#967 – The Expat Files: Education, Relocation, and Economic Uncertainty 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 up to play and now as 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 Here's an email from levy says love your show Johnny in light of your recent offer to send information concerning crypto Here's my official request for more information. I absolutely love your podcast I finally got my wife on board into looking at relocating to Latin America

[00:47] The recent civil unrest here in the States is just about done it for us We had hoped to wait until my youngest son finished school before we escaped But now I'm not certain we can make it another eight years because he's entering the fifth grade this coming school year For now, we send our children to a private Christian school in Texas that we absolutely love I know Johnny you've talked about private schools in Latin America fairly often and to my recollection You don't think very highly of them. You speak of a lot of spoiled rich kids if I remember Question is are there sincere Christian schools down there that you know of I understand There's no such thing as a perfect school But there are Christian schools here in the states that genuinely strive to teach the students from a biblical worldview That's very important to my wife and I in the hopes that we give our kids a solid foundation in moral tradition and customs

[01:37] From a Christian's perspective perhaps 30 or 50 years ago Every public school in the US was rooted in the Judeo Christian ethics in which the country was founded But that's gone by the wayside. It's no longer an option that I send my children to a government school here in the US So thanks. Anyway, Johnny. I appreciate your show and the wisdom you share with your audience signed Levi from Texas Well, Levi, thanks for that. Of course, it could be Levi a lot of Levi's in Texas Yuck. Yuck. Alright, so let's get one thing straight. It's not that I don't like the so-called private schools here in Latin America In fact, if I had a kid or kids and I don't I would send them either to one of those high-end helicopter schools or hire a gringo tutor slash teacher more on that in a second

[02:23] Even though I think homeschooling is really the way to go these days. I don't have the patience for it I Definitely have to hide the guns and ammo now another option you'll see down here and you don't see it at all up in The states because it's way too expensive is that some gringos and expats I know higher a full-time gringo tutor to teach their kids in the house Of course, you could do that up in the states hire a qualified teacher to come in every day to your kids But it's gonna cost you between probably 50 or 75 grand even more per year Not only we have to pay the salary you'll have to pay perks and insurance and FICA Unless you're very wealthy. You could never afford that but down here It's very doable for the average gringo family because hell Who do you think teaches at those high-end bubble helicopter schools?

[03:09] certified 100% gringo teachers making between 500 and around at 1200 bucks a month and you know The whole draw for wealthy latin families regarding those private helicopter schools and such is that they've got a number of real Gringos from the states teaching there and people ask all the time Why would a gringo teacher come down to Latin America and work at one of those helicopter schools for poverty wages? Because you know, those are the kind of salaries that they pay People I mean Americans up in the states are thinking are these gringo is sick in the head Are they just crap or lazy teachers that just don't want to work the system up in the states Well, that's partly right the part about not wanting to work in the system up in the states in the end though They're teaching at those schools not for the dough, but for job satisfaction Because you know every gringo teacher I know down here tells me he's got gringo teacher friends up in the states who absolutely

[04:00] Despise their jobs. Oh, but they all walk through that door day one fresh out of school with rose-colored glasses thinking Hey, I got me a nice solid teaching job in a public school. I'm really gonna light a fire under my students I'm gonna get these kids revved up and enthused about learning. They all start out that way Until that is they're thrown headfirst into the toilet bowl. So then what could be so hard about teaching kids at a public school? What with metal detectors social media drugs unheard of levels of disrespect social promotions Non-performance trophies for everyone not to mention their hands completely tied by an impossibly idiotic and dumbed-down curriculum It's no wonder why so many good young teachers elect to come down to Latin America and work for poverty wages

[04:48] Thing is sooner or later any person with a half a brain soon realizes you spend practically a 30 year life at your job And if you don't like it, that's the 30 year life in the shitter Which is why so many teachers up in the states and I can verify this myself because I got teachers in the family For so many of them as soon as the days over and they walk into the house They had straight for the liquor cabinet or worse. Can you blame them? You know when I first got my undergraduate degree in engineering I had a girlfriend who was an art teacher at the Chicago Public Schools She did teach in a bad area wasn't even near the ghetto But every night when she came home She'd pound down a couple of glasses of straight vodka and her dad was a math teacher at Chicago Public Schools And he was a stand-up drunk, so it's not hearsay I saw this for myself now from what I can tell and I know lots of teachers

