Retirement and Investment in Lake Chapala

CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, has reported a 3.5 billion profit outperforming competitors and remaining on top after weathering the financial crises.

Lloyd Blankfein adds that he is enlisting the aid of former White House Counsel, Gregory Craig to help deal with the ins and outs of the Washington machine during this investigation.

Further Britain’s F.A.S. (Financial Services Authority) their financial regulator, has opened a formal investigation into allegations that the Wall Street investment bank has defrauded investors.

Goldman Sachs profit has doubled to 3.5 billion and out of this they are paying billions in bonuses after receiving tax payer funds. 5.5 billion in salaries and bonuses have been paid which is down from 50% to 43% according to Blankfein.

The charge is that Goldman Sachs was selling sub-prime mortgage related investments in 2007 that were secretly designed to lose value.

The F.S.A. will be working closely with the SEC during the investigation into the Goldman Sachs fraud case.

The SEC has accused Goldman Sachs of structuring and marketing a financial product without letting its clients know that Paulson & Co., a prominent hedge fund, had helped the bank assemble the investment while at the same time placing bets it would lose value. The bank received 15 million from Paulson &Co. for its services.

A poll says that, although Americans do not want anymore government regulation, the one area they do want regulation is in financial institutions at a rate of 2 to 1.

The GOP is planning to filibuster any legislation regulating the financial institutions.

I am no financial genius, but is would seem to me that trust in Wall Street and investment banks is, at the moment, not a safe bet.

It is hard enough to earn enough money to retire comfortably in this or any financial climate without your own bank virtually stealing from you and taking bets against the product they have sold you to fail.

Although the byword seems to be “Too Big to Fail” is this a realistic assessment for institutions that we entrust with our futures?

At that time my husband volunteered to go to Sear in Guadalajara to purchase said stove as we had always trusted them (Sears) in Canada.

Our stove lasted for some time but getting it serviced was always a challenge as everything had to be done in Spanish (I was far from fluent in 2000) and we had to wait sometimes weeks for a service call.

Finally, we took to having local electricians fix our stove for us, when needed, and when we were told it was no longer fixable we decided to buy a new stove locally.

We bought a Whirlpool stove in April of 2009 from Tio Sam which is located on the Libramiento Chapala-Ajijic # 132-9. Their phone # is 766-5664 and their email address is: lozexpo@prodigy.net.mx.

From the beginning we had nothing but problems with this stove. First getting it to fit into the space allotted for a stove in our kitchen was a challenge but we were able to deal with that by removing two side pieces that were of no apparent use according to the installer.

Secondly, the knobs fell off. We had this dealt with too. Service calls from Tio Sam are available Tuesday and Thursdays.

We also had problems with the movable racks in the oven which were designed to make life easier as they came out when you opened the oven door. This was not quite the case, however. We did not know that you were supposed to insert a small pole into a even smaller hole to make the unit secure. I am still haunted by my husbands screams as his freshly baked cherry pie was sliding out of the oven onto the floor.

The next thing that went wrong was the oven thermometer seemed to have no relation whatever to the temperature you had chosen on the oven dial. I found this out when it took me almost 4 hours to roast a chicken.

Now you might say “Why not adjust the oven to a higher temperature?” I did this and that worked swell for a while until all of a sudden the oven decided that it would respect the temperature I had selected and, subsequently, burned everything.

During this period we had multiple service calls to try and fix this temperature problem.

We tried an exterior oven thermometer. We got a new gas hose which was flexible and, therefore, not cutting off the flow of gas when it was bent behind the stove.

I was becoming close personal friends with the repairmen as I tried to follow all of their helpful suggestions.

I won’t even get into my husband trying to cook a brined (three day process) turkey for Thanksgiving. The legs were dry as dust but the rest was raw. Needless to say he was far from happy.

It was at that low point that my husband said “Let’s get them to replace this piece of …..!”

We called the person we had been dealing with at Tio Sam whose name was Claudia and began the long process of getting a new stove. Several repairmen came to assess the situation and at last it was agreed that we did indeed warrant a replacement. I was gleeful as I thought we would have our new unit before Christmas. Silly me!

