It is almost that time of year again- Christmas in Mexico!Christmas is a holiday that has the power to inspire art, literature and folk customs, to express itself in various manners within many diverse cultures. In short, Christmas in Mexico is a celebration of the people by the people for the people.

In Mexico, Christmas is a true folk celebration all about family. The customs are a vibrant mix of old and new, including customs borrowed from Europe and some developed in Mexico. In recent years, more and more are adopted from the US and Canada as well.

One prominent aspect of the Mexican Christmas season in the widespread use of the “nacimiento”- the crèche or nativity scene. It is normally much more elaborate than those used in the rest of North America. Its normally quite large ceramic figurines can sometimes include such non traditional items as “nopal” (cactus), hermits and ducks, along with the traditional Baby Jesus, Mary & Joseph, wise men, etc.

In northern Mexico, the traditional time for gift giving is on the nights of December 24th & 25th. But here in southern Mexico, the majority of gift exchanges take place January 6th, Epiphany, or as it is more commonly known here, Day of the Magi Kings, commemorating the presentation of the gifts by the wise men to Baby Jesus.

A “piñata”, suspended in mid-air, being whacked with a stick until it breaks sending candies to the ground is perhaps the most famous Mexican Christmas custom.

Most people think of a donkey as an image for these “piñatas”, but these days they come in all shapes and forms, like characters in the latest children’s movies like Toy Story, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar.

The traditional “piñata” used at Christmas time however is a ball with spikes. This comes from the Spanish colonial times where the ball represented Satan, with the 7 spikes representing the 7 deadly sins and was used by the friars as a teaching device. Thus, breaking the piñata represented defeating Satan.

Another Mexican Christmas custom is the “posada”, which superficially bears some resemblance to the Christmas caroling custom practiced in English-speaking countries. The difference here is that the singing in the posada is a ritualized musical drama. The people outside sing the part of Mary & Joseph, whereas the people in the house sing the part of the innkeeper, and finally those outside are invited inside for the party.

In more recent years, Gringo customs such as Santa Clause and Christmas trees have been adopted in Mexico as well. In fact, Santa Clause is well known now as in many other countries. Small children are eagerly awaiting his arrival, come Christmas morning.

Here is to wishing our many clients, friends and family a very safe and joyous Holiday Season no matter where you may be from all of us at Trans Caribbean Trust!

We look forward to seeing you on the beach soon!

Even with Mexico’s Yucatan being recognized as one of the top beachfront living destinations, and now being called the “world’s top retirement haven”, there are still a lot of negative stereotypes that exist about Mexico. This mostly happens with people who get the bulk of their “headline news” from the U.S. media or from a friend of a friend who claims to know something about Mexico.

There have been a lot of changes in Mexico in recent years. If you get information from friends who visited here 20 or even 5 or 10 years ago, you can be sure it is outdated.

Much of that outdated information continues to be posted on Internet websites, so no wonder many people are misinformed about Mexico. Even the mainstream media can’t keep up–and honestly, it isn’t usually in their interest to promote the positive things about Mexico, especially the benefits of retiring or relocating here.

Misconceptions about Mexico tend to be related to three primary things: perceived government corruption (especially on the local police level), personal safety, and real estate laws that pertain to foreigners.

Corruption

Contrary to popular belief, when applying for visas and permits, you’re not asked for a bribe. No one in the immigration office will hint that this might pave the way for you. Unless you are a large corporation doing big business, you won’t have to grease any wheels to get you where you want to go more than anywhere else.

People fail to realize that corruption happens everywhere, including the U.S. As for traffic cops, if you do happen to get pulled over, just ask for the citation. Unlike the U.S., it’s not that big of a deal. If you pay the ticket within 24 hours, you get up to a 50% discount. In most cases, this will come out to be less than the bribe the cop might ask for.

Personal safety

A couple of situations have been in the news recently about tourists being victimized in Mexico. Although those cases are unfortunate, they are not the norm; the Yucatan Peninsula is one of the safest places to live in all of North America. The Wall Street Journal and USA Today have named Mexico’s Yucatan as “the best place to retire in the world”.

Owning real estate

Even after all our efforts to dispel the myth of foreigners not being able to own property in Mexico or properties being confiscated by the government on a whim, these false stereotypes are still out there. Neither one of these is true. There are several ways for foreigners to legally own property in Mexico, and millions, like us, already do.

