Lottsa Questions!

[Ernie2010]

Greetings to all here. I am a totally new member (about 30 minutes) and have LOTTSA QUESTIONS!!

I am 68, English by birth, Canadian by choice, having lived in Calgary for 9 years and currently New Zealand permanent resident (soon to be citizen) my wife is 59 and American.

We are interested in retiring to Costa Rica to escape increasing “nanny state control” here and would like to do “volunteer work” in Costa Rica to get a feel for the place. I always thought that volunteering was a free sort of thing, in that you didn’t GET paid but, by the same token, you didn’t HAVE to pay to work as a volunteer. From what I have seen, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I have found a number of organisations offering “volunteer work opportunities” at a cost of up to US$1,000.00 PER WEEK! SO, first question, any one out there know where/whom we might approach directly for volunteer type opportunities? We would very much like to teach English and learn Spanish. I also still have a conversational knowledge of French and German.

My main career was some 40 years in the insurance, mortgage and finance broking business in England, Canada, USA and, to a lesser extent in New Zealand. I am not in it now for reasons I won’t go into now, except to say that I am in the process of trying to sue the people here who are responsible for my not being in the business, and that is a long story.

I read that the insurance business in Costa Rica is opening up after years of state monopoly. After over 40 years in the business, insurance is in my blood and I would be interested in the possibility of doing it again,even at my age. I don’t speak Spanish but could learn. I wonder if there are any brokers who cater exclusively to the expat market. I also idn’t see anything about “insurance premium finance companies.” Do you know of any? People can’t usually pay an annual premium “up front” and premium finance used to be very helpful.

Alternative fuels are one of my obsessions. I was interested to see that Costa Rica produces all its own electricity, but imports oil and petrol, presumably also diesel. I ran a diesel vehicle for 5 years on Waste Vegetable Oil. I read somewhere, while surfing, that vegetable oil is $1.50 per litre in Costa Rica, do you happen to know if that is right? If vegetable oil is used a lot for cooking/frying, how is it disposed of?

I know of a couple of trees that would grow very well in Costa Rica. “Moringa Oleifera” and “Pongamia.” They like hot weather and Moringa grows very well in California. It is an amazing tree, you can check it out on Google. The Pongamia was used in India during WW2 as an alternative to diesel. You can check that out too. I imported some of both types of seed from India a few years ago. The Pongamia didn’t do well and the Moringa, while they grew in Summer, they didn’t survive the even very mild, almost non existent Winters here. I am sure it would be a whole different story in Costa Rica. I still have a load of Moringa seeds, which would probably still grow. They are pre approved for import into new Zealand. I wonder what the situation for getting them into Costa Rica might be.

I am a firm believer in cooperative and community supported ventures. I seriously looked at going to Western Samoa and Vanuatu to do microfinance, but that didn’t happen. Here in New Zealand, there are so many on welfare,dole etc that they are not interested in working, it is totally different in Samoa and Vanuatu, and maybe also in Costa Rica, hopefully.

Basically, I want to do something useful somewhere and not have to work as hard as I to do now. I would like to do what I WANT to do, NOT what I HAVE to do.

Alcohol fuel is another obsession of mine. We, in Northland, could, I am sure, produce enough alcohol sustainably to fuel all vehicles here. What is the attitude in Costa Rica? Are they working on alcohol as a fuel at all?

I am also involved in the launch of a local alternative community currency, which actually is happening tomorrow (Thursday) night. The people I associate with are of the view that the debt money system is going to collapse (by design) sooner rather than later, which is why we want our currency in existence BEFORE not AFTER. I have a few pet hates which are banks, politicians, oil companies and burearats but not necessarily in that order. I have no time at all for politicians, they are nothing but parasites and a complete waste of time, space and money.

I am involved with Transition Towns and there are a few, one in particular, who still insist that we need to work with politicians to achieve what we want to achieve. I do wonder when/if these people will ever learn

[DavidCMurray]

In order to work an any job in which you might compete with a Costa Rican citizen, you must either obtain permanent legal residency (which will take about four years) or obtain a work permit because there is no Costa Rican citizen who can perform the job. Obtaining a work permit will take a year or longer and success is not assured. Nothing you’ve described couldn’t be done by the local labor force, so your wait for the legal status that would enable you to work would be lengthy.

In brief, those who successfully relocate to Costa Rica most commonly bring their wealth with them either in the form of Social Security and other pensions or amassed wealth from their former lives. The likelihood of finding remunerative employment here, given both your lack of command of Spanish and Costa Rica’s ridiculously low wages, is slim.

It is illegal to import non-native plant species, including seeds, cuttings, etc, without a permit from the government (yes, the bureaucrats you love to hate). That, too, is a long shot.

[Andrew]

You’ve clearly got lots of energy and some interesting ideas…

I believe your best plan would be to empty your mind of all of them and come live here for 3-4 months with no goals in mind whatsoever…

Let the market and the people tell you what opportunities are here for you..

Scott

[waggoner41]

[quote=”Ernie2010″] We would very much like to teach English and learn Spanish. I also still have a conversational knowledge of French and German.[/quote]

Some of the women in the Newcomers Club are volunteers teaching English in the local schools. Try contacting Kathi Garrison by email (kathigarrison@sbcglobal.net). She would probably be able to give you some information or direction.

[crltd]

having lived in both countires i would stay in new zealand unless you need the warmth.
bob

[mediaguy]

Interesting story some of which I can relate to. Costa Rica is not much like NZ and for that matter most of North America. I think it would be quite an adjustment. As has been suggested, you should come here and hang out for a 3-4 months and figure out if it is for you. If you still need to make a living you could start an internet business which would allow you to work from anywhere and remove all the “stuff” around getting a work permit etc…I am sure there is an Insurance gig that can work on the Internet. On the volunteering front…I can help you with that if you like kids and teaching them what you have learned in the last 30 years. If you can develop alternative fuels…you can do that from anywhere especially if you start a company which employs Costa Ricans….

[haimartha]

My wife and I are both in the fifty, we visited Costa Rica last year and desired that she would volunteer to teach English and I would teach Electronic at local school, etc.. Would you please advise us ?

Thank you

Hai and Martha

[guru]

VOLUNTEERS: Most charitable organizations today require volunteers to pay their own way. Those that can afford it do so out of pocket. Those who cannot often do fundraisers, are sponsored by their church, beg money from family, friends and other non-profits, etc.

NANNY STATE and Bureaucrats: I don’t think you will find Costa Rica any better in this regard. And unless you speak Spanish very well you will need to hire a lawyer to do your government business for you (as do many Gringos). Costa Rica has a social security system and national insurance but of which must be paid into by employers. There are also property taxes and other fees to pay. It is probably not much better than the U.S. except for the fact that they are VERY inefficient in Costa Rica. . .

A news article a few years ago cited Hong Kong as the most unregulated business environment in the world and India the worst. The U.S. and most European countries were somewhat better than India but a long way from the freedom of Hong Kong. I do not know how much the Chinese have changed this since. The U.S actually rated pretty good.

I suspect the days of going to some small, relatively primitive country and living in a private world of your own are long past. There might be such places. . . but I doubt you would want to live there.

[2bncr]

Guru, Very astute observations. Bravo

[Author]

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