Financial planning is a cornerstone of lifestyle planning, and one of the most frequently asked questions by people considering a retirement in Mexico is, How much money will we need to live in Mexico?
Two calculations are required
There are two calculations you will need to make to determine the financial means you will need to have at your disposal to retire in Mexico:
- the first calculation is related to the financial requirements to qualify for a residency permit in Mexico, and
- the second calculation is related to your real living costs in Mexico that will be determined according to your individual circumstances, personal choices, and lifestyle plans.
Income or savings/investments required to obtain a residency permit
The financial requirements to qualify for a residency permit have risen in recent years as Mexican consulates have not adopted the ‘UMA’ measure (that replaces Minimum Wage) as a means of calculating qualification criteria. Learn more about UMA as part of residency qualification.
Monthly income —v— savings/investments to qualify
Unless you intend to lead a ‘high octane’ lifestyle, the monthly income required to qualify for residency in Mexico is considerably higher than the typical costs of living in Mexico.
A corollary of this is that some people who want to retire in Mexico don’t have sufficient monthly income to qualify but do have sufficient income to live here.
If your pension income doesn’t meet the current income requirements, you can instead qualify based your savings/investments—and many people who have been saving throughout their lives will have sufficient savings and investments to qualify, even if their monthly income does not meet the minimum threshold.
The links in the box below contain detailed information to guide you about this. The include information about the current amounts of income or savings/investments you need to demonstrate to qualify for residency under the auspice of ‘economic solvency’ as well as other routes to residency besides ‘economic solvency.’
Further insights about financial criteria to qualify for residency
Discover the Routes to legal residency in Mexico
Financial criteria to qualify under ‘economic solvency’
FAQs: Learn about the types of income and savings/investments that qualify
The difference between temporary and permanent residency
Get help with your application: Mexico Immigration Assistance
Mexico Immigration Assistance
When you need assistance with your Mexico residency application, renewals, or regularization procedures, our Mexico Immigration Assistance Service provides consulting, advice, and practical help that helps you through the entire residency application or renewal process, including regularization procedures.
Income required to sustain your retirement in Mexico
The second calculation you’ll need to make concerns working out your real living costs in Mexico, and these will be determined by your individual circumstances, your intentions, and your lifestyle choices.
The question: “How much does it cost to live in Mexico?” has no specific answer because the amount of money you need to live and sustain yourself here will depend on an assortment of factors, the most common of which include:
- where in Mexico you choose to live: the most popular places also tend to be the most expensive to live in—from rents and house prices to everyday living expenses;
- whether you will rent or buy a home in Mexico;
- whether you have homeowner association fees to pay in addition to other expenses;
- the state of your general health and well-being: healthcare insurance premiums are higher for those with previous ailments, and while medications are less expensive in Mexico, they are still a cost and might have to be paid out of pocket;
- whether you’ll have a car or other vehicle(s) in Mexico to run and service;
- how often you travel, including trips back to your home country;
- what lifestyle choices you make including things like how and where you shop, how often you eat out, how much alcohol you consume (alcohol prices have been rising steadily in recent years), how much you spend on non-essentials, how much you spend on healthcare matters and medications, etc.;
- how much home help and other domestic assistance services you want or need: for example, whether you hire a housekeeper (and how often), a gardener, someone to maintain your swimming pool, if you have one, and other home services, e.g., nurses, or in-home care givers;
- how often you intend to travel within Mexico as well as how often you travel back-and-forth between Mexico and your home country.
Our guide to the cost of living in Mexico is a comprehensive resource that explores real living costs in Mexico and helps you to step back, make an assessment of your situation, and formulate a budget based on your individual circumstances.
Further research and resources
Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.
- Comprehensive guide to living and lifestyles in Mexico
- Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
- Articles about living costs in Mexico
- Learn about obtaining residency in Mexico
- Latest articles about retirement in Mexico
- Is Mexico right for your retirement?
- Benefits Mexico offers to retirees
- Discovering potential places to live in Mexico
- A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free
