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Below is an excerpt from an article in Kiplinger’s titled “The Growing Allure of Overseas Retirement” :
“[i]The two most populous destinations for U.S. retirees, Mexico and Costa Rica, seem to be falling out of favor, however. The former is a victim of drug wars and the latter suffers from a perception that it’s crowded and expensive.[/i]”
Any comments?
If Kiplinger’s thinks Costa Rica is crowded, and they’re not talking about downtown San Jose at noontime, they’re clearly delusional. Sure, there are crowded neighborhoods, but there are many, many sparsely populated areas, too. Where do they get this stuff?
And as to the cost of living . . . Well, it’s not the bargain it once was, but then what is? If you don’t like $1.00 broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and cantilopes, price ’em at Safeway or Super Walmart. If you don’t like having the dentist (not a hygenist) spend an hour and a half cleaning your teeth for $60, pay cash in the States (and pucker up).
On the other hand, as everyone knows, everything that’s imported (fuel at the top of the list) is more expensive, but busses and taxis are a low-cost alternative.
If Kiplinger’s thinks living in Costa Rica (where property taxes are 0.25% of the declared value of the land and many folks don’t have homeowners’ insurance) is expensive, they should try living in the U.S.
there is also a growing drug problem in costa rica. gangs are vying for territory in the area where i live. and yes, cost of living has gone up here — many items have doubled in price in the last 3 years — eggs are one of those items. even fresh milk and butter from the local lecheria have gone up significantly. fresh fruits and vegetables are still a good deal, and a lot cheaper than the US. but if you want to live a gringo lifestyle you will pay for it. taking a local bus (which is free if you are over 65) and taxis are still a cheap alternative to owning a car. any place that has been hyped as much as costa rica has is bound to see these changes. the same thing happened in the yucatan and the baja peninsula. both places were ideal spots to retire until the developers moved in and started building luxury homes for the very wealthy. i still live quite well on less than a thousand dollars a month, and i could never do that in the States.
Is it true that local buses are free if you are over 65? I have never heard this. Is this only for certain areas or is it nation wide? I am 67 and I have been paying the same fare as every one else.
just show the bus driver your cedula and you should be able to ride for free on most local buses — i think there is a 20 km range or something like that. there is also a discount on the big buses to SJO — that is only a C200 or thereabouts discount, but hey, it’s better than nothing. you don’t need a special card — just your cedula to prove your age
In comparison to the Sahari desert, Costa Rica is certainly “crowded” and the cost of living has increased but that applies just about everywhere…
I believe that you can choose to live much more affordably in Costa Rica than most locations in the UK, the US, and Canada. Prices have risen but a healthy, sunny, outdoor lifestyle is far cheaper here…
Maravilla lives on less than a $1,000 per month, could any of us do that in the U.S.?
And what alternatives are there in Central America?
Panama? According to the State Department: “Panama City has a curfew for those under 18 years of age, which is being enforced with new vigor since July 2009.” (1)
“Police Deputy Director Porfirio Justavino said there were 100 fewer homicides in 2010 than in 2009, and the murder rate has dipped so far this year to an average of 12 per 100,000 residents. In 2009, that rate was 24 per 100,000 residents.” (2)
At breakfast this morning, my Guatemalan girlfriend and I were discussing ‘Sangría en Guatemala’ (3) article in today’s La Nacion about the murders in Guatemala (64 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2009) and the bad news is that 90% of these crimes go unsolved – yikes!
The murder rate for Honduras per 100,000 inhabitants is 58
For El Salvador per 100,000 inhabitants it’s 52
For Belize it’s 40. (5)
For Costa Rica it’s 11.More bad news is that innocent people do get killed however, the vast majority of people being murdered are people involved in the illicit drug trade who are killed by competing gangs.
