Looking for a place my husband & I can retire comfortably on $25K a yr

Welcome to Expat.com Karen!

Hope that you'll soon be enlightened.

Harmonie

What you are asking for is unrealistic about any place in Latin America. The closest you can get here is northern Guanacaste area. It's dry, for half of the year, and close to the ocean but crime has been rising exponentially here, especially for gringos. This is the tropics and you will have volumes of bugs, reptiles, bats, scorpions all the time but in differing degrees depending on where you live. It's also a bit shocking to learn how expensive it can be to live here. I strongely recommend renting for at least a year so you will have a better understanding of life as an immigrant. Learning Spanish is the best way to be accepted into any area.
Good Luck!

There is not a "huge bug problem" in all parts of Costa Rica!

There are some bugs but they tend to be less up in the mountains, in my experience. I have lived in several different homes in various parts of Costa Rica and only ever had a bug "problem" in one of them - that's 1 out of about 6.

If you are talking $2000+/month CLEAR then yes that is very do-able though it depends on which beach and probably not right on the beach. Maybe a few miles from the beach...

But the one thing you will NOT find is non-humid, non-hot weather near the beaches of Costa Rica! Costa Rica is in the tropics and as such the beaches are very hot and humid!

That's why we bought in the mountains at 2800 feet altitude which gives us cool evenings and nights for sleeping well and not-too-hot days. But humidity, yes, most of the year it is humid.

Hi,
Forget Costa Rica - too many bugs and poisonous toads, bats, reptiles, etc., way too hot, too much crime, robbers evereywhere, home break-ins all the time every day, costs of just about everything are way too expensive, etc.  My best advice for you to live really well on US $ 25k per year is to retire in Medellin, Colombia. It's the perfect spot, lots of gringos retiring there now, and prices are really cheap, and they love gringos. The climate is th e most peffect climate of any city in the world, 65F-85F all year round with very low humidity, no bugs, you can drink the water out of the tap, no hurricanes, no tornados, no typhoons, no earthquakes, no tsunamis, no tropical diseases, etc. People there are relaxed, happy, friendly, educated, hard working, outgoing, modern infra-structure, modern, upscale shopping malls, great medical and dental clinics, cheap health insurance, gtreat restaurants, bars, nightlife, beauty and fashion capital of Colombia, modern city of 4 million people, easy 3-hour flight connection to Miami, Florida., etc. etc. etc. Go there once and you will never want to leave. Trust me on that one ! It's the perfect city. Even people from Italy and Spain are moving there which says something !!! It is the ebst city in all of South America all around. Don't even waste your time thinking about going somewhere else because Medellin is # 1. The only other city that even comes close is Mendoza, Argentina. 
Brian

topper46 wrote:

Hi,
Forget Costa Rica - too many bugs and poisonous toads, bats, reptiles, etc., way too hot, too much crime, robbers evereywhere, home break-ins all the time every day, costs of just about everything are way too expensive, etc.

Are you serious? I've had more problems with bugs in my travels through Montana, Idaho, Oregon, California, Indiana, Ohio, and Florida than in Costa Rica!

Way too hot? Depends totally on where you live. In San Jose it's not that hot most days. Anywhere above 2500 feet in Costa Rica - outside of most towns and cities there are places to live at that elevation - is not that hot, especially most of the year in the green season.

Poisonous toads. Really? A big problem for you? How is that? And if it was a big problem for you, you must have lived in an unusual area. Did you live in a tent in the jungle or what? Bats? Yes you see bats - usually fruit bats - here and there. But I've never known them to hurt anyone or be a real "problem". Reptiles: the only real problem is if you live in an area where there are a lot of pit vipers (terciopelos) or the one other poisonous snake (I forget the name of those). And residents who do have them around say they really aren't much of a problem. Many areas of the USA have copperheads or rattlesnakes.

Break-ins: I'll give you that one. It is somewhat of a problem. But there are ways to minimize it. And honestly - you don't think break-ins are a problem in Medellin?

topper46 wrote:

My best advice for you to live really well on US $ 25k per year is to retire in Medellin, Colombia. It's the perfect spot, lots of gringos retiring there now, and prices are really cheap, and they love gringos. The climate is the most peffect climate of any city in the world, 65F-85F all year round with very low humidity, no bugs, you can drink the water out of the tap, no hurricanes, no tornados, no typhoons, no earthquakes, no tsunamis, no tropical diseases, etc. People there are relaxed, happy, friendly, educated, hard working, outgoing, modern infra-structure, modern, upscale shopping malls, great medical and dental clinics, cheap health insurance, gtreat restaurants, bars, nightlife, beauty and fashion capital of Colombia, modern city of 4 million people, easy 3-hour flight connection to Miami, Florida., etc. etc. etc. Go there once and you will never want to leave. Trust me on that one ! It's the perfect city. Even people from Italy and Spain are moving there which says something !!! It is the ebst city in all of South America all around. Don't even waste your time thinking about going somewhere else because Medellin is # 1. The only other city that even comes close is Mendoza, Argentina. 
Brian

Medellin! Right! No crime there! LOL.
State Dept. Warning re Colombia:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_t … _5931.html

Actually I am surprised at how this site (see below) shows that San Jose' (the worst crime city in Costa Rica - most other cities are far lower in crime stats!) isn't tremendously better than Medellin. But it does show it to be substantially better in any case:
http://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cit … 2=Medellin

I happen to personally know a couple from Medellin and Argentina (the wife from Argentina and the husband from Medellin) and all I can tell you is they both left there for the USA and then to Spain. I also know that emigration from Colombia to San Jose is up quite a bit over the past few years.