[05:37] Teaching at high-end bubble helicopter schools here in Latin America. They hate the pay, but they absolutely love their jobs And it's worth it to him for one thing they get respect from both the teachers and the parents They have nearly complete control of their classrooms the curriculum, etc And they can discipline the kids and this is a novel concept The teacher is always right The only problem is as almost all of my teacher friends have told me most all the kids are entitled children of the rich That means of course their extreme gringo wannabes and have all the baggage that comes along with it like special privileges Expensive toys and sometimes accompanied by bodyguards, especially at the real high-end helicopter schools Now that's not to say some of their parents aren't complete jerks Though my gringo teacher buddies tell me the only real jerky parents

[06:24] They ever run into our politicians and other bottom feeders In fact, I've been told kids who've got rich parents who own businesses and enterprises never give any problem at all In fact, they give the teachers tons of support Of course every kid that graduates from such a school comes out bilingual even trilingual and those gringo and expat teachers seem to really like their jobs They're happy and animated and don't much complain at all except for the dough But they were well aware of that when they signed on So they're content even happy despite of the dough Simply because as one buddy of mine told me They're not hamstrung by a f***ed up dumb down system like teachers are in the states Oh and about the money You know I get in arguments sometimes with teachers in my own family

[07:10] They're always bitching about the dough and how people in the sciences and medicine and law Even comps firemen and garbage men make a lot more than teachers do And my answer always is I don't get why you complain It's a historical fact it's been known for hundreds of years Teachers just aren't paid well they're not paid with their worth So if you really want to teach that's what you're signing up for You knew that and if you liked money more than teaching Then you should have gone into the sciences Now gringo's and expat teachers here in Latin America absolutely know It's not about the money And I suppose that puts them in a class of their own They've got more noble motives unlike teachers up in the states Like I said I ought to know I've got a family full of teachers Starting with my mother who by the way I never heard complain about the salary Get this she's 89 and still teaches one day a week at the university

[08:00] Just to keep that insurance going But she's the type who'd do it anyway even if it didn't involve insurance Because she absolutely loves teaching But then again teaching at university is a hell of a lot different Than teaching at a quote normal Chicago public school Where most 12th graders are reading at a fourth grade level Who can't add two plus two without a calculator God bless America Now let me let you in on a little secret A lot of times I'd be sitting around during the holidays And with the teachers in the family well it never failed The subject of money and raises would always come up Man you never heard such whining And let me tell you the public school teachers have some of the strongest unions in the world They're huge bureaucracies and they're as dirty and corrupt as the teamsters Here's the thing teachers unions have completely eliminated pay increases due to merit

[08:51] In other words if you're a great teacher you make just as much as a f***ed up one Yep it's a case of socialism at its finest So then how do teachers move up on the pay scale? Only by taking extra graduate school classes or getting an advanced degree Like a master's or a PhD Here's the thing the more advanced credits you get And that would be at a university night school The more you rise on the pay scale And of course the school system will reimburse you if you pass those classes So then what do teachers who are already completely burned out and fed up with the system do? They just absolutely pile into those night school classes And of course they take the easiest possible route With the least amount of homework and studying That would be a master's in education Not biology, history, or mathematics Or one of the core sciences or fields of study

[09:36] They go for the low-hanging fruit It's a no-brainer and they openly admit it Yep I'm sure you know there's such thing as a master's and a PhD in education And there are thousands maybe tens of thousands of Chicago teachers with master's degrees in education Or just loading up on credits in that field Oh and another thing my teacher buddies and relatives up in the states put me wise to Since everyone's burnt out after a couple of years Even if you get a master's degree in education and are moving up the pay scale The problem is you're still going to face those nasty kids every day So that just means there's a great big herd of disgruntled teachers in every school district Looking for ways to hide and do less work and still get paid That brings us to another angle that's high on the hopes of every disgruntled teacher

[10:22] In the public school system in America The goal, the prize, the golden ring is to become a school counselor Why? Because counselors don't teach They get their own special office They're supposed to guide and help kids, right? Though judging strictly by results Counselors are doing a dismal job They're an abject failure But for a teacher to become a counselor You need to get a master's in counseling Which jacks you up on the pay scale too Now you can hole up in your office Serve the net and screw around on social media to your heart's content With nobody watching No oversight, no one to evaluate you To prove my point, how many times did you visit your counselor in high school? I think I spoke to mine twice For a total of around 10 minutes

