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Tell me how a “certificate of performance” in the amount of 250 million dollars is justified for ex-CEO of Home Depot after that company lost so much money under his directorship?
How about the certificates of performance for the U.S.soldiers who died in Iraq? Were those fair amounts?
As with most libertarians, your outlook is too simple and does not take into account all the considerations that MUST be taken in account. If individual people are highly complicated creatures, how much more complicated must be the societies that they create?

Edited on Aug 10, 2007 06:28

Edited on Aug 10, 2007 06:29

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Editer,
I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said, especially regarding a reason to move to CR. There is a wide array of every political perspective in the expat community, but I will venture a guess that most of us are leaning to the left. Costa Rica has a special appeal to the left not only for its socialized perspective, but also because of its liberal attitude toward the environment.

Edited on Aug 10, 2007 05:58

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Speaking of pet popularity in Costa Rica, I don’t recall seeing a single dog on a leash when I visit. I saw roaming dogs everywhere, but no one walking them. Strays don’t last long in Miami but the Costa Ricans don’t seem to even notice them. I have to wonder about the incidence of rabies and other animal infections in CR.

I have two dogs I rescued over the years from a Miami animal shelter. Since I am retiring to the country side in Costa Rica, I see great value in keeping several dogs on the property but am concerned about all the care that has to be taken with parasites and infections in the tropics. Cats are usually left to roam at will but I don’t feel comfortable letting my dogs do that, especially in the tropics. Anybody on this message board in CR have a dog or two?

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That is not only an ignorant take on El Che, but an insult to at least ten million Cubans and who knows how many others. Many of my countrymen say the same thing about G.W. Bush and, except for the assassination part, I agree with them. Bush IS a murderer, a liar, a coward and a hypocrit in descending order of relevance to our current messes.

Edited on Aug 08, 2007 05:49

Edited on Aug 08, 2007 05:53

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The more of my countrymen that move to CR, the more U.S. style monkey business is going to be seen. For those Ticos that are up to the game, it will prove profitable. However, as in the U.S., the average citizen is going to get the shaft. And watch out, here comes CAFTA as well.
I have spoken to some thoughtful Costa Ricans on this matter and they do not seem to see what is going on as a great problem. (Either that or they are just too polite to say so to a gringo.) The U.S. dollar makes economic and political conquests (CAFTA). The money that has been flowing into CR for the last decade has got to have its negative effect as well as the positive. The La Nacion article can’t be describing the only incidence of this kind. There have to be others as well. At what point will it be said that the Tico has lost his innocence and, more importantly, his well known tolerance?

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“I bet you there’s less than five people in the entire country that knows exactly what this CAFTA agreement is all about.”

Scott, you didn’t specify which country above but….
I’ll bet those five are U.S. customs lawyers….

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I am a licensed customs broker and so deal with these agreements all the time. Until these things are put into practice, there will be no perfectly clear idea as to what and how many provisions will be eventually implemented. Changes are made as the kinks get ironed out. There may be specific provisions or concessions just to have CR come on board. Currently, U.S. manufactured items might enjoy an 80% reduction in tariffs and the remaining 20% would be phased out over a 10 year period. Vehicles were not specifically listed and that may be because the tariff schedule won’t be final until parties sign off. Even if vehicles are given a reduced rate, CR may decide to attach a value added tax after importation which could match the current 79% of used value.

And I thoroughly agree with the comment above that corporate interests rule just about every aspect of this hemisphere’s economic affairs. I am far from knowledgeable on economic matters, but I sense that any trade agreement with a country which fosters a corporate welfare system like the U.S. is bound to be harmful in the long run for the other signatories. I do not trust my government at all in anything. It is being directed by greed and conquest as has been the case historically. From a purely selfish perspective, a CAFTA agreement which makes importations into CR easier would be a plus.
For the average Tico worker, I am fearful this will prove to be a burden.

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Thanks, Tomasino, for that very good description.