All I can say is, to each his own. If you like Colombia, fine. But I would not want to even visit there, let alone live there.

The thing is that San Jose' and Limon are the only 2 cities in  Costa Rica that I would warn people about living in, and even those aren't that bad. I have a good friend who lives in downtown San Jose and walks around in nice clothes, carrying a laptop with money in his pocket - all the things you "shouldn't do" in San Jose and he has never been mugged. He's also a relatively short older guy. I know several others who live in the outskirts of San Jose who have not been attacked or robbed, and I lived near San Pedro on the outskirts in the 90s and never had a problem even though I spent a lot of time in San Jose.

But most other Costa Rica cities/towns are far safer than San Jose' so whether your boogeyman is bats, reptiles, bugs, or thieves and ne'er do wells, I wouldn't use any of those as a reason not to live in Costa Rica.

Pvros, you seem to like to exaggerate about the dangers and costs of Costa Rica.

Housing CAN be as expensive as USA but in general it is not. I suppose it depends on what state you're comparing it to - Arkansas or Oklahoma or Kentucky etc perhaps have similar prices. Perhaps, though even that I am skeptical.

You can get very nice 2 bedroom homes in gated communities in Costa Rica for $500-600/month if you look around. You sure can't get that in California!

At $25k/year you can certainly live in a retirement community, maybe not Escazu...

Dengue fever is no doubt something to be aware of - don't live near standing water or allow standing water around your home. But honestly I've seldom been bitten by mosquitoes in Costa Rica - I'd say if you are in an area where mosquitoes are thick, you may want to wear some good repellant. Honestly I've been bothered by mosquitoes much more in CA, FL, IN, OR, etc.

No offense Pvros, but your views of Costa Rica don't seem to reflect the norm. I'd be curious where you lived exactly and what kind of food you were buying. If you buy packaged foods imported from the U.S., then yeah, those are more expensive. And if you live in a super nice luxury home then yeah you're gonna pay for that. If that's what you want you need to build your own home which is still quite a bit cheaper than doing so in the USA.

Try this site to give you an idea of costs www.numbeo.com

Hi Samramon,

If you and your husband want to retire on US $ 25,000 per yr, your choices are fairly limited, but not impossible.

I still say, have a good, hard look at Medellin, Colombia. It's a beautiful city. I went there 5 times on holidays for extended periods of time, made lots of good friends there, with Americans and Colombians, and never had any problems whatsoever.

Actually, I met a wonderful Colombian girl there and we got engaged and married there, and we plan to retire there.

Yes, there is crime in Medellin, just like every major city, but it is not that bad like the media portrays. Most crime is 95% confined to the very poor areas of the city, and is mainly drug and gang related, just like in every major city in North America.

Most apartment and condominium buildings in Medellin have 24/7 gated security. That's normal everywhere in Latin America. 

I am from Toronto, Canada which is one of the so called safest cities in North America, and to tell you the truth, I felt safer in Medellin than I do right here in good old, safe Toronto.

Look, really, you can get robbed anywhere, even in Rome, Italy taking pictures of the Coliseum, or in Paris, France riding on the metro (subway). You don't want to live your life in fear, or you'll never go anywhere.

Take my very good advice, check with some American and Canadian and European people, men and women, right here on expat-blog, who are actually living there in Medellin and ask them for their honest opinions, and how they like living there, just ask them for their honest opinion, I mean they actually live there for 2+ to 10 years, so they should know all about it, many of them are retired too.

You can live very well there in Medellin for only US $ 1,500 per month, which is well withing your budget of US $ 25,000/yr.

By the way, those US State Dept Warnings are 20 years old. Pablo Escobar has been dead for almost 20 years. 

Like I said before, don't take my word for it, check it out carefully with Americans, Canadians and Europeans who actually retired there themselves and actually live there.

The great thing about Medellin is that there are no tropical diseases, no bugs, no tropical diseases, no hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, tsunamis, you can drink pure mountain water right out of the taps, it has a perfect spring-like climate year round, average temperature 70F to 80F all year round, it's an extremely beautiful city, lots of parks and green space, happy, friendly, smiling people, very educated workforce, 35 universities in the city, lots of modern medical and dental tourism, modern infrastructure, excellent metro (subway) system, very modern, upscale shopping malls, great sightseeing in the city and close by to the city, close air links to USA (you can fly to Miami or Houston in about 3 hrs), cheap medical insurance, very cheap dental work, you can find very good, modern apartments in modern, high-rise apartment buildings in the suburbs for only about US $ 500-600 per month, check out Sabaneta or Envigado,etc.     

You could also have a look at Cuenca, Ecuador, it's even cheaper, but maybe not as exciting of a city overall as Medellin.

Lots of Americans and Canadians are also retiring there in Cuenca, Euador, it's maybe the cheapest place of all to retire.

Look, I'm not saying Medellin is perfect in every way, but it's a lot more perfect than anywhere else down there in Latin America or South America and North America for that matter.

It's all a matter of taste and personal choice. My best recommendation is to check it all out very carefully first on www.tripadvisor.com, https://www.expat.com, and maybe take a quick 1-week trip down there to check it all out personally. You won't be sorry, in fact almost everybody who visits Medellin falls in love immediately with the city and the people, honestly, I'm serious.

