The four numbers
About $4,200–4,510 a month. What Mexico’s temporary residency asks in income over the last six months in 2026, depending on the consulate. Or $71,500–75,950 in average savings over the last year. Mexico’s visa, consulate by consulate →
$0. What Mexico charges in tax on your US Social Security. The treaty leaves it to the US.
About $1,100 a year. What IMSS, Mexico’s public insurer, charges a legal resident aged 60–69 for voluntary family health cover in 2026. Rent, healthcare and electricity →
About 18.7 pesos to the dollar. The rate in late October 2026. A dollar buys about 10% more pesos than in early September. It can reverse just as fast.
That’s the whole trade. Easy to reach, harder to qualify for.
What makes Mexico different
Distance. No other popular retirement country is this close. Family visits, a doctor you still see in the US, a funeral you can get to in a day: in practice, that closeness is why many Americans who would struggle in Europe settle happily in Mexico.
It matters more than the rent.
The visa is the high bar, not the life. Mexico’s income test is set well above what a modest life there costs, like Spain’s and unlike Portugal’s. Most retirees qualify on savings rather than monthly income.
Savings do the work.
The treaty is friendly to Social Security. Mexico taxes its residents on worldwide income, but US Social Security is carved out by treaty. IRA withdrawals and investment income follow other rules.
Everything depends on the neighborhood. Rents, safety and the share of English spoken all change within a few blocks. Read the State Department’s advisory for the specific state you’re considering, not Mexico as a whole.
Who Mexico works for
- Retirees with savings of $75,000 or more who want residency without a high monthly income.
- People who want to stay close to family in the US.
- Anyone happy to live a Mexican life rather than an American one in Mexico: that’s where the value is.
Who it doesn’t
- People on Social Security alone with no savings: the residency tests are above most benefits.
- Anyone who needs heavy air conditioning in a hot zone and hasn’t priced the DAC electricity tariff.
- Anyone who hasn’t checked private insurance at their age: premiums past 65 rise steeply.
Before you decide
- Download the current sheet from the consulate that covers your address, and check its date.
- Get quotes for private insurance at your age, and ask IMSS about waiting periods for conditions you already have.
- Rent in the neighborhood for a season before you sign a long lease or buy.
- Ask a cross-border preparer how Mexico will treat your IRA and investment income.
For a comparison of where $2,000 a month works across 14 countries, Mexico included, see How to Retire Abroad on $2,000 a Month.
