Why Costa Rica is Top Retirement Destination for Xpats!

Costa Rica is really a small country of 6 million people in Central America located between Nicaragua and Panama. Because Costa Rica's cost of living is about 1/3 the price of living in the US, lots of people are retiring to Costa Rica. Taxes certainly are a fraction of what they are in the US, there is absolutely no capital gains taxes in Costa Rica, in fact Costa Rica is called the Switzerland of the Americas. You may get a full time maid for $200 monthly, there is a good amount of organic fresh fruits and vegetables all year round because of a temperate climate averaging 74 degrees. I live in San Jose and I have no air-con or heating. I just have a lot of screened windows and keep them open and obtain fresh air 24 hours a day. It's more healthy than having an air conditioning equipment running not to mention much cheaper since as of today you don't have to purchase the air that you breathe. But I am sure there is some major corporation in the US racking your brains on how they can get yourself a patent on the air and then charge a fee for it. In fact there are a variety of Oxygen bars springing up in the US where you could go and breathe oxygen for 20 or half an hour and they charge $10.00 for that. You have none of this in Costa Rica because you have fresh clean air.

Consequently, Costa Rica gets the most Americans living here per capita than somewhere else on earth and the number keeps growing every year. Apart from the fact that the expense of living is low and the country is absolutely beautiful, probably the most valuable asset in Costa Rica is its people. They are lovely people who find themselves gentle, kind and have strong family ties. Their favorite expression is "PURA VIDA', which means the pure life. The Costa Ricans love their family and they also love the Americans (Gringos). They have established Catholicism because the official language of the united states. And that means you won't have any law suits being brought by the ACLU since there is a nativity scene around some government buildings. However, they are a very tolerant people who respect others preferences therefore there are many other religions practiced here as well and that are welcomed.
Many huge American companies such as for example Intel, Hewlett Packard and large call centers have major operations in Costa Rica. Costa Rica includes a very good education system and an increased literacy rate compared to the US. So that they have an excellent educated labor pool for the countless companies that are relocating here from around the globe.

So for several of the aforementioned reasons, Americans feel very comfortable here and now call Costa Rica their home. I am one of these and can tell you that I would never consider surviving in any country. I was created in the US and grew up there, but after surviving in Costa Rica for five years, I would never return back. When I do get back to the US to go to family and friends, I cannot wait to get back to Costa Rica. There's only a sense of freedom here and joy in living with simply individuals who love and appreciate simple family values. By comparison to the people in the United States individuals in Costa Rica are poor, however they are rich in spirit. I often say that people in Costa Rica have nothing, however they have everything. When I made that comment to someone, their comeback was, "yes you are right, in the US it's just the reverse, their individuals there have everything and yet they have nothing".

It seems every day in america you hear of horrendous acts of violence that's shocking to the core. Senseless mass killings and all types of unimaginable crimes against innocence children and the American people. Senseless shootings in schools, universities, stores and even in Churches. You just don't possess that in Costa Rica, it just doesn't exist. Yes there's crime like everywhere else, however, not to the amount that you see happening in america.

I mentioned above about having a real sense of Freedom here and I wish to expand on a little more, since it's a very important factor. When I am in the US I feel like I am surviving in an Orwellian big brother society. This war on terror has people surviving in fear.  Check out here  seems to me when I am in the US there is only a large amount of paranoia, if fact I find myself getting paranoid. I am at the airport and on the loudspeaker they announce the threat level is orange today and don't leave your bag alone. If you see anything suspicious report it to the police. I go to the bank and have to fill our papers for simple transactions due to Patriot Act and for Homeland Security. I believe to myself what has happened to the land of the free and the home of the brave?

I think back to the late 1960's and ponder how much things have changed. Without a doubt a little story that may dramatize that point. I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a large Italian family. I was at that time in my own earlier twenties surviving in Philadelphia, Pa. and I was working with the mayor of Philadelphia Frank Rizzo, who was simply an Italian American and was the former police commissioner. Philadelphia had plenty of problems with crime plus they still do, so Mr. Rizzo insisted that I get a gun and a license to carry it, therefore i did. One weekend I drove with some friends from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh to go to my family. I then was to fly back again to Philadelphia since my friends were likely to stay longer. Inadvertently, I had left my gun in my own bag. So when I got to the airport I walked to the gate and asked to consult with the Captain. You didn't have to go through all of the security that you do today you just would walk around the gate and board the plane. The Captain came out and I told him that I had a gun and had a license to transport it and showed it to him. He told me no problem, just take the bullets out. Now consider where  The original source  have result from that point to where we have been now. They're body searching 90 year old great grandmothers and herding people like cattle through ever tighter security. Oh by the way, gas was selling for $.29 cents per gallon at that time and parents didn't need to mortgage their homes to send their kids to college.

Within Costa Rica I have exactly the same feeling of freedom that I had in the late 1960's and I love that feeling. I also love the fact that beach side property in Costa Rica is selling for 1960 California prices. I really like the sense of family the Costa Ricans still have. I feel the beauty of individuals and the country all around me and within me. I could buy fresh organic fruits and vegetables every week which are grown 52 weeks a year in Costa Rica's temperate climate at a fraction of the price you pay in america. Healthcare and dentistry is a fraction of the purchase price as well. Taxes on my beach home at Las Olas Beach Community in Esterillos Oeste is $200 each year. I have a full time maid that cost me $200 monthly. And if some day I want to go into a retirement home, it'll be a fourth of the price as in the US and you will be staffed by caring and giving Costa Ricans. Which means this is why I, alongside 200,000 other Xpate Americans now call Costa Rica their home now and it really and why more are arriving at retire hear every week.