Americans In Costa Rica – Investment questions you must ask.

You’ve heard it before and it’s worth repeating; ‘When It Sounds Too Good To Be True… It probably is.”

Costa Rica is a truly beautiful country and for many, it is the ideal place for Canadian foreign investment but, please do not leave your brain on the plane!

You must remember that in Costa Rica, any ‘Tom’, ‘Ricardo’ or ‘Harry’ can call themselves an investment advisor with zero education, no training, no qualifications and no regulatory oversight whatsoever… Just like “Realtors.”

Where Can Gringos Invest?

As a professional investment advisor for the last 20 years – but no longer – US citizens have zero options when it comes to legitimate offshore investment funds who want nothing to do with them but, inside Costa Rica there are many options…

A more appropriate question should be: “What legitimate, secure and verifiable investment products are available? Products that may be similar to the ones that you are accustomed to ‘back home’ and, “Is there someone with comparable, professional investment qualifications that could help me?”

When living in Costa Rica and evaluating foreign investments that might be appropriate, please get the answers to the following ‘basic’ questions:

1. Who exactly is handling your money?
2. Where was the company formed & registered?
3. Who exactly owns the company?
4. Where is the company’s physical headquarters?
5. Who exactly is the President?
6. Who exactly are the other Executive Officers of the company?
7. What part of the world are they from exactly?
8. Are they qualified to do what they say they do?
9. Are they licensed? If so by whom?
10. Who and where are their traders?
11. Who and how exactly will they invest your money in?
12. How exactly do they manage ‘risk’?
13. Who exactly audits their company’s track record?
14. Where exactly do you wire your money? Which banks? To which account?
15. With which professional bodies are the traders and the principals of the firm registered?
16. How can you verify this information?
17. Are you really comparing apples to apples? For example, you know that a AAA rated investment in Costa Rica is NOT the same as a AAA rated investment ‘back home’, right?
18. Does the person ‘selling’ you the idea have any qualifications, training or experience in personal financial matters?

Take notes of your discussions and write down the names of all of the people involved.

Remember! This is your money. You can ask any damn question you want…

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa and Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.