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SUMMARY
How much money do you need to retire in Cabo San Lucas? A renter with no pension should generally be thinking about roughly $900,000–$1.4 million in investable assets, while a retiree with a paid-off home and reliable pension or Social Security income can need dramatically less.
The biggest variable is housing, not groceries or restaurant prices. Moving from a $750 rental to a $1,500 rental adds $9,000 of annual spending, equivalent to roughly $231,000 of portfolio capital at a 3.9% starting withdrawal rate.
A comfortable single renter currently needs roughly $2,050–$2,950 a month, while a retired couple should think closer to $2,950–$4,100. Couples benefit substantially from sharing rent, utilities, internet, transport and other household costs.
Owning a Cabo home outright can change the retirement equation by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Removing around $1,000 of net monthly housing cost cuts annual portfolio withdrawals by $12,000, equivalent to about $308,000 of capital at the same 3.9% benchmark.
The peso has quietly become another major cost driver. A MXN 60,000 monthly lifestyle costs $3,000 when the dollar buys 20 pesos but about $3,529 when it buys 17, an 18% increase without any change in the retiree's local lifestyle.
Mexico's residency solvency thresholds are poor guides to Cabo affordability. Some consulates require permanent-residency applicants to demonstrate pension income above $7,000 a month, even though a couple can live comfortably in Cabo on far less.
$500,000 is not a strong general target for a Cabo renter with no pension. Add $2,000 a month of dependable retirement income or remove rent with a paid-off home, though, and the same portfolio can become perfectly workable.
$1 million is enough for most single retirees and many couples, but the distinction between portfolio wealth and recurring income is crucial. A couple with $1 million and $2,000 of monthly pension income has much more room than a couple forced to fund every dollar of spending from investments.
Healthcare remains cheaper than in the United States for many routine services, but retirees should not build a plan around healthcare staying cheap forever. Insurance, specialist treatment, medical travel and age-related costs can become several-thousand-dollar annual expenses.
Cabo is therefore still financially attractive for retirement, but the old idea of a universally cheap Mexican beach town no longer fits. The strongest retirement plans are usually the ones that control housing costs, budget in pesos, keep reliable recurring income and leave enough portfolio margin for healthcare, currency changes and expensive years.
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Is Cabo San Lucas actually affordable for retirees today?
Cabo San Lucas is still affordable for many foreign retirees, but anyone arriving with the idea that Cabo is a cheap Mexican beach town is working from an outdated picture.
Housing explains most of the gap. Expatistan currently estimates total monthly costs of about MXN 29,800 for one person in Cabo San Lucas, although its local sample is small. Its latest data put an 85-square-meter furnished rental at roughly MXN 13,000 in a normal area and MXN 26,000 in an expensive one. Wise, using a different dataset, puts average rent closer to $1,225 a month and total spending for one person around $2,067.
Those estimates spread quite widely because “living in Cabo” can mean very different things. Renting a modest apartment inland around El Tezal bears little resemblance to living near Médano Beach, the Marina or inside a high-end gated community. Tourism pushes up prices precisely in the areas where many newcomers first look for housing.
Everyday spending is easier to manage. Expatistan currently reports a basic restaurant lunch around MXN 246, a liter of gasoline around MXN 23, internet around MXN 399 and basic groceries at prices that remain reasonable by U.S. standards.
Cabo can still deliver a cheaper retirement than many coastal U.S. cities, especially once healthcare and local services are included. The bargain disappears quickly with an expensive condo, imported food, frequent tourist-area restaurants and a car-heavy lifestyle.
How much does one person need to retire comfortably in Cabo San Lucas?
For one person renting in Cabo San Lucas, we would currently use about MXN 35,000–50,000 a month, roughly $2,050–$2,950, as the useful comfort range.
A retiree can live below MXN 35,000. Expatistan's current city estimate of roughly MXN 29,800 shows that. The problem is that a retirement budget needs to survive more than an average month.
At MXN 30,000, a single renter can make Cabo work by choosing housing carefully, eating mostly local food and keeping discretionary spending under control. There is much less room for a rent increase, a large electricity bill, private medical insurance, regular flights home or an unexpected expense.
Around MXN 40,000 changes the feel of the budget. Housing no longer has to come from the cheapest end of the market, restaurants fit comfortably, and several thousand pesos can be reserved for healthcare, transport and irregular costs.