[11:08] And you know what, he gave me crap advice And told me not to go into engineering Because aerospace was laying people off Typical, huh? By the way, all the teachers I've ever known up in the states Look at counselors with envy and jealousy Because every teacher after he's burned out Would give his right arm for that job But alas, every school can have only so many lard ass counselors So is it any wonder there are so many expat gringo teachers Working here at helicopter schools in Latin America For poverty wages and loving it? One that I mentioned Private schools here in Latin America have no unions And I've never met a single gringo teacher here Who wanted to be a counselor Hmm, what do you make of that? Anyway, as far as Christian themed private schools here in Latin America There are tons of them, they're everywhere

[11:54] In fact, one of my best buddies Who you may have heard me talk about in previous shows He's been teacher of the year for something like 10 years running His school was founded by an evangelical couple And down here that's not at all unusual Turns out even in the non-denominational helicopter schools Like the Austrian school, the Italian school The American school, the British school, etc, etc The kids say prayers Yep, every medium and large sized Latin city Have schools with those names For example, the German and the Austrian school are trilingual That means you get Spanish, English, and German The French school, Spanish, English, and French And the British school, well, just two languages French and English And you learn how to play rugby and how to make a proper cup of tea You get the idea But even so, at every school, they say prayers

[12:41] And no one gets beaten up or abused for it Kind of like how all grade schools and high schools used to be When I was a kid You know, before metal detectors Before they dumbed down the curriculum Before Ritalin, Common Core, mass vaccinations 50% child obesity And McDonald's Pizza and Coke machines in the cafeteria Question is, how much do those private schools cost? Well, you know, there are lots of private schools here in Latin America That aren't considered helicopter schools That means they're bilingual That is, they claim to be bilingual But they're really not Why? Because they have got no 100% gringo teachers on board Sure, they teach English But the teachers are not native English speakers They learn English by the book But that's not the way we read, write, and converse And man, when you meet one of these kids That have graduated from that kind of school

[13:27] Their English really sucks However, the price is right Probably between 50 and 150 bucks a month Now, when you get beyond that 200, 300, 400, even 500 bucks a month The tuition is directly proportional To the amount of real first world gringos on staff In fact, you know, a number of attendees At MyExpedInsider Seminar Some have asked to see a few schools for themselves And, of course, it was no trouble arranging it In fact, Rita, our seminar logistics lady Went to one of those helicopter schools As did our seminar lawyer Jose And his two kids who just graduated And their English almost perfect With just a slight accent Oh, and there's one final thing That has to be pointed out here As much as I mock the entitled rich kids That go to those helicopter schools And, of course, as much as I mock their parents

[14:13] And they deserve it In a lot of ways, the helicopter school system Here in Latin America is like The Ivy League system up in the States It's not all about the education you get But more about the connections you make When you're there That'll help you get along later in life Great example I built a number of homes through Latin America And I learned after a while That I could go down to one of the public universities You know, they're all crap, right? But it doesn't mean they don't have Some very talented students They just are economically challenged or dirt poor Anyway, more than a couple of times I ended up going to the architectural department In one of the big public universities You know, public universities are free here in Latin America And you get what you pay for Just like this show Anyway, I'd walk into the office of the architectural department I'd ask for a list of the top five graduates of the year

[15:01] And they usually graduate a hundred or so kids So the top five are going to be the cream But, of course, at the public universities They don't speak English, just Spanish Anyway, I remember getting ahold of one guy And man, was this guy outstanding? I saw some of his models and designs And he was number two in his class Guess where I located this guy One year after he graduated from architecture school Working in a hardware store Selling plumbing parts and toilets Though he was entrepreneurial He was selling Bible CDs online Hey, you got to eat, right? I hired this guy to build a house A man he did a spectacular job Meanwhile, one of my hobbies was I played in a rock band And the drummer in the band He is something like maybe 24 years old His dad was loaded And he sent him to an expensive helicopter school

[15:47] Then after that to the states to get his architecture degree So he graduated from a U.S. architectural school At the bottom of his class But boy, was he connected Now, this guy who never really worked a day in his life Had his own architectural firm and an office in Guatemala City Courtesy of his dad And he had on the drawing board Various hotels and resort projects Now, from what I could see And I knew this guy He was less than mediocre He wasn't even in the same league As my C.D. Bible-Toten toilet-selling hardware store guy But he was balls to the wall busy Doing high-end projects courtesy of his connections I know life ain't fair But you have to take those things into consideration Now, as for me If I had a kid I'd certainly send them to one of those helicopter schools But if I had two or three kids

