Greetings from Sunny Chapala,

The cool season has started a little earlier than normal and daytime temperatures are down to around 25 degrees Celsius, with the thermometer dropping to 13 at night. It was interesting in light of these temperatures to read a recent article in Forbes.com entitled “Cities Where Your Nest Egg Goes Farthest” because the author surely didn’t factor in the climate and weather-related costs. Part of the problem with commentators is they look for the easy data, hence the focus on “cities”. Many retirees and prospective retirees want nothing to do with cities – they’ve had their fill of clogged freeways and pollution, and the allure of plentiful potential retirement “jobs” is not sufficient to attract them to urban density.

But back to the climate factor. Of the 10 cities cited as desirable, six (Columbus, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Indianapolis, Denver and Nashville) suffer real winter conditions that require central heating, winterizing the vehicle(s), having a second wardrobe of heavy clothing (indoor and outdoor) and all the other “little” costs associated with winter. It’s tough to believe that your nest egg will really go farther when faced with such unavoidable costs. The other four cities (Dallas, Houston, St. Louis and Atlanta) have respectable winter conditions, but are in the heat belt during the summer. While perhaps not as expensive as winter conditions, air conditioning is essential for comfort in those cities.

It isn’t surprising therefore that we meet a lot of people here at Lakeside who are migrants from places such as Minneapolis, Ohio, Colorado, Georgia and Texas. While not necessarily their number one priority, making their nest egg go farther is always a nice side effect of retirement planning, and they have found they can really achieve this goal in Mexico. And many expatriate retirees have no trouble finding employment or starting their own business – they stretch their nest egg very well with additional income.

Kudos to Forbes for identifying those cities that are most affordable for retirees who want to live in a city and retire in the U.S. For those retirees who want something more, we invite you to give Mexico a “test drive”. Go to www.lakechapalatours.com and see how you can enroll in a one-week (or more) experience that will provide you with real information on how to make that nest egg go farther.

Best regards,