jaimestarr79 said:
terrig said:
I'm sure everyone I know thinks I'm having a mid-life crises .....
Last year after the hell of that winter in NYC, I closed part of my business and hubby and I sold our apt and moved to Costa Rica. We decided in April and were out by September 30.
I mean, I HAVE been secretly planning for about 5 years...unbeknownst to hubby lololol but it really did shock everyone I know...I lived in NYC for 30 years.
All of a sudden I was like holy sh*t I'm 51, how the hell did that happen? lololol What am I still doing here with all this tech that can free me from the 'art official cage' ....so we bounced...
NYC isnt as necessary as it used to be ...
I have seriously thought of retiring outside of the US and i have thought of costa rica. Can I please ask you a few questions?
1) How many times did you visit before you moved there?
2) is there a specific area of the country or your town where other americans live?
3) Are you white or Latino/a, black (probably easier transition if black or latino)
4) how do locals feel about alot of Americans transplanting to Costa Rica?
5) How is crime in the country?
6) How is the banking system set up? Do you feel save depositing money in their banks and buying property in costa rica?
I know a lot of questions...but I'm serious about retiring somewhere in carribean. US getting way too expensive for retirement income.
here you go....
1. hubbys aunt and uncle moved here in 2008. (they are colombian and moved to cr from miami) we came to visit them, and its the only place i didnt want to leave and go back to nyc. we've been back numerous times before moving, just having fun and vacationing, not doing any active research because hubby is stubborn and wasn't having any of my crazy ideas.
2. there are expats everywhere, its most expensive in the areas around the national parks, you wont have any toruble finding toehrs to connect to, and there are very active facebook groups and the arcr.com forum.
3. i'm white...(polish/latina) however, my grandmother wanted me to 'pass' so i never learned anything about my puerto rican background sadly....i am just now learning spanish. my husband is colombian, speaks and reads spanish...but came to the usa when he was 1 y/o.
4. locals like you if you are doing your best to assimilate and appreciate their culture. they LOVE thier country, they LOVE thier way of life, they are very proud of their values and if you don't treat them like second class citizens, you'll be fine.
there is gringo pricing, but once you get yourself situated you'll learn where when and how that happens. tourist areas are uber expensive as are imports. nothing happens quickly...so patience and being nice goes a long way. they dont care about losing money if they're slow. they don't care if you dont come back to their business if you're an a-hole...they expect to smile and greet people when they share space with you. the nyc keep the head down and dont say hello doesnt work here...acknowleging people here matters. its a small place and everyone will know you're here within 48 hours of wherever you land. people are chatty and share information, so you cant poop in one place without it smelling somewhere else lololol
5. crime isnt much different than the USA EXCEPT, it's usually petty crime, you cant leave anything in your car, and if you walk around flossing with all your high end designer stuff you will be a target just like you would anywhere else. you can't/shouldnt walk around at night with your headphones in in brooklyn, its pretty stupid to do that here too.
6. the banks are like the USA. we use a canadian bank and you deposit money in relation to the type of residency you're trying to establish. google: pensionista, rentista & investista and you'll learn about the tpes of residencies and the requirements for the banks. we havent bought property yet, and i dont reccommend doing that unless, you are very well off and can afford to drop alot of dough.
hubby and i have no debt. we havent bought anything yet, we are renting while we expore and learn our way around. you do have to think about security, and you do need to rely on others around you. finding people you can trust is key. pricing here is all over the place once you're above 100k. i think eeverything is overpriced by at least 40%. EWVERYTHING is for sale, and you can make any kind of deal here. i mean ANY kind of deal. we are renting until we have a legal resident staus (about 14 months-2 yrs) then we willdecide where to lay an achor 
its best to do that
- we dont have money to just plop down on a property and potentially make a big mistake. we do well but we're not rich enough to make dumb mistakes, so we have to be careful. the internet stability and speed is a requirement for us, we both work on the internet and so we're looking for places that are upgrading the internet infrastructure. however the country is connected way more than you expect for a place like this. a third world country its NOT. the people aremostly bilingual and educated. they removed their army and built schools, so everyone is very smart, and by nature very happy. no one walks around grumpy here, and when u see that it sticks out.
hope this helps!
[Edited 2/3/15 8:06am]
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