I am very happy to say now, however, thanks to the dogged persistence of myself, all of my Spanish speaking children and Claudia at Tio Sam we now have a beautiful new stove.

Although this, to some might be perceived as a tedious process we achieved the desired outcome and I am not sure if we would have been so lucky had we not bought right here in Ajjic, Lake Chapala.

We will continue to shop for appliances at Tio Sam and will continue to deal with Claudia who was a saint throughout the entire process and was always on our side.

Attention All Smokers

On arrival to Ajijic, Lake Chapala there were no such restrictions in place and one could smoke freely anywhere as it were. Of course, you might run into the odd rabid anti-smoker but that was to be expected.

Now it would seem that last week-end federal officials closed several restaurants and bars in Guadalajara for not adhering to the General Law for Tobacco Control.

Many of these establishments in Jalisco still allow their patrons to smoke ever though the law states they must have separate smoking areas.

Although the details are still sketchy, a team from the Federal Sanitation Protection Commission ( Cofepris) is thought to have visited approximately 40 restaurants in the city.

To reopen, owners of the closed restaurants need to make their establishments 80% smoke-free with outdoor or enclosed smoking areas only and put up the appropriate signs or outlaw smoking altogether.

On the other side of the argument the National Chamber of the Restaurant and Food Industry (Canirac) is furious about the raids and suggests that closure over smoking are hurting an industry already badly affected last year by the H1N1 crises. They went on to say that they are victims of a very severe law that citizens still don’t fully understand.

Actually, the federal anti-tobacco law is quite clear:

- Public areas must be 100% free of smoke. (These include restaurants, bars, schools and public buildings.)

- Owners of bars and restaurants can construct outside areas for smokers, but they must also be isolated.

- Owners can be fined between around 5,500 and 550,000 pesos.

- Other punishments include a warning, temporary or permanent closure or up to 36 hours in jail.

Perhaps the problem with the law is nobody really knows who is responsible for enforcing it.

Jalisco Health Minister, Afonso Petersen, explained that until a Jalisco state commission for the protection of sanitation is set up, it will be the responsibility of the federal government to enforce the no-smoking law.

It would appear to me that this might be a swell time to consider quitting or stopping (no one likes a quitter) smoking.

It is becoming very difficult to smoke comfortably anywhere other than your own home (and even that can be difficult depending on your non-smoking family members) and no one wishes to put our restaurants or bars in jeopardy.

There are many ways to stop smoking but the latest and most successful method for some seems to be Chantix (or Champix here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala). This process allows you to gradually stop and even pick the day you wish to stop smoking.

So if someone in a bar or restaurant asks you to please not smoke or to go outside to do so please listen to them and put out your cigarette or move to the designated area.

We all want a healthy life here in our paradise of Ajijic, Lake Chapala and not smoking is a very positive step towards that healthy life.

Our property tax bill in Canada for our house in Toronto was going up to $6,000.00 Cdn. when we left in 1994.

You can imagine our very pleasant surprise to find that here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala property taxes were substantially lower.

For the first few years of owning a home here our property tax bill was paid by someone else who paid several tax bills at the same time saving us the possible frustration of finding out how to pay it ourselves.

Last year we paid it ourselves for the first time and we delighted at how easy it really was.

The place where you pay it is relatively new as opposed to the hole in the wall you had to try and find in some small office as the end of a long corridor in Chapala.

Yesterday I had reason to go to Chapala to get a new debit card from Bancomer so I could continue banking online so I decided as it was January I would endeavor to pay our property tax bill at the same time.

You now can pay your property tax bill in the main lobby at Chapala’s Palacio Municipal which is on Avenida Madero # 202 which is beside the banks on the main street of Chapala. When you drive into Chapala you turn right towards the lake and the Palacio Municipal is on your right hand side.

Window service is available Monday through Friday from 9:00am – 3:00 pm.

What you will need is your last year’s real estate property tax bill. You hand this bill into the Catastro office windows at the left of the foyer. You then are to take a number and directed to the cashier windows on the opposite side of the room where payments are received.

As luck would have it number 509 was being served and my number was 512. I was in and out in 15 minutes having made a payment of approximately $170.00 US which was indeed a far cry from the $6,000.00 Cdn. they had wanted in Toronto.

