After turning 50, I retired from my job as a pharmacist and moved from San Francisco to Ajijic, Mexico.
On paper, I had done everything right: I did a ton of research, picked a beautiful lakeside town, and ran the numbers. I was confident I could make this new life work.
However, building a sustainable, enjoyable early retirement abroad takes more than just moving to a place with a lower cost of living.
After three years here, I believe I’ve finally done it.
First, I had to figure out what ‘sustainable’ actually means in practice
For me, a sustainable early retirement abroad means feeling at ease and living comfortably while staying prepared for the unexpected.
Since I chose to retire at 50, I wanted to make sure I could support myself for at least another 17 years, which is when I’ll be eligible to receive full Social Security benefits.
When building a sustainable financial system, I kept in mind my desired lifestyle, second-career goals, fixed-income investments, and long-term legacy.
For example, I wanted to be able to visit my family back in San Francisco regularly and finally pursue writing as a career — something I’d wanted since grade school — without an immediate need for income.
So, I prioritized growing my high-yield savings accounts and investing in CDs, short-term bond funds, and money market funds to cover living expenses.
I also hired a financial advisor to diversify the rest of my portfolio for growth and stability, so I could focus on creative work rather than market swings after I moved.
I knew I needed to create a budget to help keep my yearly spending steady, so I began tracking how much I would need for essentials while still having extra money for travel, enrichment, and emergencies.
The first year of my move consisted of a lot of preparing, testing, and exploring
After the initial culture shock, I spent my first year in Ajijic learning my way around the town, getting accustomed to Mexican culture, and gradually falling into step with the local rhythm.
I explored different ways to manage cash flow between my US and Mexican bank accounts and learned I liked using the service Wise for low-fee currency conversions.
Through online searches and conversations with locals and expats, I curated a “money‑smart” list of the best-priced grocery stores, reliable handymen, and trusted doctors, so future surprise expenses could be less likely to blow up my budget.
I tracked all my spending in a spreadsheet, breaking it down by category so I knew exactly where my money was going. This helped me plan for the next year.
After a few months of renting, I also bought a house that’s become both a comfortable home and a long‑term investment. Owning a home helped anchor me in the community and turn my housing expenses into an asset.
In my second and third years abroad, I did more strategic planning and refining
In year two, I worked closely with my financial advisor to better reshape my portfolio around my early retirement needs and set up an accessible emergency fund.
I got in the habit of using Wise to track the dollar–to–peso exchange rate and batch-converting money whenever it was favorable.
Plus, I took a closer look at my healthcare plans. Because of my good health, I chose to pay out of pocket for doctor’s visits rather than buy health insurance in Mexico. This lowered my expenses and also made it easy to put off routine checkups.
Even though I felt fine, I knew I needed to stay on top of preventive care to protect my long-term health, so I also scheduled an annual lab panel, vision exam, and routine teeth cleaning. They all cost me less than what I’d spend on similar services in the US. I made plans to repeat this annually so small problems wouldn’t snowball.
In year three, I set up many unsexy but critical documents, including wills, beneficiary designations, and a cross-border estate plan.
I also created an emergency plan in case of a health crisis, which included which hospital I’d like to use, how I would pay, and who to call if something went wrong.
And, after two years of collecting my Ajijic spending data, I finally had the experience and confidence to lock in my budget and begin living by it.
All in all, I’ve found that sustainability is a gateway to opportunities
I feel I’ve made the right choice by retiring early in Mexico and giving myself the chance to lead a new life on my own terms.
In three years, though, all my planning, saving, investing, and strategizing have begun to pay off: I’ve had more mental space for writing and other creative work that energizes me.
My writing career is already taking shape. I recently won ThrillerFest’s 2026 Undiscovered New Voices scholarship and will soon pitch my latest psychological thriller to industry professionals.
Sure, this is a simplified overview — building a retirement abroad also involves navigating visas and so many other logistics.
It takes time to build a system that can hold up for decades, but I already feel confident I can maintain my current lifestyle for many years to come.
Read the full article here
