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[quote=”ddspell12″]I do not speak spanish. How much of a problem will this be![/quote]
I spoke very little Spanish when we arrived but we found that in many casesd there is a Tico or English speaker nearby who can help.
Dealing with the day to day issues of living will improve your Spanish.After five years here I can say “Hasta luego, Amigo.” pretty well. 😆
[quote=”evrodd”]If our landlord is going to be in the US, do we need a Costa Rican bank account before we establish pensionada status? From the confusing accounts I’ve read lately, it sounds like it may actually be impossible to open one before receiving residency.
[/quote]We’ve been here for nearly five years and still don’t have a CR bank account. We retrieve our funds from just about any ATM and pay everything in colones.
[quote=”colleen.1″] They bark non stop for an average of 7 to 8 hours every night. We can no longer have any windows or doors open and it still sounds as though they are on our front lawn.
No I do not want to wear ear plugs for security reasons. [/quote]
I can understand you situation.
We have salvaged a number of dogs, starving and in need of vet care, which have come to us over the years. The first arrived within two weeks of our moving to our home. Until recently we lived without fences or bars and the dogs provided our security. We have installed a fence to keep the dogs from bothering pedestrians on the street but they are still our alarm system at night. They do NOT bark all night, however, only when strangers are around.[quote=”colleen.1″]The owner of the farm has refused to do anything about the renters (farm workers) and we have now asked the Ticos, once verbally and once in writing, to please curtail their dogs noise.
Will the Police help??? and don’t mention the Health Department and noise pollution regulations as am more than positive their level of noise pollution and ours would never meet. [/quote]There is little likelihood that the owner or the renters will do anything on their own but I have found that the local police here in Ciudad Colon will talk to anyone whose animals pose a problem. We know a few of them and have found them to be more interested in keeping the peace than anything else.
[quote=”colleen.1″]Any really good suggestions, anyone know of a dog hunter out there. Yes its that bad.[/quote]
Any action in this respect is liable to get you a date in front of the juzgado.
[quote=”sally”]”Glutton-free products.”
Unfortunately I cannot work out how to upload the photograph of the article.
[url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/glutton]A glutton is:[/url]
1. A person who eats or consumes immoderate amounts of food and drink.
2. A person with an inordinate capacity to receive or withstand something: a glutton for punishment.“Glutton-free products.” [/quote]
[img]http://img.tfd.com/wn/FC/6907E-glutton.png[/img]
How funny that I should get this ad from Mother Earth News on the same day that I see your post.
[img]http://www.ogdenpubs.com/images/bookimages/6075_T.jpg[/img][quote=”costaricabill”]David – ’09 was my first full year on SS, so I was really paying attention to it. Congress voted themselves a raise that year and the funding language was that their increase would be paid for by the freeze on COL increases for recipients of SS.
I couldn’t believe what I read – i think I may be able to find it.[/quote]Here are the facts about the congressional pay raises. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jan/22/chain-email/chain-e-mail-says-congress-raised-own-salaries-whi/
They really need to change that to require them to vote [b]FOR[/b] their raises.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]Les, I think you’ve misrepresented the 2009-10 Social Security payment amount. SS payments are recalculated each year based upon the computed change in the cost of living. For the previous year, the cost of living did not increase. That’s why there was no increase in 2009, not because it was “frozen”.
Anyone is, of course, welcome to dispute the actual change in the cost of living, but there is a computation built into the law and that’s what Social Security must be based upon.
[/quote]You are correct.
[quote=”Bibi”] Any insight about these two options – and others – would be greatly appreciated.
Please and thank you!!! :):)[/quote]
If you are still having problems you might try my attorney. Her office is in San Sebastian just south of San Jose.
Licda. Bárbara Jiménez Coble
Abogada y Notaria
Attorney At Law
Office + (506) 2272-3860
Cell + (506) 8358-7075
Fax + (506) 2271-1486[quote=”VictoriaLST”]Hi Waggoner. I think I have an idea about that “long arm”of the government” and I posted it once before.