If you pay in January or February you are entitled to a 15% discount and the prompt payment deduction drops to 5% from March 1 through April 30.

There is a 50% discount available to senior citizens over 60 but only applies to persons holding Mexican Citizenship.

Buoyed by my success at paying our property taxes, and thrilled that they had not increased 1 peso since last year, I went into Bancomer and got my new debit card in a very timely fashion.

All in all it was a very successful trip as I accomplished with incident or without lacking any of the necessary paperwork (which is very often the case) both transactions.

It was a very good morning indeed.

Canadian Passport

After a few years however, we find that some friends and family have also scattered or moved down here and, in some cases of family, in with us and our visits get less frequent.

Also we can not always schedule our visits north to coincide with our Canadian Passports expiring.

This was the case with me and I found out from a Canadian friend living here for many years that we were able to renew our passports right here in Mexico

It is a very simple and efficient process and I will tell you exactly how to proceed with your Canadian Passport renewal should the need arise.

The first thing to do is send an email to: ana-lilia.bara@international.gc.ca in Guadalajara and she will tell you how to download the Adult Passport Application online complete with all the instructions or she will mail the application and instructions to you here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala.

There are 2 Photo Studios in Chapala that know exactly what photos you will need for your Canadian Passport application. They are: Foto Estudio del Lago on Av. Madero #238-C, Tel. (376) 765-3548 and email: malvagarmx@yahoo.com.mx and Estudio Zaragoza on Lopez Cotilla # 290, Tel. (376) 765-3495 email: jaime.zaragoza@sanmina-sci.com.

The standard for delivery of this new, more secure passport will require at least 30 working days. So it is recommended to apply well in advance of expiry.

You will need documentary proof of Canadian citizenship (originals only). This can either be your birth certificate (if you were born in Canada) or your certificate of Canadian citizenship. If you were born in Quebec, only a Birth Certificate issued by the “Directeur de l’etat du Quebec” after the 1st of January 1994 is valid.

Your previous passport, regardless of the issue date.

A clear copy of one piece of identification with photo and signature that matches the name requested on the application (FM2 or FM3 are accepted). The copy of your identification must be signed by your guarantor. A previous Canadian Passport may be accepted as supporting identification provided it is valid or has been expired for a period of less than one year from the date of submission of the new application and the name in the passport submitted supports the name to appear in the new passport.

Your marriage certificate if you want your passport issued in your married name and an ID showing the married name requested.

If you submit a passport application for a minor, one photo ID with signature is requested from both parents.

Your guarantor must be local and practicing. For example, I used Dr. Carlos Garcia at Clinica Maskaras for my guarantor.

The photo studios mentioned above know just what you need for your photos.

If you are a naturalized Mexican, send a photocopy of the naturalization paper. Whether you are working, studying or visiting be sure to clearly indicate where you can be reached in Mexico (address and phone #).

The fee for adult 16 and over is $100.00 Canadian or the peso equivalent for 5 years validity. It would be best to check with Ana Lilia Bara as to the conversion rate at the time of application. This payment can be made either by certified cheque (cheque certificado) or cashier’s cheque (cheque de caja) and made out to Embajada de Canada in pesos. You could also visit the Embassy’s website to confirm the peso equivalent at: www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/mexico-city/consular/assistance1-en.asp

The fees are not refundable if the application is cancelled.

You are responsible to send your documents to the Embassy. Your passport may be returned to you by courier if you include a prepaid waybill (for example, DHL, UPS, AIRBORNE etc.) at your expense.

To avoid delays in the processing of your passport application- please answer all the questions and mark those that are not applicable with N/A. Incomplete applications will be returned to the applicant.

The address of the Embassy to send your completed application is :

Embajada de Canada, Consular Section, Schiller 529 ,Col. Polanco, 11560, Mexico D.F.

Although these instructions may seem complicated I can assure you I received my new Canadian passport in a very timely fashion. I was a little worried about sending originals but the Embassy kept me posted, by email, as to the whereabouts of my documents and I was completely reassured and can recommend this as a very efficient process.

