Why MEXICO's Is A Hidden Opportunity for Wealthy Expats

Transcript

Speaker: 0:36

Let's be real. Mexico isn't the cheap backpacker paradise that it used to be. Prices have gone up, immigration rules have tightened, and if you're still thinking. You can move here and live like a king on a thousand dollars a month. Those days are long gone. Let me tell you, Mexico has changed and so is the kind of expat that it's attracting. This place isn't just for retirees or broke nomads anymore. It's for people building real businesses with real income who want quality of life, not just a low cost of living. In this video, we're gonna talk about what that all means, how Mexico has been evolving over the years, and what that means for you as an expat, especially if you're looking for a place to be able to actually build businesses, to build connections, to grow, invest, and have a higher quality of life. Hi, I'm Justin Keltner and on this channel Entrepreneur, expat. We help you move abroad, start the life of your dreams in a different country, and actually enjoy. Working so that you can live not living to work like you might in the US or Canada or a lot of other places. On this channel, we talk about a bunch of things, especially to help high net worth individuals with their real estate search abroad, with investing with foreign businesses and all of the different tax and real estate and business strategies to help them grow their wealth. Hit that subscribe button if that's something that you are interested in. And feel free to check out all of the resources down below this video. We've got a ton of courses, and if you are a high net worth individual, you've got a million dollars or more in assets, and you want help with our white glove relocation services, just go to entrepreneur expat.com/consult and we can get you squared away with all of that. so let's talk now about the new reality of Mexico. Since the pandemic and the digital nomad boom that happened, Mexico has just skyrocketed on the charts of places that expats want to be. There's been so much foreign investment transforming the economy, not just in these last few years, but for many, many years before that, it's just that. Since, uh, those 2020 era times, uh, we have gotten so much foreign investment here. There's so much real estate that's been purchased. Mexico is one of the few countries that actually stayed open when everything else was closed. So it was, I think a very, very genius strategic move by AMLO and his administration. And it attracted so much money. Major cities like Mexico City, Guadalajara, where we actually had the pleasure of living for about three years, and the entire lake Chapala area where we currently live have seen double digit rent and property price increases in just the last few years. Here, Even local middle class neighborhoods here are no longer cheap by expat standards. For example, a decent two bedroom house in a safe neighborhood in Mexico City or Ajijic now can cost you easily 1200 to up to$2,000 US per month. That's a far shot. Away from what it was just a few short years ago, and way more than it was a decade or two ago. when the people that think that Mexico is really, really cheap are kind of comparing, uh, things to, it's, it's not anything like that anymore. And Mexico's appeal isn't dying. It's actually evolving. It's attracting entrepreneurs, investors, and people who value lifestyle over bargain. living Now let's talk about some of the things that the government has been doing in response to all of these property values, all of these costs of living and things like that going up here and the fact that frankly, they just don't need that many more people to come and be expats here unless they're wealthy and they have things to contribute. So the immigration requirements have gotten very serious. Temporary residents income have jumped significantly those requirements since 2022 as of 2025, and it's gonna go up in January where we're we're coming up on 2026 in just a couple short months here. As of this year though, you typically need. Around 4,200 USD and verifiable income, not just any income, it has to be remote. So if, let's say you've got a, a job or something, you have to have a letter from your boss saying, Hey, this, this person is actually allowed to work remotely. You can't just come to Mexico, show up, and then sort of do your, your remote. In the US job under the table, you have to get a letter from your boss saying that you can work from Mexico without. Any issues, and if you want to qualify based on savings, you need close to 70,000 USD in the bank just for temporary residency Now, for most of the clients we work with on those white glove relocation services, that's not an issue. And in fact, that's why we only work with people on those particular things when they have a million dollars or more, because if the requirements change even significantly for permanent residency, for example, you've gotta have.$300,000 in the bank. So let's say they change that and it goes up to four, it goes up to five, or they require now some sort of investment because they've changed the rules. Well, high net worth individuals don't have too much of a problem being able to meet those changing requirements. And we want to get and keep our a hundred percent approval rating. So we like to work with people that. Not only value their time more than money, but that also are in a position where things do get a little bit more difficult like they have been in prior years. They can still qualify for the countries that they're interested in moving to. Now, these filters are now starting to filter out a lot of low income nomads and some retirees who used to easily qualify for retirees as an example. If you have a pension or a, or Social security, the requirement for that is now as high as 7,000 USD per month that you need to show, which honestly is a lot more than it actually costs to live here. But like I said, they don't need you anymore unless you're gonna be contributing significantly to the economy, unless you're gonna be spending money, unless you're gonna be bringing your money and investing it