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 are in the US, there is absolutely no capital gains taxes in Costa Rica, actually Costa Rica is called 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 due to a temperate climate averaging 74 degrees. I live in San Jose and I have no air-con or heating. I simply have plenty of screened windows and keep them open and obtain fresh air round the clock. It's much healthier than having an air conditioner running not to mention much cheaper since as of today you don't need to pay for the air that you breathe. But I am certain there is some major corporation in the US racking your brains on how they can get yourself a patent on the air and then charge a charge for it. In fact there are many of Oxygen bars springing up in the US where you could go and breathe oxygen for 20 or 30 minutes plus they charge $10.00 for that. You have none of this in Costa Rica since you have fresh clean air.
Consequently, Costa Rica gets the most Americans living here per capita than somewhere else on earth and the number is growing every year. Aside from the fact that the cost of living is low and the country is absolutely beautiful, the most valuable asset in Costa Rica is its people. They're lovely those people who are gentle, kind and have strong family ties. Their favorite expression is "PURA VIDA', this means the pure life. The Costa Ricans love their family plus they also love the Americans (Gringos). https://telegra.ph/Costa-Rica---Why-IT-IS-THE-Perfect-Place-For-You-03-20 will 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 since there is a nativity scene around some government buildings. However, they're a very tolerant people who respect others preferences therefore there are lots of 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 a higher literacy rate compared to the US. So that they have a good educated labor pool for the countless companies that are relocating here from all over the world.
So for several of the aforementioned reasons, Americans feel very comfortable here and today call Costa Rica their house. I am one of them and can let you know that I'd never consider living in any country. I was created in america and grew up there, but after surviving 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 living 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 people 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 yet they have nothing".
It seems each day in america you hear of horrendous acts of violence that's 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, shopping malls and even in Churches. You just don't have that in Costa Rica, it just doesn't exist. Yes there is crime like everywhere else, however, not to the amount that you see happening in the US.
I mentioned above about having a real sense of Freedom here and I wish to expand on a little more, since it's a essential factor. When I'm in the US I feel like I am living in an Orwellian big brother 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 don't 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 due to the Patriot Act and for Homeland Security. I believe 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. Without a doubt a little story that may dramatize that point. I was created in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a large Italian family. I was at that time in my own earlier twenties surviving 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 a gun and a license to transport it, therefore i did. One weekend I drove with some friends from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh to visit my family. I then was to fly back again to Philadelphia since my friends were likely 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 consult with the Captain. You didn't have to go through all of the security that you do today you merely would walk up to the gate and board the plane. The Captain came out and I told him that I had a gun and had a license to transport 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, Activities in Playa Dominical was selling for $.29 cents per gallon at that time and parents didn't need to mortgage their homes to send their kids to college.
Here in Costa Rica I've exactly 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. I feel the beauty of the people and the country all around me and within me. I could buy fresh organic fruit and veggies every week which are grown 52 weeks a year in Costa Rica's temperate climate at a fraction of the purchase price you pay in america. Healthcare and dentistry is a fraction of the price as well. Taxes on my beach home at Las Olas Beach Community in Esterillos Oeste is $200 each year. I have a full time maid that cost me $200 per month. And if some day I would like to get into a retirement home, it'll be a fourth of the purchase price as in america and will be staffed by caring and giving Costa Ricans. Which means this is why I, alongside 200,000 other Xpate Americans now call Costa Rica their home now also it really and just why more are arriving at retire hear every week.