President Obama in Guadalajara, Mexico

Many things were on the agenda for the summit including money, drugs, H1N1, climate change and the new mandatory visas for Mexicans visiting Canada.

There has been a spike in violence and over 11,000 have been killed in Mexico due to drug related activities. The US has been more than willing to share the blame for this drug violence as the US provides the necessary market for these drugs and also has supplied approximately 95% of the guns used by the Mexican Drug Cartels. President Obama is reluctant to supply more support until he is assured that the Mexican police, military and government officials are committed to fight to make the Mexican people safe and secure in their own country.

There was talk of the continent coming together with mutual respect, bonding, and all parties are committed to reducing 80% of emissions by 2050.

Prime Minister Harper said that for the moment the mandatory visa requirement would stand citing the bogus refugee claims being unfair to legitimate refugees. He also said that the Canadian immigration laws were too weak which gave rise to this situation which is very unpopular in Mexico.

President Calderone said that he is willing to cooperate with Prime Minister Harper in getting to the root of the abuse and eliminating it so that their two countries could continue their excellent relationship.

Health and immigration reform were also discussed and questions were taken on both these subjects during the three person press conference today in Guadalajara. Obama did stress that immigration reform was in the best interest of the US. President Obama says that before the end of the year there will be a draft legislation on immigration reform.

All men seemed fully committed to working with each other to solve their mutual challenges and support each other however they can.

The summit was considered my most to be a successful exchange of ideas and a positive step forward in continuous and harmonious relations between the three countries.

Viva Mexico !!!

The reason for this aggressive campaign is threefold:  the global economic crisis, the US/Mexico border drug wars and the H1N1 flu scare out of Mexico City.

These three factors have dramatically affected tourism in Mexico over the last few months.

Although the economic crisis was and is real the other two factors are not as bad as once reported.

President Filipe Calderon has partnered with the US in sharing the responsibility for the border drug wars and is actively working both with President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to get the situation if not eradicated then certainly under control.

H1N1, although, affecting over 30,000 worldwide is much less serious than the seasonal flu and is easily treated with Tamiflu in most cases.  It no longer is an issue in Mexico.

Mexico remains, as always, a wonderful place to vacation or retire.  The main reason to come to Mexico for a holiday is the virtually guaranteed weather and the breathtaking beauty of the landscape.

Retirement in Mexico is still a very economically sound option.  Many excellent deals are to be had in purchasing property and the cost of travel is at an all time low.

We have friends who retired here or even moved here to continue working (thanks to the accessibility of the world wide web) who have lived all over the world but chose Ajijic, Lake Chapala as the best place they could imagine to live.

Canadian newspapers who once ran headlines warning people not to go to Mexico are now recanting their views saying Mexico is again (and probably was always) a safe bet.

There are so many things to commend this country and particularly our village in the sun of Ajijic, Lake Chapala.  The weather, the warmth of the Mexican people, the low cost of living, the beautiful properties available, the access to a major international airport and the proximity to Guadalajara which offers everything in a city twice the size of Toronto, Canada.

Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico and is 30 minutes from Ajiic, Lake Chapala.

I think another important factor in choosing Ajijic, Lake Chapla is life style.  Here you will feel a definite return to kinder, gentler times and who would not like that.

So Viva Mexico indeed  Come on home.

The trick to banking in Ajijic

Things, however, have come a long way in the 15 years we have lived here. One no longer has to sign over their first born to make a deposit.

Normally, I am now capable of doing all of our corporate and personal banking without incident and with a minimum of bloodshed.

Most of the banks here now have English speaking staff to help the expats complete their transactions and online there is English now available.

The wonderful English speaking person we have, however, is not actually located in the bank but is happy to explain to you how to do what you need to do.

Today I called the person who deals with our accounts who is located in the bank but was told he was away in Mexico City until Wednesday.

I had a rather tricky transaction to complete and, although, thanks to our wonderful English speaking person, I knew what had to be done I was still a little nervous about completing said transaction with the non-English speaking tellers who do actually work in the bank.

I asked my fluent in Spanish, good looking son to accompany me to attempt this rather intricate transaction.

