Episode Summary
In this episode, Johnny Mueller responds to a listener named 'Gringo sin Nombre,' a government worker planning to retire in Latin America. The listener has visited several countries and is considering Nicaragua, which he finds cheap and underdeveloped. Johnny acknowledges the listener's concerns and discusses the current state of Nicaragua, including its economic struggles, political instability, and the challenges for expats. He highlights the risks of investing in Nicaragua, the lack of tourism, and the potential for expats to find opportunities if they are willing to take on the risks. Johnny also mentions the political situation in Nicaragua, including the influence of the Chinese canal project and the socialist government of Daniel Ortega, and notes that while expats are generally not targeted, they should be cautious of the political unrest affecting the local population.
In the same segment, Johnny critiques the often misguided efforts of well-intentioned expats and gringos in Nicaragua, noting that their good intentions often don't translate into meaningful impact. He mentions the hot climate, lack of reliable infrastructure, and the prevalence of political and social unrest, which he believes make it a less-than-ideal place for families. However, he acknowledges that Nicaragua can be a good option for adventurous, budget-conscious, and single individuals. The segment also transitions into a discussion about Peru, with a listener asking for Johnny's thoughts on the country. Additionally, Johnny addresses a listener's critique of his seminar plugs on the show, defending his approach and emphasizing the value of the content he provides. The segment concludes with a mention of a new seminar he is planning to host in Guatemala.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the importance of having a plan for expat life, emphasizing the need for preparation and action. He mentions a Chinese seminar on his website and asks listeners about their progress. He then shifts to discussing how expats and tourists often form opinions about a country based on limited experiences, using examples like the Dominican Republic and Honduras. Johnny highlights that first impressions, duration of stay, and personal attitudes significantly influence perceptions. He also touches on the importance of language skills, noting that even those who don't speak Spanish can be content in Latin America, provided they adapt well.
In a final segment, Johnny differentiates between happiness and contentment, suggesting that contentment is more sustainable and realistic for adults. He critiques the idea of fleeting happiness and highlights the importance of feeling good without pain. He also touches on the concept of laughter and its potential misinterpretation as happiness, noting that some people may laugh despite being miserable. Transitioning to a discussion about Peru, Johnny shares his observations on the city of Lima, describing it as an ugly and expensive place with poor sanitation and high costs of living. He contrasts Lima with the natural beauty of Machu Picchu and the affordability of smaller towns. Finally, he introduces Oscar Miner, a cryptocurrency expert, and mentions an article about Colombia's strict privacy laws, including the requirement of fingerprints and the Sedula ID card, which is essential for expats.
In a separate segment, Johnny discusses the extensive use of the 'Sedula' identity document in Colombia, highlighting how it is required for various services, including dry cleaning, insurance, and public transportation. He also touches on the challenges of navigating the public health insurance system, noting that while it is cheap, it often lacks quality and reliability. Finally, he briefly mentions the prevalence of graffiti in the city where he resides.
Topics
Expat advice, Retirement in Latin America, Nicaragua as a destination for expats, Political and economic challenges in Nicaragua, Expatriate experiences in Latin America, Nicaragua: Climate, infrastructure, political unrest, affordability, and expat experiences, Peru: Listener's request for Johnny's thoughts, Johnny's defense of seminar plugs on the show, U.S. welfare system and its contrast with Latin America, New expat seminar announcement, Expat planning, Opinions on Latin countries
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:02:25 Request for an Episode on Nicaragua 00:03:26 Johnny's Response to the Listener's Request 00:06:11 Cynicism About Expats in Nicaragua 00:06:14 Critique of Expats' Good Intentions 00:06:19 Unreliable Efforts of Expats in Nicaragua 00:06:24 Misguided Good Intentions in Nicaragua 00:06:30 Johnny's Cynicism About Nicaragua's Climate 00:06:41 Challenges of Living in Nicaragua's Hot Climate 00:06:54 Benefits and Drawbacks of Ceiling Fans in Nicaragua 00:07:00 Need for Toxic Bug Spray in Nicaragua 00:12:00 Plan for Expat Life 00:12:33 Opinions on Latin Countries 00:17:36 Contentment vs. Happiness 00:18:44 Observations on Peru 00:22:07 Colombia's Privacy Laws and the Sedula ID Card 00:23:28 The Importance of the Sedula Document in Colombia 00:25:28 Navigating Public Health Insurance in Colombia 00:27:17 Graffiti and Urban Life in Colombia
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 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 All right. Here's an interesting email from an avid listener. Her name is gringo sin nombre Gringo without a name that must be a take on the old Clint Eastwood cowboy movie where he was the man without a name Riding on a horse with no name. No, that's the song right in any event
