#1344 – The Expat Files: Life, Love, and Survival in Latin America

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 as I wonder Hello there all you ex-pad 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 Hey, you know the traditional wisdom is to start a show out with a bang and keep the boring stuff towards the end You know hook them early so you got them and they listen all the way through Let's see how that works beginning with this article

[00:47] Which was just published a couple days ago, May 22nd 2024 I Picked this up from a very popular South American newsfeed The title get this survey finds most US expats don't move abroad for financial reasons on the contrary they're looking for love and I'll paraphrase a bit. It's a long article It says contrary to an apparent widespread belief back in the USA and especially sometimes it seems among certain lawmakers in Washington Most American expats are not rich and don't live abroad in order to avoid US tax obligations That according to a new survey of expats It says nearly 2,000 American expats living in 47 different countries

[01:36] participated in a survey that confirmed that more than 90% of them made less than $150,000 a year when they were living in the states. In other words, 90% of expats are not rich They didn't make nearly enough income to make the big decision to move out of the US simply for tax reasons Nor does this new survey show the main reason Americans chose to leave the country was because they wanted to experience new Cultures or learn new languages or have a lower cost of living those were considerations But not the number one reason for picking up and leaving The main reason listed by survey participants was to find love It says the survey the results of which are contained here in four separate reports was carried out between late September

[02:25] And early November of 2023 The results were surprising even to the representatives who were conducting the survey They too assumed as do most bureaucrats in Washington that most expats get out of dodge Because they're high earners and are frustrated with the complicated and burdensome US tax system Hmm. Are you surprised by that? Well in many ways it kind of makes sense and goes along with what I've been seeing too in all my years living down here I'd say a good 90% of the expats I meet including Gonna bees and wannabes that come to my seminars They are single most of them divorced and single people whether you want to believe it or not are always looking for the perfect partner Or that or half whatever no one lives life completely alone. Everyone needs someone now

[03:14] I'm not saying expats come down specifically looking to get married. They are though Looking for love and romance in long and short-term hookups Think about that for a minute. So is that a good thing? Well, if you can't find a compatible mate up in the first world It is for sure a lot easier down here if there's one blanket statement You could make about Latinos and Latinas as far as mating dating and romance They are much more forgiving more tolerant and less picky in most all of their romantic relationships That's why a gringo like me Who's a five or a six on a good day up in the States instantly gains two points once he's south of the border Alright moving on. There's more good news today from the New York Post There's an article and video posted with the headline that says rapper fatally shoots himself while filming

[04:06] Tiktok social media video. I Like when you go to the video, it says warning distressing content here For who? Well, maybe for him. Well for me and everyone who's gotten above average IQ, it's not distressing So should we be sad about this? Well, it's a sad comment on society, right? Some might think anyway to me It's not sad just statistics a classic example of Darwinism Yanking himself out of the gene pool like that was a gift to society not to mention opening future jail cell space for the next guy and by the way reason 3646 why it's time to get the hell out of Dodge man. I'm telling you you guys and gals living up in the States I don't know how you muster the optimism to drag yourself out of bed in the morning. Why are you still there?

[04:55] I don't get it as for me when I first get up I check the US wire services and news feeds and the first thing I say to myself is what the fuck That's not the country I grew up in man. Am I glad I live in Latin America It's really true. Most of us expats wake up in the morning. Get out of bed. Look out the window Think to ourselves how lucky we are Sort of like perpetually winning the lottery sure we have our bad days But as many expats will tell you a bad day in paradise is better than any good day. You have up north All right now mixing things up a little bit. We're hearing a lot about Argentina aren't we before Millet became president four or five months ago Argentina was just another backwards third world shithole banana Republic, right? With the kind of massive inflation a first world person couldn't even imagine

[05:44] Funny too just like book lay came in and cleaned up El Salvador made it a nice destination and spurred all kinds of Investment growth and industry all wild mainstream media dumped on him. Man did they dump on him? Well, the lamestream media hates president Malay of Argentina, too Every first world media outlet dumps on the guy whenever they have the opportunity because he's doing what Trump promised but never did train in the swamp But still every single day the lamestream media dumps on it Trying to convince everyone in the first world that he's just a lunatic whose policies are failing and they'll lie and be totally inaccurate Trying to make him look foolish in front of the world because he won't play ball with the Klaus Schwab

