International mail

HOLY S**T! 🤬

This could be about Trump pulling the US out of the Universal Postal Union.   I think that takes effect tomorrow.

Another vote for US global Mail.
It was just a notice from VA and I should have saved and/or printed
Now I know   

I receive letters from the VA rarely. Yes, that is Trump´s  pulling out of the Universal Postal Union. His reason is because the US receives more correspondence than any country from abroad.

I am studying Argentina as an alternative but they´re in recession and asked for a moratorium of their indebtedness with the IMF. Argentines are saying that they´ll
default on their payment obligation by next year. I heard that there´s even shortage of food in restaurants. Tex, are they really buying meat crossing the border into Brazil?
Are there any more obvious, observable problems aside from their peso devaluation?

The next best alternative in our continent in my opinion is Mexico. You can drive by car to the US. Can pick up mail every few months and also shop and have a food fix.... etc. etc.

I´ll also study Portugal to see if I can get a passport...

robal

" I heard that there´s even shortage of food in restaurants. Tex, are they really buying meat crossing the border into Brazil?
Are there any more obvious, observable problems aside from their peso devaluation?"

Doc it is not as they are making special trips for beef, but they are coming for staples and pick up a few cuts.
They are even protesting on the airport road to and from the Iguazu Falls not allowing buses and taxis into both. Many visitors had to walk a few KM with luggage with military escort to the airport chanting "visitors do not support Government agencies! We do not get the money here.!"

I read that they're emptying all their accounts in
US dollars as it commands very good exchange
rate at the black market. Land must be very cheap now like Venezuela.

Taxis and hotels are loving it when tourist go from BR side to AR and pay in U$D. Taxis know where to get the best exchange.
Do not know as to land. Majority is agriculture. More BR restaurants going direct to cattlemen for beef.

If they default on the lMF loan pmt next year,
their stock market would collapse, their peso
would further devalue and apartments in
Buenos Aires would be cheaper. Hmmm...
I'm thinking of acquiring one for me for vacation purposes... Excellent wine and steaks would also be cheaper at restaurants!

If I were to buy agricultural land, it would be at Patagonia.

Maybe they raise the taxes to offset savings? Nah, they would never do that, would they?

Texanbrazil wrote:

Maybe they raise the taxes to offset savings? Nah, they would never do that, would they?

Are you talking about the new postal fee in Brazil or a new measure to be imposed by Argentina to screw their citizens?

Reply was to buying property in AR, but point is well taken.

You also have a point because to be able to pay their indebtedness and balance their budget deficit they have to raise taxes and
diminish spending. I bet it's difficult to raise
the already very high interest rate to control inflation.

Either way, I'm keeping my eye on it. There was a time during one of their recessions a one bedroom apt in Buenos Aires fell to prices at aprrox 15,000USD. That cash is easy
to put in one's pocket...

Bolsonaro is planning to change currency because the real is losing value all the time.
I really don't want to see 1:1 again at the start
of the real. I would liquidate all my properties and go to Argentina, hence the Argentinian
real estate emerged. Imagine I paid some in cruzeiros and now suddenly valued equally in dollars. They have appreciated during the
25yrs...

Interesting. What would be the currency? With Euros and Brix nah. US dollar? Pound?
The banks can not handle this IMO.

It will be a Brazilian original, like let´s say "realeza." They have changed their currency 8 times already for the last 50 years. Why not the 9th? Of course they would equate
1 realeza to 1 dollar. That´s catastrophic for single income people like US retirees receiving only their SS retirement income. There has to be a country that cushions the sudden fall of standard of living... Is Argentina becoming attractive? How about Mexico
or even Ecuador?

robal

It will be a Brazilian original, like let´s say "realeza." They have changed their currency 8 times already for the last 50 years. Why not the 9th? Of course they would equate
1 realeza to 1 dollar. That´s catastrophic for single income people like US retirees receiving only their SS retirement income. There has to be a country that cushions the sudden fall of standard of living... Is Argentina becoming attractive? How about Mexico
or even Ecuador?

robal

"How about Mexico
or even Ecuador?"

I see Ecuador has issued a state of emergency! Mexico probably have to pay cartels for safety?

Ecuadorians are used to subsidized fuel. The prices are now just only rising - equalling the US but nevertheless demonstrations are on-going. And they use USD as a currency.

Yes there are indeed very violent cities in Mexico - of the top 10, 5 belongs to Mexico
namely:

1. Tijuana - bordering San Diego.
2. Acapulco
3. Victoria at the State of Tamaulipas
4. Juarez - at the State of Chihuahua
5. Irapuato - at the State of Guanajuato

Drug traffickers has shifted their activities now to fuel theft, migrant smuggling, local
drug dealings and other forms of illicit activities.