[00:50] He's a gringo with no name and he says Johnny couple of requests here, please sir First a comment because I'd like to digress right off the bat. Thanks for your amazing show I'm five years away from retiring and getting down there either to Guatemala El Salvador close by Permanently. Yes. I'm one of those government slugs. You talk about all the time on the show I'm not offended because you know as these things go the pension will be sweet How sweet it is and will allow me to enjoy a very comfortable life once I get down there Johnny I doubt you'll remember talking to me a few years ago. We did a phone consult Johnny. I'm no newbie I traveled and visited through Mexico Honduras, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela over the last years a
[01:39] Committed expat wannabe for sure now for my requests request number one on a recent show you mentioned We could email you for information about Anarchopoco in Mexico. Can you please send that information off for me? All right me Johnny here name goon problem. Oh, señor gringo sin nombre I'll send it off right away. Then he says Johnny. Here's request number two You have effectively convinced me to avoid living in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela Brazil Ecuador and Colombia your solid information is backed up by my own boots on the ground experiences and many of those places myself So it didn't take much convincing. I'm an easy sell on those points The question is though
[02:25] Could you please cover an episode on why you don't seem to like Nicaragua and why it isn't a very solid choice for expats? Johnny I've listened to your show from the very beginning I actually found you on about your third episode and still listen faithfully twice a week You've mentioned Nicaragua negatively because of the Chinese and their failed canal attempt You were right, of course about that and you mentioned real problems with the socialist president Daniel Ortega spot on with that one, too But that's about all I can remember you going into detail about Nicaragua the reason why I'm inquiring because Nicaragua is so damn cheap Johnny and most of it isn't touristy The Chinese failed and Daniel Ortega will get the boot and replaced with another such idiot
[03:13] So Johnny again, I'd love to hear a little more detail and what else is wrong with Nicaragua And why you don't recommend it so I can firmly cross it off my visit and see if it's worth it list Alright, let's stop for a second there be Johnny again You know I've been at Nicaragua a number of times and I do remember mentioning that if you're the adventurous type and you're single and you like Rolodice and getting into markets that have bottomed out Nicaragua could be the place for you But understand you will be taking a chance, you know with all the bad PR press and trouble they've had lately Tourism is way down. Everyone's canceling hotels and restaurants are closing economically the country's in the dumpster In fact, there were a lot of tourist projects started that just completely stopped their collapse
[04:02] That includes first-world gringoized housing developments, too And many many gringos and expats are looking to get out Everything's for sale whether it's advertised that way or not a lot of it at fire sale prices, too But a big card asian, but here Plenty of sellers, but there are no buyers So man, if you're an adventurer and you want to get into a place at rock bottom prices, Nicaragua is for you But believe me don't expect to start any kind of traditional tourist business. You probably die on the vine That means restaurant coffee shop mom-and-pop hotel Airbnb forget about it with any kind of brick-and-mortar business You're taking a big chance though. The rental certainly be cheap But if you've already got some dough coming in let's say a pension social security or have an internet-based business or are thinking about
[04:51] It's setting one up Nicaragua or practically any Latin country is a good choice However, if you're gonna do the internet business thing You're probably gonna have to be in around or near one of the bigger medium-sized towns Because when you're out in the boonies the internet can be spotty or even non-existent and as far as Nicaragua being dirt cheap Our emailer mr. Gringo sin nombre is entirely correct however Right now the problem is the country's sort of under martial law and that's not a good thing That means the military and the cops can be brutal and extreme But that doesn't much affect Gringo's expats and tourists The fact is no matter what's going down in a Latin country Gringo's are not at all part of the political process They leave us alone because we're a nice source of foreign income and jobs
[05:37] But man if you're a college kid protesting on campus or in the streets You could end up getting yourself tear gassed and clubbed and wake up in the emergency room or not wake up at all I think now it up to around 250 people have been killed in protests since this whole political Daniel Ortega presidential problem erupted about three years ago and almost all the dead and injured college students in the street Protesting not a single gringo though if a do-gooder college-aged gringo or two got clocked in the act of protesting You know what? I'd have about zero sympathy for them But that's just the cynic in me over the years I've seen way too many do-gooder gringos come down handing out condoms Vaccinating everything that moves building out houses for Jesus and when they leave, you know what in most cases
