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, lots of people are retiring to Costa Rica. Taxes are a fraction of what they're in the US, there is no capital gains taxes in Costa Rica, in fact Costa Rica is Known as the Switzerland of the Americas. You may get a full time maid for $200 per month, there is an abundance of organic fruits and vegetables throughout the year because of a temperate climate averaging 74 degrees. I live in San Jose and I've no air-con or heating. I just have a lot of screened windows and keep them open and obtain fresh air 24 hours a day. It's much healthier than having an air conditioner running not to mention much cheaper since currently you don't need to pay for the air that you breathe. But I am certain there's some major corporation in the US trying to figure out how they can get yourself a patent on the air and charge a fee for it. In fact there are a variety of Oxygen bars springing up in the US where you could 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 because you have fresh climate.
Consequently, Costa Rica gets the most Americans living here per capita than somewhere else in the world and the number keeps growing every year. Aside 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 people who are gentle, kind and have strong family ties. A common expression is "PURA VIDA', which 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. So 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 therefore there are many 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 includes a excellent education system and an increased literacy rate compared to the US. So they have an excellent educated labor pool for the countless companies that 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 house. I am one of them and can tell you that I'd never consider surviving in any 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 can't wait to get back to Costa Rica. There's only 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, but they are rich in 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're 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 types of unimaginable crimes against innocence children and the American people. Senseless shootings in schools, universities, shopping malls and also in Churches. Get more info 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 america.
I mentioned previously about having a real sense of Freedom here and I want to expand on that a little more, since it is a essential factor. When I'm in the US Personally i think like I am surviving in an Orwellian your government society. This war on terror has people living in fear. It seems if you ask me when I am in america there is only a large amount of paranoia, if fact I find myself getting paranoid. I'm at the airport and over the loudspeaker they announce the threat level is orange today and do not leave your bag alone. In the event that you see anything suspicious report it to the police. I go to the bank and have to fill our papers for simple transactions because of the Patriot Act and for Homeland Security. I think to myself what has happened to the land of the free and the house of the brave?
I think back to the late 1960's and ponder how much things have changed. Let me tell you a little story that may dramatize that time. I was created 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 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 to Philadelphia since my friends were going to stay longer. Inadvertently, I had left my gun in my own bag. So when I got 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 came out 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 consider where we have result from that point to where we have been now. They are 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.
Within Costa Rica I've the same feeling of freedom that I had in the late 1960's and I love that feeling. I also love the fact that beach side property in Costa Rica is selling for 1960 California prices. I really like the sense of family the Costa Ricans still have. Personally i think the beauty of the people and the country all around me and within me. I could buy fresh organic vegetables and fruit every week that are grown 52 weeks a year in Costa Rica's temperate climate at a fraction of the 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 per year. I have a complete time maid that cost me $200 per month. 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, alongside 200,000 other Xpate Americans now call Costa Rica their home now also it really and why more are coming to retire hear weekly.