If you rely in part on social security payments it goes like this:
As a “temporary measure” and as of X date, if you retire out of the US you only get to take 75% of your social security.
Oops – have to make that measure permanent.
Oops – you can only take 50% after Y date.
Oops – sorry have to make the 50% permanent.
So sorry. If you retire out of the US, you don’t take any of your social security.I posted something about this possible government grab a few months ago and someone told me not to mention it again. It might give the government ideas. What do you think, Wagg?[/quote]
My life has been full of adverse situations and we always found solutions. With SS under stress I expect we will see some changes such as the freeze in 2009-10 and we have been doing what we can to be as self sufficient as we can be.
I was raised on a farm in the 1950’s and learned to think outside the box when problems occurred and the situation with SS is no different.
We have been preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
[quote=”sprite”]There are several questions. First of all, I would love to know what the details of this guy’s plan are. Where is he going? How will he support himself? What measures will he take to escape the long arm of the government?[/quote]
There is probably less than 1 chance in 1,000 that whatever he has planned would be applicable to you situation. The best that you could hope for is that he could provide a new direction in your thinking.
What is it that you think “the long arm of the government” is going to do? Force you to return to the U.S.? Take your life’s savings that you have hidden off-shore? I have nothing that the government wants.
We’ve seen a few hard times in our lives but somehow we got through them. I just see no reason to worry about the things that might happen. Life goes on.
[quote=”sprite”]The bigger question I have is one I suppose nobody can answer authoritatively; what will happen to expats in Costa Rica after the economic crash? Perhaps some of you do have a plan for this likely scenario. There was an article by George Lundquist here wherein he listed his plan for the crash. But how many do not? [/quote]
From your posts on this site I see you as someone who lives in fear of what MIGHT happen. As someone who has researched economics, economic history and the effect of decisions made by our congress in its infinite stupidity I can tell you that the U.S. is an amazingly resilient nation.
IF there is an economic crash every nation will be affected not just the U.S. If your notion of total disaster comes true there will be no place to hide from it. I would assume in that case that our SS income will be static or reduced and my very small pension might be eliminated.
When we arrived here we had no cash to speak of but we had no debt and our property was mortgage free. About 1/3 of the property was treeless and we have started planting fruit trees that will offer us something all year long and we have had a vegetable garden, which can produce all year long here, and we’ve had chickens since we arrived.
It isn’t a matter of preparing for the worst but rather doing what we have done all our lives.
We survive
We have the best of all worlds in a family of Ticos that live with us. Marcos is a messenger for BNCR and knows the country well. He searches for our needs and then we go to see what he has found and make a decision. Sometimes those things (appliances) are in Golfito but we have a van and a pickup and do our own transport.
This is a question for me…Can my wife and I combine our alotted $1,000 each to purchase one item over $1,000?
[quote=”summerjones”]How many colones are there per dollar. I need this equation to compute what the cost is in US dollars.[/quote]
You can keep up with the conversion on a daily basis at [url=http://www.bccr.fi.cr/index.html]Banco Central de Costa Rica[/url]
On the right hand side select [b]Tipo de Cambio y Tasas[/b]
[quote=”Scott”] And this U.S. diplomatic cable where they call Arias “Boy!”… Arrogant, disrespectful bas**rds!
[/quote]I wonder why “those foreigners” think Americans are arrogant.
[quote=”gkbiz”]I am sure there won’t be adequate signs to help tourists arriving on late flights who need to get to a hotel in Sabanna (near the new stadium) for example. Can someone describe how one would drive there?
I bet the rental of GPS devices at the car rental agencies will go up dramatically when all of this kicks in!![/quote]There is an alternate route that would bypass the entire highway from Juan Santamaria airport to Sabana.
[url=http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4419243479764.182054.1249220567&type=1&l=361c9a4180]Alternate route airport to Sabana[/url]
By clicking the link it willk take you to a thumbnail of the map. Click on the map for a full size image.
