Introduction

Helen was a 76-year-old divorcee who had resided in Mexico for several months at the time of her interview. As a retired professional, she had continued to work part-time until quite recently. Yet, her present income was low, being in the range of USD 2,200 a month.

Helen had lived in the Midwest of the US for most of her life. She was divorced when her sons were teenagers; her daughter was already in college. Her ex-husband had his own business, “stocks and money in the bank, I’m sure”, and they owned two homes. However, she said that she “never pay[s] attention to things” and, as a result of that and some bad advice, received very little in her divorce settlement. She had a profession, so she did not push for alimony. She received one of their homes but no other money; the settlement stipulated that her ex-husband would pay for their sons’ medical and educational expenses. However, this last provision was not honoured due to a legal loophole. In addition, she had some major, costly medical issues to resolve. As a result, she had to sell the house quickly to pay “for them to go to school and for all their needs”. Had she been able to wait two more years, she said, she would have gotten twice as much money for her home, but she could not. What money she had left from the sale of her house she used to buy a car and put the rest (about USD 100,000) into stocks.

Before she moved to Mexico, Helen looked at her options and discussed these with one of her sons. She had thought about getting a recreational vehicle (RV) and travelling, parking it for a while in Mexico and then travelling in the US at other times:

Helen also considered living on a boat but found that just as impractical. In search of affordable and competent medical care, she had visited the general area in Mexico where she now resides.