[16:33] I'd probably opt for hiring a private gringo tutor To come in every day and hit them all three at once Though kids need some socialization With other kids So I think I'd do that for grade school Up to maybe grade eight Then ship them off for the last couple of years To a helicopter school That way they'd be far and away Ahead of the crowd intellectually They'd have that advantage for sure And they'd make the right connections too So I guess those entitled rich kids Do come in handy after all Now, if you're down here in Latin America Off the tourist trail You'll find that those helicopter schools Are absolutely loaded with entitled rich kids But there'll be a couple of entitled gringo kids sprinkled in there too That's because in every city You've got gringos working at embassies, airports, tourist spots In management at transnational corporations, etc, etc

[17:18] And they're going to send their kids to helicopter schools So if you're off the gringo tourist trail And you have kids It's not like there'll be the lone ranger gringo in class However, if you're planning on living in highly gringo-wise areas Like certain cities in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, etc Helicopter schools there will be just jam-packed with gringo kids That's just the way it is when you're on the gringo tourist trail Oh, and one more thing These kids are truly in a bubble I've met tons of them I've hired and fired them And I've played in bands with them One of the big problems I see is that they're not allowed to fail Now, where have I heard that before? Their parents generally have so much pull and dough Or the appearance of dough That they're able somehow to give their kids everything It's truly amazing how here in Latin America

[18:05] It's all about the appearances It's all about the show However, now that the pin has popped the bubble And the economic blowout has arrived Shortly, if not already There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth Especially with the top one to five percent Who never did save and always spent everything they made Some are having that rude awakening right now Meanwhile, from all reports up by you in the States There seems to be a mad rush of people who want to get out of the cities I mean, look Fear of the virus The collapsing economy The fact that if you have a retail business in the city You're not at all safe from the violence and looters All of a sudden, who would have thunk? People are talking about getting the hell out of Dodge like never before Hell, who would want to live in a big city Much less start or own a business

[18:52] And as far as where you live I don't care how protected or gated and guarded your community is You still have to go outside out shopping You know, doing the things people normally do when the world is not unhinged Wow, it's hard to imagine Just a couple of months ago The world was a completely different place Yep, the preppers had it right, didn't they? At least 75 percent, right? Because, you know, now as I hear my own family members in Chicago Talking about moving to the burbs Like in a hurry Though that's just a temporary solution The only way to really set yourself free Is to get the hell out of Dodge completely and move To a country where there is no big brother Or big brother arrived, DOA A place where no one snoops, no one bothers you Where you can remain captain of your own ship

[19:39] In other words, a place that's a lot cheaper to live than the US With a small weak government and a large-ass bureaucracy The question is, how's your plan becoming? And how many good connections have you made outside the country? How far are you along at making the move? Or at least having an escape plan? Tell me, what are you going to do when the rioters start tearing up your lawn And beating on your door? Have you put much thought into it? You better So as this show first goes out on Friday, June 26th That means you've got slightly less than a week To get in on the early bird discounts for my expat insider seminar That's coming up on August 21st through 27th Remember, on July 1st, prices revert to normal You've got till June 30th to get that discount Plus, you get a free one-hour phone consult with me

[20:24] Before you come down And remember, if you're a guy or a gal looking for a roommate We can hook you up and you can save an additional $750 off the single occupancy price To sign up, just go to expatplanb.com and click on the seminar link All right, now we've got this email from Sandy living in Roatan, Honduras He says, Dear Johnny, I've been living in Honduras for five years now And getting out of Dodge was the best thing I ever did However, my mother in Cincinnati, Ohio Thought it was the worst thing I ever did Until just two months ago when the lockdown came She lives in the city And she sees the riots and destruction on TV And in her own neighborhood And she wants to come live with me My How Things Change Unfortunately, though, my mother takes five prescription pills a day One of those pills costs over $300 each

[21:10] But available in Latin America And online pharmacies out of Canada, the UK, and India For about $8 each Though, my mother is convinced, or I should say brainwashed By her doctor, that generics are not equal To a regular proprietary drug As for me, I trust drugs made in India Because some of the very smartest persons I've ever met Are from India And I can't imagine a drug company based out of Canada Or the UK would ever sell products Or have permission to sell products That were tested and up to snuff So doctors who say generics are inferior Are they saying that because they believe UK and Canadian pharmacists and pharmacies Would not thoroughly test and vet them? Aside from that, my question is

