It’s a new year, and for some people that means it’s time for a fresh start. But if your 2020 plans include considering retirement in Mexico, what are the chances of finding love there as well? According to author Travis Luther, your chances “ain’t bad,” especially if you’re a single man.
In his new book, The Fun Side of the Wall: Baby Boomer Retirement in Mexico, Luther surveyed over 500 Baby Boomers as to their marital status when arriving in Mexico. Here’s what he found out:
- 56% Married
- 25% Single
- 21% Divorced
- 11% Widowed
- 8% Remarried
- 4% Separated
- 1% Other
You have probably discovered that these percentages do not add up to 100%. Keep in mind that some people who reported “Single” may have also reported “Divorced” or “Widowed.” Likewise, some “Married” respondents may have also indicated that they are “Separated.” Even without breaking down those cross-relationships, the data is very enlightening.
Overall, 56% of the Mexico Boomers report being married. While at first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anything remarkable about these responses, there is something quite interesting to be discovered when we break them out by gender.
Consider the following:
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61% of all survey respondents were female. ♀
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39% of all survey respondents were male. ♂
Based on the responses, we could conclude that there are more expat women than men in Mexico, or, we could conclude that women are more likely than men to have an internet connection and participate in online forums or communities. However, Luther insists that based on the data and his extensive trips through Mexico, there are indeed significantly more female than male U.S. expats living in Mexico.
Even more interesting, the data show that women are almost twice as likely than men to arrive in Mexico either single or divorced.
In fact:
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39% of Mexico Boomer women surveyed reported being single.
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22% of Mexico Boomer men surveyed reported being single.
The data do seem to suggest that the Mexico Boomer women are more likely to be single than men and that there are a lot more of them.
For Luther, one of the unexpected outcomes of this imbalance was the discovery of a vibrant Mexico Boomer dating scene. Single male Mexico Boomers assured Luther that expat communities were a great place to meet single women. This was corroborated by many single women who admitted that a bit of infighting had occurred for their romantic attention.
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For both men and women about 56% of the Mexico Boomers are married. This number is also low compared to a 70% marriage rate for Boomers still back in the states (which includes remarriages).
If we view these numbers through the financial challenges Baby Boomers face, it would make sense that more women than men are retiring in Mexico, and that more single women than men are choosing this path. This is because women are far more likely to struggle financially in retirement than married couples with dual incomes and assets.
Mexico may provide single Baby Boomers of both genders one solution to money trouble, and, may be even more attractive to single women who have had historically lower wages than men and suffer more severe financial consequences after a divorce.
In reviewing data from Luther’s original Mexico Boomer survey in 2008, it appears this trend has remained rather steady, indicating that the arrival of single female Baby Boomers in Mexico is not a recent development, but has been rather consistent over the last ten years.
Are you curious about who is retiring in Mexico, where they live, what they value, and the cost of living? Have you been thinking about retirement in Mexico as a way to retire earlier or to stretch your retirement dollars? Then you’ve got to order the NEW BOOK, The Fun Side of the Wall: Baby Boomer Retirement in Mexico.
Travis Luther is a Denver, Colorado writer and educator. He is a former Adjunct Professor and current Director of the RoadFounders College Business Incubator at MSU Denver. He is also the former Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Colorado Denver, where he received his Master’s Degree in Sociology. Luther first became interested in Baby Boomers retiring in Mexico during graduate school. His Masters Thesis research contributed to the content in this book. He continues to be interested in U.S. expatriates retiring all over the world and continues to monitor those who have retired in Mexico.
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Photo by Thomas Hafeneth on Unsplash