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The requirements and limitations you’ll face are the same as those every other aspiring expat faces when considering relocating to Costa Rica. There’s a wealth of information on this Forum. Just be careful to take into account the dates of entries. Things change from time to time, so the latest entries are likely the best.
You’ll face two fundamental issues in relocating here. The first is that, to remain here long-term, you will have to become a legal [u]temporary[/u] resident. For most people, that means that you must either have a pension of $1,000US that’s [u]guaranteed for life[/u] or you must deposit $60,000US in a Costa Rican bank (which you’ll withdraw at a rate of $2,500US per month for two years) and then, at the end of two years you’ll have to deposit [u]another[/u] $60,000US. After three years in the status of a temporary legal resident, you can apply for permanent legal residency status but that approval can take a year or longer.
Once you become a [u]permanent[/u] legal resident, which can easily take five years or longer, you can legally work in the Costa Rican economy. Temporary residents are prohibited from working in any job in competition with a Costa Rican worker. So the second issue you must face is that of how you will support yourself for those five years. If you have the means to deposit the $60,000US twice, you, as a single person, can expect to live on the $2,500 monthly withdrawal. For a couple, it would be a little tight but that depends on the lifestyle you pursue.
You should also be aware that wages in Costa Rica are laughably low, so maintaining anything like your current lifestyle may be very difficult once you are a permanent resident. Most people here work for the minimum wage in their occupation and it’s not a lot.
You will also face the costs of becoming a legal resident. Those costs vary from one attorney to another, but you should probably budget about $2,500US for that expense alone. And then there are the matters of traveling here from Australia, setting up a household, etc. It all adds up . . .
[quote=”bogino”]What is the difference in rates between say a 6 month or 1 year term versus the 2 year @ 12%+?[/quote]
Here’s what I got the other day . . .
Months Interest
1 —– 4.5%
3 —– 6.5%
6 —– 10.00%
9 —– 10.50%
12 —– 12.00%
18 —– 12.15%Coopenae offers longer terms (locked-in) at somewhat higher rates.
Unlike Banco Davivienda’s policy, Coopenae will permit you to cash in a CD early but with a 3% interest penalty just like most U.S. financial institutions. Given that fact, if you have money to invest, and if you don’t think you’ll need it soon, I think you’re better off going for the longest term and highest rate they offer since the 3% early withdrawal discount would apply to a higher rate and leave you with the highest net.
Good point! In Costa Rica, CD rates are quoted after taxes are withheld, so if a CD is quoted at 9.2%, for example, the actual rate paid is 10% before Costa Rica’s 8% tax is withheld. And no tax return filing to Costa Rica is required.
In the case of non-profits like Coopenae and others, the interest paid on CDs is not taxable.
A U.S. attorney who is a savvy investor recently told me that taxes paid to a foreign government are deductible dollar-for-dollar from your obliation to IRS. So there is no liability for double taxation.
BTW, the most recent two-year rate is now 12.35%. S/he who hesitates can still get a good deal.
Fereteria Feralosa in Tibas has a huge tile selection. Exactly what they have you’ll have to find out in person.
One of my few kept New Year’s resolutions has been not to participate in the ongoing rant about vaccines in this forum. Today’s an exception. I stumbled on this recent article from Forbes Magazine which, I believe, puts the notion of vaccination generally in a clear light. None of this is to suggest that vaccines don’t pose some risks, but do take a quick look at actual data.
Your collective skepticism is acknowledged. As with virtually all financial transactions, however, a certain degree of faith is involved. Even if someone buys and takes physical possession of precious metals, it’s unlikely that they have them assayed to be certain that (say) the gold ingots are actually pure gold, as represented. Certainly when you buy a stock, a bond, a Treasury security, or whatever, it’s unlikely that you have it audited in advance.
It would be interesting to know how many of those who have expressed skepticism above have seen the audit reports of the financial institutions they patronize. Likely they, too, take the institutions’ stability for granted.
And, replying to the comment immediately above, how many bankers in the U.S, Canada, Europe, or wherever [u]personally[/u] guarantee the deposits in their institutions? Is that a reasonable expectation?
In the meantime, I shared this for what others might make of it. If you’re not interested, that’s fine with me.
When we met Sr.Zamora last week, he showed us the latest Fitch rating, the quarterly audit results (done by a rotating list of international firms including Price Waterhouse, KPGM and DeloitteTouche(sp?)) and the latest review by SUGEF, the Costa Rican financial regulators.
To be sure, nothin’s one hundred percent certain, but this does appear to be pretty close.
[quote=”elindermuller”]
I haven´t seen a store with Tico-Prices for years :evil:[/quote]Hmmm . . . That seems like a contradiction in terms. Isn’t any store that sells to Costa Ricans selling at “Tico prices”? If Costa Ricans are setting the prices, and if Costa Ricans are paying the prices, are they not paying “Tico prices”?
Hmmm . . . I think it a huge leap of faith to expect those with the food they will need to feed their families to swap it, at some undetermined rate of exchange, for that which you allege to be gold. Me? I think I’d just keep my cache of food ’til the recovery kicks in.
I think what will hold value in this recovery you’re expecting will be what sustains us ’til then, not just what sparkles prettily.
[quote=”jmcbuilder”] You sure don’t want to be the last holding Tulip bulbs when the pullback comes.[/quote]
Ain’t that the truth!
[quote=”VictoriaLST”]Metals, thus gold, have value due to industrial use. They also have ornamental use. Either way, the chance of them having zero value is small.[/quote]
You’ve made the above assertion before, Victoria, so let me just ask . . .
Let’s assume that the U.S.’ and the rest of the world’s economies go completely into the toilet. No form of currency is worth the material it’s made of, but you, and some “farsighted” others, have hoarded precious metals. You actually have physical possession of them.
Unable to exchange your currency for the necessities of life, how will you determine what your precious metals will buy? Just what will be the exchange rate between (say) a pound of flour and your gold? What about a pound of chicken? Or a gallon of gas? How will those exchange rates be determined and by whom?
And, with everyone, yourself included, in desperate straits to survive, and with the economy not producing the necessities of life, will your first priorities be to buy a new laptop, a pound of gold jewelry, or food? If the answer is “food”, then you’ll be in the majority in which case the [u]practical[/u] value of those precious metals will be pretty small, won’t it? Who among us will be skipping food, living in the cold and dark, and going barefoot in order to buy those new iPads that uses those precious metals you have in a practical way, and who will be buying all the gold neck chains?
Will you opt to be pretty, connected, or fed? If enough of us answer “fed”, then the demand for your precious metals will drop to virtually zero.
