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It seems to me, looking at IL’s top 10, that there is something wrong. The mag tends to ‘push’ certain countries but what are the criteria. This link, at Forbes mag, has some different countries: http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/15/ten-best-retirement-havens-personal-finance-retire-abroad_slide_12.html
What are the criteria for any of the recommendations? Stable government and low cost of living would seem to be (to me anyway) required for a haven which makes me wonder why Thailand is Forbes #2. CR doesn’t even make the Forbes list. Italy and Spain make both lists, but, with the uncertain EU situation and debt accumulation, is either a good choice?
I guess, as the old saying goes, “you pays your money and you takes your chance.” I like the chance we decided on:)
Finally! SS emailed me with this link about SS recipients living outside the US: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2009/5j.html#table5.j11
Of course, this is just the 2008 info. with 509,563 recipients living outside the US getting $297,462,000 a month total in benefits or $3,569,544,000 a year. In 2008. And, in 2008, only 4,377 receiving benefits in CR – we know from the embassy site that it is over 5,000 now. Five years later, I wonder what the annual total is. Four Billion a year? Five? When do you suppose they will move to plug this link?
Oddly enough, the topic came up at lunch today. Someone calls the Red Cross and the US embassy immediately and arrangements are made within 24 hours. There is a liaison at the embassy whom you can call to discuss it.
Just a quick FYI – chiggers are not baby (larval) ticks. They are their own nasty species. The best thing we have found for their bites, and the bites of a lot of other nasties, is “Chiggerex”. We haven’t found it in CR but friends can bring it back from the US for you.
Pharg, as always, you lend light to the discussion. A few months ago, the number 6K was bandied about for retirees. But, what the hey, what’s 10 percentage points +/- among friends? Or us and our government?
Federal Benefits section of embassy indicates that over 5,000 expats in CR are receiving federal benefits. I don’t know if they are all ‘retired’, but that would push the retired population from 19% of that 16,000 to around 30%. Odd, don’t you think?
What do I miss? Those April days when the wind is just right and you catch that first scent of spring. The anticipation of it. Especially when that first breeze from the south came over ground still dusted with snow. I miss that.
We have a lot of Canadians up here in the Nuevo Arenal area. Plus cooler weather and a great lake. Come check it out 😀
Wow, you have asked a hard question. There don’t seem to be any inspectors of the type we are familiar with in the US. We had an “inspection” here in the Arenal area and it was superficial (yup, you have walls). When we moved in, we found outlets that didn’t work, wires that hung from the ceiling, plumbing to nowhere, a leak in the porch roof… Nothing that couldn’t be easily and cheaply fixed but the “inspection” was worthless. I suggest finding an expat builder with a lot of experience in CR to go with you and walk through the house. Maybe bring a checklist from the US with things that are usually done by a US inspector. That is probably the only way to get this done. Good luck.
Here is my take on the future of SS outside the country.
Government will state:
As of June 1, 2016, if you move out of the US and are on or apply for SS, you will be paid 75% of you SS. This is a temporary measure.
The next will be:
As of June 1, 2020, if you move out of the US and are on or apply for, SS, you will be paid 50% of you SS.
Following that will be:
As of June 1, 2022, if you move out of the US and are on or apply for SS, you will be paid 25% of you SS.Notice that they have not touched the SS of someone already living outside the US.
There are about 6000 people in CR receiving SS payments. Although it is difficult to get figures, that could amount to 70-100 million a year. For expats around the world, probably billions of dollars leaving the US in SS, veterans benefits, etc. These billions do not support or recirculate in the US for : local and state governments, gas stations, restaurants, auto body shops, clothing stores, local schools, Boy Scouts, churches and other charities – the list goes on. The US needs that money to circulate in the States, not outside it and the government will find a way to get it without taking away what we think of as a constitutional right to travel and live where we please.
Then there are those pesky assets that we have to start tapping at age 70.5 – our IRAs. That money gets spent outside the US as well and the IRS will want some.
I hope we all know that I am not a conspiracy theorist (let my organic gardening friend take care of that) but I think this is a real threat to us and to people who have not left the States.