Another great place to think about retiring are Mendoza, Argentina, or the small town of San Rafael, Argentina, but those 2 small cities are a long way from North America, and  air travel is very long and very expensive, and takes up to 17 hours.

The trouble with places like Costa Rica, no offense or disrespect to Costa Rica, it's a beautiful country, is that it is no longer dirt cheap to retire there, in fact now it's very expensive, it's a lot more expensive now and of course there are lots of other issues, like it is very hot all the time, tropical diseases, you can't drink the water, a lot more expensive food and housing, safety issues - people living in gated communities behind steel doors and barbed wire and dogs, etc.  etc.

Of course, a lot of these people,e specially the wealthy people, are just plain out and out paranoid.

You just have to use your common sense and take the usual, normal, everyday precautions.

But that applies pretty well everywhere these days, including every major city in North America. By the way, a lot of Colombian people from Medellin that moved to the United States, are moving back to Medellin now, they prefer the more relaxed, laid back Medellin  lifestyle and who can blame them.

The good old United States and Canada are not everything they are  cracked up to be.

If you don't have a lot of money to retire, then you really  only have one choice - Latin America or South America -  it's just a matter of deciding which country you want to live in - i.e., Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, or Chile. The choice is yours.

My best advice is to do lots of research and homework online. Talk to retired people online who actually live in all these places. They are your best source of reliable, up-to-date information.

Myself, I found one of the best places to get good, up-to-date information is from Trip Advisor at: www.TripAdvisor.com.

Good luck with your retirement plans and whatever city you decide to choose to retire in !!!

Brian   
Toronto, Canada

Hi Samramon,

One more thing, if I believed everything the US State Dept warnings and also the Canadian State Dept warnings say about Colombia, then I never would have gone there in the first place to Medellin, Colombia on a holiday and had the absolute best time of my life.

Look at it this way, 5,000,000 + Canadians and Americans go to Mexico every year on holidays in the winter, despite all the horrific news stories about all the crime and drug wars and tourists getting robbed and killed all over the place in Mexico.

But Medellin, Colombia is a lot safer than Mexico right now.
So what does that tell you ?

Don't be a chicken little, take a chance, and fly to Medellin, you will never regret it. Believe me, You will fall in love with the city and the people, and you will definitely never want to leave.

It's exactly like the Colombian Government Travel Promotion Program says:

"Colombia is Passion" !!! .... and

"The only danger is thatyou will never want to leave".

I even met two people there from Italy, university professors, and women from Italy, who moved there to Medellin, and absolutely love it.

PS: they even have casinos.

Check it all out !!!

Forget everything you ever heard or read about Medellin, or Colombia in general, and just jump on a plane and go there.

You will have the best time of your life, I guarantee it in writing.....lol

Look, I travelled all over the world - Canada, United States of America, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, Austria, Japan, Hong Kong, and I can safely say that Medellin, Colombia was the absolute best time of my entire life.

I made life-long friends there, and all I can think about now, almost every day, is going back there one day and retiring there.     

Going to Medellin on a 2-week holiday was the smartest and best decision that I ever made in my life. Even my own sister tried to talk me out of it, but I went there anyways and had a fabulous time, and met so many nice people. 

Take my advice, just go there and relax and have lots of fun, and check it all out  !!!

Be happy, don't worry !!!

Of course, you could always retire in Idaho or Iowa !!! ... lol

Brian
Toronto, Canada

"and of course there are lots of other issues, like it is very hot all the time, tropical diseases, you can't drink the water, a lot more expensive food and housing"

Don't be led astray by a very uninformed post.
"it is very hot all the time" - we are building a house at 3100 feet above sea level, yearly average low is 22 (71) and the high 26 (79), still too hot?  Monteverde has a normal low of 15 (59) and a high of 22 (72).

"Tropical disease" - I too am from Canada and there are no shots recommended by our health department.  There are people in our community from Canada and the US who remain without disease (hard to even keep a straight face on this one)

"you can't drink the water" - we have a HUGE double spring that feeds our community and the hamlet of La Palma.  I personally had the water tested by a lab before deciding to build here and the quality is better than where we are in Canada now.

"a lot more expensive food and housing" - we are selling a 1200 sq ft bungalow here in Canada and we have started to build a 3374 sq ft 1.5 story.  It is under contract, has met all seismic requirements and when done we will have money in our pocket from our house sale in Canada.  We have spent month long visits (renting a place) and if one does not eat like you do in North America the food was a comfortable 2/3 of what we pay here.  If you shop at Walmart / Pricemart etc and try to keep the same diet as you have now you most likely will find it more expensive.

Bottom line is don't take ANYONE'S generalization about a whole country.  It took us years to find the right spot for us (and you don't see me pushing for one particular city).  Everyone is very different and should experience it for themselves.  On a side note, Costa Rica was the 4th Latin America country we visited before choosing our retirement spot.

Best of luck!

Hi,

OK. OK. Maybe, I was a little over the top on this one about Costa Rica.

To tell you the truth, I have never actually been to Costa Rica.
although I plan to go there next February for a beach resort/surfing camp holiday.

I'm just going by what other people are saying about Costa Rica who have actually lived there or live there now - a lot more expensive now than it used to be 20 yrs ago, high food & housing prices, expensive food, crime and home break-ins all over the place, mosquitoes, dengue fever all over, blah, blah, blah.

It sounds like a really nice place to visit for a great beach holiday, but long-term retirement living, that's a different matter.

