Why People Are Choosing to call home and Retire in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is really a place of stunning scenery, sunshine and smiles with spring-like weather throughout the year, no income taxes on foreign earned income, no capital gains taxes, excellent world-class medical facilities, affordable medical plans and populated by the 'Ticos' who are an amiable and very attractive people.

Who Is Moving to Costa Rica? You can find estimated to be 77 million 'baby boomers' in america who began retiring in 2008 also it seems there's a number of considering a Costa Rica retirement. So too are Canadians and numerous Europeans that are searching for that perfect climate and a far more affordable spot to live.

Wealthier people from all over Central and Latin America may also be visiting Costa Rica because of political and financial instability within their own countries.

Once you fear for the lives of your children because they could be kidnapped in Mexico, Guatemala or Honduras or, you have just witnessed the value of your house slashed in two as a few of our Venezuelan friends have recently, your own future can look downright terrifying.

Politically Stable Country: Unlike most nations in Central and Latin America, Costa Rica is a stable and democratic country since it's independence in 1948. It does not have any army, and its citizens enjoy one of the highest life expectancy levels in the Western hemisphere and higher living standards than their war-torn neighbors.

Costa Rica's perfect climate, relaxed lifestyle, financial and political stability makes this 'rich coast' look like paradise on earth to numerous people.

Business Opportunities: It's not just people seeking retirement that are visiting Costa Rica. We are seeing young entrepreneurs coming to Costa Rica with dreams of establishing their business here.

This is an admirable goal however; we should remember that having an operating knowledge of Spanish will only take you half way.  Helpful resources  must remember that we have been guests in their country, doing business here could be challenging because inefficient bureaucracies, redundancies and duplications are part of everyday business.

Affordable Costa Rica Real Estate: In comparison to Europe and many urban centers in the USA, property in Costa Rica is very affordable. Foreigners can simply buy their own homes and some people have decided to build their own homes.

In  https://nash-mcmillan.hubstack.net/costa-rica-retirement-great-lifestyle-at-an-acceptable-price  with the Global Property Guide, the cheapest city in Europe is Bucharest where you would pay US$3,085 per square meter for a 120M2 apartment (1,291.2 square feet). So most Costa Rica property is 40-50% significantly less than the cheapest city in Europe.

You can certainly find luxury condos in Costa Rica for $2,200 per square meter nevertheless, you can also easily purchase a modern, completely new, very comfortable home anywhere close to the business, cultural and entertainment centre of San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica for US$1,500 - $1,750 per square meter. I understand this because I've bought several homes here.

As an example, in 2007 I purchased a fresh, two story 300M2 (3,228 square feet) luxury home (350M lot - 3,766 square feet) in a secure gated condo community in a great location in Santa Ana, built by among the best builders we have come across coming in at US$1,033 per square meter.

Property Taxes: When investing in a home in Costa Rica, property taxes should be considered but thankfully there's little to worry about because basic property taxes are just 0.25% and even if your home is ultra-luxurious and the blissful luxury property tax also applies, everything adds up to very little..

According to the Miami Dade County website, on a US$275K property in Miami, you'll pay about US$6,875 per year in property taxes. With a luxury apartment in , the property taxes for a house of the same value would be less than $1,000 per year so you would save about US $490 monthly just in property taxes.

And for my 3,228 square feet luxury home in Costa Rica?  https://open-isa.org/members/centtile8/activity/955285/  paid about $230 per month for both monthly maintenance (swimming pool, landscaping, security etc) and also property taxes.

Building Your Own Home:

In late July 2009 we finished building our 1,797 square feet retirement home (plus 462.68 square feet for the garage area, pila and bodega) on 5,000M2 of land and fully furnished it for less than US$140,000

Building your own home is not for the faint of heart all over the world but if you're comfortable with the theory then you will be delighted to know that your labor costs in are low.

Affordable Cost of Living: Only 1% of US households headed by folks aged 62-72 have $1 million or even more in assets apart from their home. Given that might sound like a bundle but $1M today lasts less than 20 years assuming a rate of return of 7%, inflation of 3% and inflation-adjusted annual withdrawals of $75K. People recognize that their money will last considerably longer with a Costa Rica retirement.

Having said that, demographically speaking, forty-six percent of the infant boomers are still within their 40s so there are many baby-boomers that haven't really started to consider their retirement. The more negative the political and economic environment becomes in the USA, the more receptive they'll be to the idea of living and retiring abroad.

How Much MAY BE THE Food? To provide you with a genuine idea about food costs, in one of Jo Stuart's recent newspaper columns, she compared the exact cost of a basket of fruits and vegetables purchased within to the exact items purchased in a California farmer's market. She spent US$8.75 here and the same items in California cost US$29.47

The bottom line is if you eat a healthy diet plan full of fruit, fresh vegetables, a little fish, chicken or beef, you and your family will be healthier and you'll enjoy significant savings on food surviving in Costa Rica.

But, if you prefer to consume highly-processed, imported food, you will pay through the nose for this and you will not be healthy.

Heating Costs: Who needs heating? Unless you you live at fairly high altitudes, you would not even consider heating... In over seven years of living here, I've only ever experienced one home that had an in-floor heating system installed.

Water: Thankfully Costa Rica gets plenty of water. In a few of the Northern Guanacaste areas there is certainly a water management problem primarily because of over development and too little infrastructure but we do have a lot of water.

Electricity: A significant level of Costa Rica's electrical energy needs are renewable, met by geothermal (volcanic) and hydro-electric power. Thus, it really is fairly well insulated against oil price fluctuations and can maintain relatively cheap electricity prices that are almost the lowest in the Americas. Telephone costs may also be very low.

Obviously in the event that you live at the beach where it is much hotter then air conditioning is essential for many people. This would boost your basic costs however, in and around the Central Valley area, you do not need heating and hardly anybody ever uses air-con.

Cars in Costa Rica Are Expensive: Unless you purchase a house (at the very least immediately), investing in a vehicle will be your biggest outlay - new cars could be over a third more in cost in comparison to prices in the U.S.

Life Enriching Experience: Learning a new language is really a rewarding and enriching experience and helps keep you and your brain alive. Becoming acquainted with the culture and customs of a new people can be exhilarating and we've come across dozens of people who came here single and are now very happily married.

Personally, i believe Costa Rica gets the most perfect climate for the body and I love the people - the 'Ticos.' They are still people with the same hopes and fears as you and I and you can find good ones and bad ones....

For me to take pleasure from the same kind of extremely comfortable lifestyle that I love in Costa Rica in any major US or European city, I would (and I am NOT exaggerating) need to earn at the very least five times more than I am earning today...

Living in Costa Rica isn't for everyone, the people can be a little too 'laid back' for you personally but after surviving in ten countries and traveling to many others, I honestly believe they are amongst the nicest people I've run into and certainly amongst the most physically attractive people in the world...