[06:29] Sociopaths like for example the story that just came off the AP wire services associated press, you know, AP There's a big headline that says this subway commuters and Buenos Aires see fares spiked by 360 percent as part of malaise austerity program Now if you just read the headline you're thinking malaise just punishing the average man What an asswipe raising the prices and the metros and subways in Buenos Aires 360 percent Sounds unforgivable, right? However, if you read farther into the article Way way down where most people would skip you'll see that it says overnight the price of a single ride in Buenos Aires more than tripled from

[07:18] 14 cents US to 64 cents For a one-way trip Exacerbating how painful the cost of living crisis is in Argentina. It goes on to say suddenly Buenos Aires Which has the oldest metro system in Latin America should now have the extra money needed to pay for the maintenance on the system Which has only been deteriorating year over year. So here's what's really happening at 14 cents a ride The old metro rate there was no money left for maintenance In fact, they'd have been running million dollar deficits for years with massive subsidies by the government In fact, it says here the Buenos Aires underground transit system One of the first to be built in the world was once a poignant symbol of the city's lavish early 20th century wealth

[08:07] But in recent decades, it has fallen into complete disrepair Hmm. Now the picture is getting a little bit clearer. I'll tell you this kind of reporting is really tough They'll never give you the real or complete picture They leave out what they don't want you to hear or bury it right at the end of the article For example, a one-way Metro ticket in New York City is $2.90 20 times more expensive than the old rate of 14 cents a ride on the Buenos Aires Metro By the way last time the New York subway fare was even close to that. It was 15 cents in 1966 58 years ago and now that the metro price has been raised to an outrageous

[08:53] 64 cents a ride in Argentina a one-way ride on a New York subway will still cost you six times as much Yeah, President Malay's really gouging the shit out of that working man, isn't he? Oh, and did I tell you the average metro price throughout the Schengen countries, you know The 28 countries in Europe is two dollars and ten cents a ride Some places a lot higher in Italy 270 in any event even at two bucks Iraq having to pay the outrageous price of 64 cents now in Argentina should all give us a pause to reflect on what a Terrible president Malay is man. I'm telling you the mainstream media is so biased and just well evil Now I don't know about you but as for me

[09:39] It's really getting rather hard to have an intelligent discussion with gringo expats and tourists I meet who get all their news from Instagram tick-tock and news feeds on their stupid social media platforms By the way, when's the last time you paid 64 cents or less for a bus or subway ride in your city? Did you know that 1986 was the last year New York subways had a 60 cent fare? 38 years ago. Are you getting this if you are I hope you're well along on your plan B Alright moving on, you know once you get down here to Latin America, you're gonna be renting buying or building, right? I just hope you're not planning on living in a cardboard box or under a bridge. Not cool Just a recommendation here for lots of gringles and expats who aren't much with the do-it-yourself thing if you're gonna own a place I recommend you buy one that's already built because building a house down here can be a real nerve frazzling project

[10:30] Now I built lots of houses here in Latin America Therefore made all the stupid gringle mistakes, too. So then I've been asked why bother why do it if it's such aggravation Simply because it's gonna cost you half or less of what you'd pay for the equivalent equal structure. That's already built That's a lot of dough saved if you can handle a year of aggravation Because that's what it takes about a year to build the average house down here In fact you longtime listeners have heard me talk about rule number one if you're gonna build a house here Never just pick a lot higher a contractor get the project started and you head back to the states for six months or so Hoping the project will go as planned on schedule and as the blueprints indicate That's not gonna happen You have to be around and do a walkthrough at least three times a week

[11:19] Which brings us to this email from one of our favorite seminar expats Mr. Bill who did get his plan be going is now out of Dodge and living in Guatemala in The process right now of building a new house. Here's what he says and I'll paraphrase a bit He says Johnny as you've suggested we've been keeping a close eye on the building of our house He says funny how I've repeatedly told the architect our builder's cousin the changes and mistakes he needed to fix We're still at that stage. He says and this has been going on since last October very frustrating Bill says I've been doing all this using a drafting app so as to be unfailingly clear to them and still Very frustrating. So now I've taken the matter in my own hands

