Retiring on Social Security

Hi Pinedog,

Something you may not have consider, it is expected that the world financial system is about to crash in approximately four months. You may want to consider what effect this may have on you if you are solely dependent on your social security.

you have just put the fear of GOD into many of us who rely on our SS ..ffrom whence comes this information of a world bank crash??? can you post a link or isit just an assumption of yours?

Sorry that was not my intention, my intention is to alert people like yourself that unaware of the certain pending disaster that is soon coming our way and to take
the necessary steps while there is still time to make alternative arrangements for
when the system goes down.

This is a conclusion I have come too after years of keeping track of the financial situation in the USA. If anyone has been paying attention recently to the overnight Repos bailouts just to keep the banks afloat, One will come to the same conclusion as I. The banks and the financial institutions are not long for this world and will soon go the way of the Dinosaurs. In fact, they are already bankrupt, it is only the bailouts keeping them afloat!

Saggaboy wrote:

Sorry that was not my intention, my intention is to alert people like yourself that unaware of the certain pending disaster that is soon coming our way and to take
the necessary steps while there is still time to make alternative arrangements for
when the system goes down.

This is a conclusion I have come too after years of keeping track of the financial situation in the USA. If anyone has been paying attention recently to the overnight Repos bailouts just to keep the banks afloat, One will come to the same conclusion as I. The banks and the financial institutions are not long for this world and will soon go the way of the Dinosaurs. In fact, they are already bankrupt, it is only the bailouts keeping them afloat!

While this pandemic is unprecedented in modern times, and I agree the above COULD happen...
We (and the banks) have survived a lot of really bad economic times before.
I also have studied this type of thing for 30 years...

All I can say I KNOW is that starting back in the 70's (or earlier?) there were dire predictions of world financial collapse, fascism, martial law etc etc. like this...

But it has not happened yet. Could be  now is the time it finally will happen, but I remain optimistic that it won't get THAT bad... as it never has before. But of course it is possible there is a first time...

If "they" were to stop our social security payments, believe me they will have some very angry , desperate and potentially violent people to deal with. I think they must know that... Many of us are old hippies and we are not likely to just roll over and die as they may wish we would... Old with not too much to lose would make us a formidable and dangerous enemy.

Pinedog wrote:

Can I make direct deposits from my Social Security income in USA from Citibank to pay rent in Costa Rica?  I am not planning on taking official residency.  I appreciate any help on helping me out with my transition.

I assume you know that without residency you'll have to leave the country every 90 days for at least  few minutes.

What some people do is get a bank account in the USA that does not charge currency exchange fees and atm fees. Or the local bank here in CR charges ATM fees but the US bank pays you back for them.

(there are some; one is Schwab but make sure it's the right type of account that you can use atm's in foreign countries without charges).

Then with such a US bank, you can pull colones out of  a bank atm here, taken against the value of your U.S. dollars. The dollar has been strong in Costa Rica for a long time but who the heck knows what could happen now...???!

Scotia Bank here (not affiliated with US/Canada Scotia bank!) allows me to use my Debit card from my US bank to pull out up to $1,000 a day in colones. Also the bank Davivienda allowed my card before for at least $500, maybe $1k, but last time I used it, it didn't work. Maybe just a glitch in the system, not sure.

One problem with BCR - as well as the other national bank, Banco Nacional, I think -  is they have relatively small limits on how much cash you can pull out with their card from their atms. Like around $200 a day and even that, broken up into 2 withdrawals back to back. (Go figure!) Don't quote me on the amount; I forget; but it's $200-400 U.S. max , as I recall.

Another option is, once here, you can open a BCR (banco de costa rica) account here with a passport. Though there are limits on what you can do with that type of an account. But you could eventually have your social security direct deposited to BCR into a dollars account, then pull out colones with your atm /debit chip card from BCR .

In 2007/8  President Obama had to bail the Banks out because the system was hours away from
collapse. (After the USA System had gone down, it would have taken down every other financial institution around the world in 48 hrs.) Unfortunately, he just bailed them out without making the appropriate changes to the law to make sure the illegal behaviour of the banks would not bring us to such a place again. This of course just put off the inevitable and now we are over the precipice again, we have come full circle. In about three to four months the banks will need trillions in bailout just to keep them afloat. Sooner or later it all has to come to an end, there is no other solution to this nightmare. What plans the Government has in place to ease the impact of such a disaster is anyone guess.

SOS,

Check this article in USA Today.

US is `printing' money to help save the economy from the COVID-19 crisis, but some wonder how far it can go

SOS

The United States creeps further into debt and it's taking your IRA/401(K) along with it!

At the time of this writing the reported national debt is $ 22 Trillion. What about the

undisclosed debt?

You should be concern,  put your plan of action in motion now!