As it turned out everything went very smoothly. The female teller was already smiling broadly before we even got up to the counter and fell all over herself to help him. I, of course, stood to one side and said and did nothing other than to offer my passport when required.

The transaction was completed with dispatch, much cordiality and with smiles all around.

Had I been alone I would still be at the bank trying to explain what I needed done and whatever paperwork or identification I had with me would not be what they required.

So if you have a slightly out the norm situation to deal with at the bank I recommend you take along a good looking young man (or young women) depending upon the sex of the teller in question.

You will return home with everything completed to your satisfaction as opposed to tearing your hair out, having to go back two or three times with the correct papers, and taking the rest of the day trying to lower your blood pressure. This, of course, is just a suggestion.

Judy Wallis

Toxic Assets

“Toxic” assets are largely sub prime mortgage loans that are not going to be repaid as the homeowners cannot meet the payments or the value of the homes has dropped below the value of the mortgage and credit card debt that is also going unpaid because of high interest rates and the difficult circumstances most Americans finds themselves in due to the global economic crisis.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has announced today a new plan whereby the government partners with big investors to buy these “toxic” assets and get them off the bank’s books and get money moving again to Main Street.

This is a plan that wants to use $500 billion to buy these “toxic” assets from struggling banks and have private investors also buy into this plan. The upside for these investors would be to get assets cheap while at the moment not yielding a high return but in time with the return of a good economy would pay off handsomely. It is as question of having the money to invest and the time to be patient until things turn around financially.

This would be a good deal for anyone as there are many good deals available both privately and on the stock market.

Wall Street and the stock market obviously endorse Geithner’s plan as the market is up almost 300 points this morning.

A lot of people are quite understandably outraged at the AIG bonuses and various other TARP recipients awarding themselves large bonuses for a job hardly well done. This culture of greed has to be stopped and the plan Geithner has put forward will monitor carefully where the funds are going and how they are being used.

The Financial Services Roundtable, a trade group for the nation’s largest financial institutions, has given important approval to Geithner’s plan and said “the plan will help strengthen the economy”.

Tim Geithner has the full support of President Obama as reiterated on 60 Minutes last night and if we just let this man do his job without yelling for his head so soon into the piece I think there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Judy Wallis

Banking and Bill Paying in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

This was not the case today. I set out this morning to go to Chapala to try to pay my property taxes and get some money into the hands of our daughter in London. Although she was equipped with a credit card to cover her living expenses until money from gainful employment kicked in, for some reason the card was rejected at every ATM she tried even though the credit card company assured me everything was swell with the card and the credit.

So equipped with the Banamex account # of her boyfriend I went with trepidation to try and make a cash deposit into his account which they could access with his debit card for said account. Now if you have ever tried to make a deposit into a Mexican bank account the expression “easier said than done” immediately springs to mind. Usually you need some kind of picture identification and whatever you take with you is not the correct one they need. This, of course, can be very frustrating as you are trying to put money into the bank not stage a heist.

Today at Banamex in Chapala I was very happily surprised. First, I got a parking spot right across from the bank and went in and took my number. Often, you are able to get a bite of lunch and do a bit of shopping and still have plenty of time before your number is called. Not so today. I got # 34 and # 31 was being served. I barely had time to take the money out of wallet that I was hoping to deposit before it was my turn.

The teller actually smiled at me and made the deposit with dispatch into the correct account.

Buoyed by this success I decided to try and pay my property taxes while I was there.

I walked into the Municipal Office (the old Hotel Nido beside Bancomer) and showed my last year’s property tax bill to the person behind the first caja (cage). She showed me where to go to extract yet another number and it was 849. Number 847 was being served and I could not believe my good fortune. I gave my receipt to the girl in caja 2 in minutes and was sent to caja 3 where I was next in line. I paid my taxes happily getting a discount which is available until the end of February.

All of this was accomplished in very short order and I drove home delighted. I remember the days when I would be fuming driving back from Chapala because usually any banking or bill paying in Ajijic, Lake, Chapala could literally take days and increasing my blood pressure markedly into the bargain.

We have come a long way in our little village in the sun. Our daughter has funds in her hands the same day. All in all the services in Ajijic, Lake Chapala are definitely improving. Life is good.