[12:05] Just lately I've been meeting with all the workers bringing them lunch drinks snacks desserts and bribing my way into a very comfortable relationship with them Of course, he says there are really wonderful people and working extremely hard last night I printed out 10 pages of diagrams showing changes to the windows walls doors, etc Along with changes to the electrical lighting and the outlets then I met the foreman this morning I was able to convey all these issues to him Surprisingly, he totally got it though. He doesn't speak any English. I was demonstrating pointing gesturing and with the diagrams Only twice having to use Google Translate. It really did work and I feel like I hit it out of the park with him

[12:53] Then he says I know what you must be thinking Johnny things are still gonna go wrong Just wait, but right now I'm feeling pretty good in just being able to bypass that dang architect Feeling good about that really good Alright, Bill. Thanks for that and I'm glad you're whipping those guys in the shape Reminds me of a day I'll never forget when I was once building a house in Guatemala and in the morning They were setting the forms for some concrete stairs. They poured the stairs. I went back the next day No one was there was a weekend. I Decided I'd take a little test walk up the stairs to the second floor Now remember the cement's not totally set so the forms have to remain in place for a couple days The cement was hard enough to walk up the stairs and I did you know easiest thing in the world And I thought wait a minute. Wait a minute

[13:39] Something ain't right here. I took up my tape measure measure the stair riser height. I think it was like seven inches totally acceptable Except the very last stair at the top where it met the landing the last stair It didn't rise seven inches. It only rose five also totally within code, but very awkward Why didn't they just make the stair riser height completely equal all the way up? the Details details, right? Well, you know, I took a sledgehammer Busted up a few of those stairs and the next early Monday morning I did the calculations myself with the builder and in the end every stair riser was equidistant. I think was 6.85 inches Now that's something that Latin American would never pick up I've been in so many Latin American houses where the stair riser height is all over the place

[14:29] It's just crazy how they tolerate that a regular stair height. Let's say for five or six stairs and all of a sudden There's one half the height Sometimes you'll walk in the place. There'll be eight or nine stairs Perfectly level with each other no problem. And at the end when you get to the landing There's a little nub of two inches that is totally against codes and norms But since no one inspects, you see that kind of stuff all over the place I have tripped on those things a number of times and I'm sure there are lots of twisted and broken ankles out there in Latin America to prove it but since nobody gets sued for things like that nothing changes Hey, believe me if you trip and fall and break your leg on a little nub of a stair in someone's house I'm saying don't sue. Let's not get Latin Americans in the habit of suing each other like gringos

[15:15] We don't want that I'm thinking if you're stupid enough to break your leg on one of those short stare nubs. It's not the homeowner's fault It's that you didn't keep your eyes open. You weren't paying attention if you trip on a stair or step in a hole take responsibility Oh, and I've been in many buildings even government buildings where they should know better where the stair risers are so high It's uncomfortable walking up the stairs You almost trip because your brain is not used to that kind of difference in stair height It takes some getting used to and it just doesn't feel right, you know, there's a term for that Contract nepotism. Anyway, keep an eye out for that kind of stuff. So you don't break your neck now sticking with the same subject building Or owning a home in Latin America I've been trying over and over again to make people aware of certain water shortages here in Latin America

[16:02] Now the shortage of drinking water can be solved easily with a cistern and having access to your own private Well, if you can in other words, don't be on a municipal water And if you are you could solve some of that problem yourself by doing some rainwater collection right off your roof I've done it I've built a couple systems like that if you're in Latin America You just have to have a plan B when it comes to drinking water unless you've got your own well Then you'll have a constant supply all the time That's why so many upscale gated guarded neighborhoods have their own wells They're in the city or in the city limits yet. They don't have municipal water. They don't want it They don't want anything to do with it because it can be so inconsistent There are a few more misconceptions gringles and expats have about water in Latin America Concerning shortages and droughts etc. You read all the time these days about historic heat and

