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Well, good luck on all of this! You are correct when you note that Costa Rica will just “bumble along”.
I agree. Living in Costa Rica is not significantly cheaper now than living in the US. Yes, you can find cheap rents but that is true many places in the States and some of the places with REALLY cheap rents in Costa Rica are far more basic than you might imagine.
Without a Social Security benefit of at least $1,000 per month you won’t qualify for residency. Do you have perhaps another small lifetime pension that might make up the difference? For instance, a teacher’s pension is considered “guaranteed income” for residency.
[quote=”Scott”]Humans who regularly walk on the grass/earth with bare feet and are therefore truly connected with Mother Nature also feel this but ‘modern man’ has lost the ability to ‘connect’ with Mother Nature which is just one of the many reasons why we are blindly destroying our home…
Dontcha’ think?
Scott[/quote]
I think we are now just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
You absolutely, positively HAVE to file this form if you have any kind of corporation in Costa Rica (or any other country). I personally know of someone who had really immense tax/penalty problems because they were unaware this needed to be filed.
This form does have to be mailed via a “hard copy” to the IRS. I had my tax guy prepare all of our forms in hard copy and mailed them together. BTW, he actually “divorced” us after the first year of this because he was unable to feel really confident that he was giving me the correct advice about providing information on the form and this was after reading the IRS instructions.
Luckily, I had heard of this the first year we moved to Costa Rica. When we returned to the States, was relieved to only have to file this one more year.
[quote=”Scott”][quote=”davidd”]Scott
were you not kidnapped yourself a few years ago by some amazon women.. they held you as a sex slave or something until they screamed “UNCLE”??
[/quote]
I was kind of hoping that nobody would bring that up davidd… I am a married man now … 🙄
Scott[/quote]
Well, as my husband Chris used to say “As a married man I can’t sit down to the meal but it sure doesn’t mean I can’t read the menu!”
No fence, gate, or invisible electric system will keep out the poisonous toads and snakes that regularly kill dogs. And the thieves throw the poisoned food over the wall so that the dogs aren’t a problem. I also understand that are a couple of other insects/worms that are not ticks or fleas that can pose a real hazard for dogs and cats but perhaps someone else can weigh in on this.
These are VERY real hazards that I worried about all the time. My little 7 pound Costa Rican rescue was a beloved family member and we didn’t like her to be out unattended day OR night.
Lillian:
I LOVED living in Costa Rica for three years and was so sad to leave. That said, you need to know that the cost of living in Costa Rica has been seriously on the rise for many years. I believe that ten years ago it really was fairly cheap to live there.
We lived a modest life there and when I returned to the States (Tucson), I discovered that my cost of living was actually about the same (or maybe only slightly more) than the cost of living in Costa Rica. Plus, the CAJA rates seem to be really on the rise for newcomer expats.
We considered building a home and had great meetings with a wonderful Costa Rican architect Gloriana Meija (Dott Architecture) who has done several wonderful houses for expats on a real budget. I have been in construction all my life and I think that realistically you should plan on spending somewhere in the $120-130 sq. foot range for new construction. Do NOT use wood! Lots of other great choices that wouldn’t give a single woman extra hours of maintenance.
I think that your idea to do lots of travel to wonderful places (including some stints in Costa Rica) is probably a great idea. You could continue to be in your son’s life, perhaps volunteer in some wonderful projects around the the world and really get a feel for your heart’s desire in your new, retired life.
Good luck, Sue
There is also a lovely Buddhist weekly discussion group that meets in Atenas. Usually Kay’s Postries has a flyer posted on their community board regarding the time/place. They have a great starting meditation followed by study/discussion.
I haven’t lived in Costa Rica for nearly two years but was back for a month last January. I was flat shocked at the increase in costs. I am also hearing from friends still living there about rising tax bills AND from folks who are getting residency accompanied by nasty news about what their CAJA will cost. I am now living in Arizona and I can tell you that my monthly costs here are less than they were in Costa Rica when every cost is taken into account. I have purchased a house here so can speak as a homeowner. In my opinion, Costa Rica can no longer be considered as good choice for people with moderate retirement incomes.
I was so sad to realize after my trip this year to realize that I can’t live full-time in Costa Rica because of budget realities and other considerations. But Costa Rica will always be the “home of my heart” and I too will return as a visitor whenever I can.
Wankers…..LOVE that word! Wonder if Scott is a little torn on this World Cup! All my friends here in the States have been cheering along with me for Costa Rica….PURA VIDA!
Hi Dick:
My husband and I sold both of our cars in the U.S. and purchased a 1984 Landcruiser in superb condition which we shipped in our 40′ containter with our household goods. Literally every mechanic in Costa Rica works on those old Landcruisers and parts are completely easy to obtain. We only paid $2500.00 for the car in the U.S. and the import tax and other miscellaneous fees amounted to another $1500. (This was included in the price of shipping the container from AZ.) Because the vehicle was so much older (and had KPH on the odometer, etc.) the import taxes were really cheap.
When we were getting ready to return to the U.S. we sold the ‘Cruiser very quickly for $6,500.00. Because we still needed a car for a couple of months we used the great company “Wild Rider” to rent long term. Their SUVs are used but reliable and our monthly rate was $650.00. I just used them again for a month this January and my rate was higher because I only needed a month and it was high season. Can’t say enough about their service….they met me at the airport at 7:30 pm and we did the paperwork in the parking lot!! They are online.
Hope this helps. Toss all your expectations out the window and let Costa Rica fill you up with a new and amazing life!
Good luck,
Sue
Costa Rica was a wonderful place to live. My husband and I retired there and lived in Atenas for three years. Living there was both wonderful and a pain in the butt. It is hard to get established (residency, banks, CAJA, etc.) and that said, it was totally worth it. Costa Rica is NOT much cheaper to live in than the U.S., especially if you live modestly. (Wealthy folks seemed to think it was a better bargain because of the low cost of “help”.) We lived modestly and found it to be a comparable cost of living. We owned a house, one modest car and our main luxury was eating lunch out a few times per week. We did know some folks that were living more cheaply, but they were often renting very modest apartments and in some cases owned no car. In Atenas it is probably possible to live without a car, but only if you live in or near town. BTW, Atenas is a wonderful place to live.
Some Spanish is not only necessary but establishes you with the good folks of Costa Rica as a fine person.
All of that said, our years in Atenas remain the best memory of our lives together. We moved back to the States and my husband died shortly thereafter. I will always return to “mi pais” Costa Rica and I often wake up dreaming that I am still there.
If this is your dream, just do it. There are difficulties, but difficulties abound in life anyway. The difference will be that the beauty of Costa Rica just gets in your heart.
Good luck. Sue
[quote=”waggoner41″][quote=”artfulgal”][quote]We never bothered to transfer our accounts to Costa Rica because of the services provided by our U.S. bank. They have been selected as 2013 the bank with the best reputation by the American Banker Magazine.[/quote]
What US bank are you using? [/quote]
I responded by Private Mail.[/quote]
Could you also send that information by PM to me? Thanks, Sue
[quote=”Scott”]Amen Bogino…. Words of WISDOM there, thank you!
You can offer excellent advice to people but it’s been my experience that people rarely follow that advice…
As my Dad used to say:
You can lead a horse to water but sometimes all you’ll get is a wet horse ….
Scott
PS. “Efficient” is not a word used too frequently in Costa Rica… This is not good for you when you want things done but, it is good for you if you are looking for “opportunities.”
[/quote]
Scott: And MY Dad used to say: “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him think”. Much the same. Sue