[06:24] So do their feel-good efforts and supposed good intentions no matter how misguided Another reason I'm not too big on Nicaragua is because it's very hot. It's in the lowlands It's not in the Alti Plano doesn't have one then again A lot of gringos and expats love the heat and the beach At least they say they do until they've been down a while and there's been a few power failures because not only does the air Conditioning go out. So do those big ceiling fans and please don't give short shift to old-school Ceiling fans the secondary positive effect of those big ceiling fans as they keep away the mosquitoes Oh and don't ever forget you live by the water in the tropics in the lowlands. You will be using toxic bug spray Oh, you can order one of those green echo friendly non-toxic types
[07:11] There's dozens of those brands on Amazon and they ain't cheap They might work. Okay up in Minneapolis and Cleveland, but not so well with mosquitoes as big as sparrows But beaches everybody loves beaches, right and Nicaragua's got plenty of beach a big section on the Pacific and the Atlantic side though Typical of most Central American beaches on a scale of one to ten None of them barely rate of five no white sand murky water And except for a couple of very small islands about 50 miles off the east coast of Nicaragua Called the corn islands. That's like popcorn. You'll find no pristine Bahama style waters or white sand beaches Bottom line if you're solely thinking about your budget Nicaragua fits to bill But man, there are lots of other Latin countries that are almost as cheap, but not so screwed up economically and politically
[07:59] Oh, and I mentioned if you're on a budget You're an adventurous type and you're single Nicaragua could be a good place for you The single part is because I wouldn't necessarily want to bring down a wife and family to a place That's got that kind of political and social unrest Not that you have to be afraid of the police in the military though You see a lot of them out on the streets Like I said Gringo's and tourists are pretty much exempt from all that The problem is the economy's in the crapper that people are getting poorer and losing their jobs So crime is on the upswing. The question is should you cross Nicaragua off your visit and see if it's worth it list Well, I'd say yes forget about it. But in the end as always it's your call And finally we have request number three from our gringo without a name. He says Johnny. What about Peru?
[08:47] You never really talked much about that place back in the 90s. I had a friend who loved it there What aren't your thoughts on Peru? And by the way, thank you, Johnny Your show is the best the work you do is very much appreciated But still it drives me crazy though when people get upset with you plugging your seminars on the show The where else you're supposed to do it. In the meantime, you're producing free FREE Great material that's both real and valuable and in all these years You only pitch and mention your seminars two times a year Then he says I personally would love to see how those people the complainers Would like themselves doing the work of two shows a week for free and not being able to monetize it in any other way
[09:35] I wonder Johnny if those people who complain work for free, but again, I digress as well signed El gringo sin nombre. So our gringo without a name doesn't mind me plugging my seminars. After all, he's got a point there I've done something like 865 shows now and you get them all for nothing then again you get what you pay for, right? Speaking of getting out of dodge or a reason or two to get the hell out of dodge I have this email from Texas Aggie. He sent me a section of a blog here. It says Johnny Did you know the state of New Mexico gives all illegals emergency welfare? They don't have to go through any process like Americans have to go through to get it They're handed an EBT card loaded with $1,000 plus
[10:21] $200 per child paid every month until their court date, which could be years later The governor of New Mexico has a real crisis on his hands who's paying for it Not him other people's money, of course American taxpayers Right Texas Aggie. Thanks for pointing out that revolt and development if that's not reason enough to get the hell out of Dodge I don't know what is by the way about those EBT cards, you know Almost 30 years ago when I was back in Chicago didn't call them EBT cards They were just welfare cards and to be on welfare was an embarrassment You just didn't go around casually mentioning it nor did you ever want to flash your card in front anyone? Of course, I knew some people who were on welfare But I never actually saw one of the cards nor had I ever stood next to anyone in the grocery store line
[11:10] Who was paying with one of those cards? So what's that got to do with Latin America? After all this is a show about living in Latin America Well glad you asked that question the other day I was on Amazon looking to check out and there was a pop-up wonder that said we accept EBT cards And you could sign up for Amazon Prime With your EBT card What I buy a letter from Amazon and I don't even have Amazon Prime Come on. Do you need any more reasons to get the hell out of Dodge? Speaking of getting the hell out of Dodge. Oh, oh here comes that seminar plug My latest and greatest week-long expat insider seminar will be kicking off in about three weeks now It starts in Guatemala Central America on July 6th
