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Hello Fellow Canadians,
We are seriously looking at Costa Rica for retirement, but I have several questions regarding the Canadian Pension payments.
We will be receiving CPP but will have to apply at age 65 for Old Age Security while living in Costa Rica, could someone tell me if this was an easy process? Also how much is deducted as withholding tax?
Another question is about Canadian Banks in Costa Rica, how is the service there?
Thank youAs our VIP members will have noticed from my banking articles, IMHO (in my humble experience) the service in all banks in Costa Rica is slightly better than abysmal.
Just because a bank has a name that clearly shows it is a subsidiary of a US or Canadian bank really means nothing when it comes to you opening a new account.
For example ScotiaBank in Costa Rica is still a Costa Rican bank and must abide by Costa Rica banking regulations and, you will have to provide exactly the same documentation to open an account as someone who has never had an account with any ScotiaBank anywhere in the world.
Best wishes
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comHi Scott,
Thanks for your reply. Is it possible to use your atm card in say Scotia Bank (Costa Rica) to access your funds in Canada until you are able to open an account there?
Thanks again.Yes, if your ATM/debit card has the Plus or Cirrus logo, you can access your funds in your Canadian bank. Just be sure to tell your bank where you’ll be so that you don’t get tangled up in their security system when they think that your card has been stolen and is being used illegally here.
Hi,
Thanks for the info., it will be most helpful when we move and also when we come down for a holiday in several weeks.Regards,
The ‘withholding tax’ seems to vary from ‘0-3% depending on who you are talking too.
Again, applying online for your OAP, could be easy….
It is advisable to make 2-3 visits [b]before you make the move[/b]! Also, [b]consider renting[/b][i][/i] in the area you are most interested in to check out the weather systems to see if it is what you like, but more important, what you can live with.
It is so easy to buy property but [b]very difficult[/b] to sell.While we didn’t do it, I generally agree that it’s advisable to rent for a while before buying. The problem, however, arises from the lack of American-style/American-quality homes to rent. Most of what’s on the market is Costa Rican in every sense of the term. We’re currently renting the house we manage to a couple who’ve been looking for a longer-term arrangement since September and haven’t found very much that’s satisfactory.
Aspiring relocators need to face the fact that the rental stock here isn’t terribly rich and that they’re likely to have to compromise a lot to find something.
David, things have changed here since both of us made the move to Costa Rica.
Material ‘things’ are more available than ever, and yes, the availability of American-style/American-quality homes to rent are few and far between. But, while one decides on the next step, isn’t it better to ‘rough it’ than to purchase in haste….
Just yesterday, I heard of two Canadian Club couples have returned to their home bases, for different reasons and we know that between 50-60% of ex-pats do eventually leave Costa Rica.Speaking for ourselves, costaricafinca, I fully agree that compromising on one’s wants is a reasonable approach while still investigating the available choices. Not everyone sees it that way, however, and the compromises one must make to occupy some Costa Rican homes in the rental market are, indeed, pretty significant. I think that many aspiring expats are not emotionally prepared to give up such amenities as window screens, hot water in the kitchen and bathroom, adequate electrical service and lighting, reasonably quiet neighbors, fast Internet access, etc.
I’m simply pointing out that finding acceptable rental properties, especially if one follows the common advice to live in several places before making a commitment, can be a daunting task. Aspiring expats need to be alerted to this fact.
You’ve stated that 50 to 60 percent of expats eventually leave Costa Rica. The common “wisdom” is that the number is around 40 percent, but no one can point to any data to support that assumption. Do you now [u]know[/u] (not think; not suspect) something that the rest of us do not?
David, I probably am wrong, but 40% is still pretty high, don’t you think? But, I am hearing of more and more selling their homes at heavily discounted price to return to their ‘home’ base, mostly Americans,and Canadians but also Europeans.
And I fully agree with your comment, “…that finding acceptable rental properties, especially if one follows the common advice to live in several places before making a commitment, can be a daunting task. Aspiring expats need to be alerted to this fact”.You can’t win with the rental versus purchase argument.
I recommended renting first in my ‘How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate’ book and of course started getting emails a year later from people who said that ‘if only’ they had bought instead of rented because now prices were 20% higher than when they first looked and they can’t afford to buy.
