Tied to concerns about health care, some expats and future expats are also looking into what would happen if they were to retire overseas and then become too ill to take care of themselves. Mexico is working on an answer.
As the US population ages, and as more and more Americans decide to retire abroad, Assisted Living is becoming big business in Mexico. It even has its own non-profit organization! AMAR is the Asociacion Mexicana de Asistencia en el Retiro in Spanish, the Mexican Association for Retirement Communities in English. It’s a not-for-profit company that helps retirees find independent or assisted living communities in Mexico.
Their mission is to encourage the development of the senior living market and to continually improve the quality of life standards among retirement communities in Mexico. It should be noted that assisted living facilities are largely unregulated, although AMAR is committed to creating US-style standards for the industry.
The organization’s founder, Javier Godinez-Villegas, estimates that about 3 million US expats will join the million or so already in Mexico within the next 10 years. Other estimates place the number closer to 10 million by 2025. That, added to the shortage of affordable assisted living facilities in the US, creates a huge opportunity for Mexican developers. The organization held its first convention last September in Mexico City.
Not surprisingly, the first places to see assisted living facilities geared toward Americans are areas considered to be expat havens.
Serena Senior Care opened a center in Rosarito, Mexico, last May, and is targeting two groups: the elderly already needing their services, and their younger, baby-boomer children. Their website states:
“Residents will have lodging, all meals, housekeeping, personal care by trained nurses and caregivers, supervision from a Geriatrician, social activities, physical therapy, and many other services. This new service is a great value, with an affordable monthly fee that is about 50% the cost of comparable services in California, but with the distinctive warm hospitality of Mexico.”
San Miguel de Allende, long an expat haven in the Colonial highlands of Mexico, is home to Cielito Lindo. According to a USA Today article, Oregon retiree Jean Douglas found a studio apartment, meals, cleaning and laundry services and 24-hour care from a mostly English-speaking staff – all for about a quarter of what she would have paid back home.
Laredo native Jean Edwards, interviewed by the Dallas News at Cielito Lindo, felt that the Mexican culture places more value on elderly people and caring for them.
According to an ABC News report, an elderly Alzheimer’s patient receives a place to live, 24-hour care, and a weekly house call from a doctor, all for $1,000 per month. In the US, that level of care would cost about $13,000 monthly.
I’m sure we’ll see more of these in other countries as well, as the US economy continues weak and health care does not improve.
Do you have experience (either yourself or a friend or loved one) with non-US assisted living? Please share it with us! Click the Comment link below.
Having a maid is very much like assited living–someone to cook, wash dishes, carry groceries, and do household chores.
True. And unlike the US, in Mexico it’s actually affordable!
I just found this website recently when a good friend recommended it to me. I have been an avid reader ever since.
I built a house in Bustamante, N.L. tha costed me more than 200.000 dollars. I wuld like to meet a developer of assisted
living place and see if we can make deal. I’m 77 years old.
Thank you for your attention,
I just got an email from a reader who states:
“i am much interested in find an independent living facility in mexico. i currently live in texas. i am looking somewhere in the $1000 a month range. can you help me?”
If you have a suggestion, please add a comment here. Thanks.
Thanks for writing about this. There’s a mass of solid tech info on the web. You’ve got a lot of that info here on your website. I’m impressed – I try to keep a couple blogs reasonably live, but it’s a struggle at times. You’ve done a huge job with this one. How do you do it?
I just listed a 24 unit hotel/condo unit in San Carlos Mexico that is just 5 1/2 hours S of Tucson. It would make an excellent Assisted living facility. Anyone wanting to invest in Mexico please contace me for information my email is [email protected].
I was wondering how one might access live in custodial/companion care for my mother in Mexico. In USA, there are various designations to indicate training and/or certification: i.e., CNA
Is there some idea of cost for this?
How about nursing home care as well?
Thanks, John
At Residencia Pacifica, our mission is to make the guest feel like they are wanted, in a home like ambience, surrounded in a pleasant atmosphere with tranquility and cared for as they really deserve. This will be accomplished by our qualified staff.
Feel tranquil because that special person of yours merits to pass their golden years full of attention and care in a place where peace and love is a style of life.
Enjoy the view from lounge, looking at the Pacific ocean where you can see dolphins during the morning, and sunsets at the evening.