[21:55] How is this all going to play out in six months time When all the free money has stopped? And the Fed keeps up with those emergency cash injections Into a dead corpse Many insurance companies will fail How do I know that? I work for a very large one You'd recognize our logo and TV commercials in a second Or I should say I used to work for them I took early retirement to come and live in Honduras Funny how no one in mainstream media Has mentioned one word about the massive insurance claims That will surely come out of all this That will cause more than 50% of big insurance companies And 70% of small ones to fail Just wait till those massive insurance claims start coming And think about the fact that with all the stress People being closed in at home All the psychologic problems

[22:41] All the doubling down on medications prescribed by psychiatrists Just wait till all the Americans who think they've got good insurance Start getting their claims rejected And have to start paying 300 bucks for a pill And you think your insurance premiums are high now I bet they will double in the next year Though many, many companies will fail And at least 50% of insurance companies The biggest growth area is set to explode Along with booze, gold, bitcoin, guns, and ammo Of course it'll be water filters, air filters, solar power units, caskets, funerals, and burial plots Speaking of survival instincts Here outside Roatan, I see the local Latinos are on it Seems like every other street

[23:26] There's a guy, Miguel, with a fruit stand Selling homemade masks that look pretty good For anywhere from one to two bucks each I don't know if they're made out of used underwear or what But the market forces have spoken In fact, I know of a Latina seamstress who lost all of her clients And now she's making identical looking hospital masks for 10 cents apiece She has a guy that goes to hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices Taking orders she can never hope to fill She sells them to middlemen too Who mark them up and sell them for 50 cents And they are nice Latinas, I'm talking about the ladies now, do not sit on their hands They always find a way to make money And their men always find a way to sit around, smoke cigarettes, and drink beer That's life on the streets here in Roatan, Honduras I've got a question, Johnny

[24:11] How many Americans with a sewing machine Gathering dust in the attic Have got that kind of initiative or creativity? Five years ago when I first arrived here I used to wonder why instant ad hoc Latino marketplaces would spring up Now I know it's by necessity It's because they don't depend on their corrupt ass government officials For much of anything There are no bailouts or handouts Though the government gives out 50 or 100 bucks here and there in some food baskets Nothing like the US though With no safety net in times of crisis or any other time Hate to say it but They're a thousand percent more self-sufficient than we are It's so strange that every time there's an avalanche or a bridge out Or a hurricane or big road construction bottlenecks

[24:58] Within two hours people start arriving selling beer, coke, pastries, nuts, fruits Bottled water, candies, sandwiches, selfie sticks, kitty toys It's the purest form of capitalism you've ever seen Suddenly there's a brand new 100% cash economy With zero government involvement With zero acceptance of checks, plastic, or IOUs It's our instinctive way of solving a supply and demand problem Ever since we stopped trading in salt, beads, and arrowheads But once the market matures and the bankers and governments get involved They get their cut by complicating things and doing basically nothing Until we have a world just awash in debt Loans, junk bonds, T-bills, mortgage-backed securities Derivatives, futures, options, puts, calls

[25:43] Triple mortgages, refinance packages Complicated to the point of insanity Where no one person can recognize all the pieces of the puzzle Much less know where they should go Or the secondary or tertiary effects of the interactions they have on each other So here we are in the midst of a gigantic crisis Like we've never seen before With the Fed All the redundant agencies and talking heads Telling us every day, don't worry, we've got your back And then bombarding us with press releases from so-called government experts Meanwhile, if I've learned anything over the years Is that if the government tells me to buy stocks and bonds And that banks are safe, they're definitely not If they tell us not to worry, it's time to start worrying big time Think Katrina on steroids, think Venezuela

[26:29] As for Venezuela, few people I know have ever been to Venezuela But I was there right before Chavez got in After having the world's number one largest oil reserve They've hit rock bottom They're a permanent smudge deep in the crapper Even though for the longest time They were the number one largest oil reserve and producer in the world And the USA, what are they number one in? Let's see, number one in worldwide debt Number one most expensive war machine in the world Number one most expensive medical care in the world Number one in data collection and spying on their own citizens Number one in lawyers in lawsuits per capita Number one in drug use, legal and illegal Number one in citizens incarcerated And number one in poor nutrition and obesity

[27:14] And now for the bad news After four trillion in stimulus Well, that bought the economy about four to six weeks Time to dust off that sewing machine That's it for me, Johnny, great podcast signed Sandy PS, I'm a guy I was born a guy and I'll die a guy And I've got an XY chromosome to prove it 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, theexpatfiles 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, theexpatfiles at gmail.com No spamos