My husband and I left our stable income of over $200,000 and moved to Mexico. I've never had so much freedom over my life — it's a blessing.
They both earned six figures in the US, but since moving to Mexico they've downsized their life.
Since the move, Ramos has more time to spend with her children and feels less stressed.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with 36-year-old Bianca Ramos about moving from the US to Mexico. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
My husband and I are both Mexican-American. In our culture, we were taught to put our heads down and work hard to make a name for ourselves.
We both made six figures, so our household income was over $200,000, but I don't know if we were really happy.
My father-in-law moved to America so my husband and his siblings could build a better life. When my husband and I got married in 2018, our aim was to keep pursuing the American dream by moving up the corporate ladder.
But we were stressed and exhausted. It felt like no matter how hard we worked, it would never be enough to meet our American dream.
In 2024, we moved our family to Mexico. We're earning less money and downsized our lifestyle, but I have more time with my kids and get to redefine what success means to me. It's been worth it.
I started to struggle with the idea of the American dream
In the US, I pursued a career in HR, focusing on inclusion and diversity. My husband worked in sales.
Before kids, all I thought about was moving up the corporate ladder. I had a vision to be a VP of HR.
We bought a four-bedroom house in Austin. He drove a Tundra, and I drove an Audi. A lot of our money was spent on paying the nanny for our two kids.
I felt pressure to keep upgrading our lives: a bigger house, nicer cars, and more things, because that's what I thought success was.
Every upgrade meant working harder and losing time with my kids.
We initially struggled to have children. We finally had our son in 2021 and daughter in 2022. Having my son completely shifted my values. Time with my children felt more important than working in a corporate job to afford more stuff.
We decided to leave the US
Although I worked remotely in the US, back-to-back meetings made spending time with my kids difficult.
Around the same time, I also started thinking more about my identity as a Mexican-American. We began to think moving to Mexico could help our kids understand more about their cultural identity.
In 2022, my husband and I started talking about leaving America.
We spent two years having long conversations about moving. We cut back on our finances, started saving, and got our documentation for moving to Mexico. We slowly sold our things, including both of our cars, and put our house up for rent.
We both handed in our resignations and moved to Mexico in August 2024.
Telling our families was difficult. My husband's family left Mexico to come here, so sitting them down and saying we were moving back was terrifying. We were afraid they'd feel like we were failing them.
We've made sacrifices financially
My husband, who dabbled in day trading before the move to Mexico, has decided to pursue it full-time. His pay is less predictable, but the flexible hours mean he can spend more time with us.
When I resigned from my job, my company offered me the option to move to a part-time, remote role with them. Now, I have the flexibility to focus on my family while also pursuing content creation. My ultimate goal is to build an online community for people who want more freedom and balance in their lives.
We make $2,400 from renting out our house in the States, but our professional incomes are less than they were in the US. Both of our businesses are in their infancy, but we have a big vision for our future.
We don't consume just to consume anymore. In the States, I enjoyed interior design and filling my house with stuff, but in Mexico, my kids share a room and the decorations don't match like they used to. Having everything looking pristine is no longer important or financially realistic.
While most things are less expensive in Mexico than in the States, branded shoes and clothing are more expensive here.
We live in a two-bedroom condo in Playa del Carmen, which is smaller than our old home. We pay $1,300 a month for rent, which is less than our monthly mortgage payment. We live a 10-minute walk from the beach, and our kids love sharing a room. It's made me realize we never needed a big house to begin with.
I'm redefining success outside the corporate ladder
My life's taken a dramatic turn. I have more time to be present with my children because I'm not stressed and always checking my emails.
I've never had so much freedom. I'm responsible for creating my own success and pursuing my business dreams. It's a blessing to be able to grab control of my life.
In the US, work is always a part of your identity. When you meet new people, the first thing they'll ask is what you do. In Mexico, people work to live instead of living to work. When you meet people, they ask about your family or invite you for a drink.