At MXN 50,000, one person can live very comfortably without slipping into the luxury-Cabo spending pattern.
That is why roughly $2,500 a month is a much better planning number than the extremely low budgets sometimes quoted online. Spending less is great. Building the whole retirement plan around having to spend less is another story.
| Cabo retirement style | Monthly budget | Approx. USD | What that budget realistically buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lean | MXN 27,000–32,000 | $1,590–$1,880 | Cheaper housing, local spending, few extras |
| Comfortable | MXN 35,000–42,000 | $2,060–$2,470 | Normal rental, restaurants, healthcare allowance |
| Very comfortable | MXN 43,000–50,000 | $2,530–$2,940 | Better housing and plenty of discretionary spending |
| Premium | MXN 60,000+ | $3,530+ | High-end housing or resort-style habits |
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How much does a retired couple need in Cabo San Lucas?
A retired couple can live comfortably in Cabo San Lucas on roughly MXN 50,000–70,000 a month, or about $2,950–$4,100 at the exchange rate currently prevailing.
Two people do not need twice the single-person budget. Rent, internet, utilities, a car and many household expenses are shared.
A couple paying around MXN 20,000–25,000 in rent could spend another MXN 10,000–15,000 on groceries and restaurants, then still have room for transport, utilities, healthcare and entertainment inside a MXN 55,000–65,000 budget.
The upper end becomes much easier to reach in Cabo than in a typical Mexican city. Choose a sea-view condo, eat regularly around the Marina, run air conditioning heavily, own a car and buy international medical insurance, and MXN 70,000 can disappear without anything feeling especially extravagant.
That gives a useful dividing line. Around $3,000 a month for two people is workable when housing is controlled. Around $4,000 feels considerably safer. Above $5,000, the conversation starts moving away from “How much does Cabo cost?” and toward how premium a lifestyle the couple wants.
Is rent the expense that really changes a Cabo retirement?
Rent is the biggest swing factor in a Cabo San Lucas retirement, and changing the housing choice can alter the required investment portfolio by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The latest Expatistan figures make the spread obvious. A furnished 85-square-meter home is estimated at about MXN 12,950 a month in a normal area and MXN 26,200 in an expensive area. Wise currently calculates an average Cabo rent around $1,225. Individual furnished listings in desirable expat areas can go well beyond those numbers.
The range matters more than the precise average.
Take a retiree paying $750 a month. Annual rent is $9,000. At Morningstar's latest 3.9% starting-withdrawal benchmark, generating that spending from investments corresponds to about $231,000 of portfolio capital.
Raise rent to $1,500 and the annual cost reaches $18,000. Funding it at the same withdrawal rate requires about $462,000.
A $2,500 premium rental consumes $30,000 a year, equivalent to about $769,000 of investment capital at 3.9%.
A retiree can spend months optimizing grocery prices and never come close to the financial impact of choosing a condo that costs $1,000 more each month.
| Monthly Cabo rent | Annual rent | Portfolio needed to fund rent at 3.9% | Difference vs. $750 rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| $750 | $9,000 | ~$231,000 | — |
| $1,200 | $14,400 | ~$369,000 | +$138,000 |
| $1,500 | $18,000 | ~$462,000 | +$231,000 |
| $2,000 | $24,000 | ~$615,000 | +$385,000 |
| $2,500 | $30,000 | ~$769,000 | +$538,000 |
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How much cheaper is retirement in Cabo if you already own your home?
A retiree who already owns a suitable Cabo home outright may need $700–$1,200 less each month than a comparable renter, which can completely change the retirement math.
Take a couple spending MXN 60,000 a month while paying MXN 22,000 in rent. Removing that rent does not reduce spending all the way to MXN 38,000 because ownership creates its own bills.
There can be condominium fees, insurance, maintenance, repairs and annual trust fees for foreign owners who hold coastal property through a fideicomiso. Air-conditioning systems, water equipment and exterior maintenance can also produce occasional large expenses.
Even after allowing for those costs, a paid-off home leaves the household in a much stronger position.
A couple that needs MXN 55,000–65,000 while renting may find that MXN 40,000–50,000 provides a similar lifestyle once the home is owned. At roughly MXN 17 per dollar, that is around $2,350–$2,950 a month.
