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Thanks..appreciate your info and insight. We are just exploring the possibility of CR as a place to live. Plan on coming down in Feb or Mar. to stay in Heredia for a month(at least use Heredia as a base of operations so to speak). We have a couple of Tico aquaintances who teach at the University so we thought this would be a good place to start.
Is that a savings or a checking account?? AND is that a minimum of $30,000.00 USD??? If that is the case I would assume you are talking a savings account.
We too are contemplating the move to Costa Rica but have only visited as tourists. We realize that there is a BIG difference between being a tourist and actaully living there. We plan on visiting again in Feb. for a month or 2 and then again during the “green” season to get a better feel for things. If we still feel that we would like to live there we would probably try to rent a house for 6 months to be sure this is right for us. We are retired so we don’t have to quit our jobs and have no children to move….your decision is a much bigger one.
My suggestion to you would be try to visit as often as possible before you take the plunge and look at things that are not part of the tourist industry. See for yourself what $1500 per month or $3000 per month or $5000 per month will get you. Another persons comfort level may be totally different that yours. Keep in mind that approximately 40% of the people that move to CR leave within 5 years. I assume that it is because life in CR is not what they thought it would be. That’s probably more of a reflection on their lack of research than it is a reflection on Costa Rica.
This is probably the most frequently asked question on this forum. If you search “cost of living” on this forum there are 352 posts. That would be a good place to start. If you google “Cost of living Costa Rica” there are probably another bizillion articles. They will all say it depends on how you want to live. People get by on $1200 per month…others can spend $5,000 0r $6,000. What are your “spoiled American habits” What kind of house do you want? (buy or rent). Do you want to live on the beach, in the country, or in the city? Define “live comfortably”. Do you have children and do you want them to go to private schools? There are a lot of things that will determine YOUR cost of living in CR.
I think everyone would agree that whatever you are living on in the US or Canada or ??? will probably go farther in Costa Rica.
This would kind of be like shipping a problem off to another country. The reason medical care is so cheap in CR is that at some point it has to be subsidized by the government. I tend to think we would be taking a great deal more out of the system then we are putting into it. You would obviously be paying for assisted living and care but would be taking advantage of the cheap medical insurance.
I think there’s a big difference between retiring in Costa Rica at let’s say 60, being able to put something back into the country in terms of the economy, volunteer work or whatever and moving there solely because the health care is less expensive. The government would probably have to put a “gringo” tax on health care premiums.
The solution to health care in the US lies in revamping the entire systm not shipping our problems off to Costa Rica.
Scott..didn’t really have an opportunity to learn much about Buddism. You might be too young to remember but 1968 Vietnam was not a great place to be. A lot of people got “foxhole” religion but one’s major goal in life at that point in time was staying alive and retaining all of your body parts!!
As a business opportunity the nursing home idea might be tough. It would appear that there are 2 types of people who will move from the states. Those who have “made it” so to speak and are coming for a better quality of life. There will also be those who come because they simply cannot make it on their fixed incomes (social security, pensions and so forth)in the states. The more fortunate group will probably have long term care insurance and/or the financial wherewithall to hire someone to live with them and administer to their needs. I think that the opportunity here (if it is legal) is to set up a caregiver type employment agency to fulfill this need for live-in care givers.
What happens to the other group? They cannot afford live-in help and in all probability do not have long term health care insurance. They probably will not be able to afford to live in an assisted care facility. Based on this who would rent an assisted care apartment?
This is the problem. The “unhealthy” are usually the “unwealthy” and not necessarily through any fault of their own. This has the potential to place an overwhelming burden on the entire medical system of Costa Rica but it may take 15 or 20 years to come about. Someone will have to pay for this and it may well be that expatriots might have a revised pricing schedule on their dirt cheap health insurance.
Also keep in mind that in Costa Rica terraces, garages and etc. are considered part of the square footage when building a home.
Thanks again. We will probably stay there. They quoted me such a cheap monthly rate that we will just book for an entire month and leave everything there while we explore.
Thanks for the input. We are retired and plan on using the aparthotel Roma as our base for exploring CR. We will be in CR for a month. Would you think that this would be a good place to use as a base of operations so to speak. We are retired..sounds like you are a student, would you still reccommend for someone who “might” be a little bit older (late 50’s) than you??
