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[quote=”Scott”]
From your previous posts you have explained that you are an American citizen and NOT a Tico so some people might suggest that using the username of ‘TicoRealtor’ is a little deceptive but…, forgetting the fact that you are NOT a Tico or a Realtor for a moment let’s look at a few more of your outrageous statements? [/quote]My situation is that I have been married to a Tica for ten years and have moved to Costa Rica about 6 months ago for family reasons. We have been traveling back and forth over the years and if I added all the time in costa rica it would be over 3 or more years total. If you add all the time that I have been in Latin America since 1984 it would be a lot!!! My wife has all of her family here in Costa Rica, none in the U.S.! We live in a normal Tico house with a suicide shower and a tin roof! I am now a resident and since my wife and my three year old daughter is Costa Rican nationals this makes it more valid. We didn’t move here for selfish reason just only to be next to family and had to make some tough choices. Since we moved back here to Costa Rica I have started working the the real estate market which I used to do in Minnesota before I was activated for the last seven years in the U.S. Air Force and then retired this last January.
We understand Scott that it is at the utmost importance for you to keep the light shinning on the good things that Costa Rica has to offer (since that is how you make your money)… but the light is much dimmer when you have to work here legally and live the normal life! You are doing a dis service to your clients and the people in this post if you don’t give them the cons as well. Public schools here are terrible, Public health is incredible for the standards of [b]Central America[/b]. If you asked any Tico if they would want to go to the U.S. for health service, I would have to say that 90% of them would say yes as long as they didn’t have to pay the bill. (of course they would also go shopping) Even the Ticos will tell you that. You can pull all of the stats out but as we all know stats can be miss leading.
However Yes, I do agree that the jobs are coming here and if you are [b]legal[/b] to work this is the place to be. I have checked out the job fairs and it is crazy to see all the big companies that are here. I even had a client that is the Jefe of HP and he said that they want to be at 9,000 employees here in Costa Rica by the next couple of years!
The issue is you have to be [b]Legal[/b]! They won’t even look at you until you have your residential ID in hand! (try going to Amazon, HP, Intel with out a residential ID, they will say come back after you get it) I believe this is the way it should be because they are protecting the Ticos!By the way my [b]wife[/b] says I am a Gringo Tico! My daughter is a Gringa Tica and my wife is a Tica Gringa! Are you a Tico Scott?
“I’m assuming that all “higher educated” gringos send their kids to public schools in the US do they? Now that is a “laugh”!” Yes they do (not all but most)!… and a lot of low income people send their kids to private schools! In Minnesota we had one of the best school systems in the U.S. and most people that high income and educated would send their kids to the public schools. But here in Costa Rica no one with the money would send them to the public schools!
Note the news article regarding the [url=http://www.amcostarica.com/]massive march today[/url] to demonstrate for “The more current complaints are salaries. The Asociación Nacional de Educadores seems to have a legitimate gripe. [i]The organization asks that they be paid correctly every 15 days.[/i] The government has been behind on teacher salaries”.
We have a Costa Rican friend who taught in the public schools here for many years. Right now, he’s teaching English as a Second Language in the U.S.
He told us that sometimes the government cannot meet the teachers’ payroll on payday, so paychecks are delayed. Then, when the shortfall is made up all at once, the amount is over the limit for what’s exempt from income taxes and so the net pay is actually less than if they’d been paid on time. It’s great for the government, I suppose, but for teachers who seem to be woefully underpaid to begin with it’s a double whammy.