Walking away from my corporate dreams was one of the hardest things I've had to do. I worked so hard to get to where I was, and had more climbing to do. But I'm glad I'm betting on myself and redefining what the future looks like for me and my family.
Do you have a story to share about leaving America? Contact this reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Solve the daily Crossword
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
23 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Trump's demand to trading partners: Pledge money or get higher tariffs
Advertisement The tactic was on display last week as Trump and his team rolled out a blitz of new trade agreements before a self-imposed Aug. 1 deadline. 'South Korea is right now at a 25% Tariff, but they have an offer to buy down those Tariffs,' Trump wrote on social media Wednesday. 'I will be interested in hearing what that offer is.' The next day, Trump agreed to impose a tariff of 15 percent on imports from South Korea. The lower rate came after South Korea agreed to make $350 billion in investments in the United States and purchase $100 billion of liquefied natural gas. South Korea is not the only country to make such pledges. Japan said it would establish a $550 billion fund for investments in the United States. The European Union indicated that its companies were poised to invest at least $600 billion. Advertisement To trade experts, the commitments raise the question of whether Trump is negotiating with trading partners or trade hostages. 'This is no doubt a global shakedown of sorts,' said Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the right-leaning Cato Institute. 'The fact is that Trump is using US tariff policy to effectively force these terms upon less-than-willing participants.' But the vague nature of these informal commitments suggests that other nations might also be looking for creative ways to escape Trump's tariffs. Although tariffs are relatively straightforward to enforce, investment and purchase commitments are not as easily policed. The EU, for instance, does not have the authority to dictate the type of investments that it has promised, and much of Japan's pledged investments are coming in the form of loans. The investment announcements have also spurred confusion and lacked the usual detail that would accompany such pacts to avoid future disputes. A large majority of the $350 billion South Korean investment would take the form of loans and loan guarantees. South Korean officials expressed confusion over what US officials meant when they said 90 percent of the profits from the investments would go to the American people. A fact sheet announcing the EU's plans allowed for some wiggle room when it said that 'E.U. companies have expressed interest in investing at least $600 billion' in 'various sectors in the U.S.' 'I think there remain a lot of questions, including by the countries who have announced commitments, as to what those commitments actually really mean,' said Michael Froman, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who served as the top trade negotiator in the Obama administration. 'Is it enforceable? If they don't deliver a certain amount of investment over a particular period of time, do tariffs go back into place?' Advertisement During Trump's first term, the trade deal he struck with China included extensive commitments for Chinese purchases of American farm products that were never met. The agreement did have an enforcement mechanism, but it proved toothless. Some of the initial investment pledges appear to be too big to be true. New data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that in 2024, foreign spending to acquire, start or expand US businesses totaled $151 billion — a small fraction of the new commitments being announced. The $600 billion EU investment commitment matches the total value of the goods that the United States imported from Europe last year. Although the United States has long been a magnet for foreign investment, the longer-term effects of making countries invest under duress are not clear. 'This is the kind of deal you'd more expect to see from an emerging market that can't attract capital on its merits,' said Aaron Bartnick, who worked in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Biden administration. 'And we may find over time that if the United States insists on acting like an emerging market, our trade partners may start treating us accordingly, with more onerous terms and less favorable rates that American companies and consumers are not accustomed to dealing with.' Regardless of the economic implications, Trump's tactics show no signs of abating, as he regularly claims more than $10 trillion — and climbing — in investments from foreign companies and countries. Advertisement Daniel Ames, a professor at Columbia Business School who teaches negotiation strategy, said that Trump's approach to trade deals appears to be drawn directly from his days as a developer and businessperson. Trump became notorious for destabilizing his negotiating counterparts with severely low bids, dazzling sales pitches and an ability to capitalize on weakness to gain leverage. Ames noted, however, that the EU and countries like Japan and South Korea might also be playing into Trump's sense of vanity when they unveil whopping investment promises that might ultimately be hollow. 'Donald Trump is a gifted storyteller, and I think when his counterparts recognize this, they can play to it,' Ames said. 'If you're negotiating with a narcissist, you look for ways to make them feel like they've won.' This article originally appeared in .
