Lair Davis

Costs of living in the U.S. are well beyond the means of anyone who hopes to live within a budget primarily funded by monthly Social Security checks. If you do not have substantial investments of one sort or another, you had better be looking elsewhere for a place to retire.

One very nice "elsewhere" is this place that I have chosen - A Costa Rica for retirement:

"A country without an army in a world that counts tanks and missiles and nuclear warheads as the measure of a nation's strength. Where the national hero is not a general but a young, barefoot peasant boy. Where schoolchildren, not soldiers, parade on Independence Day. A country that abolished the death penalty one hundred years ago, while other countries still debate the issue."

More than 60,000 United Statesians call this magic land their home.

There are many reasons why they have chosen to live here: The weather that is spring-like all year round; the most beautiful beaches in the world (so says Cond+¬ Nast Traveler magazine, among others); a biodiversity that is simply astounding (the abundance of micro-climates permit a wide variety of flora and fauna to flourish); mountains, rainforests, cloud forests, waterfalls and hot springs; and warm, welcoming, gentle, peaceful people who actually like norteamericanos for the most part.

As my friend Carlos said, "We like people from other countries because we are not jealous of them. We know we live in a paradise." He said it as if he was ashamed to admit it. Ticos are not given to bragging. It makes them quite uncomfortable.

United States Social Security requires retirees to have their checks directly deposited in their bank. It matters not whether you maintain you bank in the States or use a Costa Rica-based bank.

I use an Internet-based bank, called Bank of Internet (FDIC-insured), which pays excellent interest on accounts because they do not have the expense of maintaining buildings or paying salaries for tellers and other employees. Here in Costa Rica, I access my money via my trusty ATM card.

When living outside the U.S., a retiree is not eligible for Medicare - so what about healthcare?

Since Costa Rica does not maintain a military establishment, which uses up more than half of most countries' budgets, the money that those other countries are using to feed their military machines is used in Costa Rica to support the education system and to provide nationalized healthcare to Costa Rica citizens and legal residents. What a concept!

As a legal resident, I am permitted to buy into the Costa Rica healthcare system. It costs me $37 a month. Some expat legal residents pay as little as $9 per month, but to do so requires that you complete a complicated process with the bureaucracy (how's your Spanish?). It's easier for me (and many others) to just let the group plans deal with it.

The nationalized healthcare includes drugs, doctors, emergency care - the whole catastrophe! Prior conditions do not limit medical coverage in any way. Many doctors here were trained in the U.S. and Europe. Many speak English, as do quite a few Costa Ricans generally.

And you wonder why I love this place!

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