For many years, Costa Rica has been promoted as one of the best retirement havens in the world. With a stable democracy, a growing economy, a foreign-friendly government, and a tropical climate, as well as incredible natural beauty, it has rightly earned the phrase “the Switzerland of Latin America.”
Is this still true today?
Is it as expensive as Switzerland?
Are retirees still coming?
Should they continue to consider Costa Rica?
For many people, there seem to be less expensive retirement destinations like Panama or Nicaragua. For others, Costa Rica has become too touristy. Others believe that Costa Rica is invaded by “gringos”.
I want to debunk these notions and others, and suggest that Costa Rica is still a great place to retire, or start a new life if you’re not already retired, especially if you choose your location and activities carefully.
Costa Rica is too expensive!
I have been living in Costa Rica for about two years, but have been in and out of the country frequently since 1989 and based on my extensive travels throughout the country in conjunction with my “Boomers in Costa Rica Retirement Tours”, I have found that there are still areas cheap to live in, especially if you stay away from the nearby suburbs of San Jose.
Take, for example, the wonderful city of San Ramón, an agricultural town of 70,000 inhabitants, located in the extreme northwest of the Central Valley. Home to three former presidents, including “Don Pepe,” who abolished the army in 1948 and laid the foundations for today’s strong democracy, San Ramón offers a peaceful environment to live in, yet offers all the services of a larger city, including numerous supermarkets, a shopping mall with a three-screen movie theater, numerous outstanding restaurants, and warm, welcoming venues. It is also only 40 minutes from the Alajuela International Airport, one hour to San José and 40 minutes to the Pacific coast.
San Ramon also offers a wide variety of lots on which to build your retirement dream home, whether it’s in the mountains that “Tico Times” calls “the Tuscany or Provence of Central America,” or stunning ocean-view properties where you can see the Nicoya peninsula. , the Pacific Ocean and the bustling port city of Puntarenas.
Land prices remain low, with some lots as cheap as $15,000 for a half acre lot, to $75,000 for an incredible 2.25 acre ocean view lot. With another $60,000 to $75,000, you can have an amazing ocean view lot and home, complete with all the amenities you need, for less than $200,000. If you decide you don’t want ocean views, you’ll pay even less, maybe around $100,000 for a nice lot and a house.
Property taxes are very low, only 25% of the registered value of your house/land. I paid $66 in property taxes for an entire year! The local government office even asked if I wanted to pay my taxes quarterly!
If renting is more your style, you can still find nice modest two-bedroom houses for rent for less than $200/month. Low housing costs combined with very low prices on food and utilities make San Ramón an excellent opportunity. The towns of Grecia, Sarchí, Atenas and Naranjo also offer excellent value for money; you just need to know where to look or connect with an experienced and knowledgeable local or gringo to help you.
I also eat cheap, maybe $1.50 for breakfast, $2.00 for lunch, and then I splurge on dinner, maybe $4-$6, and this is if I eat out! Of course, if you visit some of the wonderful open-air markets in this country, you will find the freshest meats, fruits and vegetables, and you can cook for yourself and spend even less.
I need good and convenient health care!
Some foreigners living in Costa Rica complain that the medical system here is overcrowded and it often takes hours to see a doctor. Yes, in some areas there are fewer doctors per capita than in the United States, but this generally applies to people who live in the San Jose area, and many times it relates to people who have chosen to enter the “CAJA” system, which is the most basic government-run health insurance program to which most Ticos belong.
Once you leave the San Jose area, even if you are in the BOX the lines are getting less frequent, you will form a great relationship with an English speaking doctor who is well trained and in some cases will. even make house calls. There are also other private programs that allow you to see any doctor, and even these programs are much less expensive than insurance programs in the states.
Costa Rica also has several outstanding hospitals that provide the same level and quality of service that you would find in the United States. CIMA San José Hospital, which is affiliated with Baylor Medical Center in Houston, is a brand new facility with all the new technology you would find in any top hospital in the United States. In fact, my doctor at CIMA has more advanced technology in his office than my doctor in New York City. The Biblica Clinic, also near San José, is also another superior hospital, with the same quality of service that you would find at CIMA.
There are too many tourists!