It was the same in the U.S., in the 90’s: Captain Michael Farish, 20-year veteran of the Homicide Branch at the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C.: “The vast majority of homicides in the early 1990’s stemmed from the upspring of drugs, abuse, selling, and dealing of drugs all accounted for the rapid increase in homicides.” Farish continues, “crimes resulting from robbery, retaliation and verbal altercations definitely played some part in the increase, but the majority stemmed from the invasion of drugs in the community.”(4)
Washington DC just reached it’s lowest homicide rates in over 10 years, let’s hope we can see a decrease here too over the next ten years…
(1) [ http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_994.html ]
(2) [ http://www.thepanamablog.com/panama-homicide-rate-dropping/ ]
(3) [ http://www.nacion.com/2011-07-17/Opinion/sangria-en-guatemala-.aspx ]
(4) [ http://www.hunewsservice.com/local/the-murder-capitol-reaches-lowest-homicide-rate-in-over-a-decade-1.2210771 ]
(5) [ http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=18620 ]The US dollar for the first time has fallen against the Colone. In 1982 when I first visited CR their currency was pegged at 40 to 1. I was funny going to the Europa Hotel and giving them a $20 bill in payment for a 3 couirse dinner that cost $4. It would take them a half an hour to give you change back in Colones not dollars US. They would go up and down the block for change so they could keep the dollars.
Now there has been a serious drop to 495 c to $1US. What happens if the dollar drops to 400c or 300c. Haven’t you retirees noticed the change? What can a retiree do?
Stan
Banderawhen the colon was 580 last year we thought we were in fat city. then it steadily dropped to below 500 and now seems to be hovering about there. you don’t notice the difference in the beginning, but when you start calculating the cost of power, food, gas, etc. over the long term, you start to feel the pinch. i can manage on less than a grand a month because i have no mortgage or rent to pay. most months i spend about $800 or even less, depending on whether the dog has to go to the vet or not!!! and i don’t have a car, which now is a conscious choice. about the only way you can make it if the colon drops more is to have a really simple lifestyle and not spend a chunk on imported foods or goods. i’ve been averaging about $20 a week for fruits and vegetables, and maybe i spend another $10 over the week in various other food items such as fish for me or chicken for my dog. $30 in a supermarket in the States would be one small bag of something or other, not enough of anything to last a whole week.
[quote=”rosiemaji”]Is it true that local buses are free if you are over 65? I have never heard this. Is this only for certain areas or is it nation wide? I am 67 and I have been paying the same fare as every one else.[/quote]
From Ciudad Colon as far as San Jose I haven’t paid a fare yet. Just hand the driver your cedula and most busses have a magnetic reader that reads the information. I have had instances where the drive4r had to hand write the information.
[quote=”Bandera”]Now there has been a serious drop to 495 c to $1US. What happens if the dollar drops to 400c or 300c. Haven’t you retirees noticed the change? What can a retiree do?
Stan
Bandera[/quote]Sounds like there hasn’t been an economic problem in the U.S. listening to that.
QE1 and QE2 effectively devalued the dollar by 20% and people are sure noticing the difference in imported goods and that is on top of inflation on U.S. produced goods.
When we get smart enough to start electing sane representatives to congress rather than idiot ideologues whose interest is in getting re-elected rather than the future of the nation things will improve but not before then.
[quote=”maravilla”]when the colon was 580 last year we thought we were in fat city.[/quote]
When the colon was at 580 we were in fat city. I planned our lifestyle with 500 to 1 in mind.
The 580-1 exchange rate just allowed me to accomplish more than I had expected.
Falling out of favor, I think not. After having traveled around the world, in the military; I chose to purchase a home in Costa Rica, and retire there. The flora, fauna and Tico/Tica helpfulness and warmth; are priceless. Not to mention, clean air, clean water, and fresh ocean seafood. Sitting on my terrace, surrounded by my lush tropical garden, and viewing the ocean day and night, is heaven!
[quote=”Disabled Veteran”]Falling out of favor, I think not. After having traveled around the world, in the military; I chose to purchase a home in Costa Rica, and retire there. The flora, fauna and Tico/Tica helpfulness and warmth; are priceless. Not to mention, clean air, clean water, and fresh ocean seafood. Sitting on my terrace, surrounded by my lush tropical garden, and viewing the ocean day and night, is heaven![/quote]
Hear, hear!!!
I don’t have the ocean view and never really cared for it. I was born and raised in Colorado right near the Rockies and spent a lifetime wanting to get back to it.Here, I have it all. A beautiful country, the mountain views and wonderful people and the country lifestyle that I grew up with.
After reading all the different commentaries it seems fair to conclude that with $100K a year to live off one can live like a king there. Am I correct?
bogino,
Yes you could, why would you want to! My income exceeds $100K, however, I try and live a modest Costa Rican lifestyle, below $2,000 a month. The flora, fauna, clean air, fresh seafood (if you fish) and friendly Ticos and Ticas, don’t cost a dime! My most costly expense, or should I say my toy; is my sailboat (however, I use it to catch, breakfest, lunch and dinner.)
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