Do a double back page to return to welovecostarica.com[quote=”davidd”]
I guess CRIME does pay.:)http://news.yahoo.com/no-one-charged-crime-mf-global-collapse-111056124–finance.html?_esi=1
[/quote]
This seems to be pretty typical of the American financial industry.
“Borrowing” money from client accounts to cover the losses seems like it should be a criminal act.[quote=”sprite”]”The one thing that I would like to get across to people is that the world that we have lived in for the last 40 years has not been real. It’s been built completely on debt and because of that much of what we have seen and done hasn’t been “real.” It’s been a mirage.”
“All that is about to change. The entire western monetary, financial and political system will implode this decade. It all began when Richard Nixon removed the gold backing, “temporarily,” as he stated, from the dollar on August 15, 1971 and since then the entire world has been on a completely fiat, unbacked monetary system. That, combined with a massively growing socialist/fascist democratic nation-state system has meant massive amounts of debt – and great social instability laughingly known as progress.” Jeff Berwick. [/quote]
I agree with Berwick except for the last sentence. Berwick has no idea what true Fascist Socialism is. By definition it is [b][u]“a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.”[/u] [/b]The truth is that we are being screwed by those we elect to congress. It doessn’t make any difference whether they are conservative ofr liberal. Their only interest is in getting re-elected.
Nixon should have done what Roosevelt did in 1934 and taken things just a bit further. The price of gold should have been revalued by using the total inflation between 1934 and 1971 then let the price of gold float with the rate of inflation rather than being manipulated by the market. The price of gold today would be above $10,100 per ounce. In my opinion the rate of inflation (and the price of gold) would have been much lower than the above since 1971
[quote=”sprite”]I completely agree with the above assessment. Anyone who thinks I sound too much like a zealot when I speak of these matters just doesn’t understand the implications of the coming implosion as I do. Perhaps it is a lack of imagination or perhaps it is disbelief on their parts that such a thing could happen. The damned sky is falling and they want me to calmly, dispassionately discuss the ramifications or be quiet?[/quote]
Yes, I think you are a zealot but I also know that you are not completely wrong. The advantage I have is 40 years spent researching economics and economic history.
Our elected representatives in congress are economic illiterates who seem determined to believe any scatter-brained economic idea that comes down the road. Every one of the following issues is still correctable today with a little intelligence
1 ~ The gold standard screw up.
2 ~ Since the 1970’s congress has elected to provide tax breaks for those largest corporations to assist them in moving jobs overseas. Along with union busting in the 1970’s these two facts has kept the middle class from keeping up with inflation and encourages using credit. In addition it has placed the corporate tax burden on small and medium businesses who are the job creators.
3 ~ Supply side economics does not work, never has and never will. The middle class drives the American economy as proven by economic history. It didn’t work in 1897 as the “Horse and Sparrow” economic ploy and led to the Panic of 1907, tried again by Reagan it added 36% to the debt to GDP between 1982 and 1995 and again in 2001 added another 29% to the debt to GDP by 2009. Using the date on the following web site and basic 8th grade math will prove that this is true. Gross Public Debt Fiscal Years 1946 to 2009 The wealthy contribute very little to the economy as investors. Foundations and savings plans (401k’s and IRA’s, etc.) are the primary sources of investment and funding of venture capital.
4 ~ Greed drives the financial industry and expecting them to self regulate is a pipe dream. When the SEC left them to do so in the 1980’s led to the S&L meltdown of the late 1980’s and beginning in 2001 led to the housing bubble from 2001 to 2006.
5 ~ George Bush initiated military action on credit for the first time in world history, not once but twice. It can never happen again.
6 ~ Ike Eisenhower warned America about the military/industrial complex in 1960 yet here we are with an outsized defense budget and an over protective homeland security apparatus. The military and defense industry are crying about potential cuts.
7 ~ Every tax cutting legislation since 1980 has impoverished the middle class and thefederal government to the point that it cannot sustain itself and yet we have representatives vowing to cut taxes further rather than to revamp the tax code and get rid of all the give-aways.
