I hate flying, but here I go again on another recon mission to a Spanish-speaking city whose name begins with ‘M’. This time it’s Mexico City at the end of September.
My plan to move abroad has been a moving target since November 2025. I’ve gotten used to tweaking it on a weekly basis because something always comes up: new research angles, new videos and articles in my feeds, and even geo-political news. Just in the last week, three news stories caught my attention:
- Spain’s Ceuta crisis is deepening into a politically destabilizing event.
- AfD just won a major victory in Germany.
- Argentina is saber-rattling about the Falklands again–and Trump’s egging Milei on.
That’s just this week. Germany’s latest lurch to the right is a sign of Europe’s metastasizing political disease. A Spain destabilized by a migrant crisis will be even more vulnerable: cracks in Spanish democracy and LGBT rights that were already forming will accelerate. So much for my theory that recent memory of the Franco dictatorship would act like fascism antibodies. It seems like such immunity may be fleeting, and there’s no vaccine on hand. That’s alarming, but that’s not all.
The Ticking Clock
My latest research turned up a new issue–obtaining health insurance in some of my candidate countries has cut-off ages or large penalties. I’m already ineligible for Uruguay’s best plan, and my idea of spending a few years in Europe and then moving to Uruguay could run out the clock on the remaining plans as well. So now I have to factor this into the whole 62-67 timeline, not just how things stand now. This new clock is ticking as loudly as a tell-tale heart.
I want to make my choice by the end of September and begin working through the visa process. There’s no guarantee that my first attempt will even work out, and who knows how deep I could get into the process before getting a hard no. So I feel like I need another option, something more flexible, and that option may be Mexico City. The basic fact that Americans make up the largest foreign population in Mexico is a pretty good indicator that success is probable.
No Badges, Just The Benjamins
That said, immigrating to Mexico has a strange hurdle. Their retirement visa passive income requirements are nearly double that of similar countries, and apparently each consulate has their own alternative qualification options based on savings. The Philly consulate doesn’t publish its guidelines, but it’s a handful of blocks from home. That proximity feels like a plus for navigating the whole process.
Being an American in Mexico is much more straightforward than getting there, and it’s pretty positive in the healthcare and taxation dimensions. Unlike Spain, I can still earn money on a retirement visa in case I pick up a side hustle or even a real job again. That matters because of a big blip on the radar screen: the looming Social Security insolvency crisis of 2032–coincidentally when I can fully retire. Of course.
The good news is that benefits will probably continue at a reduced level (projections say 78%) even if the mundane worst happens. Frankly, the mundane worst would be a pleasant surprise compared to the last two years; it’s probably best to assume that will happen and not sweat the exceptionally bad possibilities because they cannot be mitigated.
The bad news is less money means more problems anywhere but particularly in Spain where I’m not allowed to work before 2032 and probably not after. Mexico City is a big city with a lower cost of living and the flexibility to continue earning. Back on the list it goes!
The reasons I dropped Mexico from consideration didn’t magically go away, but the health insurance and work flexibility may mitigate them in a big city head-to-head with Madrid. I’ll save the pros and cons of Mexico City for another post, maybe once I’m on the ground. To friends on my sub-net: Have any experiences in Mexico City you’d like to share? Please reach out.