[16:52] Droughts here in Latin America and the rest of the world for that matter Well, guess what every year I've ever been down here Latin America over 30 years now There have been periods of excessive heat and drought people expected people deal with it including the farmers In fact, I remember 30 years ago now I was in Costa Rica and they were suffering what they called Debilitating power blackouts due to the fact that they depended so much on hydroelectric power The reservoir levels were down and they didn't have the power to push the turbids Though these days when people read things in the paper like that, they think the end of the world is coming It's not but 30 years ago when it was happening and not reported worldwide because nobody cared It was just life as usual here in Latin America I remember in Costa Rica I'd be sitting on a Friday night on my balcony and really high-end upscale neighborhood to and like clockwork

[17:42] The power would cut out for three or four hours and people dealt with it That was 30 years ago didn't like it one bit, but that was life And of course the residential tower I was in had a big generator that kick in in 10 or 15 seconds and be back to normal yet looking out over the Balcony at San Jose the big city and see all kinds of areas where the lights were out completely That would happen a couple of times a week. It was considered normal. Meanwhile, I'm reading an article that just came out this week It says Costa Rica authorities announced that from Monday There will be energy rationing due to scarcity of water in the reserves in response to the droughts caused by El Nino Etc. Etc. It says power rationing will last a minimum of three hours per day per customer on an alternating basis Robert Quiero is director of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute

[18:30] Ice the country's main energy supplier says we are experiencing a drought We haven't seen in 50 years and since Costa Rica now has a green energy matrix in which 99% of electricity Comes from renewable or hydroelectric sources. We will now be rationing energy for the first time since 2007 when another El Nino also caused similar problems. Are you getting this? He says they haven't had such water problems and drought conditions since about 50 years ago He didn't say the worst conditions in history. He said in the last 50 years might he be saying 50 years ago We had a spate of man-made global warming, too Probably no one told him he could get canceled for saying stuff like that He further states Ecuador and Colombia have imposed similar suspensions of electric service with Colombia also rationing drinking water

[19:22] All right, that's the gist of it, but you know human activity has no bearing on El Nino it comes every couple of years It's been doing that for centuries and there have been predictable power outages and water shortages throughout Latin America ever since I've been down Here over 30 years now, which is why I always recommend you have an energy plan B Like having a principal or backup solar power system Now I have to mention last big solar power system. I put in for myself was a Tesla system It was a complete system with 29 solar panels and two Tesla Powerwall batteries enough to completely get me off the grid and Charge an electric car too and still have enough power left over to run two mini split air conditioners all night

[20:07] Now with that system I never had an electric bill though I did have a transfer switch that allowed me to switch back to utility grid power for maintenance or whatever But I never had to it was a Tesla system too, so it didn't come cheap The cost around 40 grand. I know that sounds heavy right though Remember that's about the cost of the average new car these days anyway I bought that Tesla system at the time because it was the best most dependable and had the longest warranty at that time But man, I keep up with these things and in that four years I've been looking for alternatives to Tesla because I'm thinking about doing another house And man in that last four years lots of competitors have popped up at less than half the price of that Tesla system No sacrifice in quality same ease of use same guarantee ten years

[20:55] Solar panels a 25 year guarantee I'm gonna clue you in right now to the system that I'd buy if I was building a house By the way, the company I deal with for all of it is called signature solar out of the US They'll ship you the system complete right to your door I mean with everything included though if you're living in Latin America I'd buy the solar panels only the solar panels from a local dealer You'll find them on in quentra venti cuatro calm You know the Latin American Craigslist I spoke about on a previous show That way you won't have to pay shipping or duty on the biggest bulkiest part of the order which are the solar panels Anyway, that said if you're looking for a turnkey off the grid solar power system Or even a hybrid system which allows you to sell power back to the grid personally

[21:43] I don't recommend that I say get completely off the grid yourself and screw the electric company Then you don't have to deal with them So anyway, let's do a little thought experiment here on setting up an off-the-grid solar power system For example, let's say you live in a thousand square foot house in Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia Or El Salvador in the highlands or Altiplano, you know the cooler regions and therefore don't have to have AC But you want to be completely energy independent as well as charge a good sized electric car, too That'll provide you a huge savings all around electric cars are getting really cheap Now some of the Chinese ones are like 10 grand and man I'll tell you one of the best feelings in the world is to have no electric power bill better Yeah, it is the feeling you get when you don't have to buy gasoline or diesel