here locally. Mexico wants financially stable residents that do contribute to the economy, not kind of living on the edge of, Hey, I've got. And I've heard of this a lot, you know, in different towns around here where people are like. Still even now trying to make ends meet because what might've been cheap living three or four years ago in Ahah now is getting quite expensive. So they're sort of trying to, to make ends meet, to put things together. Mexico isn't really looking for those people anymore, and this shift benefits Mexico's economy because it helps maintain the quality and stability of communities here. Ensures that that people, that are coming into the country have the means not only to support themselves, but also potentially create jobs and, and spend more money and all that. So it's, it's great news from Mexico. Maybe not the best news if you're not able to qualify anymore, but that's just kind of what happens. I told you guys not to sleep on this for the last two years, and it's been getting more and more difficult. If you are in a position where you, you do qualify, book that call below. Go to entrepreneur expat.com/consult so that we can help you through the process so that you don't get denied. Let's say a, a visa, a golden visa for Portugal. Like we've had clients come to us and say, Hey, we, we really wanted to go to Portugal. You know, we weren't able to make it work. we're looking at Mexico because we kind of waited too long on Europe, so we help you not make the mistakes. That could potentially cost you your residency in a given country. And of course, there's an upside of more affluent expat communities, so there's more entrepreneurs and remote professionals, which means there's better services, more people paying for those services and paying into that. Pool. There's better infrastructure and international schools. There's a ton of international schools of Guadalajara in Mexico City. We're actually gonna be doing an interview with one of them on the channel here very, shortly. So it just creates better culture, better communities overall, and real estate markets have matured, so there's more high quality. Developments, there's coworking hubs popping up everywhere, and also better healthcare options all around. And of course, this rising cost means that there's also rising opportunity for those that know how to build businesses around the new expat wave, whether that's restaurants, that's rental services, just like we're doing here, uh, and things of that nature. Higher income expats also tend to integrate more sustainably, so they're buying property, they're potentially paying taxes. Although in Mexico nobody really pays taxes. It's a little, uh, it's a little weird in that sense, but also hiring people locally. So we've got staff that we work with. We're paying content editors here in different parts of Latin America. We've got. People that come and clean our house, uh, you know, personal care, professional services, all sorts of things like that. So we're contributing to the local economy. So who is Mexico really for now? Well, overall, Mexico today rewards people who have a plan that's entrepreneurs, maybe some remote workers that still can qualify investors and families that are looking for freedom, safety, and a better quality of life if you're just coming here to escape or get by cheap. Then it's probably not for you anymore, but if you're serious about building something, earning in dollars, or maybe even earning a little bit from the expats or from the other people that are here and building businesses locally, and you also want a country that gives you more for your money compared to somewhere like the US or Canada or Western Europe, perhaps, especially the uk, well then Mexico still is an incredible. Opportunity. Now there's some trade offs. You know, you've got bureaucracy here that you don't have at the same level in some cases in the us Ironically, it takes longer to open a bank account here in Mexico in some cases than to open a business might. whereas in the US it's kind of the opposite. You've got some little trade offs of that, but you also have amazing community. You've got really, really nice weather year round. We barely have to use the AC here and it never really gets cold, uh, in most places in the country. And there's a ton of opportunity. So Mexico really is no longer a budget destination. It is a land of opportunity for entrepreneurs who are ready to start thinking globally. And if you're thinking globally, and if you've got a million dollars or more in net worth. Definitely book that call below entrepreneurexpat.com/consult We can help you through the entire process start to finish. That includes airport pickup, that includes housing, that includes attorneys to help you and facilitators to help you both get your, your consulate appointment for Mexico or for other countries in the us. Then come down here if you're interested in doing it in the Chapala area. We actually have the housing and everything else secured here as well. Uh, and people locally that will take you to your immigration appointment and make sure your paperwork is done and review everything with you. It's a full start to finish process. So that's entrepreneur expat.com/consult. And if you want more free stuff, definitely check out our Moving to Mexico. guide at entrepreneurexpat.com/mexico And then we've got a bunch of cool goodies, including some courses for you down in the description of this video as well. And I think. We also have our YouTube store working now, so perhaps by the time this is up, you actually will see our courses on getting your first high paying client online or relocation roadmap blueprint where we talk about the entire 360 degree process of moving abroad from picking a country all the way to getting. Settled here and getting your bills paid and rental agreements and all those other things like that. So you can find those links below or around this video somewhere, and make sure you subscribe for more videos on expat life business strategy and relocation tips. Thanks for being the best part of this community, and I'll see you again next.