Is Mendoza Nice?

[jblaze5779]

Can anyone explain why this is happening? Usually costs go up if the economy improves a lot, is this the case? Also why would costs go up for people on foreign income? I thought the dollar was stronger now...wouldn't I live better in Argentina on dollars than I did before?

You see, the government taxes everything to death and completely makes up the prices of essential services. So as the government needs more money to blow on winning votes, providing essential services at discounted rates, and propping up various inefficiencies you get higher prices.

In short take all logic you can bring to the country and throw it out the window. Things are complicated here.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Could you explain why in a little more detail please?

You'll have to shout louder than that: @toulouse hasn't been seen around here since 2017

 

[elhombresinnombre]

You see, the government taxes everything to death and completely makes up the prices of essential services. So as the government needs more money to blow on winning votes, providing essential services at discounted rates, and propping up various inefficiencies you get higher prices.

In short take all logic you can bring to the country and throw it out the window. Things are complicated here.

You'll have to shout louder than that: @polostar88 hasn't been seen around here since 2019

 

[Pianosteve]

You'll have to shout louder than that: @polostar88 hasn't been seen around here since 2019

Oh well maybe another member can answer or give me more ideas on parts of Argentina which might be suitable for aspiring retirees.

 

[Pianosteve]

You see, the government taxes everything to death and completely makes up the prices of essential services. So as the government needs more money to blow on winning votes, providing essential services at discounted rates, and propping up various inefficiencies you get higher prices.

In short take all logic you can bring to the country and throw it out the window. Things are complicated here.

Do you have any concrete examples of how the cost of living is fixed against foreign residents? Or maybe I misread your post.

 

[jblaze5779]

Do you have any concrete examples of how the cost of living is fixed against foreign residents? Or maybe I misread your post.

Yeah the inflation of exchange rate from dollars to pesos is false and based on all these things I listed. So if you will receive worthless pesos at a rate which the government sets based on some clearly shady reasoning. Your expensas/food/rent will continue to go through the roof and the only thing protecting you is a western union lifeline that at any time could be banned from the country...

All my costs would just about double if I was forced to withdraw money directly from argentina and not from my foreign bank account.

If you require anything more than basic living stuffs (meat, potatoes, wine) you will find the cost to be higher than you would expect.

I'm not saying AR is a bad place to live to experience the culture temporarily but I wouldn't want to bet my retirement years on it in with any sense of permanency.

 

[Pianosteve]

Yeah the inflation of exchange rate from dollars to pesos is false and based on all these things I listed. So if you will receive worthless pesos at a rate which the government sets based on some clearly shady reasoning. Your expensas/food/rent will continue to go through the roof and the only thing protecting you is a western union lifeline that at any time could be banned from the country...

All my costs would just about double if I was forced to withdraw money directly from argentina and not from my foreign bank account.

If you require anything more than basic living stuffs (meat, potatoes, wine) you will find the cost to be higher than you would expect.

I'm not saying AR is a bad place to live to experience the culture temporarily but I wouldn't want to bet my retirement years on it in with any sense of permanency.

I've been perusing this thread and others: https://baexpats.org/threads/western-union-money-transfer.40976/

Could someone explain in simple terms if I have pensions paid from the British government and a former employer in £ sterling to a British bank account (say HSBC) and there happens to be an HSBC branch in Mendoza how I go about paying for bills, shopping etc once I'm based in Argentina? Finance and planning never was my strong point.

 

[Alby]

You will have to open a bank account at that hypothetical HSBC branch, or more likely another local bank. You will only be able to open that bank account if you have first sought and been granted temporary migration residency to Argentina (which you could do as a "pensionista", demonstrating to the Argentine migration authority that you have pension income from the UK).

(As per advice above, you will would need to obtain advice from an Argentina accountant about your tax status as a migration resident in Argentina, but you may well find you are in the lucky position of being protected from most taxes by the UK-Argentina double tax agreement.)

If you were to pass through the Migration steps and become a temporary resident (and three years later, a permanent resident), whilst Western Union and other money sending services continue to be allowed to operate in Argentina and pay you unofficial exchange rates, you would join one of the money sending services, send your money from your HSBC bank account in the UK to the money sending service and have that service then either (i) deposit the money into the account (in Argentine pesos) you opened in the bank in Mendoza or (ii) make that money available for you to collect in person, in cash (in Argentine pesos) at the local branch of the money sending service.

 

[FrankPintor]

A couple of banks with international names here, like HSBC, ICBC, and so on, are simply local operations that were bought by international banks at some point. The name over the door doesn't imply any connection whatever with the parent bank, still less any comparable standard in equipment, procedures, standards, or work ethic.

Also, on the international side, HSBC in particular is known in expat circles for closing customer accounts without warning. I would stay far away from them.

 

[jblaze5779]

I've been perusing this thread and others: https://baexpats.org/threads/western-union-money-transfer.40976/

Could someone explain in simple terms if I have pensions paid from the British government and a former employer in £ sterling to a British bank account (say HSBC) and there happens to be an HSBC branch in Mendoza how I go about paying for bills, shopping etc once I'm based in Argentina? Finance and planning never was my strong point.

You would need to transfer the pounds through a transfer service yo your local account where they will be exchanged for pesos at what the official (or unofficial) rate is on that given day.

Like stated above HSBC here and HSBC there will not be able to talk to each other.

Never use your foreign atm or credit card in AR. You don't want the official rate whatever you do.