Over a long retirement, the difference is enormous. Cutting $1,000 of recurring monthly spending removes $12,000 of annual withdrawals. Using Morningstar's current 3.9% framework, that lowers the corresponding portfolio requirement by roughly $308,000.
For someone who already owns a Cabo property, generic online claims that “you need $1 million to retire here” are not very useful.
How much should retirees expect to spend on healthcare in Cabo?
Healthcare in Cabo remains relatively inexpensive for routine treatment, but older retirees should leave several thousand dollars a year for insurance and medical costs rather than treating Mexican healthcare as nearly free.
Simple appointments are usually the easy part. Private consultations in Los Cabos can often cost tens rather than hundreds of dollars, and routine diagnostics, dentistry and prescriptions can remain substantially cheaper than comparable U.S. care.
Insurance is where the range becomes much wider. Age, deductible, medical history and whether the policy covers treatment only in Mexico or internationally can move annual premiums by thousands of dollars.
That gets increasingly important in the later years of retirement. Someone who spends $100 on an occasional doctor appointment at 58 should not extrapolate that experience into a healthcare budget for age 75.
Cabo also lacks the depth of specialist medicine available in Mexico City, Guadalajara or major U.S. medical centers. Serious cases can mean treatment elsewhere, making travel coverage and, for some retirees, evacuation coverage worth considering.
Cheap routine healthcare is a genuine Cabo advantage. A retirement plan that only works if healthcare stays at a few hundred dollars a year is still too tight.
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Are groceries, electricity and transport still cheap in Cabo?
Everyday expenses in Cabo are manageable today, but electricity, taxis and imported products can turn an otherwise cheap month into a surprisingly expensive one.
Current Expatistan data put a basic lunchtime meal around MXN 246, 12 eggs around MXN 38, chicken breast around MXN 142 per kilogram and gasoline around MXN 23 per liter. Internet is listed around MXN 399 a month. Those numbers help explain why a retiree who shops locally can still keep daily spending under control.
Cabo's climate creates a less obvious expense: electricity.
Mexico's CFE applies a Domestic High Consumption tariff, known as DAC, when a household's rolling 12-month average moves above the high-consumption limit for its local tariff category. CFE's current rules show that the threshold varies substantially depending on the climate classification.
That makes air-conditioning habits more important than a generic utility estimate suggests. A small efficient condo and a large detached home cooled throughout the hot season can produce very different bills.
Transport works in much the same way. Local buses are inexpensive. Regular taxis, private transfers and car ownership are not.
Someone living close to groceries, restaurants and daily services can keep transport spending small. Move farther into a gated residential community and the household may need a car, fuel, insurance and maintenance.
None of those expenses will usually break a well-funded retirement on its own. Together, though, they explain why real Cabo spending often lands above the attractive headline figures found on basic cost-of-living websites.
Is the strong Mexican peso making Cabo more expensive for American retirees?
The peso currently makes Cabo noticeably more expensive for retirees spending U.S. dollars than it did when one dollar bought 20 pesos or more.
Banco de México's latest FIX rate is around MXN 17 per dollar. That sounds like a small currency detail until we translate a full retirement budget.
A household spending MXN 60,000 a month needs $3,000 when the exchange rate is MXN 20 per dollar. At MXN 17, the same local lifestyle costs about $3,529.
That is an increase of roughly 18% in dollar terms even if the Mexican prices themselves have not moved at all.
For a retiree with Social Security, a U.S. pension and a dollar investment portfolio, currency can therefore move annual spending by several thousand dollars without any lifestyle change.
We would budget in pesos first and then test several exchange rates. If a retirement only works when one dollar buys 20 or 21 pesos, there is not much margin at current levels.
The opposite is also true. A weaker peso would immediately make Cabo cheaper again for a dollar-funded household. Currency is one reason a spending range is more useful than a supposedly precise dollar budget.
| Monthly spending in Cabo | At MXN 20/$ | At MXN 17/$ | Extra USD needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| MXN 35,000 | $1,750 | $2,059 | +$309 |
| MXN 50,000 | $2,500 | $2,941 | +$441 |
| MXN 60,000 | $3,000 | $3,529 | +$529 |
| MXN 70,000 | $3,500 | $4,118 | +$618 |
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Do Mexico's retirement visa requirements show how much money you need to live in Cabo?
