Well, where do I start....

[USAtoBA]

I retired here myself this year to a smaller city outside Buenos Aires. But I am a newbie! I have only been here since April. Same as you, not Elon Musk, but I have a decent pension, and rental income from the United States.

For me, I feel like life here is a little bit like Brooklyn in the 1980s. And I mean that in a good way for the most part. It could be in a bad way too with a few minor inconveniences. Day-to-day.

I also speak fluent Spanish, and it has been a ride getting the Rentista Visa which I still do not have. And I have a lawyer. I don't think I'm going to get kicked out of the country or anything, but things here are generally do not work as well as they do in the US, especially with government procedures.

But I am absolutely loving being here.

The way I explain it to friends and family though is this, most days you are living the dream, and it is everything you wished for. But some days you are definitely just going to Costco (Coto/Jumbo) or Home Depot (Easy).

Come on down and visit for a few months, and make the decision then.

 

[JJWilliam]

I retired here myself this year to a smaller city outside Buenos Aires. But I am a newbie! I have only been here since April. Same as you, not Elon Musk, but I have a decent pension, and rental income from the United States.

For me, I feel like life here is a little bit like Brooklyn in the 1980s. And I mean that in a good way for the most part. It could be in a bad way too with a few minor inconveniences. Day-to-day.

I also speak fluent Spanish, and it has been a ride getting the Rentista Visa which I still do not have. And I have a lawyer. I don't think I'm going to get kicked out of the country or anything, but things here are generally do not work as well as they do in the US, especially with government procedures.

But I am absolutely loving being here.

The way I explain it to friends and family though is this, most days you are living the dream, and it is everything you wished for. But some days you are definitely just going to Costco (Coto/Jumbo) or Home Depot (Easy).

Come on down and visit for a few months, and make the decision then.

Thanks for the reply. You and I seem to be in very similar places. I also understand what it is like to live in a place that's great..until you try to get something done. I guess for me it helps that, at this stage, getting a lot done isn't as much of an engine as it used o be.

Your line about sometimes you are "just going to Costco".. I understand that completely. I don't expet life itself would change much, just the container it lives in.

 

[Sojourner]

One thing that might enter your considerations would be the financial impact of becoming a tax resident in Argentina. I am thinking of Argentina‘s wealth tax and (I believe) lack of an income tax agreement with the United States. Things change, sometimes rapidly, and I don’t know the current status of Argentina‘s financial penalties. Hopefully someone with recent experience can expand on this.

 

[Alby]

JJ is coming for 90 days. He's not seeking migration temporary residency, which is the trigger for starting down the road to tax residency.

(Steve recently posted some interesting information about the administrative and criminal penalties for tax evasion. The current government has softened these by raising the thresholds, but, as you say, things can change rapidly.)

 

[JJWilliam]

One thing that might enter your considerations would be the financial impact of becoming a tax resident in Argentina. I am thinking of Argentina‘s wealth tax and (I believe) lack of an income tax agreement with the United States. Things change, sometimes rapidly, and I don’t know the current status of Argentina‘s financial penalties. Hopefully someone with recent experience can expand on this.

I did check this out as a "for future reference". It would be a drag, especially the worldwide "wealth tax, but not the end of the world.

 

[JJWilliam]

So for those of you who have lived in Argentina for awhile...
Another question:
Have you been able to navigate all the changes there and get to your US based money? I have been reading about economic/political cycles in Argentina, exchange rates, western union wires, underground exchange methods.... Its a bit head spinning.

I would plan on keeping my assets in US banks and have social security. I'm pretty sure I will be OK overall in terms of a budget, but what is is actually like navigating all this? Is it like, "well this system of transfer worked for a few years, time for a new one!". Have you ever had a "what the heck am I going to do now??" moment?

 

[Cordoba]

So for those of you who have lived in Argentina for awhile...
Another question:
Have you been able to navigate all the changes there and get to your US based money? I have been reading about economic/political cycles in Argentina, exchange rates, western union wires, underground exchange methods.... Its a bit head spinning.

I would plan on keeping my assets in US banks and have social security. I'm pretty sure I will be OK overall in terms of a budget, but what is is actually like navigating all this? Is it like, "well this system of transfer worked for a few years, time for a new one!". Have you ever had a "what the heck am I going to do now??" moment?

If you can get a bank account here it shouldn't be an issue. It's usually just a situation of what is working the best at the moment rather than a what am I going to do now. In the past I kept more cash as a fallback but with crypto now it's almost a non issue.

 

[Ries]

So for those of you who have lived in Argentina for awhile...
Another question:
Have you been able to navigate all the changes there and get to your US based money? I have been reading about economic/political cycles in Argentina, exchange rates, western union wires, underground exchange methods.... Its a bit head spinning.

I would plan on keeping my assets in US banks and have social security. I'm pretty sure I will be OK overall in terms of a budget, but what is is actually like navigating all this? Is it like, "well this system of transfer worked for a few years, time for a new one!". Have you ever had a "what the heck am I going to do now??" moment?

Not an issue, but its slow and takes patience and thinking ahead. The key is to get an argentine bank account and a dni, both doable once you have a pensionista or rentista visa.
We send money directly from a us bank to an argentine bank, using the phone or computer. Small fee, and it oten takes aweek or ten days to clear.

 

[USAtoBA]

Get a bank account here, that took me two months, I do transfers to the account with western Union from my USA debit card (lowest cost option I found, correct me if I'm wrong). I don't transfer more than $2,000 monthly. I also use my us credit card regularly at any place that doesn't charge extra. So the $2000 is my rent and cash expenses only.

 

[steveinbsas]

So for those of you who have lived in Argentina for awhile...
Another question:
Have you been able to navigate all the changes there and get to your US based money? I have been reading about economic/political cycles in Argentina, exchange rates, western union wires, underground exchange methods.... Its a bit head spinning.

I would plan on keeping my assets in US banks and have social security. I'm pretty sure I will be OK overall in terms of a budget, but what is is actually like navigating all this? Is it like, "well this system of transfer worked for a few years, time for a new one!". Have you ever had a "what the heck am I going to do now??" moment?

Hopefully, you will be able to apply for temporary residency (the visa pensiona) based only on your Social Security income.

You will automatically recieve your DNI after your temporary residency is granted. You won't need to do anything else to get it

Prior to that, migraciones will issue a precaria. If they require you to start making monthly transfers into an Argentine bank account, you would need to get a temporary CUIL from ANSES. There is no such thing as a temporary DNI (in case you read that in another thread).

You should be able to open a bank account with the precaria and the temporary CUIL (which will change when you get your DNI). Then (I believe) you will have to notify the bank of the new CUIL.

I have always used Western Union to transfer my Social Security income from my US bank to my Argentine bank (Santander Rio) account. A bank to bank wire transfer would cost less, but I always recieve the Western Union transfers on the same day. I've never used an "underground exchange method" as I don't have access to dollars in Argentina.

PS: I started using Western Union in 2019 when their exchange rate almost doubled overnight. Before that I used XOOM and WISE, but even once since then.

I pay for almost everything with my Santander Rio Visa credit and debit cards and my Mercado Pago Mastercard. I never asked for the credit cards. The bank gave me the credit card when I opened the account in 2012 and within the past year i was offred the Mercado Pago Mastercard. They have completely eliminated the need to pay for anything in cash pesos.