[11:57] So as of the date this show goes out Sunday June 16th That means you still got a couple of weeks to put it together Just go to www.dinoexpat.com and click on Chinese seminar link. By the way, how's your plan be coming? Are you procrastinating just sitting around thinking about it or have you gotten your plan in motion? I'm sure you have a certain feeling that something's in the air something bad's coming No one knows what or when but it's coming. So then what about that plan be insurance policy? You're working on it or maybe you're just glued to the old neighborhood and are resigned to going down with the ship Enough said about that. Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, our emailer was asking about Peru He said he had a friend down there in the 90s who liked it a lot
[12:42] Aha, the thing is when Gringo's and expats travel when they go to a particular destination If they had a good time chances are they'll return to the same place over and over again Like for example Cancun or Costa Rica, of course human nature being as it is They like to brag and prattle on about it to their friends neighbors and relatives And if you've never been out of the country the first time you land in the tropics It's a different world and many people instantly fall in love with the place Now suppose you landed for the first time in a real hole like to goosey gulp a Honduras Belize City Belize or what is or Tijuana Mexico now Most Gringo's and expats when they land in those places think they're real dumps and wouldn't go back But suppose the very first thing that happens to you when you first get out of the airport and jump in a taxi
[13:31] You find a hundred dollar bill wedged between the seat man Would you not have developed a terrific first impression of that place? Take the reverse situation suppose you ended up at the hard rock hotel in Panama City a place most Gringo's and expats absolutely love So you check into your room turn on the shower. The water's brown and stinky When you lifted the toilet seat found well the previous tenants partially digested tacos You Well, I'd be willing to bet no matter what positive things happen from then on your next vacation If you had the choice would not be in Panama what I'm trying to say is tourists, especially Gringo tourists They tend to judge an entire country By one two or a handful of visits down fitting in the bad press department in the Dominican Republic right now You've got two or three cases of people staying in upscale hotels checking out
[14:20] Permanently and a couple of more people after that who said they got deathly ill after drinking something from a minibar So after that kind of press the entire Gringo opinion about the DR has shifted into the no-go zone Certainly my mother and her widows club will never book a trip there same with cruise ships and airlines You got a couple of cases of faced passengers falling overboard Suddenly, you've got a whole slew of gringos canceling their reservation, you know, it's an odd thing I could be sitting in an airport lounge coffee shop or waiting room and they'll always be one gringo or gringo who winds and Complains about everything. Yeah, they usually end up spending their time spitting venom and gringo expat blogs and forums Meanwhile in our same hypothetical waiting room, you're bound to find a gringo who loves just about everything
[15:08] Even things like standing in line in manana time stuff that drives many of us nuts Hey, people don't change we bring our good or bad attitudes and personalities down on the trip with us Bottom line our ideas about a particular Latin country depend mostly on three things Number one your first impressions number two how long you've had boots on the ground and your temperament and personality type So you've got gringo haters and complainers and others who just love everything and thrive on diversity I mean, how can you explain the fact that in one of the most terrible whole cities on the planet? That's Port of Prince, Haiti You walk around see and meet gringos here and there who've made it their home and seem to be happy and enjoying the place Yet to the vast majority of first world people yours truly included. It's a Mad Max movie in Technicolor
[15:58] So bottom line be careful who you ask for opinions on a particular Latin country or city Don't give too much credence to people who've only been to one particular city or country and haven't been around and beware of opinions From gringos who only hang out in tourist areas. Oh and don't put too much faith in opinions of gringos who don't speak Spanish I mean, let's face it if gringos who don't speak Spanish are so smart Why are they always getting nailed for gringle prices? The thing is if you don't know some Spanish, you won't even know what questions to ask Then again, I've got lots of gringo and expat friends who've come down to my seminars and have stayed in Latin America permanently Who after being down three four five even six years? They don't speak a lick of Spanish or maybe only 20 words That's not enough when you're off the gringo tourist trail and you know, it never fails when I get to talking to them
