Costa Rica is 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, lots of 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, in fact Costa Rica is called the Switzerland of the Americas. You may get a full time maid for $200 monthly, there is an abundance of organic 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. Discover Pura Vida have plenty 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 pay for the air that you breathe. But I am sure there is some major corporation in the US trying to figure out how they can get a patent on the air and then charge a charge for it. In fact there are a number of Oxygen bars springing up in the US where one can go and breathe oxygen for 20 or half an hour plus they charge $10.00 for that. You have none of that in Costa Rica since you have fresh climate.
Consequently, Costa Rica gets the most Americans living here per capita than anywhere else on the globe and the number is growing every year. Apart from the fact that the expense 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 plus they also love the Americans (Gringos). They have established Catholicism because the official language of the united states. Which 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're a very tolerant people who respect others preferences and so there are various 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 has a very good education system and an increased literacy rate compared to the US. So they have an excellent educated labor pool for the many companies which are relocating here from around the world.
So for all of the above reasons, Americans feel very comfortable here and now call Costa Rica their home. I am one of them and can tell you that I'd never consider surviving in any other country. I was born in the US and was raised there, but after living in Costa Rica for five years, I would never return back. When I do get back to the US to visit family and friends, I cannot wait to get back again to Costa Rica. There's only a sense of freedom here and joy in coping with simply people 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 the US it's just the reverse, their individuals 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 sorts of unimaginable crimes against innocence children and the American people. Senseless shootings in schools, universities, stores and also in Churches. You merely 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 genuine sense of Freedom here and I wish to expand on that a little more, since it's a very important factor. When I'm in the US I feel like I am surviving in an Orwellian your government society. This war 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. If you see anything suspicious report it to the police. I visit the bank and have to fill our papers for simple transactions as a result of 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 again to the late 1960's and ponder just how much things have changed. Let me tell you a little story that will dramatize that time. I was created in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a large 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 an Italian American and was the former police commissioner. Philadelphia had a lot of problems with crime and they still do, so Mr. Rizzo insisted that I get yourself a gun and a license to transport it, so I did. View website drove with some friends from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh to go to my family. Then i was to fly back 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 consult with the Captain. You didn't have to go through all of the security that you do today you just would walk up to 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, simply take the bullets out. Now think about where we have result from that time 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 have to mortgage their homes to send their kids to college.
Within Costa Rica I've exactly 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 throughout me and within me. I can buy fresh organic fruit and veggies every week that are grown 52 weeks a year in Costa Rica's temperate climate at a fraction of the purchase price you pay in the US. Healthcare and dentistry is really 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 complete time maid that cost me $200 monthly. And when some day I wish to get into a retirement home, it'll be a fourth of the price as in the US and will be staffed by caring and giving Costa Ricans. So this is why I, alongside 200,000 other Xpate Americans now call Costa Rica their house now and it really and why more are arriving at retire hear every week.