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I know it probably depends on the area,but I would like some information on what an american dollar is worth.I heard that if you are on a fixed retirement, that our dollar goes a long way.
The US dollar exchange rate is posted daily at
Today 2nd August to buy will be 514.94:US$1 and to sell will be 516.81: US$1
To put costs and wages into perpective, you might want to see the legal minimum salaries at
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comDavid, this is a much more complicated question than simply looking at today’s exchange rate. Scott’s suggestion to look at the minimum wage scale (set on an occupation-by-occupation basis) is a place to begin, but you must also consider the other major expenses of housing, food, fuel, car ownership, medical care, utilities, etc. These are much tougher to assess, but they’re equally important.
The government regulates the prices of some commodities, such as fuel and utilities, which makes their costs easy to determine (at least until the costs change), but land and housing costs and vehicle ownership costs vary enormously. You’ll have to dig very deeply to get good answers to your questions.
I belive it also depends on what your style of life is too! You can find many homes in CR in upper scale developments that are priced 300,000 dollars and above. You can buy a nice brand new car for 20,000.00 or more. How ever if you really want to go cheap do what the natives do buy a nice house for under 100,000 dollars, pay it off and buy a nice cheap car. Then the rest is cheap except for gas and cloths. Vip movies tickets (this is where you are able to sit in a recliner with attendents to serve you food) at the movie theator is only 4 dollars, property taxes on a home under 100,000 is not more than 25.00 dollars a year, a pinapple is only 30 cents and Pura Vida time is priceless! Also you aren’t paying thousands of dollars a month on health care costs!
The reason I asked,is that I have heard that americans are retiring to CR because our dollar goes farther with life styles being equal.
Absolutely!
But only you will be able to find that out for yourself and your own particular style of living.
But with property taxes a fraction of most places in the USA and with no heating or air conditioning costs (in the Central valley area anyway) – that alone will save you a small fortune.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLOveCostaRica.co,scott and Scott are right on all counts. Your dollars will buy much more here than in the U.S. Whether you can live on those dollars, however, is another matter entirely. The virtual absence of property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, heating and air conditioning costs, etc, in addition to low cost utilities, food, housing, etc, give you an enormous advantage. Nevertheless, the lifestyle you aspire to will have a greater impact than any other consideration. If you insist on having those personal services such as the luxury theater tickets, a housekeeper and a gardener, relatively lavish restaurant meals, etc, your expenditures can easily outstrip your income.
Over the years I have found that I can live the same lifestyle in CR as in the US for about a third of the dollars. The savings mentioned above cut it by a half, and then the US income tax exemption for residents of foreign countries brings it down more.
Help me out here, Sr. Gringo, what’s “the U.S. income tax exemption for residents of foreign countries”?
I was referring to the US income tax exemption for US residents of foreign countries of the first $75,000 of annual income. If you´re married and file jointly, that´s $150,000. It has always been my goal to take full advantage of this exemption. Still working on it though…
But don’t you have to be employed by a company outside the US? Because you won’t be able to “work” in Costa Rica, how is it that you intend to take advantage of this exemption? My husband got the exemption when he was the chef at the St. James Club in Antigua, but he was employed by the resort. And I think the exemption is up to $80,000, plus there are other restrictions and provisions such as how many months you must be out of the country in order to quality. It’s not as simple as you made it sound.
I assume we’re talking about earnings from employment outside the U.S., right? Our pension payments from our U.S. careers are not tax-exempt, are they?
Depends on the source of your pension and whether it is taxable in the States. Most social security payments are not taxable. But for private plans, if you’re taxed in the US, you’ll still be taxed in the US even if you are living in Costa Rica. Remember the US taxes us on all worldwide income, so leaving the country doesn’t allow you to opt out of the tax plan! LOL And don’t forget to file your form with the Treasury Department listing your worldwide holdings in excess of $10,000.
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