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 cost of living in the US, many people are retiring to Costa Rica. Taxes certainly are a fraction of what they're in the US, there is absolutely no capital gains taxes in Costa Rica, actually Costa Rica is Known as the Switzerland of the Americas. You may get a complete time maid for $200 per month, there is a good amount of organic fresh fruits and vegetables all year round due to a temperate climate averaging 74 degrees. I reside in San Jose and I've no air conditioning or heating. I simply have plenty of screened windows and keep them open and obtain fresh air 24 hours a day. It's much healthier than having an air conditioning equipment running and of course much cheaper since currently you don't need to purchase the air that you breathe. But I am sure there's some major corporation in the US trying to figure out how they can get yourself a patent on the air and then charge a fee for it. In fact there are many of Oxygen bars springing up in the US where you can go and breathe oxygen for 20 or half an hour plus they charge $10.00 for that. You have none of this in Costa Rica since you have fresh clean air.

Consequently, Costa Rica gets the most Americans living here per capita than anywhere else on the globe and the number keeps growing every year. Apart from the fact that the cost of living is low and the country is absolutely beautiful, the most valuable asset in Costa Rica is its people. They're lovely individuals who are gentle, kind and have strong family ties. A common expression is "PURA VIDA', this means the pure life. The Costa Ricans love their family and they also love the Americans (Gringos). They will have established Catholicism as the official language of the Country. And that means you won't have any law suits being brought by the ACLU because there is a nativity scene around some government buildings. However, they are a very tolerant people who respect others preferences and so there are numerous other religions practiced here aswell 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 has a excellent education system and an increased literacy rate than the US. So that they have an excellent educated labor pool for the many companies which are relocating here from around the globe.

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

It seems every day in the US you hear of horrendous acts of violence that is 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, shopping malls and also in Churches. You merely don't possess that in Costa Rica, it just doesn't exist. Yes there is crime like everywhere else, but not to the amount that you see happening in the US.

I mentioned above about having a genuine sense of Freedom here and I want to expand on a little more, since it's a essential factor. When I'm in the US I feel like I am surviving in an Orwellian your government society.  article by Don Mango  on terror has people surviving in fear. It seems to me when I am in america there is just a lot of paranoia, if fact I find myself getting paranoid. I'm at the airport and on the loudspeaker they announce the threat level is orange today and don't leave your bag alone. In the event that you see anything suspicious report it to the authorities. 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 house of the brave?

I think back again to the late 1960's and ponder just how much things have changed. Let me tell you a little story that may dramatize that time. I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a big Italian family. I was at that time in my earlier twenties living in Philadelphia, Pa. and I was dealing 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 and they still do, so Mr. Rizzo insisted that I get a gun and a license to transport it, therefore i did. One weekend I drove with some friends from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh to go to my family. Then i was to fly back again to Philadelphia since my friends were going to stay longer. Inadvertently, I had left my gun in my bag. So when I got eventually to the airport I walked to the gate and asked to speak with the Captain. You didn't need to go through all the security that you do today you just would walk around the gate and board the plane. The Captain arrived and I told him that I had a gun and had a license to carry it and showed it to him. He told me no problem, just take the bullets out. Now consider where we have result from that time to where we are now. They're body searching 90 year old great grandmothers and herding people like cattle through ever tighter security. Oh incidentally, gas was selling for $.29 cents per gallon in those days and parents didn't need to mortgage their homes to send their kids to college.

Here in Costa Rica I've the same feeling of freedom that I had in the late 1960's and I really like that feeling. I also love the fact that beach side property in Costa Rica is selling for 1960 California prices. I love 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 can buy fresh organic fruit and veggies every week which are grown 52 weeks per year in Costa Rica's temperate climate at a fraction of the price you pay in america. Healthcare and dentistry is really a fraction of the price as well. Taxes on my beach home at Las Olas Beach Community in Esterillos Oeste is $200 each year. I have a complete time maid that cost me $200 monthly. And when some day I want to get into a retirement home, it will be a fourth of the price as in the US and you will be staffed by caring and giving Costa Ricans. So this is why I, along with 200,000 other Xpate Americans now call Costa Rica their house now also it really and why more are coming to retire hear every week.