In any case, it's all a matter of personal taste and personal preference.

Look, I'm not pushing Medellin, all I'm saying is that it's great place to think about, and I'm just relating to you all my personal experiences there, thank you all very much.

You can retire wherever you want, in the middle of a jungle if you want, it's just a matter of how much money you have and what you like.

Myself, I would rather live in a large, modern city, that's like living in Paris or Barcelona, a city that has it all, a city that is comparable to living in Paris, France or Naples, Italy or maybe  Barcelona, Spain.

Heck, I don't even want to go the beach every day, too much sun is bad for you. How boring !

Look Costa Rica sounds great, and all that, but I tend to think Medellin would be 100x better all round. But that's just my opinion, for what it's worth.

Besides, there are other great places to retire too that are really cheap too, like for example Cuenca, Ecuador, maybe the cheapest place of all and a lot of expats love it there,  or Mendoza, Argentina, or Buenos Aires, Argentina, or even Mazatlan, Mexico, or Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, or somewhere over in Thailand, or even some places in Italy and France and Spain.

It's just a matter of how much you can afford. For the record, a budget of $ 25,000/yr does not leave much room for manoeuver.

Anyways, to each their own.       

Just trying to help out here ! Do what you want !!! By the way,
I have traveled all over the world.

I have some very good friends in Medellin, Colombia from both the United States and Italy who absolutely love it there, so it can't be all that bad.

In any case, I will go to Costa Rica next winter on a surfing & beach holiday, and if I die from mosquito bites or dengue fever, that's it, I will never offer you my opinion again.....lol

PS: I never went to the moon either, but I don't think I would want to retire there, no matter how cheap it is.....lol

Brian
Toronto, Canada

Another good reason for everyone to do your own reconnaissance.  You could end up taking advice from someone who has yet to set foot in Costa Rica!!!

This thead went south pretty fast. If you dont know what you are talking about you really shouldnt post here in the costa rica section. Sounds like you could be more productive in the colombia area of this site.

I am living here on the cheap and doing well! If anyone needs advice about Montezuma lemme know.

Well said cgbperkins, thank you.

Hi,

OK. Fair comment. You win. I have never actually been there to Costa Rica.

But, I will go there for a 2-week beach/surfing holiday next year.

But, to tell you the honest truth, I got all of my information from people on this site and others who actually do live there in Costa Rica or have actually travelled down there to Costa Rica, to check things out as a potential retirement site.

Lots of people that ended up moving to Medellin, Colombia or who decided to retire there to Medellin, are real people who first checked out lots of other countries such as Mexico, Central America - Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua -, and various countries in South America such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, in fact some of those people actually did live in Costa Rica for 5-10 years but decided for whatever reason to go somewhere  else.

By the way, you don't have to take this personally, I'm not trying to promote Medellin, or anywhere else, I'm just suggesting one viable option for people on a tight retirement budget of say US $ 25,000 per year. 

People can move to wherever they want. In fact, if you read all my message, I also suggested various other locations such as Cuenca, Ecuador, and Mendoza, Argentina, and Thailand, and even some small towns in Italy, France, and Spain, which I have never been to either, but I can read, blogs and reports from people who do live there, and I hear that they are great places to think about retiring to also from people who actually live there.

If you think that Costa Rica is paradise, good for you, but really give your head a shake, Costa Rica is not the only game in town. There are lots of other good places to retire to also. It's all a  matter of personal choice.

If you don't like Colombia, for whatever reason, that's fine, but don't knock it until you have lived there or talked to people who have lived there orstil live there and love it, and get an honest opinion from them.

For the record, I did live there for short extended periods of time, so I do know what I am talking about as regards Medellin.

I will not say anything more, good or bad, about Costa Rica, if that will make you happy, but just for fun I will do lots more online research from people who actually do live there in Costa Rica and see what they have to say.

Look, I'm not an expert, but I'm just trying to provide some information and helpful advice, you don't have to be so snarky about it.     

Brian
Toronto, Canada

Just because you live in Costa Rica and like it doesn't mean it's a virtual paradise for everybody. Not everybody likes howler monkeys and bugs waking them up at 5:00 am in the morning in the damn jungle every day or living behind steel doors topped with barbed wire and guard dogs in some big city ! Some paradise !!! I bet you dollars to donuts there are lots of people who did live there in Costa Rica for 5 + years who decided to move somewhere else. A lot of this stuff is a little bit tongue in cheek, just for fun, but I think you get my drift. Not everybody can live in a  fool's paradise. Keep on smiling !!!

Brian
Toronto, Canada 
Brian

Thats great,  thanks. I find most of theposts in this thread a little passive agressive. I am going to turn of my email alert on this subject and move on. I recomend this action to all. Buh bye :-)

gated communities ???? just like back in the good, old US of A . you must be joking !!! so much for the friendly locals...lol.
and what about the mosquitoes, dengue fever, bugs, diarreah, other tropical diseases, reptiles, snakes,  bats, undrinkable water, lack of modern upscale shopping malls, howler monkeys waking you up at all hours of the night, riptides at the beaches, many home break-ins, houses with steel doors topped up with barbed wire and complete with snarling guard dogs too, etc., etc., etc. ...I read this information from an American guy who actually lived there in Costa Rica for 8 years. Anyways, I'm just joking with you all here. Hope you all like living in your little paradise in Costa Rica. But I think I will give it a pass. Do what you want. Retire where you want. I was just trying to help and offer you all some good alternatives. Good luck to you all.       
Brian
Toronto, Canada

topper46 wrote:

Hi,

OK. Fair comment. You win. I have never actually been there to Costa Rica.