The key is to locate peaceful areas and if you love white sand and turquoise-like waters
you should opt for the 80-mile stretch of the Yucatan Peninsula from Cancún to Tulúm.
Puerto Vallarta, Playa del Carmen are very nice. Meridá, the capital of the Yucatan Peninsula is also nice in my opinion. But US citizens are very concentrated in Lake
Chapala and San Miguel de Allende.

But anywhere in the world - there are always areas where more crimes are committed.
In Brazil, Rio and Vitória are famous. Last year Fortaleza and Natal joined the group.
Go figure...

robal

Agree. Travel all beaches in Mexico. Love PV and Playa del Carman.
I read it cost Ecuador $60B on fuel.

Texanbrazil wrote:

Agree. Travel all beaches in Mexico. Love PV and Playa del Carman.
I read it cost Ecuador $60B on fuel.

The fuel subsidies that Ecuador is putting up every year is about 2.2 to 2.7billion dollars every year. If you estimate the total for the last 40 years it would be more than $60 billion. Their budget deficit is 3.6B a year and want to have by 2020 under $1billion. That´s why the president of Ecuador is now
abolishing the fuel subsidy.

No mail in a week. How about fixing this? Rumbling as to not receiving bills before de date and having to call to get a bar code.
Remember when ATC struck in US?   Just fired them and replaced.

I´ll also update everyone on what´s happening on my mail coming from the US. I have not received two shipments of letters from my mail forwarder for 2 1/2 months now since the imposition of the CPF on packages coming from abroad. I´m assuming customs destroyed them.

There was a credit card fraud from a certain PagSeguro billing (this is the second time in a row this year) and I had to report it to Capital One. The credit card card was sent through FedEx but they did not deliver to my P.O. Box because as I discovered later
they just don´t on P.O. Boxes. So I don´t have in my possession one debit card, 2 reloadable Visa and 3 credit cards. Oh boy. It´s a good thing I still have 2 debit cards that has not expired yet and 1 reloadable Visa that I can reload at will. It´s a redundant back-up that I acquired through military training. It´s like an obsessive compulsive disorder!

It´s the only way to survive Brazil. They change rules everytime and I can imagine when the far left returns to power.

Lesson of the story: If you rely on debit and credit cards, YOU BETTER have multiple back-ups because Brazil´s mail service is not very reliable. Multiple reloadable Visa and multiple  debit cards works very well. So different bank accounts with their own debit cards is very
advisable. Have at least a 4 month cash operating expenses... To avoid fraud, I now also use Brazilian credit cards with PINs for more security.

robal

Texanbrazil wrote:

No mail in a week. How about fixing this? Rumbling as to not receiving bills before de date and having to call to get a bar code.
Remember when ATC struck in US?   Just fired them and replaced.

Many utility companies are always late in sending you the monthly bill. It could come the same day it expires, sometimes after the expiration and sometimes not at all. That really makes my blood boil.

They cheat on their responsibility and then fines you for not paying on time. Looks like companies don´t want to mail bills and that´s why they want you to receive bills by e-mail only. What really you can do
is go to their site and get the "segunda via" of your bill. You just need your CPF and the contract number. Or you can opt for them to send the bill or bar code to your e-mail every billing period.

I only have 1 and it is used when I need proof of address. The charging of $15R for international mail that does not get here, that is got me baffled.

Texanbrazil wrote:

I only have 1 and it is used when I need proof of address. The charging of $15R for international mail that does not get here, that is got me baffled.

I haven´t been charged that so far. My mail shipments disappeared though. Does US Global Mail
through FedEx, UPS, DHL or Aramex hand over their mail to Correios once their mail reaches Brazil for
local distribution to your home address?

FedEx, UPS and DHL yes. All have contractors after it goes through customs to fly or drive to destinations. Mine goes thru the driven to Foz from Curitiba.

Wow, I am glad I only receive 2 pieces of mail both 1099s,  this  is frickn crazy...the 15r
I can handle, yet at 1-1 that makes life difficult, no reason to live abroad...

..rethinking life and moving at 64 years of age is like being frickn countryless,  yea might as well cre8 a new word "Countryless"....scary...

I haven't seen any mail in maybe 4 months, the last piece I got was a advertising from my Credit Union how it made it through only the Higher Power knows....

So that means I will have to pay for the 1099s and the SSI annual Whereabouts Notice and all IRS Correspondence I never recieve....to many daymares for this week...
Thanks for the info Doc and Big Tex....