Costa Rica is undoubtedly a very busy tourist destination and receives more than 1 million tourists a year. If you visit the beaches of Manuel Antonio, the rainforest of Monteverde or the Arenal Volcano during the dry season, yes, you will see many North Americans and Europeans. However, living here, particularly in cities like San Ramón or Grecia, you would hardly know that it is the tourist season. These towns, and others, see few tourists and move at their own steady pace throughout the year.
Actually, visiting tourist destinations during the low season is a significant benefit of living here, particularly since prices are significantly lower than during the high season.
Costa Rica counts among its residents some 40,000 North Americans, mostly from the United States. They come for a variety of reasons, from wanting to leave their corporate careers for more meaningful work to simply wanting to retire and enjoy the slower, more relaxed pace of life that Costa Rica has to offer.
Although these expatriates are scattered throughout Costa Rica, most of them live in the suburbs that surround San José, such as Escazú, Santa Ana and Ciudad Colón. Quite a few expats live in beach communities along the Pacific coast, while a smaller number of people live on the Caribbean coast. However, many people are beginning to take note of the smaller towns in the Central Valley like Grecia, Sarchí, Naranjo, and San Ramón, as well as the smaller towns that surround these towns. These towns and cities offer a relaxed pace of life, reasonable property prices, and an overall lower cost of living.
So, you can live in Costa Rica and not be overwhelmed by gringos or high prices in other parts of the country. However, if you want to live among “your own kind”, you can too!
Historically, Costa Rica was a country mainly attractive to retirees; those people in their 50s and 60s (and in some cases much older) who wanted a small house and could live much less economically than in North America or Europe. However, Costa Rica is also beginning to attract a good number of baby boomers, particularly people who are not yet ready to retire.
Beyond living a quieter and simpler life, these people are certainly not done with work yet. They may be business owners that they can run from virtually anywhere. They can also be writers or artists. Others come here to invest their time and money in new businesses. Many people have successfully transitioned from a corporate career in the United States to running a bed and breakfast, running a surf shop, offering tours, investing in real estate, and more. Costa Rica is a very business-friendly country and the opportunities here remain endless.
The roads are terrible!
Like any developing country, particularly one with a rainy season for part of the year, and with trucks and cars sharing the same often two-lane road, it can be difficult to keep the roads in perfect condition all the time.
Fortunately, under the new administration of Nobel Prize winner President Oscar Arias, important steps are being taken to address these concerns. Millions of dollars have been allocated to the construction and repair of new roads. Costa Rica has come a long way in infrastructure improvements, and it is only getting better.
I do not speak Spanish!
While you can get by without knowing much Spanish, you’ll have a better experience if you try to learn at least a few key words, phrases, and sentences. Also, making friends with a Tico (hopefully a bilingual one!) will help you a lot to get things done here.
On our retirement tours, for example, we provide a post-tour relocation service where we connect our clients with a Tico to help them with some critical “post-move” tasks, like getting a driver’s license, hooking up the electricity, telephone and Internet services, and a variety of other things. I couldn’t get by without my “Tico connections” and my Spanish is improving all the time.
But Costa Rica is in Central America!
Central America has a reputation for being very poor and historically a region full of political chaos, dictators, communists and interference from foreign countries. Costa Rica, however, has had a continuous and stable democracy since 1948 and the transition to new administrations has been as peaceful as in the United States. Yes, there are poor people here, but it is nothing like the abject poverty found, for example, in Nicaragua or Honduras.
Costa Rica has also not experienced the gang warfare that is rampant in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras. It is still a dangerous thing in these countries and the political systems are not completely stable yet. Housing and land can be much cheaper, but is it worth paying less to live if you experience power outages for six to eight hours each day (as is the case in Nicaragua lately) or, more importantly, live fearfully?
I also discovered that people are much more welcoming to us gringos than in other countries in the region, and they don’t just make friends with us for our money. They are very hardworking, genuinely interested in learning about North Americans, and it is not difficult for us to integrate into Costa Rican society. I can’t tell you how many parties and dinners I’ve been invited to in Tico homes since I moved here. They are really friendly people!
With millions of baby boomers in North America, more than 70 million of them, retiring now or in the next 20 years, and living longer than previous generations, it will take a lot of money to live well in retirement, especially in the United States. United. States Is Costa Rica still a good alternative? Yes! Will you do well here and have fun? Absolutely! Come visit us and introduce yourself to the wonderful people and natural environment that we still call paradise. We are here, living our dreams and happy to help you! You can even email me at: [email protected].