But, I will go there for a 2-week beach/surfing holiday next year. ...[edit...]

Brian
Toronto, Canada

Brian, in all fairness, you have to look at this from our point of view: you come on here bad mouthing Costa Rica and puffing up Colombia but you've never been to Costa Rica and this is the Costa Rica forum! I would expect you to be asking questions not making proclamations about Costa Rica.

You might be right about how great Colombia is but I find it hard to believe that in Colombia they don't have barbed wire, and bars on windows in the city! If they don't, hey, maybe it's the next great place for U.S. retirees! Hope you enjoy living there!

And hey all, I'm unsubscribing from this one too! ;-D

stumpy wrote:

Try this site to give you an idea of costs www.numbeo.com

Thanks for this! Great resource!

Look, I only came on to this Costa Rica forum to try to help out that American woman who was looking for a good place to retire on
$ 25k per yr. I was only trying to suggest that there are various other options as well, such as Medellin, Colombia, and Cuenca, Ecuador, and Mendoza, Argentina. Actually, quite a few Americans have traveled to and even retired to Medellin, Colombia, and other cities in Colombia as well. And it's really cheap to live there too, as far as real estate prices go. I never said it was perfect. If you want to know more, you should read some blogs on here from Americans who really do live in MEdellin and have in fact retired there and lived tere for 5+ years. Most of the bad stuff I read about Costa Rica was from people who have lived or retired there, plus other objective sources. People can retire wherever they want, I don'r care. I have never been to Iraq or Afghanistan or Timbukto either, but I wouldn't want to retire there, no way. There are pros and cons to every place, all I'm saying is that from what I read from people who really did live there is that it's not the perfect little paradise that everybody thinks. And even some Costa Rican people themselves blogged that there was theft everywhere all over the place in Costa Rica and growing problems with crime, drugs, etc. And it's a tropical country, so it's really hot & humid all the time basically, but that's OK if that's what you like. Beautiful beaches there but some can be very dangerous with riptides. No place is perfect.
But people should look at the facts, and the reality of the situation, and all the available options. If people don't want to go to Medellin, for whatever reason, that's fine, I don't care, but I will tell you one thing for a fact, in my opinion, from what I read from people who have lived in a lot of these other places, Medellin is 10,000 times better than any other place down there, all in all, taking all of the various factors into objective consideration. Oh, and another thing, it's also probably way, way better than even retiring to a lot of the major cities in the United States. Each to their own.   

Brian

Hi,
Sorry about that. That wa not my intention. I just want to encourage people to look at the reality of the situation, look at all the facts objectively and be completely objective and brutually honest about the situation, ( just the facts ma'am )and get past all those glossy travel brochures and real estate project brochures. Once they have all the facts, they can weigh all the options objectively. But I suspect that lots of people don't want to look at all the facts, they already have their minds made up, they want to live in a  tropical paradise, no matter what else they have to contend with. Part of the problem, I guess, is that millions and millions of Americans and Canadians have not saved up enough money for a comfortable retirement in North America, so they have no choice but to look further south in Central America and South America where they can live reasonably well on a lot less money, but they simply have to understand that these countries are not America/Canada, there are lots of pros to living anywhere down there, and that includes every country down there, but there are also lots of cons. It's just a matter of choosing what they can live with. Myself, I don't want to live in a steam-bath like tropical climate country, nice place to visit for 1-2 weeks, but I wouldn't want to live there long-term. I prefer much more moderate temperatures and beautiful lakes and mountain scenery. By the way, there are lots of places in the United States equipped with steel doors, topped by barbed wire, and guard dogs, and guys holed up inside with
M-16 machine guns, assault weapons, and a variety of other weapons strictly for self-defense and tons of gated communities in the United States. We don't really have a lot of those in Canada. Hell, if you have to live in a gated community, maybe you're living in the wrong community, but that seems to be the norm all over the place down south in Central/South America, the wealthy people are really paranoid down there. My best advice is to check out all the countries down there, read as many reports as you can from North American people who actually live in those countries or people who retired there and see what they have to say. They are the people who can offer others good, objective advice about what it's really like living down there and inform people of all the bad shit that comes along with paradise too.....lol....................Personally, I love Medellin, it's like San Francisco South or a miniature version of Buenos Aires, Argentina, actually it's more of a European style city than a South American style city. Well, each to their own. Myself, I prefer to live in a much more urbane, sophisticated, exciting, dynamic, happening  city.         

Brian

"The truth....you can't handle the truth."