I want to chime in and offer a different perspective and experience. I moved here with my family and three young children, now 5 1/2, 5 1/2, and 8 yrs old at the end of 2007. As usual, all that David Murray has said is true and presented in an informative and kind way. I do not have much time to write this post so I will cut to the chase. It all boils down to dollars and a choice of how you live, whether you live here or in the US. The difference here is that, in my opinion, you are offering your children a much better way of life. On the East side of town (San Ramon de Tres Rios) where we live, there are fantastic bi-lingual and tri-lingual schools that offer an educational experience that will prepare your children to go to the States or abroad for College. The cost ranges from $400 to $900 per month per child. This is comparable to what we were paying for our children’s private school in Texas. I would NOT send my children to public school in either Texas or Costa Rica as long as I can afford not to. Housing here for a nice US style four bedroom home is 1500 to 2500 per month and you can find a very adequate Tico style home for half of that. Electricity is half what it cost in the US and water, telephone, and cellular phone cost are incredibly low. We spend about $50 per month for water, home phone, and cellular. High Speed internet is relatively expensive at about $75. We choose to not have a Television but think that Cable is 20-50 depending on the number of channels you want. To participate in the caja for healthcare, which is required of residents, is $125 per month for our family and we continue paying for our AETNA insurance in the States in case of a big emergency or illness we can head for Houston or Miami. If we need to go to a local Hospital, Clinica Biblica or CIMA do a great job and I feel very comfortable with either of them. We buy fresh produce each weekend at the Feria and my guess is that it is one third of what we would pay in the States. Meat is a third less than in the States. If you buy food or consumer items from the States, expect to pay 30-100% more than in the US. We have converted to Tico brands for many staple food and household items and are fine with them. We have our house cleaned four mornings each week and it cost about $150 per month. In summary, our expenses here are about 60% of what they would be in the States. Now, the big question, WORK. Every thing David said is true and correct and you will need to figure out the residency question and you can’t go to work here and take a job from a Tico. I work in the US for a US company, completely through the internet and through an IP phone. You call our office in Texas and it rings right here in my house in CR. Any “telecomuting” job or internet job, that you could do in the US, you can do from here. I travel to the States every other month for a few days for appts. If you are serious about moving here, find a way that you can work completely from home. There are many ways to do this and earn a good living. If you establish your “tax home” for IRS purposes here in CR, you can each make up to $92,900 and pay no taxes. We have wonderful Tico, Gringo, and International friends, a great Church, a wonderful climate, a great school, and we feel safe and healthy. The kids are now fluent in Spanish, I am 70% there, and we go out of our way to engage in Tico culture. Like anything in life, if you want to do it, for the right reasons, you can figure out the details and make it work. There has not been a single day that I have regretted moving and living here and I literally thank God every day for the opportunity to live here and offer this alternative view of life to my children. If you would like to talk or communicate off list, please ask Scott for my email and phone number. Good luck with your decision.
Pura Vida,
Jerry[url=http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-15/ElPais/NotasSecundarias/ElPais2714476.aspx ]Newest details[/url] on operating rooms at one public hospital being shut down.
Scott, do you or have you used CAJA in the past?
In the 11 years I have lived here, apart from a brief bout with dengue and one bad case of food poisoning – neither of which stopped me working – I have really had no health problems at all and hopefully it stays that way…
Some might say the mental side of things requires some attention but what do I care? They must be crazy to even suggest something like that, right?
Jee! Jee!
Scott
PS. The family emergencies we have experienced over the years (girlfriend, my Mum and Dad) were all well taken care of at Hospital CIMA.
Getting a bit off-topic, but still relevant to lurkers thinking about moving to C.R., I’m hoping someone can satisfy my curiosity.
In a number of places, here and other forums, blogs, etc., I see Atenas being promoted as the ‘best climate in the world according to National Geographic’ or a variation of that.
Being curious, I searched NatGeo for that phrase – nothing.
A google search for that phrase revealed 102,000,000 entries [some mentioning Atenas, or Costa Rica] with the commonest entry being the Canary Islands. Can anyone verify NatGeo’s purported statement, or this just a marketing tool?
PEH ❓I looked into this years ago ‘PEH’ and was NEVER able to find any confirmation of this in National Geographic.
I even contacted National Geographic by email and the people I communicated with also could not find any reference to this in their records.
For years I edited every article that stated this but, it gets tiring doing that year after year…
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comit’s a self-perpetuating myth, i think. i’ve been to atenas. i coudln’t live there. it’s just too darn hot! but i guess if you were sitting on top of a mountain and had a lot of breezes, it might be tolerable. as it is San Ramon is too hot for me, too. i am always relieved when i get back up to the hills below the cloud forest where, for me, the weather is perfect.
Can’t comment on the origins of the phrase, but live here in Atenas and LOVE the climate! Also, we have almost NO problems with mildew here….a big issue in some of the higher elevations.
The marvelous thing about Costa Rica is that it would be really difficult for someone not to find a climate that is “just right” for their individual tastes.
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