That’s probably not the case right now but yes! Quality rentals are hard to find.
Lastly, I have asked on numerous occasions where people get this “XX% returned home after X period of time” information and nobody has ever been able to show any factual numbers from reputable sources to back it up.
Since so many people are living here as tourists rather than permanent residents, I would assume that getting an accurate number would be nigh on impossible.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comHay guy’s,
Your are stating numbers without any real meat and potatoes behind them. When one states 40% to 60% are returning home we have to understand why. Is it the weather, people, culture, food, crime, Hurricanes, earthquakes,etc. Or could some of these people be selling because their purchases were investments and not so much retirement homes. Or maybe second homes that now they can’t afford and must sell. So the real number could be 1% to 5% that actually don’t like Costa Rica.
As for renting, I think that’s a good idea and we are leaning that way. But maybe with all these people leaving there might be more opportunity for rentals.
It’s nice to be informed but the numbers when presented have to make sense. You don’t want to send the wrong message.Rising crime is one of the main concerns. More are looking to live in gated communities which are more expensive.
Plus, many people have lost money, there is no denying this fact.
My personal opinion is that many, after enjoying ‘living in the tropics’ for a few years, return because they miss their families. And as mentioned in the prior post, for cheaper Canadian health care if they have ongoing health concerns.
Some ex-pats, not solely Canadians, left because the reality never matched the dreams…
And of course, there are those who ‘need’ the organized lifestyle they had chosen to leave behind, not realizing that Costa Rica is very much a [i]’hurry up and wait'[/i] country. Lots of us here, enjoy the slower pace, but not everyone can accept this.
I read on a forum the other day when someone asked ‘what programs were in place for seniors, here’? Well, none, specifically are aimed at seniors.
The cost of living here has risen dramatically from a few years ago, but this is true to everywhere in the world.
Not ‘liking Costa Rica’ doesn’t really come into it, as most that I have known and that have left, which is [b]many[/b] over the past 9 years, ‘like’ the country, but they also liked where the came from originally, as well.
Emil, it is hard to explain to someone who has ‘[i]read the books'[/i] and possibly never traveled or lived in a developing country.
[b]Over 50% of the members[/b][i][/i] of the Canadian Club of Costa Rica that were here when we joined nearly 9 years ago, have returned to Canada and some other have gone to Panama.
This is not a guess….this is a fact!There’s no question that some folks who come to Costa Rica intending to stay permanently end up leaving. We probably all know somebody who has gone home. That said, to quote figures, so far only sourced from an as yet unnamed part of one’s own anatomy, as fact is simply misleading. No matter how many Canadians, Americans, Europeans or whomever one knows of who have left Costa Rica, you’re still quoting only anecdotal evidence which is the worst kind.
Isn’t it interesting that we read, stated as fact, that forty percent of those who come here return home. Only now it’s 50 percent or 60 percent. This “data” always seems to work out to the nearest ten percent, doesn’t it? One never hears that the return rate is actually 53.7% or 46.82%. It’s always a round number, rounded to the nearest ten percent. Does that seem unlikely?
I’m sure that in the past nine years a number of Canadian members of the Canadian Club have left and gone home, but tell us the numbers, costaricafinca, and let us do the math for ourselves. What’s the total, unduplicated count of Club members over the nine years you cite? Who, by name, are those who’ve left?
And does the Canadian Club have as its members each and every Canadian who comes to Costa Rica to live? Maybe it attracts the homesick disproportionately.
I’ll bet you a cheap lunch that you can’t make this come out to an even ten percentage. So it’s really just an impression, right?
Of course, a very small percentage of the Canadians moving here will join this club, and I didn’t say they did. I simply stated, [b]’Over 50% of the members of the Canadian Club of Costa Rica that were here when we joined nearly 9 years ago, have returned to Canada and some other have gone to Panama’.[/b]
And whether it is 50% of 100 members or 50% of 500 members, it is still 50%
And do you think I would tell you and everyone else, ‘Who, by name, are those who’ve left?
And that was a ‘cheap shot’,saying “Maybe it attracts the homesick disproportionately”.
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