Doc maybe I can rent the apartment with pesos. ..kkk...

Does the 15r apply to DHL,Fedex,UPS????

Does the 15r apply to DHL,Fedex,UPS????

If they hand over letters coming from abroad to the local Correios to be delivered in Brazil, I would assume they will charge that amount at the receiving end.

Do not believe so. My letters/packages go through customs and a FedEx contractor delivers.
Now takes about an extra 2 days than what FedEx delivered date says by FedEx. But just sign for it when arrives.

Doc maybe I can rent the apartment with pesos. ..kkk...

If push comes to shove and Brazil gets to worst conditions and Argentina´s pesos devalues more, then Argentinian real estate acquisition is ripe for execution. I´m now hoarding dollars for that in cash... If I´m successful with multiple purchase we can talk for the rent in pesos! Ha ha.

We even can probably gather all the veterans and create a compound for us in Argentina. A fund can even be created for medical, compound maintenance, a cook to
shop for food and cook for everyone and even a nurse to attend to necessities.

If the stock market crashes in the US and create a worldwide domino effect, then Argentina and Brazil would be in a world of SH*T. I can imagine bank closures to prevent flight of capital; business operation cessations leading to mass unemployment; street chaos and ransacking of supermarkets and crime to stratospheric levels as the population is thrown to drastic socio-economic and geopolitical upheavals... A common presumption as the globalized economic ecosystem is disrupted.

I´ll take the first watch at that compound...

robal

Texanbrazil wrote:

Do not believe so. My letters/packages go through customs and a FedEx contractor delivers.
Now takes about an extra 2 days than what FedEx delivered date says by FedEx. But just sign for it when arrives.

If it´s FedEx own contractor then of course... you´ve already been charged initially to include all the
trimmings.

Okay, I will do the 24 x 7 Watch.....kkk...I see a article now....W8 4 it......Trump for sees Bank Runs....omfgawd. ...

And it off to Argentina I go....for the Love of the Higher Power can a Vet get a Break....

My Gawd , and they Wonder why I Expated......

As I still W8 on my Tax Return, what a fiasco......Lalalallalllallllĺala. ...

Thanks for the info. I wonder if OPM and SSI are aware of the Charges to be assessed for there Info via Mail.....

"Thanks for the info. I wonder if OPM and SSI are aware of the Charges to be assessed for there Info via Mail".....

Of course they do. All this problem originated by Trump´s admin. Remember?

I´m only hoping that the SS form to be filled up every 2 years don´t get delayed. Suspension of SS benefits occur if they don´t receive the filled up form in time...

robal wrote:

I´m only hoping that the SS form to be filled up every 2 years don´t get delayed. Suspension of SS benefits occur if they don´t receive the filled up form in time...

They shouldn't be, if you contact the Federal Benefits Unit at the US Embassy in Lisbon.  SSA has created a virtual region consisting of all Portuguese-speaking countries; services to recipients residing in Brazil come from there now, if they're aware of you.  They've even rearranged their office hours so they can talk to us by phone.
FBU.Lisbon@ssa.gov

abthree wrote:

robal wrote:

I´m only hoping that the SS form to be filled up every 2 years don´t get delayed. Suspension of SS benefits occur if they don´t receive the filled up form in time...

They shouldn't be, if you contact the Federal Benefits Unit at the US Embassy in Lisbon.  SSA has created a virtual region consisting of all Portuguese-speaking countries; services to recipients residing in Brazil come from there now, if they're aware of you.  They've even rearranged their office hours so they can talk to us by phone.
FBU.Lisbon@ssa.gov

Can SS recipients residing in Brazil change address with them by phone? It takes about an hour waiting
for the response if you call the US.

Yes, they can, according to their website:

https://pt.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-se … -security/

If you email them with your question, they'll usual ask you for a convenient time, and call you.
Your initial email should include this information:

Name & Surname/Nome e Sobrenome:

Date of Birth/Data de Nascimento (MM/DD/YYYY):

Last Four Digits of your Social Security Number (XXX-XX-9999):

Address/Endereço:

Phone/Telefone:

Mobile/Cell:



Issue/Motivo:

Yup had to call Portugal last year, got right thru.....Benefits reinstated recieved payment in 10 days...

Is it every 2 years verification or Annual of my Whereabouts. ...?

For they cut me last year, never received the letter for info and the jerk in the USA  allways has voice mail...yada,yada,yada...

Every time you change address, you have to update with SS. The form to fill up for status
changes like marriage, divorce, citizenship,
work, etc : every 2 years....