[22:29] So anyway, let's say you live in a thousand square foot house in Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia, or El Salvador Now to really give you the advantage you'll want to have all electric appliances wash your dryer stove oven, etc All except water heating, you know electric water heaters You can run them with solar but they're tremendous electric energy hugs You wouldn't want your solar panels taken on that burden So you get a separate passive solar hot water heater at a cost of around a thousand to two thousand bucks Depending on the size of your family now No matter what size house you're in or the efficiency of your appliances You can estimate your system power size by the highest monthly electric bill you get Presently and then divide the kilowatt hours by 30 days to get your maximum daily kilowatt usage

[23:17] That would be the best way to size your system. Then you give that information to the tech set signature solar I highly recommend them and they'll design your system for you Remember by far the best turnkey solar systems are available from an American company called signature solar Now you can do it yourself or have an electrician install it But I'd call a solar installer if you're not that handy Just check with the solar panel dealers on incuentroventiquattro.com Now considering the constraints and the size of the house I just mentioned If you want a link to a complete off-the-grid system that'll do all of the above Email me the expat files at gmail.com You'll see it's the exact and most cutting-edge system. I would buy right now myself under those same conditions

[24:04] Though again, i'd buy everything but the solar panels I'd get them in country because you know You might be paying a lot of shipping and duties on them if you ordered them straight from the states yourself Now again, if you send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and ask for that plan It might seem like overkill It has a lot of extra power just in case you want to run a couple of ac units Though as mentioned if you're in the alti plano, you won't need them But suppose you had a beach house or a house at low elevation Where it's generally really hot and you'll need some air conditioning No problem In fact during the day it could handle up to six mini split ac units Though at night only about two because you're running off what's stored in the batteries Now I don't make a cent or a commission or anything from recommending signature solar

[24:54] Now remember they don't install anything They just sell the systems and provide live tech support My advice if you're just starting out and thinking about it Tell the tech guy they're exactly what your home requirements are and they'll put together a complete system for you Batteries inverters cables, etc. They're a great resource in one-stop shop You can download all the instructions manuals assembly diagrams for all their systems right from their website They also have a bunch of youtube videos showing you how to unbox assemble and test all the components, too Anyway, it's a huge subject and way too much to get into here in detail, but that should get you started Just drop me a line at the expat files at gmail.com if you want all those links And if I was you the first thing I do is start going through the signature solar website and bone up on all the videos

[25:43] It's very very complete and informative Even if you know nothing about solar and aren't much of a do-it-yourself guy It'll get you up to speed in a hurry You spend a little time on that site and you'll see why these newer systems are so good By the way, just in the last few weeks, you've heard a lot about electromagnetic impulse You know, there's been a lot of talk lately about solar flares and solar mass ejections causing that recent aurora Borealis to be seen farther south than it's ever been seen before Well, you know those emp pulses whether man-made as a weapon or coming from the sun As in really powerful solar flares I'm sure you know a powerful one could mess up and even knock out the grid all the electronic appliances in your house, too As well as kill your electric car and solar system if you have one pretty scary thought, huh?

[26:31] That one day a solar mass ejection big enough could take the power out and send us back to the dark ages Well not to worry another american company called emp shield I'll send you a link on that one, too All these guys do is make emp protection modules for your house and solar power system Very simple, too You only have to attach three or four wires to your circuit breaker panel and solar inverter The module not only completely protects your solar system But also protects all the electronic equipment in your house. It protects you from emps and lightning strikes These little devices these boxes are not cheap. They're around 400 bucks Even so I wouldn't be without one since there are only four wires. It's easy to hook up yourself Do check out the website. They've got one by the way for your electric car, too

[27:19] Because remember if there's an emp your electric car and every other car in the world with electronic ignition will be dead in the water Anyway, if you want the links to all this stuff and remember, I don't make a cent from these companies Email me the expat files at gmail.com You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b we can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week long expat insider seminar in central america Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b. Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com