Phil,

OK. Just check it out on a 2-week holiday. You have nothing to lose. Forget everything you ever read or heard about Medellin. It's a brand new city now. The bad old days are long gone for the alst 20 years. It's completely different now. They love to meet and welcome North Americans too. Guaranteed you will have a great time. By the way, there are also other cities in Colombia which are also really good places to visit also such as Bucaramanga, Manizales, Pereira, etc., but almost everybody down there in Colombia, both Colombians and Americans,  agree that Medellin is by far the best. Actually, from what I read and heard, you can live quite well there for about US Dollars $ 1,500 - $ 2,000 per month in a middle-class suburb. Real estate down there is a real bargain compared to just about every other country down there. Read some objective advice and trip reports and news reports from American journalists from: various websites, such as:

www.InternationalLiving.com - lots of excellent information

www.EscapeArtist.comwww.TripAdvisor.com, - an excellent source of information from people who have travelled there recently

www.Expat-Blog.comwww.MedellinLiving.com - lots of great information on the city

I guarantee you in writing, once you go to Medellin, you will fall in love immediately with the city, and you will never want to go back anywhere else. It's the "Norma Jean" of cities, the crown jewel of Colombia, the veritable pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn good. It's like a Latin American version of Miami, Las Vegas, and Hollywood all rolled up into one big beautiful super friendly city of 4,000,000 people. You can fly there from Miami in about 3 hrs, 15 mins     

   
Brian

Hi Guys, Pura Vida! I enjoy reading your comments on the web site in regards to CR. I pulled up your location of your future retirement home, and the area seems real nice especially the weather compared to a lot of locations in central valley. If my wife and I were in your age bracket and had more time to research, we probably would consider your location. We would need access to airports and possible hospitals at our age that we will have to stay closer to central valley. When will that retirement palace of yours be ready for occupancy? We will definitely take a trip to that area in the near future.

Have a look in your Inbox Jerry - I sent you a PM

Sorry, but you are misinformed on many things about Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is in the tropics. It is always humid in the tropics. Living near, or on the beach, ocean etc. is humid. The humidity lessens as the altitude increases. You cannot have low humidity at sea level or up to 3000 feet altitude. Living in the mountains, above 3000 feet, provides lower temperatures and very low humidity.

What sort of safety are you asking about? Any home you live in must be secured by steel bars on windows and doors so you won't have your household goods stolen. You must take the initiative to provide your own safety because you cannot rely on the local police to protect you or to even find a thief that robbed you. The police here are revenue producers for the city and state. They love to show themselves in public, but are not there to do anything for your safety. So, what is safe?

These people are very friendly to your face and always courteous. However, they like the money you have but they don't really want you here. If you give them food and drink they will be around constantly and act like they like you. They will all (and I mean ALL) take advantage of any generosity you show. They will never respond in kind. They only Take, never Give!

Yeah, I know. It is very hot and humid in Costa Rica. It's a tropical country like you say.

Also, there are all kinds of safety and health issues you really have to look at objectively and take into consideration also (dengue fever, diarreah, bacteria, etc. ).

Even the Costa Rican people themselves are talking more and more online and in the local newspapers about all the rising crime, theft, robbery, home break-ins, kidnappings, murders, narco-drug trafficking gangs, drug/criminal gang kidnappings of both Costa Rican people and foreigners for ransom or to drain their ATM bank accounts, etc., both Costa Rican people and Americans or Eurpeans or foreigners alike.

The local Costa Rican news reports reported that just recently 2 French retires, a man and his wife, around age 65, were kidnapped and found murdered in Costa Rica by the side of the road. In fact, news reports are reporting tat about 10-12 people, foreigners, have gone missing right there in Costa Rica, just recently within the last 12 months or so. Doesn't sound completely safe to me. 

I also read that pedestrians get run over by cars almost every day, 2 per day I read, by the crazy, careless drivers down there.
 
I also read that food and gas prices are also getting really high, although Real estate seems to be not that bad, but even the cost of real estate is rising significantly from what I read and heard. And if you want to live in a half-decent area and a half-decent large house built yo North American standards, , you're going to pay a lot more bucks than what the locals can afford. Of course, if you're willing to live in a shack, it will be a lot cheaper but still not very safe.

Then it seems from what I read online from objective sources that there are other problems such as occasional earthquakes, potential volcanic eruptions, flooding,really bad roads, and really bad drivers who pay no attention to the standard rules of the road, snakes, spiders, ants, scorpions, bats, poisonous toads, sharks, crocodiles in rivers and river mouths near the sea, lots of beaches are very beautiful but some of them have dangerous riptides and undertows as well so are dangerous for swimming, etc.

I think that maybe 20 years ago Costa Rica was a really cheap place to live and/or retire but with all the expats moving down there to retire, I understand that things got more and more expensive very fast in a very short space of time, supply and demand, I guess, not to mention all the greedy real estate developers and carpetbaggers trying to make big bucks off gullible gringos, etc. 

Even the Costa Rican people are complaining about the big increases in prices, especially food, utilities, cell phones, gas, etc.

It really pays to do some objective research about any potential retirement haven. There is no such thing as the perfect little tropical paradise. Sure, we all know that Costa Rica is really beautiful and all that, but there are some really negative tings you gotta factor into the equation as well. IT's all a matter of personal choice ad what you're prepared to live with.

One thing I have been reading about a lot the last few days is how virtually all of Central America is becoming more and more plagued with narco-drug-trafficking gangs, mainly Mexican drug cartels moving their operations into neighboring Central America, and that includes Costa Rica as well, more or less, to a grater or lesser degree.

Even the Costa Rican Government is expressing real concerns about this drug cartel gang business in Costa Rica, especially since they do not even have standing army to combat against this illicit drug trade and spreading drug gang activity.

All I'm trying to say here is that no place is perfect and it may not be as bad as some of the news report suggest or like to exaggerate but there are definitely problems there in paradise in Costa Rica.

Anyways, it's all up to the individual to make their own choices in the final analysis but they will be the ones to have to bear the consequences if things go south fast. There are lots of good tropical places to retire to, Costa Rica is not the only game in town. 

