How Being Born In The US And Living In Mexico Has Been “’Bery Bery’ Good To Me”

In his book on happiness, Dennis Prager points out that gratitude is a pre-condition for happiness (as well as goodness) and one of the most important emotions one can feel and cultivate. It’s one of the main reasons why, for thousands of years, traditional prayers from different religions include what the person praying is thankful for.

It is with this and some 1970s comic bits in mind that I often remark to my wife how “Mexico has been ‘bery’, ‘bery’ good to us.” Those of us who are old enough to have watched Saturday Night Live in the late 1970s may remember the fictional character Chico Escuela, played by Garrett Morris, who famously declared that baseball had been “Bery, bery good” to him. (Spanish speakers will often pronounce a “V” with a “B” because in Spanish, they are the same.)

In doing research for this phrase, I also came across quotes by baseball players Minnie Minoso (from Cuba, played for Minnesota) and Roberto Clemente (from Puerto Rico, played for Pittsburgh) who said the same phrase without comic intent and perhaps slightly less of an accent, with the implication that it wasn’t only baseball that had been very good to them, but it was America as well. It is unlikely that if Minoso had played baseball only in Cuba and Clemente had played baseball only in Puerto Rico, they would have achieved the same level of success as they did playing in the US.

So, I join real life Minoso and Clemente, along with the fictional Chico Escuela and consistent with the wisdom of the prophets, in expressing my gratitude for my circumstances of living in Mexico. You may want to consider the list below of what I’m grateful for to ponder if you were to do the same thing, if you would be grateful as well. Here are just a few of the ways how living in Mexico has been good for my wife and me.

·     In the US, running a small business can be a big challenge, with lots of forces arrayed against you, including high start up costs; high labor costs; high insurance costs; high legal exposure; compliance with government regulations, mandates and interference; fierce competition, etc., while here in Mexico, these issues are much, much less. (See my Forbes article, Why It Can Be Easier To Start A Business In Mexico.). After having lots of experience starting, running, and helping other people start and run small businesses in the US, I started Best Mexico Movers here in Mexico just over two years ago, with results that dramatically exceeded my expectations, and rather easily.

·     If I were still in the US, I would by now be paying well over $2,000 per month for horrible health insurance with a $10,000 deductible, financially horrified to go to the doctor, and putting off visits or just not going when I probably should. Here in Mexico, I pay about $240 per month for much better health insurance, with better doctors and a lower deductible. I go whenever I feel I may need to, spend a leisurely 40 minutes or so with a qualified doctor, and pay my $30 or so out of pocket for the visit. Then, I just walk out the door, with peace of mind dramatically enhanced, and a big smile.

·     In the US, my property tax was over $6,000 per year. For a similar house here in Mexico, it would be around $300 per year. This extra $5,700 every year in my pocket tends to add up over time.

·     In the US, my mortgage concerned me. Here in Mexico, we’re considering having two homes—one in the mountains overlooking a lake, and one on the coast, on the Sea of Cortez. There is absolutely no way the thought of such a thing would even dare to cross my mind in the US, whereas here in Mexico, it’s close to becoming a reality. And we’re not part of a crowd that includes fabulously rich people, those with wealthy grandparents who bought a country home they get to share, or trust fund babies. Lots of Americans and Canadians who live in Mexico have two homes, albeit usually the other one is in the US or Canada.

·     We go out to eat here whenever we choose to and I don’t worry about the prices, which are about one third of what you would pay in the US. To take a lower-end example that most people can relate with, the Subway sandwich of the day here costs the equivalent of about $2.30, and it’s really, really good, and not just because it’s cheap (although, to be perfectly honest, that may help).

·     The weather here is close to perfect, or as close as one can get without living in Hawaii or La Jolla, for which you would have to be a decamillionaire, at least by my calculations. (In La Jolla, the average price for a home with a view not as good as the one I mentioned above we’ll probably get on the Sea of Cortez is $3.7 million.)

·     Last but definitely not least, the Mexicans we interact with are almost universally happy, friendly, kind, generous people, and remarkably so. We have formed what we believe and hope to be lasting friendships here with the locals. Of course, without this last bullet, none of the above bullets would mean anything. Life is more than low cost of living, great healthcare, very good weather, etc.

With all this gratitude going around, I would be very remiss if I didn’t mention one other thing that I’m grateful for, and without which, none of this would be possible: I was born in the US and I have US dollars to exchange for pesos to spend here in Mexico.

Ironic, isn’t it?

The reason why living in Mexico can be so much better for so many of us Americans than living in the US is because we come from the US and have US dollars to spend. For this foundational privilege we shall always be grateful and loyal to the US. It’s just that, compared with living in the US, it’s better and easier for many Americans to live in Mexico. Thank you, US, for the huge privilege of being born a US citizen. And thank you, Mexico, for allowing us to live in Mexico.   Indeed, this combination has been very, very (and bery bery) good to us.

(For a related article, see Can You Be ‘American’ While Living In Mexico? )