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I forgot about the increasing maturity of the banking and financing system in CR. That is a huge factor as far as real estate appreciation is concerned. When some the other factors are taken in to consideration as well (increasing boomer retirement money, multiple nationalities in the market and limited size of CR, it seems probable that CR real estate
values will grow at a positive pace. This would be especially positive relative to U.S. geography right now. In the absence of good market studies, I am encouraged to hear the anecdotal evidence from Scott about values west of San Jose.
Whether it is speculation or investment, one is usually putting money into a guess. ANY information is always welcome.

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How could any consensus on the CR real estate market ever materialize? There may be some government figures on property tax intake, but how reliable an indicator would that be anyway? Is there any way to get more than an anecdotal account of how things are going?

Perhaps Scott might enlighten us as to how his own business has fared over the last 9 months.

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“Most investors have bought into the “investing for the long term” mantra sold to them by the big firms and that’s what they will do, all the way to the bottom.”

First of all, big firms ( I assume you mean brokerages)don’t make all their money with portfolio management fees. They make a lot of money with trading fees handed over to them by day traders who haven’t learned how quickly they can lose that way. I don;t see any big firms instructing investors to stay put OR to trade a lot.

Secondly, and more importantly, the bottom, like the top, is an unknown quantity. That is why market timing is doom for most players. The more I observe, the more plainly I see that day trading is a sucker’s game. And panic selling on a down turn is suicide. Calm adherence to strategy should pay off better.

To some extent, all investors will end up timing the market to a degree. At points in time, money is retired from the game for spending. But these events should be planned as well as possible based on factors having little or nothing to do with market trends. Chicken Little always has a large contingency following her. And they always end up the same way.

Edited on Aug 01, 2007 10:57

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Freedom is an attitude and nothing else. The word is so vague, it is used by everyone to mean whatever they want it to. And, let’s be adult and real about this…nobody does whatever they want to do anywhere. We all have responsibilities that life lays on our laps. Sometimes, we bring them on, other times, SH-T just happens. The trick is to conv ince yourself that you enjoy those responsibilities.
Regarding the millions of americans with little or no health care, they are in an inferior position to the average Costa Rican or the average Cuban citizen in that department.

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Perhaps “unenlightened” is not an accurate description of the american people in regards to health care. It is, after all, the greed of corporations that really controls the direction of everything in the U.S. As for the people, they are probably more accurately described as powerless, apathetic, hypnotized worker bees.
It is sadly funny how we kill ourselves chasing money and material items and then have to spend even more energy working for more money to pay for the insurance we need to protect those items and our deteriorating health. After years of this work frenzy, the U.S.citizen develops heart problems and other ailments brought on by anxiety and bad diet and becomes useless as a worker bee. The corporate interests have no use for these useless bees and won’t spend a nickel to rehabilitate them. Throw-away-workers.
Roark, I have to assume you are in excellent health, make good money and are in complete agreement with the pursuit of material wealth as a means to human happiness.

Edited on Jul 29, 2007 16:44

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By your own estimation then, that still leaves trading S&P futures as the best thing you ever did. Do you still keep a hand in it?

Thanks for creating and maintaining this message board and web site.My retirement to Costa Rica is directly tied in with the market. When I think of one, I automatically think of the other. I find valuable information and opinions here about both themes and so I visit this site quite often.

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As Warren Buffet advised “be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful”
As far as Boomers withdrawing all their money from the market, I think that much of that money will stay IN the market. Most people don;t have enough to retire into conservative investment instruments. They will need to stay engaged in stocks.
Will the market stay positive for enough time for me? Who knows? Nobody can say exactly when the market correction will happen nor how long it will last. The only thing we know for sure is that without risk and engagement, your money will shrivel. 5% earnings in conservative instruments, after inflation, leaves less than 2%. Congratulations on having accumulated at least a couple million dollars. Anything less than that would not be sufficient for a 1.5% withdrawal retirement rate .

Edited on Jul 28, 2007 06:45

Edited on Jul 28, 2007 06:49

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