RETIRE IN COSTA RICA

Thinking Of Moving To A New Country?
Too many people make such a move emotionally. While how a person feels about a country, and it's physical attributes are important, it is also important to look at practical items which may cause frustration with your new home in the future. The check list below is meant only as a guide for your move- you will likely have additions to it, or perhaps some of the listed items are not of concern to you. Substitute your own questions.

Thinking Of Moving To Costa Rica - To Live, Work or Retire?
We recommend that anyone considering a move to Costa Rica, or any country for that matter, first come here and travel as a tourist. The longer you can stay the better. It is important that in addition to knowing the logistics of establishing residency and making the move, you get a little taste of what life will be like.

Depending on your country of origin, you can travel around Costa Rica with a tourist visa for up to three months. With a driver's license from your home country and your passport, you can legally drive during this time. Try to get a feel for what day-to-day life will be like -- learn first-hand that a different culture means different responses to given situations. In the end, your ability to adapt and approach life with a relaxed attitude will probably govern your degree of happiness and satisfaction once you live in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica Immigration
Is immigration right for you? After you've stayed in Costa Rica awhile as a tourist, you may decide to immigrate to Costa Rica. Many people have made this decision based upon the friendly people, temperate climate, lower cost medical services and lower priced housing. Every decision to move, live, work or retire in Costa Rica is unique. And, the process for immigration can be daunting, depending if you want to just live here, or if you wish to work. Those with residency as Pensionados and Rentistas are allowed to own and operate a business but are not permitted to work for wages for someone else. However, under certain conditions, one may immigrate through an investor status program.

Costa Rica is a unique tropical retirement paradise
which offers inexpensive living and retirement, the opportunity to start over, the chance to learn Spanish, gentle breezes, lots of great outdoor sports, stunning scenery with sun-soaked shores and beautiful beaches and spectacular mountains. Add to all this a peaceful nation with this political stability and year round spring-like weather in the Central Valley, the friendly people who actually like Americans and it is easy to see why Costa Rica has become tops on the list of expatriate and Baby Boomer havens.

Costa Rica is a user-friendly country for Americans.
In fact, there are more people from the U.S. living in Costa Rica proportionately than any other country outside the U.S. The country has become very Americanized and occupies a place somewhere between the first and third world, so you should feel right at home. It makes good sense to consider Costa Rica for living, retirement or investment.

The perfect destination for your retirement and investment.
There are many advantages that make Costa Rica the perfect destination for your retirement plans. Healthcare in Costa Rica is relatively inexpensive and up to first-world standards with doctors who have been trained in the U.S. or Europe. A excellent educational system exists for those retirees who bring children under the age of 18 or want to continue their education.

Living in Costa Rica is relatively easy to arrange.
as anyone 45 years or older can apply for the easy-to-relocate retirement system set up by the Costa Rican government. Qualified retirees are eligible for benefits including specific tax exemptions and incentives. Best of all, you do not have to pay tax on your retirement income in Costa Rica!

Costa Rica is One of the top five.
Emerging real estate markets in the world there are also substantial tax breaks for Costa Rica home owners.

The Government offers incentives for business
If you choose to go into business, the Costa Rica government offers incentives. For those who wish to buy, housing prices are reasonable by U.S. standards with financing available. Unlike Mexico, beach front property may be purchased in some areas but is usually expensive.

A very low incidence of violent crime (no society is crime free)
A wealth of every imaginable activity to stay busy and happy, two excellent English newspapers, cable and Direct TV with all of the U.S. channels and a myriad of exciting business opportunities for enterprising foreigners, all help to contribute to the country's excellent reputation as a place to live with an excellent quality of life. Moreover, some people can live on less than $1,500 monthly excluding rent. Others live for less and some for a lot more, depending on their respective lifestyles.

If you are single, you just found paradise
Adding to the country’s allure is that it is considered to be a single man's or woman's paradise. Costa Rican women have an unparalleled reputation as being the most beautiful, flirtatious and accessible women in the Latin America including Brazil. The men are handsome, gentlemen and very romantic. The possess the Latin charm known throughout the wolrd. The ladies of Costa Rica are more warm-hearted and eternally devoted than their North American counterparts. Middle-age men can find the "Fountain of Youth" here since age does not seem to pose an obstacle when meeting women. Just ask some of the gentlemen who have made the move.

Costa Rica stands alone
This beautiful country stands alone because it boasts the warmth and flavor of Mexico, without the anti-Americanism and fear of expropriations, the physical beauty of Guatemala without a large military presence and climate of fear, the sophistication and flavor of Brazil without the abject poverty or violent crime and more winter sunshine than Hawaii of Florida with fewer people. Come experience first-hand what everyone is being captivated by...Costa Rica.