Mexico's residency thresholds currently tell us very little about the amount someone actually needs to live comfortably in Cabo San Lucas.
The gap is unusually large.
The Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia currently asks temporary-residence applicants qualifying through economic solvency to show roughly $76,000 in qualifying balances over the previous 12 months or about $4,500 in monthly income over the previous six months.
For permanent residency through retirement, San Diego's Mexican consulate currently lists about $303,880 in qualifying balances or pension income of at least $7,560 a month.
Those numbers also vary by consulate. Las Vegas currently publishes roughly $312,169 in qualifying assets or a $7,762 monthly pension for permanent residency, while Denver gives lower figures of around $279,000 or $6,940.
That variation tells the story. These are administrative solvency tests derived from Mexican rules and consular calculations. They are not Cabo cost-of-living estimates.
A couple can live comfortably in Cabo on far less than a $7,000 monthly pension. Meanwhile, someone can satisfy an asset-based visa threshold and still have a weak retirement plan if those assets have to fund an expensive lifestyle for another 40 years.
Residency eligibility and retirement affordability need to be calculated separately.
| Current example | Qualifying assets | Monthly income/pension | What the figure tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia temporary residence | ~$76,000 | ~$4,500 | Immigration solvency |
| San Diego permanent retirement | ~$303,880 | ~$7,560 | Immigration solvency |
| Las Vegas permanent residence | ~$312,169 | ~$7,762 | Immigration solvency |
| Comfortable Cabo couple | — | ~$2,950–$4,100 spending | Actual lifestyle budget |
How much money do you need to retire in Cabo with no pension?
A renter relying entirely on investments should think roughly $800,000–$1 million for one person and about $1.1–$1.4 million for a comfortable couple in Cabo.
We get there from spending rather than choosing a round net-worth figure.
Morningstar's latest retirement-income research uses a 3.9% starting withdrawal rate for a retiree seeking inflation-adjusted spending over 30 years with a 90% probability of funds remaining under its assumptions.
At 3.9%, every $100,000 of investable assets provides about $3,900 of first-year spending.
A single retiree spending $30,000 annually therefore needs about $769,000. At $36,000, the figure rises to roughly $923,000.
A couple spending $42,000 a year needs around $1.08 million. At $48,000, it rises to about $1.23 million. A $54,000 lifestyle points to roughly $1.38 million.
These figures become more conservative for someone retiring very young. Morningstar's 3.9% base case assumes a 30-year horizon. A 50-year-old may need the portfolio to last 40 years or longer and faces more years of inflation, medical spending and bad-market risk.
We would also keep a separate cash buffer rather than investing every available dollar. Six months of spending is a reasonable floor; 9–12 months gives a retiree much more freedom during a market decline, medical problem or expensive move.
| Annual portfolio-funded spending | Monthly spending | Portfolio at 3.9% |
|---|---|---|
| $24,000 | $2,000 | ~$615,000 |
| $30,000 | $2,500 | ~$769,000 |
| $36,000 | $3,000 | ~$923,000 |
| $42,000 | $3,500 | ~$1.08M |
| $48,000 | $4,000 | ~$1.23M |
| $54,000 | $4,500 | ~$1.38M |
| $60,000 | $5,000 | ~$1.54M |
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How much does Social Security or a pension change the Cabo retirement number?
Social Security or pension income can cut the investment portfolio needed for Cabo by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in many cases it matters more than the retiree's headline net worth.
The calculation is straightforward.
At a 3.9% withdrawal rate, generating $12,000 a year requires about $308,000 of portfolio assets. A dependable $1,000 monthly pension already supplies those $12,000.
A couple spending $48,000 a year with no other income needs roughly $1.23 million under that framework.
Give the same couple $2,000 a month of combined Social Security or pension income and the portfolio only has to provide $24,000 a year. That corresponds to roughly $615,000.
At $3,000 a month of guaranteed income, only $12,000 remains to be funded from investments, corresponding mathematically to about $308,000.
We would still want more assets than that bare calculation suggests. Emergencies, taxes, healthcare and longevity all deserve room. But the comparison shows why two couples with $700,000 can have completely different retirement prospects.