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Modi and Trump once called each other good friends. Now the US-India relationship is getting bumpy
NEW DELHI (AP) — The men shared bear hugs, showered praise on each other and made appearances side by side at stadium rallies — a big optics boost for two populist leaders with ideological similarities. Each called the other a good friend. In India, the bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump was seen as a relationship like no other. That is, until a series of events gummed up the works. From Trump's tariffs and India's purchase of oil from Russia to a U.S. tilt towards Pakistan, friction between New Delhi and Washington has been hard to miss. And much of it has happened far from the corridors of power and, unsurprisingly, through Trump's posts on social media. It has left policy experts wondering whether the camaraderie the two leaders shared may be a thing of the past, even though Trump has stopped short of referring to Modi directly on social media. The dip in rapport, some say, puts a strategic bilateral relationship built over decades at risk. 'This is a testing time for the relationship,' said Ashok Malik, a former policy adviser in India's Foreign Ministry. Simmering tensions over trade and tariffs The latest hiccup between India and the U.S. emerged last week when Trump announced that he was slapping 25% tariffs on India as well as an unspecified penalty because of India's purchasing of Russian oil. For New Delhi, such a move from its largest trading partner is expected to be felt across sectors, but it also led to a sense of unease in India — even more so when Trump, on social media, called India's economy 'dead.' Trump's recent statements reflect his frustration with the pace of trade talks with India, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal administration thinking. The Republican president has not been pursuing any strategic realignment with Pakistan, according to the official, but is instead trying to play hardball in negotiations. Trump doubled down on the pressure Monday with a fresh post on Truth Social, in which he accused India of buying 'massive amounts' of oil from Russia and then 'selling it on the Open Market for big profits.' 'They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA,' he said. The messaging appears to have stung Modi's administration, which has been hard-selling negotiations with Trump's team over a trade deal by balancing between India's protectionist system while also opening up the country's market to more American goods. Many expected India to react strongly considering Modi's carefully crafted reputation of strength. Instead, the announcement prompted a rather careful response from India's commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, who said the two countries are working towards a 'fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement.' India's Foreign Ministry also played down suggestions of any strain. However, experts in New Delhi wonder. 'Strenuous, uninterrupted and bipartisan efforts in both capitals over the past 25 years are being put at risk by not just the tariffs but by fast and loose statements and social media posts,' said Malik, who now heads the India chapter of The Asia Group, a U.S. advisory firm . Malik also said the trade deal the Indian side has offered to the U.S. is the 'most expansive in this country's history,' referring to reports that India was willing to open up to some American agricultural products. That is a politically sensitive issue for Modi, who faced a yearlong farmers' protest a few years ago. Trump appears to be tilting towards Pakistan The unraveling may have gained momentum over tariffs, but the tensions have been palpable for a while. Much of it has to do with Trump growing closer to Pakistan, India's nuclear rival in the neighborhood. In May, India and Pakistan traded a series of military strikes over a gun massacre in disputed Kashmir that New Delhi blamed Islamabad for. Pakistan denied the accusations. The four-day conflict made the possibility of a nuclear conflagration between the two sides seem real and the fighting only stopped when global powers intervened. But it was Trump's claims of mediation and an offer to work to provide a 'solution' regarding the dispute over Kashmir that made Modi's administration uneasy. Since then, Trump has repeated nearly two dozen times that he brokered peace between India and Pakistan. For Modi, that is a risky — even nervy — territory. Domestically, he has positioned himself as a leader who is tough on Pakistan. Internationally, he has made huge diplomatic efforts to isolate the country. So Trump's claims cut a deep wound, prompting a sense in India that the U.S. may no longer be its strategic partner. India insists that Kashmir is India's internal issue and had opposed any third-party intervention. Last week