Mortgage funding is now available in Mexico through U.S. and Canadian banks. Title insurance is readily available through U.S.-based title insurance companies. With all the public and private institutions eagerly supporting foreign investment, do you think it could possibly be illegal for foreigners to own property in Mexico?

Mexico is in the unique position to reap many of the benefits of the decline of the US economy. Because of this, and in order not to violate NAFTA guidelines, the US has gladly allowed national media to play a protectionist role. The US media, over the last year, has falsely portrayed Mexico as being on the brink of an economic collapse. American news media was particularly aggressive in the weeks leading up to spring break. The main reason for all this is money. During that two-week period, over 120,000 young American citizens poured into Mexico and left behind hundreds of millions of dollars south of the border.

Fox news continues to scare people with its focus on kidnapping. In reality, the number one city for kidnappings among NAFTA countries is Phoenix, Arizona with over 359 in 2008. The Phoenix Police estimate that twice that number of kidnappings go unreported, because 99% of these crimes are directly related to drug and human trafficking.

These same protectionist news sources have also misled the public as to the real danger from the swine flu in Mexico and temporarily devastated the tourism business. As of August 2009, there were 45 confirmed deaths recorded in Mexico from the swine flu. During the same eight-month period, there were 57 school children murdered in Chicago.

The “news sources” in the USA have a lack of integrity. By their logic, if 45 deaths from the swine flu in Mexico warrants cancelling flights and cruise ships to Mexico, then they should close all roads and highways in the USA because of a record 43,359 automobile-related deaths in the USA in 2008.

The New Reality

What is just getting underway is what many are calling the “Largest southern migration to Mexico of people and real estate assets since the Civil War”. A significant percentage of the Baby Boomers have been doing the research and are making the life-changing decision to move out of the USA.

The number-one retirement destination in the world is Mexico. There are already over 2 million US and Canadian property owners south of the border. The most conservative estimate number of Baby Boomers who are on their way to own property in Mexico for full or part-time living in the next 15 years is over 6 million. Do the math on 6 million people buying a $300,000 house or condo and you will understand why the US government is trying any way they can to discourage this massive shift of investment money into the Mexican economy.

Mexico: A Better Economic Choice than China

Another large exodus from the USA is that of high-paying skilled jobs. The job shift in the automobile sector, both car and parts manufacturing, is already known by most investors. In the last few months, John Deere and Caterpillar have been laying off thousands of workers in the USA, and have hired equal numbers in Mexico. The most recent industry that is making the shift is the aerospace manufacturers. In the city of Zacatecas, there is currently a $210-million aerospace facility being built. With the 11 US companies moving there, it is estimated to provide over 200,000 new high-paying jobs in the coming years.

One of the main factors for the job shift south to Mexico instead of China is a realistic analysis of total production, labor and delivery costs. While the labor costs in China are 40% less on average, the overall transportation costs and inherent risks of a long-distance supply chain and quality control issues gives Mexico a distinct financial advantage.

Mexico’s Real Economic Future

Mexico has avoided completely the sub-prime problem that has devastated the US banking industry. Mexican banks are healthy and profitable. Mexico has a growing, very healthy middle and upper middle class. The very recent introduction of residential financing has Mexico in the unique position of having over 90% of current homeowners owning their homes outright. In Mexico, there’s no real estate bubble. The Baby Boomers market here is between $200,000 and $600,000, with continuing demand.

The other major area where America has become overpriced is in the field of healthcare. There is a whole new wave of business feeding the Mexican economy: “Medical Tourism”. In Mexico today, there are over 56 world-class hospitals being built to keep up with this business.

Mexico’s resilience is to be admired. The country is currently sitting on a cash surplus and a balanced budget. The following is a quote from Rosalynn Wilson, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce on March 19, 2009: “the strength of the Mexican economic system makes the country a favorite destination for Canadian investment.”

Mexico, with the world’s 13th largest GDP, is no longer a “Third World Country”, but rather a fast-growing, economically-secure state, according to the most recent five-year history of its financial markets when compared to the USA’s. Dow Jones: May 2004 – 10,200; May 2009 – 8,200 = 20% loss in five years. Mexico’s Bolsa: May 2004 – 10,000; May 2009 – 23,000 = 130% gain in five years.

As for where to invest in Mexico: For maximum investment returns, the two top choice locations are oceanfront and ocean view. Oceanfont property has always been the bellwether economic gold standard of savvy investors.