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[quote=”*Lotus”]I know that they (paper notes) will continue until they fail. I also know that every now and again we get obliterated by meteorites or ice ages. What’s a human being to do? Live, in my humble opinion.
My question is what will the reaction to 6-8% treasuries be? What chance does the Euro have at becoming the worlds reserve currency? Will we be buying our gallo pinto with gold ingots?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknote
When interest rates begin to rise (and they will), gold will get taken out, stocks will fall, the US dollar will strengthen. That’s about all I will commit to at the moment, predicting the end of the world? I’ll leave that to Sprite and the Mayans:)
Well spoken, Lotus.
.[/quote]
An update: We took the pertinent information regarding our Costa Rican corporation back to the states and had a new tax preparer there do our taxes. This was the last year for a business-related Schedule C, so next year will be much simpler. Now that I have this year’s 5471, I believe I can just submit this myself next year and use the regular forms for the rest of our reporting. (Unless something changes in the status of our corporation.)
NOTE: If you are submitting a 5471, all of your forms must be SENT by regular mail to the IRS, not submitted by email. Our new tax person pointed this out. However, we still got our refund very quickly!
My husband and I also love going to the movies. Here is what we have discovered: Cinemark theaters at the Multi-Plaza Mall in Escazu has 14 theaters and usually run between 6-8 films at a time. Most movies made in the U.S. play in the original English with Spanish subtitles. You can Google “Cinemark” and find their home page and then look at the movies being played at their various theaters, and times. Movies usually arrive with a month or so of their release in the U.S. and sometimes, simultaneously.
Cost of tickets is around $4.00 with 3-D movies slightly higher. Here’s something interesting: when you purchase your tickets you are allowed to pick your seats on the computer for assigned seats. Sort of neat but sure can hold up the line when lots of people are waiting. We usually go to the lunchtime matinees.
The food at the concession is pretty much the same as anywhere. We like the MultiPlaza Cinemark because so many good restaurants are nearby.
We just addressed this issue. We have a home here in Costa Rica which is held in a corporation.
We recently returned to the U.S. My attorney modified our corporation books (and I mean literally, a book) to reflect our daughter’s name and passport number (she is an only child). We carried the original corporation books back with us and our daughter signed the book. When we returned, we added our signatures above hers in front of our attorney. Our daughter is now an officer of the corporation and upon our death can sell the house/corporation.
Our car is also held in a corporation and this could be handled the same way, but honestly don’t think our 1984 Toyota Landcruiser would be a big deal (hopefully) some years from now!
I have to agree with David’s input. We shipped everything, including a car selected for cost and durability and we have been really happy that we did.
We are so happy to have our excellent mattresses as their equivalent costs would have been outrageous. To re-equip our kitchen would have been crazy expensive here in Costa Rica and I wouldn’t have been able to replace many of the items I use for parties/cooking, etc.
One big “BUT”….if you are going to being living in a very small home or plan only to be here for a part of the year, then buying everything here might make more sense.
After following this thread, checked with my vet for instructions/atropine. She nixed that saying that Inderol was now the suggested treatment. This is actually a heart medication.
So here is what she suggested: Keep club soda liters on hand and after bufo contact, thoroughly wash the tongue and mouth with club soda which neutralizes the poison. Then if the dog begins to convulse administer the appropriate amount of Inderol by making sure the dog gets it down. For my very small dog (7 pounds) the Inderol dose is .25 mg. Different weight dogs would require a different dosage.
The Inderol keeps the dog from having a heart attack. Further, the vet noted that dogs who have once “tasted” the bufo may continue to seek them out and lick them. The substance secreted by the toad acts sort of like an opiate and the dog can become addicted to the experience!!!!
And if you get a chance to get to the Grecia feria on Saturday morning, you can buy superlative breads from Tom Yatsko who has a booth there. Oh, and his cinnamon rolls are just sinful!
Hi David: Do you mean that you are paying $49.00/month for you and your wife COMBINED? Did you accomplish this thru an ARCR membership???
And “leaving the country” need only consist of taking the bus up to the Pacific coast of Nicaragua for the turn around. If you choose to stay for two nights to fulfill the 72 hours, hotels there have packages just for that. Try Google.
David, are you saying you know folks that are just going across the border, having a beer and then coming back in?? We are hearing that some passports are being stamped for shorter periods.
Also, as a response to the original poster, it can be VERY hard to live in Costa Rica on Social Security alone. Search the Forum for detailed discussions of this topic.
‘Cruiser talk….oh boy!!! We got extra stuff like belts before we shipped. I know that we will get squished in an accident because we are surrounded by steel. Our tan ’84 had a few little blemishes and has some rust on the roof, but we are going to take advantage of the excellent and cheap bodywork here in CR and get her looking great. Instead of having her completely repainted will just do a off-white cap, touch up the little body paint places and have the tan body buffed out. Our ’84 just goes and goes and because we also have the six with no turbo, less to go wrong. My husband is always getting props from Costa Rican guys who love ‘Cruisers. A great decision all round!
Also thought of having a big expedition roof-rack installed, but we probably won’t be doing any “expeditions”!
Before we left the states, we sold my husband’s Lexus 350 and my Honda Element and purchased an all-original 1984 Toyota Landcruiser…for a song! Had our mechanic check it for general “worthiness” and backed it onto our 40′ shipping container in front of our household goods. I had researched general availability of parts/mechanics for this kind of vehicle, checked the import taxes ($2,350) and the RESALE value in Costa Rica (high), just in case.
Boy, are we glad we did! This workhorse goes anywhere, laughs at the potholes and can be worked on everywhere by good mechanics. The gas mileage isn’t great, but I factored that in with the overall cost of buying and transporting the vehicle, which was very low. Figure we can drive this a very long time before the extra gas cost catches up with us.
Granted, it has a “truck” ride, but that is offset by the way all of our Tico guy friends LOVE this car!!
David: Thanks so much for this information. CIMA absolutely “assured” me that they could find this out for me and even provided a special form. I will call my BCBS plan myself and get the answer!
Two points: Thank you Scott for bringing attention to the plight of so many of our returned (and returning) Gulf (both) war vets. Their continuing and insidious health issues continue to go almost completely ignored by the U.S. press. As the parent of a returning vet, I am painfully educated on this topic.
Second: The EPA has been systematically gutted by several administrations and is miserably inadequate to deal with or even report on our ongoing environmental issues. Wastewater treatment plants all over the U.S. are aging and in some cases, failing. These issues are dire in the face of stripped municipal budgets in every U.S. state.
I don’t think that “name-calling in the schoolyard” is helpful in the face of so many difficult problems faced by both the U.S. AND Costa Rica. Exactly how does this sort of sniping encourage positive local action in the face of local needs?
