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Retirement in Costa Rica: Come Visit and Consult with Vaughn Perret, J.D. and Charles Leary, PhD while staying
at the luxurious Inn at Coyote Mountain, just 1 1/2 hours from central San Jose. Please send us an e-mail message or check
here for more information.
Costa Rica makes an excellent candiate for relocation or retirement, including top-notch personal services and health
care, your choice of climate, and financial incentives.
Unlike its southern neighbor, Panama, Costa Rica has never developed or been classified as an offshore financial center.
In yet there are a number of elements that promote using Costa Rica in this way, including:
- Banking secrecy laws
- Anonymous corporations
- No tax on income earned outside of Costa Rica for both individuals and businesses
- Stable economy and the presence of major international banks
- No discrimination between Costa Rica residents and non-residents for tax, real property, and corporate purposes
Some members of the Costa Rica government are trying to change some of these provisions, and a close eye should be kept
on any proposed changes to current legislation. An excellent summary exists at lowtex.net's Costa Rica section.
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Costa Rica: Living Internationally,
Retiring Abroad
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Social security in Costa Rica is a subject of
great importance in the history of the country. After the abolishing the military in 1949, resources that were used for the
military were redirected towards education and health. This has allowed the country to boast the best health indicators of
all Latin America, and comparable only to those of developed countries.
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Besides the National Public Health System,
the country has a strong private health system, with hospitals and clinics of great prestige and reputation.
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Costa Rica registered an infant death rate,
for 2004, just as low as the United States (9.25 deaths for every 1000 born live in Costa Rica, against 6.5 deaths for every
1000 born live2 in the United States) This is particularly relevant, when considering that the United States has a per capita
income 8.7 times more than that of that in Costa Rica3.
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According to the World Bank, Costa Rica
has the highest birth life expectancy in all of Latin America. With 78.7 years of life expectancy at birth, Costa Rica equals
Canada, and beats the United States life expectancy by one year.
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95% of the Costa Rican population has adequate
water access (at least 20 liters per person per day) from an improved source (home connection, public, well or connection
or protected sources, or collected rain water). Also, 93% of all Costa Rican have access to improved sanitary facilities.
Real Estate
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There are little real estate restrictions
for foreigners; the Law ensures the same rights for foreigners as for citizens, which means that there are no special conditions
for the acquisition of properties in the country.
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According to the US Department of State,
more than 20,000 US expatriates reside in Costa Rica, many of them as retirees.
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To perform a real estate transaction in Costa
Rica, the following steps are basically required:
- Identification document
- Cadastre Property Print
- Public registry
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Powers
Cost of Living
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According with The Economist Intelligence Unit Costa Rica has one of the best combinations between
high quality of life and cost of living.
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According to their surveys on 2004: the Hardship Rating 2004 and the World Cost of Living 2004, San José,
Costa Rica is the city with the best quality of life in Latin America an is one of the most inexpensive countries.
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The Economist Intelligence Unit's HARDSHIP RATING, part of the Worldwide Cost of Living survey, assesses
conditions for expatriates in 130 cities around the world by looking at 12 factors grouped in three categories: health and
safety; culture and environment; and infrastructure.
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The Worldwide Cost of Living Survey compares the cost of a representative
basket of goods and services in dollar terms from over 130 cities worldwide to provide guidance for the calculation of executive
allowances. Using New York as a base index of 100, Costa Rica’s cost of living is 54, ranking 117th
of 133 countries, which the cost of buying the same goods basket in Costa Rica is almost the half the cost it has in New York.
Only 3 other Latin-American cities are cheaper than San
Jose.
Private Education
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Costa
Rica has a wide array of private institutions with US schedules (august until end of June). These institutions provide the
possibility so that a student can dominate at least two languages, including English, German, French, as well as Spanish.
Almost all these institutions allow students to choose a diploma from the International Bachelor Organization (Geneva, Switzerland)
and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS - Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and the Costa Rican Public Education Ministry
(MEP).
Source: CINDE
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