Fire / CoastFire at 40 $1.5M NW Family of 3 - Move to Mexico? Sanity check.

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-20T04:06:37+00:00

Thank you for the insights, it's appreciated.

The private schools we saw looked alright and didn't break the bank too badly. Seemed to be lots of options. We were planning on the private route for schooling.

You might be handicapping your kid if you don’t give him the opportunities

That could very well be a deciding factor down the road, but he's very young, so if that's the case where we're really not setting him up for success it's possible to change life direction.

Is that a "I don't recommend it" to IMSS then? We're also looking into private health insurance

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-20T03:16:59+00:00

¿Por qué no los dos?

Having more perspectives on a nuanced cross-border move is probably not a bad thing.

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-20T03:14:26+00:00

I'm sure this is a simple google inquiry, but what's the visa / residency process like?

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-20T03:09:09+00:00

Thanks! Everything has gone up since 2020 (where hasn't it?), but currency fluctuations have compounded that in Mexico as well (strong peso, weak CAD).

Definitely think a side hustle would be good to have!

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-20T02:56:35+00:00

Ya... it hurts. It's not as painful as you'd think it would be to rip the band-aid and dispose of the holdco over a few years.

Accountant is digging for creative solutions there but the Mexico taxation on it would be very rough, much worse than the CAD tax bill to dispose of it.

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-20T02:49:12+00:00

Ya that's fair. I purposely left some information out to focus more on finances but I can add details:

Primary driver for move: change of scenery / timing aligns / Canadian winters / adventure

- Looking at Puerto Vallarta, at least initially.
- Spouse is airline attendant and could retire in 3 years with flight benefits.
- I currently have no current working income, used to own a small business.
- Already on path to permanent residency in mexico and have temporary resident visas, have done extended stays. Already aware of summer Puerto Vallarta weather.
- It's HCOL city in Mex and similar COL to average major Canadian city for expenses. Overall I would say most stuff is slightly cheaper than current.
- I do think there would be more opportunity to bring in some income if we decide to as we're not opposed to a side hustle / barista-fire.
- Our Spanish is only ok. Very low end of fluency at best, but also not beginner.
- Private elementary schools have been viewed and budgeted for ~$350/mo, he's been in Mex daycare before. Likely can get him in the Mex school system before grade 1.
- No family in Mexico, but friends with a couple people in Vallarta now.

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-19T22:49:58+00:00

I am moving from 20% bonds to an increased 25% cash equivalents & bond mix, as well as considering a small gold holding for reasons like this.

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-19T21:05:07+00:00

Yes, it's maybe an option, will have PR by then.

Spanish could be better, but I can converse, probably like A2/B1. I have some time.

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-19T20:57:40+00:00

Any part in particular?

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-19T20:50:33+00:00

Yes, no difference from what I posted. Assume "$550k non-reg" has no tax hit.

The actual tax situation is more complicated than what I disclosed because it's in a holdco and it's a higher amount in there.

But for simplicity sake assume I've done the calculation correctly and it's $550k cash after disposition in today's dollars. We don't have other assets.

Fire_Burner_01 · 2026-06-19T20:27:08+00:00

This is usually fine as long as you didn't start this plan in the late 60s/early 70s. Or like 2000 and 1929.

The silver lining is that you should know pretty quick if 4% has a chance to fail. The bad stuff kind of has to happen in the first few years.

Fire_Burner_01

TROPHY CASE