One receives $3,000 every month for life and already owns a home. The other rents and has no guaranteed income. Their identical net worth tells us almost nothing about which household can comfortably retire in Cabo.
| Guaranteed monthly income | Guaranteed annual income | Portfolio capital it replaces at 3.9% |
|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $12,000 | ~$308,000 |
| $2,000 | $24,000 | ~$615,000 |
| $3,000 | $36,000 | ~$923,000 |
| $4,000 | $48,000 | ~$1.23M |
Is $500,000 enough to retire in Cabo San Lucas?
$500,000 is enough for some Cabo retirees, but we would not call it enough for a typical renter who has no pension and expects a comfortable long retirement.
Morningstar's current 3.9% benchmark translates a $500,000 portfolio into about $19,500 of first-year withdrawals, or $1,625 a month.
That is below the Cabo budget we would use for a comfortable single renter.
Add $2,000 a month of Social Security, however, and available gross income rises to roughly $3,625 a month. Cabo suddenly looks very workable.
Owning the home changes the picture again. A retiree with $500,000, a paid-off property and $2,000–$3,000 of reliable monthly income can be in a stronger position than a renter with twice the investment portfolio and no pension.
Age also matters. A healthy 52-year-old planning for four decades of withdrawals should demand considerably more margin than someone beginning retirement in their early 70s.
So $500,000 sits in an interesting middle ground. It is too low to be our general Cabo target, yet plenty of real retirees can make it work because their portfolio only has to cover part of their spending.
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Is $1 million enough to retire comfortably in Cabo San Lucas?
$1 million is enough for a comfortable Cabo retirement for most single retirees and for many couples once Social Security, a pension or a paid-off home enters the picture.
Using the same 3.9% benchmark, $1 million provides about $39,000 in first-year portfolio spending, or $3,250 a month.
That sits comfortably inside our range for one person renting in Cabo. For a couple renting with no other income, $3,250 is workable but leaves less room for expensive housing, frequent travel and rising healthcare costs.
Now add $2,000 in monthly pension income. Total gross spending capacity reaches roughly $63,000 a year, or $5,250 a month, while the portfolio withdrawal remains at 3.9%.
At that level, a couple can absorb much more of what makes Cabo expensive: a better condo, private healthcare, a car, restaurants and trips abroad.
A homeowner receiving Social Security may need much less than $1 million. A younger couple renting premium property with no guaranteed income may reasonably want $1.5 million or more.
That range is less satisfying than one universal target, but it reflects how retirement actually works. The amount the portfolio has to produce each year matters far more than whether the account happens to contain a seven-figure balance.
Could taxes make a Cabo retirement much more expensive?
Cross-border taxes can materially change a Cabo retirement budget, and we would never treat the gross spending estimates in this article as an after-tax guarantee.
The difficult part is that there is no useful Cabo-wide tax rate for foreign retirees.
The answer can change with tax residency, nationality, pension type, investment accounts, property ownership and where income is generated. Mexico also has tax treaties with several countries, including the United States, that affect how certain income is treated and whether foreign tax credits apply.
Mexican tax residence can itself become nuanced when someone maintains homes or financial ties in more than one country. SAT's guidance looks at factors including where a person's center of vital interests sits.
For that reason, a $4,000 monthly lifestyle budget and $4,000 of gross retirement income should never be assumed to cancel each other perfectly.
The sensible approach is to build the Cabo spending budget first, calculate the household's real after-tax income separately and then check that the two still fit. For retirees with pensions, brokerage accounts, rental property or businesses in another country, a cross-border accountant can change the answer by far more than another afternoon spent comparing Cabo grocery prices.
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So how much money do you really need to retire in Cabo San Lucas?
For most foreign retirees, a realistic Cabo target today is roughly $900,000–$1.4 million if investments must fund nearly the entire retirement, while pensions and a paid-off home can push the required portfolio far below that range.
The monthly side of the equation is clearer. We would budget roughly $2,050–$2,950 for a comfortable single renter and about $2,950–$4,100 for a couple. A couple aiming for premium housing, frequent dining, private healthcare and regular travel should think closer to $5,000 a month or more.
From there, the capital requirement follows.
A couple spending $4,000 a month needs $48,000 a year. Funding all of it from investments at Morningstar's current 3.9% starting-withdrawal benchmark implies roughly $1.23 million.
Give that couple $2,000 a month of reliable pension income and the portfolio only needs to fund $24,000. The mathematical requirement falls to around $615,000 before adding extra safety reserves.
