the United States for their insurance That's about what people pay down here in Latin America for a whole year. By the way, I'm not done There's a lot more on that topic coming up on the next show This is the expat files living in Latin America If you want me to help you out with your own plan B Just schedule a one-on-one consult send me an email the expat files at gmail.com
[27:45] And if you want to learn how to move forward with your own plan B from right up there in the States go to www.xpatplanb.com and check out my three videos. See ya. Nos vemos