“Here is a personal story about our pre and post Costa Rican move. Feel free to use as desired. My life has always been an open book and if this helps someone else, that would be great.

We start with a letter I wrote to my wife in early 2008. I was sitting home paying the bills, one day. She was working and she really didn’t have time to listen to me so I wrote my thoughts down and presented them to her. It took a few readings to sink in as it is hard to come face to face with reality – especially this drastic….”

“You know, I have been looking at Costa Rica for quite a while now. We went there before as tourists in the ’90s.

Right now I see it as an alternative plan that should be in place. If we end up there, the kids and our friends can fly there pretty cheap, if they wish to visit. There would be new friends to make as well. Most of our money is in the house and going down fast.

In one more year (or less) the credit line will be exhausted. The house has probably lost $300K in equity to this point and it is unsellable. It may be rentable. We are going broke fast and it is time to face facts. We still look OK on paper, but that’s about it. My side business after retirement made up for most everything with about $4K/month extra income. I could almost keep our lifestyle afloat. That is now down to $400/month.

Just like no one is buying collectible cars, no one is restoring them right now either. Stock market is down again today as unemployment tops 10%. There are no jobs out there. Not even in my professional field. Besides, I don’t want to work anymore every day.

You know I plan for the worst scenario and it could soon be upon us. Remember you are only 60. Your job is in danger. Your real boss (boss’ wife) is erratic and you could go home tomorrow. Even boss doesn’t know when your days there are over.

You can’t collect Social Security for two more years. The worst part is you can’t get Medicare for five more years. Right now your employer pays your medical insurance. If you lost that, and had to buy your own, it would break us in a matter of months. Add to that $7,000/year in property taxes and we are thoroughly screwed. Your income doesn’t help much. What little you make goes to your vehicle lease and your hobby.

You have worked for 10 years now and fortunately have a good sized 401K. You have put double max into that for many years and your boss matches a good part of it. That’s why he’s sending all his long term employees like you home. New employees don’t get benefits for years, so a $X/hr. employee is really just that. For you with higher pay, health plus dental plus 401K, you cost him more like $3X/hr.

I get a decent pension check and virtually free health care from Medicare. If you lose your job, you do not get anything and so no reasonable lifestyle could be maintained.

If we become Costa Rica residents, medical and dental are virtually free and very good quality. There are also two for pay US quality big hospitals in San Jose. We can live well on our pensions which will become $3,000/month in less than two years.

I am also tired of being alone every day. If your job ends and we move south, life could be very good and we are protected from the worst case scenario. If your job ends and we are still here in our little castle with no alternatives, we are destroyed for the rest of our lives.

The costs here are very large. Electric and other utilities are large, no less lawn service, food, fuel, car insurance, house insurance in a hurricane zone, property taxes, satellite TV, etc. Loss of health insurance would finish us off and everything we worked for will be gone. We would go bankrupt quickly.

I see it coming and I fear I have once again waited too long to take action. Our acreage is expensive to maintain in both labor and dollars. I just don’t want to do it anymore. We need our own insurance against failure, before it arrives. It will probably take at least 10 months to make the move. I dread the bureaucracy at the consulate.

I speak enough Spanish, so, no problem there. You can learn. It would be an adventure. Everyone speaks some English there anyhow. I have always felt responsible for our financial affairs and we have lived a good life for many years. I am still trying to keep us living well. I think the goal should be to try to stretch it out here until you reach 62, meanwhile going ahead and getting approved for residency, not really moving there yet unless you get sent home early.

If your job ends before two years, we can go to Costa Rica until you turn 65 and have Medicare. Then we can return to the US if we want to. I have looked at every alternative and there is none. Even a $100k condo in the US does not solve health cost and other financial issues. I suspect most of those American people in Costa Rica aren’t there just for the weather. Most are really there because there were no good financial alternatives. We are in the same situation.”

“Well, here we are. We took another trip to Costa Rica and took Lundquist’s tour (I know, a shameless plug). We saw a different view of Costa Rica. Real places and real people. We decided the pain and sacrifice would be tolerable.

We went back twice more and looked at other parts of Costa Rica. All of a sudden my wife didn’t like her job too much anymore. She quit and we put the items we really treasured with friends temporarily. Then an auctioneer sold everything else off on the front lawn. It was only stuff, mostly old stuff and it brought $25K. I was floored.

We rented the big house, stayed with friends for a month and on August 6, 2010 we and the dogs were off to our new country on one-way tickets. We had pre-purchased a nice used car and rented a furnished house for a year based on pictures. All went perfect. We learned more Spanish, became part of both the gringo and Tico communities. We had more things to do, people as friends etc. than we ever did in the US.

When that lease was up we moved to the beach in June where we are happy for now. Next stop is unknown. Maybe back to Central Valley, maybe Manuel Antonio, maybe stay here. So many choices. What we know is we are happy.

Costs are not as low as advertised. If you want American brand foods you will pay more than the US. You learn to think a bit differently. Our medical has no deductibles, no co pay, no charge for prescription drugs, no place to even give money to anyone. It’s called CAJA and to get our medical cards and keep payments up to date costs us $20.10/month.

They have just finished a beautiful new airport here in Liberia near the beach and big new state-of-the-art CIMA hospital looks complete and is set to open in December 2011.

We couldn’t be happier. We now have pensions coming in totaling $3K/month, expenses about $2,100. We have a few bucks in the bank and for absolute emergencies, a 401K that the US government won’t require withdrawals from for another 8 years.

We have a nice rented home, satellite and cable TV with US football and baseball packages, good internet, and most importantly, a great network of friends. We are busy non-stop having fun and sitting on the beach watching amazing sunsets. There are no guns, no shootings, no political squabbles (that we care about).

At this time we have no desire to go back to US other than to visit family and friends. Is it perfect? No! Is it a great way to live? Yes! As I read the US news on-line in the morning, it seems like the Americans are the ones that are living in a third world country, not us expats. Pura Vida!”

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Written by VIP Member George Ernst. George went on the Costa Rica retirement tour which is offereed by our friend George Lundquist who is the founder of Costa Rica Retire on Social Security. If you are thinking of retiring in Costa Rica, you might also want to consider George’s retirement tour. His goal is to share his experiences here with you to save you time and money!

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.