Modi appeared to dismiss Trump's claims after India's Opposition began demanding answers from him. Modi said that 'no country in the world stopped' the fighting between India and Pakistan, but he did not name Trump. Trump has also appeared to be warming up to Pakistan, even praising its counterterrorism efforts. Hours after levying tariffs on India, Trump announced a 'massive' oil exploration deal with Pakistan, saying that some day, India might have to buy oil from Islamabad. Earlier, he also hosted one of Pakistan's top military officials at a private lunch. Sreeram Sundar Chaulia, an expert at New Delhi's Jindal School of International Affairs, said Trump's sudden admiration for Pakistan as a great partner in counterterrorism has 'definitely soured' the mood in India. Chaulia said 'the best-case scenario is that this is just a passing Trump whim,' but he also warned that 'if financial and energy deals are indeed being struck between the U.S. and Pakistan, it will dent the U.S.-India strategic partnership and lead to loss of confidence in the U.S. in Indian eyes.' India's oil purchases from Russia are an irritant The strain in relations has also to do with oil. India had faced strong pressure from the Biden administration to cut back its oil purchases from Moscow during the early months of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Instead, India bought more, making it the second-biggest buyer of Russian oil after China. That pressure sputtered over time and the U.S. focused more on building strategic ties with India, which is seen as a bulwark against a rising China. Trump's threat to penalize India over oil, however, brought back those issues. On Sunday, the Trump administration made its frustrations over ties between India and Russia ever more public. Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House, accused India of financing Russia's war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from Moscow, saying it was 'not acceptable.'
Black America Web
an hour ago
- Black America Web
Tariffs Reach Highest Level Since 1934 Under Trump Plan
Source: Anna Moneymaker / Getty The U.S. is heading into tariff territory not seen since the Great Depression, with new trade measures from former President Donald Trump set to take effect August 7. The result? A potential price spike on everything from shoes and wine to furniture and electronics. Under Trump's newly ordered tariff regime, the average tax on imported goods will jump to 18.3%, the highest since 1934, according to Yale's nonpartisan Budget Lab. The move targets 66 countries, the European Union, Taiwan, and even the Falkland Islands. Among the steepest penalties: 40% on imports from Laos, 39% on Swiss goods, and 30% on products from South Africa. While some countries, such as Cambodia and Bangladesh, saw reduced tariffs after negotiations, the overall trade landscape remains tense. A 35% tariff on Canadian goods begins immediately, while action against China and Mexico is delayed pending talks. A 50% tax on imported aluminum and steel remains in place. We care about your data. See our privacy policy. The Budget Lab estimates the average U.S. household could lose around $2,400 in purchasing power due to higher prices, with a short-term 1.8% jump in inflation expected. Items already affected include: Eyewear : Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica has raised prices. : Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica has raised prices. Wine : Expect up to 30% price hikes on European wines by September. : Expect up to on European wines by September. Shoes and apparel : With 97% of clothing and shoes imported , costs are expected to rise 5–10% this fall. : With , costs are expected to rise 5–10% this fall. Furniture, electronics, and appliances: Many of which include foreign-made steel or aluminum, are already showing price upticks. Retailers have largely absorbed tariff costs until now. 'The new tariffs will impact merchandise in the coming weeks,' said David French of the National Retail Federation. Smaller businesses are especially concerned about staying afloat. Matt Priest of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America warned that back-to-school prices are already climbing. And automakers, though slow to respond publicly, are feeling the pressure: General Motors expects to lose $4–5 billion this year due to tariff-related costs. Trump has pitched these tariffs as a strategy to boost U.S. manufacturing and trade fairness. Some of the new trade deals do include specific wins—like the EU agreeing to buy $750 billion in American energy and Vietnam pledging $2 billion in U.S. agricultural goods. But experts say those victories may be short-lived, and some trade partners—particularly China—could shift away from U.S. markets in the long term. SEE ALSO Tariffs Reach Highest Level Since 1934 Under Trump Plan was originally published on
