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The number of gringos living in Costa Rica is going to grow by “one” at the end of May because I am moving in. I happen to be both a Canadian citizen and a U.S. citizen, so does that count for “two”? Anyway, I am extremely happy to leave North America, the U.S.A. to be more precise.
Having had my own small business in California for 20 years has made me downright hostile to continued life in the U.S.A. I believe that the U.S.A. actually should be called C.S.A. instead, for “Corporate States of America”.
Instead of catering to its small businesses, which have been the biggest contributors of jobs in this country, the government, both Federal and State, have catered to big businesses, which have been the biggest exporters of jobs in this country.
New regulations and laws have essentially put me out of business by making it too expensive to be profitable.
So it is with regret, I have to say honestly, but also with great anticipation, that I am ready to begin the next phase of my life in a paradise called Costa Rica.
Adios North America and Hola Pura Vida, Costa Rica.
I am right there with you on getting the heck out of the USA, just got back May 3rd. I realized I MUST learn Spanish and be able to read it as well. Then I can move, close my accounting and income tax business, an go relax, I hope!
Although I speak French fluently, which should help with learning Spanish, I am not fluent in Spanish yet. Nevertheless, I am making the move now, before the United States goes down the drain.
I am an extremely driven person, and I give myself 6 months in Costa Rica to become fluent in the language. I did the same thing when I arrived in Los Angeles directly from Montreal. I could barely speak English, but learned the language of the country as fast as I could. Survival makes you do the things you have to do.
If you are open to suggestions, I would close the business ASAP and get to CR. Once you are in CR, you don’t have a choice but to learn the language. There are numerous schools you can go to, and many people who can teach you the language.
Don’t put your move off just so you learn the language first.
It’s just another excuse. Maxine
Finally! SS emailed me with this link about SS recipients living outside the US: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2009/5j.html#table5.j11
Of course, this is just the 2008 info. with 509,563 recipients living outside the US getting $297,462,000 a month total in benefits or $3,569,544,000 a year. In 2008. And, in 2008, only 4,377 receiving benefits in CR – we know from the embassy site that it is over 5,000 now. Five years later, I wonder what the annual total is. Four Billion a year? Five? When do you suppose they will move to plug this link?
Accurate numbers? Doesn’t look like it to me….
In the beginning off this thread, we we looked at a La Nacion article (3rd May 2013) which stated that: “… according to 2012 National Report on Immigration and Integration, Costa Rica is home to 16,000 U.S. citizens who live in Costa Rica for more than 6 months in the year.
Then in an article today (20th May 2013) in La Nacion entitled [url=http://www.nacion.com/2013-05-20/Economia/Costa-Rica-atrae-a-jubilados-extranjeros-pese-a-escasa-oferta-residencial.aspx]Costa Rica atrae a jubilados extranjeros pese a escasa oferta residencial[/url] they refer to the 2011 census and state that there are only 2,262 retired Gringos (pensionados) living on Costa Rican spoil.”
??
I appreciate that “retired people” also fall into the category of “U.S. citizens” but I reckon we’ve got some screwy numbers here or, can any of you make sense of this?
Scott
[img]https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/images/Jubilados_Mayo_2013.jpg[/img]
Scott wrote: “…can any of you make sense of this?”
Once again, we must turn to Mark Twain for clarity:
‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.’:wink:Thanks for the update. That report is for the year 2011 and is the most current available.
I suppose the next question is, does that include our ‘snowbirds’ and other part-time residents? My SS benefits go to a CR bank. If your benefits go to a US bank and then get transferred out of the US, how is that counted.
I agree that people who are already living outside the US are probably ‘safe’, i.e. their benefits will not be effected by any change in SS law. However, the law could be changed to prevent the newly retired from moving out of the US, thus keeping SS dollars in the country. Would you move out of the US if the law prevented you from taking 100% of your benefits?
I kinda doubt whether anyone at the SSA cares where your money gets spent after Social Security disburses it. Even if you spend all of it in the US, a lot of it winds up in China eventually anyway. lol[/quote]
Really? SS dollars spent in the US prop up the US economy. SS dollars spent in CR do not. Someone is going to notice at some point.
Sweikert
This may interest you.
http://qcostarica.com/edition/2013/05/20/a-global-phenom-being-gay/
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”VictoriaLST”]Really? SS dollars spent in the US prop up the US economy. SS dollars spent in CR do not. Someone is going to notice at some point.[/quote]
Really.
$4 billion is a lot of money to you or me but in the larger context it’s not very much at all.
$4 billion is about what is spent annually in the US on perfume. It’s one quarter of what is spent annually in the US on chocolate, about 40% what is spent annually in the US on romance novels, about twice what is spent annually in the US on tattoos. It is .00025 of the total annual gross domestic product (which was about $16 trillion as of last year).
Worrying that the government would risk the wrath of millions of voters (the half million expats plus many of their relatives and friends) just to add .00025 more to annual GDP seems misplaced to me. Particularly when there’s nothing to be gained by any politician directly. If the calculation is “I may lose votes and will gain nothing I can brag about come the next election by doing X” then X is very unlikely to get done. “Hey voters! I just voted to throw your Aunt Flo off Social Security bacause it just MIGHT add .00025 to the GDP next year!”
Here’s where got those numbers about what gets spent annually:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/31222/numbers-how-americans-spend-their-money%5B/quote%5DI might agree…..but.
We are also spending our IRAs, 401Ks etc. overseas. Remember, the people already outside of the US will be grandfathered. The only ‘block’ will be on people who haven’t yet moved.
The politician keeps the money in the US, supporting local and state governments, local businesses; putting the money back into the country. Those already out of the US are ok, but future retirees are “encouraged” to remain in the States and spend their money supporting the economy.
[quote=”VictoriaLST”]Politicians follow the votes. Career civil ‘servants’ follow the money.[/quote]
Retired citizens are considered to be useless eaters and no longer contributing to the tax base or the banking system. I am trying to understand why the thieves in Washington and with the Federal Reserve banks would really care where we lived.
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