As seen above, housing creates another large swing. Eliminating $1,000 of monthly rent reduces annual spending by $12,000, which corresponds to roughly $308,000 of portfolio capital at a 3.9% withdrawal rate.
A renter with no pension should probably be thinking in seven figures. A homeowner with reliable Social Security can retire comfortably with much less. Someone chasing ocean views, golf, premium restaurants and a resort lifestyle can spend through $1 million faster than the phrase “retiring in Mexico” would suggest.
Cabo today still offers a compelling retirement equation, but cheap housing is no longer the reason. The people who make the numbers work best are usually the ones who control housing costs, keep some of their spending local and arrive with enough recurring income that their portfolio does not have to carry the entire retirement.
| Cabo retirement situation | Realistic monthly spending | Approx. portfolio if fully investment-funded | Our assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single homeowner | $2,000–$2,700 | ~$615k–$831k | Comfortable with sensible spending |
| Single renter | $2,500–$3,200 | ~$769k–$985k | Strong general target |
| Couple homeowner | $2,800–$3,500 | ~$862k–$1.08M | Comfortable |
| Couple renting | $3,500–$4,500 | ~$1.08M–$1.38M | Best broad benchmark |
| Premium couple | $5,000–$6,000+ | ~$1.54M–$1.85M+ | High-end Cabo lifestyle |
| Couple with $3,000/month pension | Reduce portfolio-funded spending by $36,000/year | About $923k less equivalent capital | Pension changes the answer dramatically |
OUR METHODOLOGY
There is no single official number showing how much someone needs to retire comfortably in Cabo San Lucas. We therefore treated the question as an aggregation problem across the variables that materially change the answer: local spending, housing, healthcare, currency, residency requirements, recurring retirement income, taxes and the amount an investment portfolio can sustainably support.
We assessed those dimensions separately before combining them. We did not mechanically average every available estimate or give every datapoint equal weight. Official Mexican data and rules were used where they directly answered the question, while current rental listings and cost-of-living observations were used where no official Cabo-level benchmark exists.
Housing receives more weight than smaller everyday expenses because the Cabo rental market varies enormously by neighborhood and property type. Current Los Cabos inventory from Inmuebles24 was used alongside broader living-cost observations, while INEGI's ENIGH 2024 results for Baja California Sur provide an official reference for the broader distribution of household spending in the state.
For electricity, we used CFE's Domestic High Consumption tariff rules, including the rolling consumption test and the fact that high-consumption thresholds vary by domestic tariff category. This is why we do not assume one generic Cabo electricity bill for every retiree.
Currency conversions are anchored to Banco de México's USD/MXN FIX rate. We also use Banco de México's historical exchange-rate data to test how the same peso lifestyle changes in dollar terms when the exchange rate moves.
Portfolio requirements are based on Morningstar's current retirement-withdrawal research, which uses a 3.9% starting withdrawal rate in its base 30-year framework. We also consulted Morningstar's broader retirement-income methodology. We use the 3.9% figure as a planning framework rather than claiming that every retiree should withdraw exactly that amount.
Residency requirements are kept separate from actual living costs. The examples in the article come directly from the Mexican consulates in Philadelphia, San Diego, Las Vegas and Denver, together with the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores temporary-residence framework and Instituto Nacional de Migración guidance on permanent residence.
For retirees who own property, we also considered the structure and recurring costs of foreign ownership in Mexico's coastal restricted zone. The legal framework comes from the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores guidance on restricted-zone fideicomisos and its current Article 27 fee information.
Healthcare is treated as a range rather than a single fixed Cabo expense. We considered current public healthcare infrastructure and the limits of local specialist capacity, including information from the Government of Baja California Sur on the new IMSS regional hospital and patient transfers and Secretaría de Salud information on hospitals serving Los Cabos.
Tax conclusions are deliberately limited because there is no single tax rate applicable to every foreign retiree. The framework comes from Article 9 of Mexico's Código Fiscal de la Federación, including the residence and center-of-vital-interests rules, and from the United States–Mexico tax treaty documents published by the IRS.
The final retirement ranges are therefore built from spending first. We estimate a realistic Cabo lifestyle, subtract dependable recurring income such as Social Security or pensions, and translate only the remaining portfolio-funded spending into investment capital. We then stress-test the result against the variables that move it most: rent, home ownership, exchange rates, healthcare and retirement length.
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