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I like to think of myself as the Mistress of the Absurd and the more I look around the more absurd I think it is! that’s why I so adore and admire the motto of Pura Vida. Pity those materialistic consumeristic Boomers who won’t be able to afford to move all their useless stuff to Central America and who will be forced to embrace Pura Vida because that’s all they’ll be able to afford to do!
Agreed!
We will be facing MASSIVE pension problems within the USA within the next few years and with so many people retiring and so many States and municipalities technically bankrupt, the USA will have to increase taxes in a very serious fashion forcing more and more people to consider a retirement in more affordable places… Like Costa Rica.
Having said that I do NOT for a second believe that this is a scenario that has an unlimited lifespan, I fully expect that within the next 5-10 years that the USA will REQUIRE it’s citizens to APPLY to retire outside the USA… Probably for their “protection.”
As for Guatemala I don’t think that will be an attractive retirement haven for quite some time. The last time I was there visiting my girlfriend’s family, one of the main topics of conversation and EVERY dinner party we went to was kidnapping.
It’s a great appetite depressant but not a great enticement to living there even though parts of the country really are gorgeous.
According to La Nacion (registration required and Spanish only) there have been 30,200 armed assaults by gang members on public buses so far this year with 14 of the drivers killed. These assaults average at about 20 per DAY where jewels, telephones and cash are stolen and numerous rapes have also been reported.
El Salvador has similarly horrendous gang problems which Costa Rica does not.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comNicaragua was on my radar when I first thought about moving to Central America but a dear departed friend of mine, who had spent the 70-80-s in CR and Nica working for an unnamed intelligence agency, discouraged me by telling me the Navy Seals were positioning for an uprising. He told me to go to Costa Rica instead. I had not read anything about any uprising or the US moving in again anywhere, and any referece to political strife or upheaval had been conveniently omitted from the tourist and real estate propaganda. They’ll do the same thing with gangs in other countries. It’ll be downplayed, they’ll sell lots of real estate, expats will move in, and DEMAND(!!!) that those governments protect them and their influx of tourist dollars into their governmental coffers. Look how they touted Colombia as a retirement place. I guess everyone forgot about the Medellin cartel and the bloody shoot-outs in public places and the rampant corruption, and oh yeah, all those people addicted to cocaine, crack, and glue.
Per all the info I have received the present income requirement is a $60,000.00 deposit (for a couple and their children) paying $1,000.00 per month over five years to the family in order to guarantee the government of Costa Rica that you will be able to support yourself. Starting on August 12, 2006 this income requirement will be raised to $60,000.00 each for husband and wife and another $30,000.00 each for each dependent child. A couple like ourselves with one dependent child will have to deposit $150,000.00 instead of the $60,000.00 presently required ($90,000.00 additional). We would much rather use the $90,000.00 toward building our home, etc. We hope and pray that we make the deadline.
I agree with you! In terms of buying in foreign countries, this is my first experience. I have however,been to Cabo every year, except 2, over the last two decades. Watching the growth and demand that occurred there, I feel pretty confident about CR. Our market in Southern California is really taking a HUGE hit. Foreclosures are up 40+% in just the last 8 weeks. This kind of momentum we don’t need! I’ve been selling homes, land, and businesses here since 1990 and I have to say that this scenario looks pretty scary. If all the CR money was coming from equity lines, that market is in trouble, too. The fact that the majority are cash buyers, though, means that those folks who have property will hold on to it. They aren’t able to use it as an ATM (like Californians!) and to walk away would be a very bad decision. Here, in CA, we have so many homeowners that have these no money down loans, that giving them back to the bank only costs them in credit ratings. I perceive CR as a very different market, and my logic leads me to agree that the housing market has an inverse relationship to ours in the US.
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