Alsm their immigration and business laws are becoming a lot more restrictive and demanding, the immigration systems in really slow, and the police are largely just window-dressing and pretty well completely ineffective from what I read online from people who actually live there or traveled there. I'm not trying to offend anybody, I'm just stating the facts as per objective news sources. Even the Costa Rica Government says they are reaching a  rapidly approaching crisis point with all the big increases in crime and drug-trafficking gangs.

Good luck to everybody, no matter where you choose to live or retire. Do your own objective research before you decide.

Myself, I love Medellin, Colombia, perfect climate, 70F - 80F
all year round, no bugs, no ants, no scorpions, no snakes,
no sharks, no crocodiles, no earthquakes, no volcanoes,
no hurricanes, no tropical diseases, you can drink pure mountain water right out of the taps, modern, clean, large, beautiful, upscale shopping centers and malls, great international restaurants and nightlife, they love to meet and welcome Americans and Canadians and Europeans who want to visit or retire to their country, also they have very modern, clean, safe metro (subway) and bus system, and cable car system, beautiful parks and green spaces, modern, professionally staffed, and cheap medical clinics, hospitals, dental clinics, and laser clinics, cheap medical insurance, cheap car insurance, very reasonable real estate prices, great parks, music concerts, fashion shows, flower parades, tango festivals, poetry festivals, jazz festivals, huge international fashions shows, the beauty and fashion capital of Colombia, a large exciting dynamic beautiful city of 3-4 million happy, friendly people who welcome you to their city and country with open arms !!!! No wonder more and more North Americans are choosing to travel or even retire there. Besides, it's a only a  fast 3-hour plane ride from Miami. And there is tons of great sightseeing to do there too. You can rent a nice upper middle-class apartment there in a good, safe upper-middle class area for around US $ 500-600 per month, or you can even find places in a  normal neighborhood for around US $ 250-350 per month. If you want to invest in a brand new condominium, you can get a  brand new condo in the wealthy and safe area of the city, complete with swimming pool, indoor parking, 24/7 gated security, close to all the best, most upscale shopping malls, and medical/dental clinics, for only about US $ 125,000-$ 150,000. They don't have beautiful ocean beaches with palm trees but you can fly to one of those beach resort areas on the Caribbean Coast in only about 1-2 hours. I am not a real estate salesperson nor do I work for the Colombian Government trying to promote tourism. I'm just an average Joe who went there on vacation and fell in love with the city immediately and met lots of wonderful people there, university-educated professional people - doctors, dentist, lawyers, architects, accountants, bank staff, translators, tour guides, airline staff, travel agency staff, etc. Medellin is like a modern-day miracle. All the bad news about Medellin is pretty well for the most part 20 years old and greatly exaggerated in the news media. You have to go there to see it and believe it. It was recently voted the most innovative city in the world, and another survey said the people of Colombia were voted the happiest people in the world. You can read lots of blogs and news reports and trip reports from people who have traveled there recently or who actually retired and live down there full-timer and you will see what I mean. Even Madonna did a music tour there recently. And the Canadian singer and sensation Justin Bieber is going down there now on a music tour to Colombia. Not exactly a jungle or a tropical paradise, but it's pretty damn good, in fact, it's about as good as it gets. Medellin is the kind of mountain city that has absolutely everything under the sun except ocean beaches but you can still swim in all those beautiful condominium swimming pools and not have to worry abouit sharks and crocodiles. .             


Brian
Toronto, Canada

Sounds good. Happy Days !!!!!!!!

Brian

Dengue fever 20,000 cases so far this year in just 7 months almost all around the coast.

costa rica has no área with low humidity.  there is moderate humidity in Guanacaste during the dry season  60-65%

The rest of the country experiences 80% plus most of the year.

You will not be able to live on $25k easily if you have to pay rent or a mortgage.  If you pay cash for a house 2 people can live here for $25k but basically. 

there are some places in the country where the people are friendly and some where they are very unfriendly

I just don't get it. Why do so many people live there in CR with all the problems. I mean I have never been there to be perfectly honest, but I keep reading about all sorts of problems from people who really do live down there and have retired there.  Ants everywhere, high prices, hot and humid, scorpions, tarantulas, local people barely tolerate you in some areas but friendly in other areas, home-invasions and robberies, thieves all over the place, drug-trafficking cartels and drug gangs setting up shop there, useless & essentially corrupt local cops, no army, crazy drivers, terrible roads, gross restaurants where you can easily get food posioning according to one American guy who lives down there,sharks, crocodiles, earthquakes, beaches with riptides and not really safe for swiiming, some beaches anyways, volcanos, health issues like dengue fever, high food prices, more and more expensive real estate, houses with steel bars, barbed wire and guard dogs to feel sage, gated communities, etc. So why are so many people so sold on retiring there or living in Costa Rica ? I just don't get it !  What is about CR that attracts so many people who live there ? Maybe, I'm missing something. I know no place is perfect but CR seems to have lots of problems to go along with all those glossy travel brochures and retirement sales pitches from local real estate development firms and salespeople. And why do so many expats and people get so upset if you point out all these problems down there in CR, they seem to be very territorial. It's like they want to pretend that they live in their own  perfect littel world down there where all these every day problems don't really affect them. Oh well, maybe it's not that bad. But I keep reading about all this stuff written by people who do live down there and even the CR people themselves complaining about all the crime, robberies, drug gangs, drug cartels mobing in, even the government itself asking for help to combat crime and drug cartel gangs. I just don't understand the way of thinking down there. It seems totally unrealistic. 