[16:47] I see their apartments and homes and the stuff they bought Sometimes just because they don't speak Spanish. They pay way too much not always by any means but sometimes yes But it's their business. So most times I don't say anything I figure if you're here in Latin America, especially off the trail where everyone speaks Spanish in three or four years You have better picked up some but that's not always the case You know, even if gringo is in some cases are paying too much for things They must be alright with it or they wouldn't have bought this stuff, right? The truth is even gringos and expats who don't speak much Spanish at all seem to be quite content and for all the BS They had to go through to make the move down the vast majority are glad they did it How well you fit in and adapt has a lot to do with attitude, you know I think the right word to use here is contentment. Not necessarily happiness. I mean really how many times
[17:36] Let's say in a month. Can you say you were really genuinely happy, you know big Deep green huge wave of exhilaration flowing through you like a kid on Christmas morning Well, I think that's pretty rare in adults unless you're bipolar and in the manic phase I'll settle for long stretches of contentment. How about you? After all happiness can be extremely fleeting contentment can last a long long time So what's contentment? Well, it starts with feeling good Nothing hurts and for me it's waking up every day and having something to look forward to as for happiness It's overrated. Oh and as for that song I could never stand don't worry be happy He hasn't had a hit song since so I'm sure he's changed his mind Oh and don't go confusing laughter with happiness. Some of the most miserable people
[18:23] I know will laugh heartily when someone takes a pratfall or you tell them a good joke By the way, don't you think it's odd that we're programmed to laugh when someone else gets hurt that is provided There is no blood or broken bones, but I digress as usual. Where were we? Oh, yeah Observations on Peru. Well, I'll just give you a couple here and go into it more detail later In fact, that was in Peru just a couple months ago Lima. The capital is an ugly scruffy city I know I've mentioned this before with lots and lots of poor indigenous people not that that's a bad thing Except they're poor and poor people have poor habits. For example, every morning I'd walk out of my hotel and smell human feces and urine even walking down the sidewalks in nice neighborhoods It wouldn't be so bad. Actually, it is pretty bad if it would actually rain once in a while
[19:12] They get almost no rain in Lima Peru. So yesterday's even last week's rancid pee Doesn't have a chance to get washed away or percolate into the dirt because they've got no dirt It's all sand and where it's not sand. It's concrete jungle. Lima is a big city and I could go on and on about its ugliness Except as mentioned if you're a new arrival to the city and something really cool happens to you on your first couple of days Like finding a hundred bucks in a cab. You probably love the place and block nice things about it day and night See what I mean? Now, of course Machu Picchu and those great Inca sites are fantastic But you fly into Lima and you got to take an additional plane flight or a 8 to 10 hour drive to get there And once you're there, it's wall-to-wall tourists And again, I know Lima and it ain't cheap price of electronics cars appliances
[20:00] Double or at least half again as much as what you'd pay for the very same things in Central America In fact, that seems to be one of the big problems with South American general Everything you buy that we consider a household convenience is half to twice as much as it is in the States or Central America All because most of that stuff is not produced in South America and there's huge import taxes And though Brazil has a huge industrial base when it comes to refrigerators washing machines in common household appliances It's not the greatest quality. I've seen and used that stuff They've got a dozen different brands that just don't stand up to the common well-known brands like Hotpoint GE Samsung Whirlpool and LG sure they're a bit cheaper than the brand name imported stuff
[20:46] Still the quality is just not there even the supermarkets in Peru are expensive Of course, if you go out to the smaller towns in the boonies You can get your fruits and vegetables really cheap like you can in Central America, too But for a gringo or expat living out in the boonies in Peru, that's really taking a step back in time I don't think many gringos and expats especially younger ones would like it that much though for some people who are really stressed out and wound up Kicking back and living like that could really prolong your life. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not the life for me once again It's your call not mine. All right enough said about Peru for now. We'll get into more details in a future show Next up we've got one of my favorite friends Oscar Miner He's a cryptocurrency mining expert who has been a speaker at my last few expat insider seminars He's an encyclopedia of information on the subject and an expat insider alumni himself
[21:37] He was first in when there was just one Cryptocurrency Bitcoin and he was mining it oh so long ago when the world had never even heard about in fact every time I stop over his place. He's got something new going on He's got 10 or 20 little miners cranking away spitting out all kinds of various cryptocurrencies So those of you coming down to my expat insider seminar in a couple of weeks now You'll meet Oscar Miner in person as well as the famous Bitcoin Dan and Captain Mango himself and a few more surprise guests Anyway Oscar Miner just sent me a section of this blog that comes out of Colombia has to do with the fact that Colombia is very anti privacy In fact the requiring fingerprints and official ID even for the most routine things it sounds completely out of George Orwell
[22:24] It's entitled going overboard with fingerprints the impossibility of being anonymous in Colombia So now on May 31st of this year an expat gringle in Colombia writes this Here's the story. I lost my dry cleaning ticket for a shirt the other day one lousy shirt With a steep cleaning bill of ten thousand pesos around three bucks. Hmm. That is pretty steep That's gringle prices here in Latin America. Anyway, he says this leads me to say that Colombia This country has a new obsession with fingerprints and the ID Sedula He says the Sedula is a peculiar document unlike anything in the US and probably anywhere except Latin America without it
[23:10] You may as well stay home forever Gringos and expats will get one once they get their temporary or permanent residency then he says a Sedula the national ID card in Colombia is Like having a social security card plus a green card plus a passport all wrapped up in one Every Colombian has one and you shouldn't leave home without it And when you get one because you're a resident you can't leave home without it either Then he says meanwhile the dry cleaners not only asked to see my Sedula They also wanted two oversized copies of it. You think that's the end of the story? Well, they took out the dreaded ink pad to take my fingerprints and remember That's to pick up a newly cleaned shirt that cost three bucks Then he says then again, it was a Tommy Bahama shirt. So maybe that's perfectly understandable
[24:01] Though without exaggeration. He says I must have had my fingerprints taken 20 times at different government agencies the same agency often more than once That's not all I had to give up my fingerprints to my insurance company to my cell phone company even to the supermarket chain to get points on my purchases and this you won't believe I had to give up my Fingerprints to get a civica. That's a metro card to ride the subway. I You not now about this. I had to give up my fingerprint to enroll in a program called in cycla That's a bicycle Ridesharing program they wanted my fingerprints. In fact, I'm so used to it now that as soon as I see an ink pad
[24:47] I know it's coming and prepare my fingers because it can and will be a mess In other words when in Colombia don't wear white now about that settler card everyone here in Colombia has their Sedula number memorized and they give it out freely to supermarkets cashiers. You name it They'll spit it out just to get raffle or grocery store points Whatever the odd thing is that somehow people's identities seem to remain intact or no one cares Because the guy's identity you may have stolen has nothing but bad debts No money in the bank and a stack full of maxed out credit cards So what use is his wrecked and stained credit to an identity theft crook? So the day after I got my new settler, I got insurance without a settler. No insurance. Thank God that's over with
[25:36] Then he says wondering about health insurance in Colombia. Yes. They have a public health insurance company It's called Nueva EPS and there are dozens of private companies, too But most people gringles and expects to pick the public health insurance company because it's cheap and the government marketing department Promotes it as being pretty good. The government public health insurance costs around thirty dollars a month cheap Yes, but what do you get for it? Supposedly it covers almost everything with small co-payments The only problem is that with basic public health insurance you're at the mercy of the plans doctors and the weights and the lines are a Way of life that said I'm looking into a private policy now to avoid the annoyances and pitfalls of the government plan All right, me Johnny here. Yep. I'd say it's a common gringo mistake
[26:22] It's made in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia Whatever when gringos are told by rags like international living that they can get great national health care for about 25 to 50 bucks a month Yeah, you'll hear a lot of expats in gringos Especially newbie expats and gringos bragging about how cheap it is until they actually have to use it when they see it's crap They break down and go private and pay the hundred bucks a month and get first world health care Is that not cheap enough for you tight asses out there? By the way, some Latin countries you can carry both private insurance and the national health care plan Some people think like up in the states having double insurance coverage is the way to go But you should really give it some thought before you depend only on the national health care system You should only be looking at it as a safety net plan if you can't get on a private insurance plan
[27:11] For example, if you're 60 or 65 some private insurances won't accept you at that age Alright, finally, he says many in Colombia where he is is a beautiful city except there's graffiti everywhere Some of it's pretty good, but there's so much graffiti. There are even organized graffiti bus tours 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 9-hour expat essentials course Get the perfect plan B blueprint by going to the expat files.com slash academy
[27:56] Los bemos