Brian
Toronto, Canada

OK. This my last message on ths thread. I already read enough bad stuff about Costa Rica from people who actually live there and retired there to never even  want to be bothered going there for a visit, never mind actually live there. I travelled all over the world and there are lots of great places to visit and even live and retire without having to put up with all kinds of nonsense and crap. Sorry if I offend all the people who live down there in CR but Costa Rica is not the only game in town.
Honestly, I still think that Medellin, Colombia is way, way better, like I mean 100X better, and also Bucaramanga, Colombia, and Manizales, Colombia, and Mendoza, Argentina, and the Azores, Portugal and the Canary Islands, Spain. And you can live really cheap in any of thsoe places and the weather is much better, more like 70-85F all year round. Anyways, the simple truth of the matter is that Costa Rica cannot even begin to compete with any of those world-class places. That is a just a pure and simple fact, the brutal truth, whether you like it or not. To each their own. I think there has been a lot of hype about Costa Rica and how great it is but it obviously also had lots of problems - very hot & humid, bugs, ants everywhere, unfriendly locals, theft and robberies all over the place, tourists disappearing, drug gangs and drug cartels setting up shop there, high prices, security problems, health and disease issues, lots of really gross restaurants where you can very easily get food poisoning according to one American guy who actually lioves down there, lots dangerous beaches with riptides, crocodiles lurking about near river mouths at the sea, aggressive monkeys, snakes, volvanoes, earthquakes, really bad roads and really, really bad drivers, ineffective, corrupt & incompetent police, unscrupulous carpet-bagging realtors, 2-faced locals who don't like gringos anyways, the list goes on and on, etc.  By the way, there are quite a few Ticos living right here in Toronto, Canada, so it can't be that great down there in Costa Rica, or they would never have come to Canada in the first place. I think I'll just pass. I would pick Colombia or Argentina or Spain or Portugal any day of the week over Costa Rica. Costa Rica is like a little side show compared to those places. Anyways, hope you enjoy living in your little 'paradise' in Costa Rica.   

Brian
Toronto, Canada

Brian  /topper

The reason why about 50,000 U.S. citizens live here (these are embassy figures) come down to 3 reasons.

1.  They let us live here without very much harassment most places simply wont let you stay very long.

2.  The climate is good if you dont mind rain and humidity.

3. The taxes are low and there are simply a lot of people who object to paying taxes and go where they dont have to pay them.

But after 20 years here I promise you that life is better in all
western counries than it is here.  I use the analogy that its kind of like living in Detroit or Cleveland and most people that move here soon find out that it is worse than where they came from be that Las Vegas or Nova Scotia or Edinburg.  And literally every Gringo that i know wants to leve but is stuck here family, job, no money to move.  The general disatisfaction ration among the foregn community is high very high, jus as I asume it probably is in Detroit.

Hi Bard, I'am a little curious in regards to your life in CR vs. USA., would you really rather be in the states living on 30,000 vs living in CR on 15,000?

Bard,

OK. What you are saying makes sense. But you can get all that and way, way more in Medellin, Colombia. Low cost real estate.
Minimal taxes. Warm all year round with very low humidity. No unbearable tropical heat. Lots of very happy, freindly locals who love gringos and welcome them with open arms (not many places like that in the world). Modern, sophisticated city with great upscale shopping malls, great reastaurants, modern metro system,clean, you can drink the wtare right out of the taps, lots of expats living there right now, easy, laid back, relaxed way of life, lots of great festivals (tango, poetry, jazz, fashiom, music, dance, fil, flowers, etc.)If you mist live near a beach you can go to Santa Marta which is really beautiful and cheap. The fact of the matter is that Medellin has it all. More and more people looking to retire are finding that out every day. And more and more people are moving there to retire all the time. It's not perfect of course, although it's pretty close to perefct,  but it's way, way more perfect than anywhere else in Central America or South America for masny people. Or if you want, you could retire in Belize which is really beautiful and pretty cheap. It's all a matter of individual choice. It seems like millions of Americans can't aford to retire at home so they are moving in droves down to Central America and South America where they can live much more cheaply and have a much, much  better overall quality of life. Detroit, Cleveland, hell
I wouldn't want to be buried there, never mind live there....lol.

Brian

When someone tries be be an expert on a county they have never visited, you are talking to an idiot!

Amen! Rendrag

Look, I never said I was an expert on Costa Rica. In fact,
I have never been there. You're right about that. And you know what, I don't even want to go there, ever. In point of fact, all the bad stuff I read about Costsa rIca, tyhe list goes on and on was from people who actualy do live there right now in Costa Rica or retired down there in Costa Rica or spent some time living down there in Costa Rica. Listen up, all I'm saying is there are other viable options than Costa Rica for people who want to live well and relatively cheaply on $ 25k/year such as for example Medellin, Colombia, and Cuenca, Ecuador, and Mendoza, Argentina, etc., etc., etc. You people down there in Costa Rica seem to be very territorial. I know you all think it's a little slice of paradise down there depsite all the problems, but I think you really all should give your heads a good shake. Maybe it's time for you all to come out of the damn jungle and smell the Colombian coffee.......lol  I liked the American guy who made the analogy to Costa Rica simiar to living in Detroit or Cleveland. Hell, I always thought it was a  tropical, trouble-free paradise down there. Detroit or CLeveland, you must be joking !!! I wouldn't wnat to be buried there, never mind actually live there.....lol

Brian
Toronto, Canada