About five years before my husband retired we started looking for places that were considered ideal retirement locations. How do you evaluate an ideal retirement place?

[custom_script adID=149]

A retired person has few concerns, but they are major concerns. You wonder about the cost of living, taxes, climate and access to medical care. Charles and I never thought about living outside of the US because we had lived in Germany and in Japan. Both of those countries are very socialistic and living under socialism is very different. In the US you are right until proven wrong and under socialism, you are wrong until proven right.

Most of the years we lived in Germany we lived under the protection of the American flag because my husband was a soldier. Later he became a civil servant still working for the US Government. We did get to experience life in Germany without the coverage of the US flag for about eighteen months and what we experienced was unbelievable.

When you are in Germany working for the US government you are exempt from a lot of things based on the NATO agreement. When you are there as a citizen of the US without the protection of the US government life takes on a different meaning.

At first we wanted to remain in Germany, living on Charles’ military retirement and my pay as an insurance agent. Charles was not really interested in going to work for the US Government again. After we experienced what life was actually like without the protections and exemptions of the US Government, Charles hurried to apply for a civil service position in Germany!

Our experience living as civilians without the protection of the US Government gave us a good taste of what socialism was like. Prior to that time we never were really exposed to it, even though we lived in the German community and not on the military post. The experience we had helped to discourage us from looking for refuge in another country, let alone retiring in another country.

About five years before Charles’ final retirement we had been researching places in the US that were touted as good places to retire. Of course, some of those places are now rated as the worst places to retire. That is the thing about analysis; it is subject to change.

We had read some information about Costa Rica, but we were not researching Costa Rica for overseas retirement. We started looking at Costa Rica just for travel and to learn about other cultures. Our plan was to tour Central America and South America. We had looked at the possibility of being “homeless” for at least a year.

The visit to Costa Rica turned out to be the beginning of our adventure and, unexpectedly, the end of our adventure together, too. One never really knows what life is going to bring. All the fact books can be right one day and absolutely wrong the next.

In my business I see a lot of people that are running to Costa Rica to escape whatever ails them about the United States. Most of these people have never, ever, lived under socialism. In fact many of them tell me they are leaving the US because it is becoming socialized! They come saying that they are discouraged, and that the government is lying and is taking everything over.

U.S. children, they say, are going to hell in a hand basket and they want them to be raised without fear. I have been amazed recently at the number of young families that are getting pregnant to have babies here in Costa Rica.

One of my guests who was looking for property in Costa Rica to escape “Obama land”, proceeded to tell me that he had 32 guns and rifles that he wanted to bring with him!

We have four ports where drugs come in and they are all within a nine hour drive from east to west and north to south. When I first came to Costa Rica you did not hear so much about the problems of drugs in the schools but now it is more of a problem.

Running away to find a better life is the stated goal. Well, maybe some need the taste in order to recognize what they DO appreciate about their home country. Many expats proclaim about how great it is to live in Costa Rica…

And it IS probably a lot more relaxing when you cannot read the Spanish newspaper and you can’t understand the news broadcasts. How the government is run? Who the president is? Or other concerns of this country don’t mean a lot to most expats. You could live in hell if you did not feel the heat.

[custom_script adID=151]

One retiree told me that Costa Ricans live longer, with less stress and that they are happier? This may be true but I’m no scientist but in the church I attend, there are more women than men and the majority of the woman are divorced. Costa Ricans, unlike North Americans, just don’t complain. They have the same life challenges we have; they just handle them differently.

The only problems wannabe expats see are the potholes in the streets. They tend not to hear that if your home is burglarized you may not see a policeman until two days later. Even if you snapped pictures of the guy and showed the police where he lived, the chances of his being put in jail are slim. The majority of Costa Ricans I know do not even call the police, they say it serves no purpose and they are very non-confrontational.

Low taxes are an incentive to some, but low taxes come hand-in-hand with potholes and underfunded police forces.

Have you ever had government insurance? I recently had a fire in my house and the insurance I pay over $500 a year for would not cover the damage. I did not wait a week until the inspector came to check the damage before I started repairs. Our pictures were not good enough. I could have gone and fussed about it but I’m becoming more like a Tico so why hit your head against a brick wall? Many Costa Ricans don’t carry insurance because they don’t trust the government to pay off.

It’s OK to move to another location, looking for a change, but remember to bring your good habits with you and try to leave those bad ones at home. Some people have been rudely awakened to find out that the legal system here is not the same as the legal system in the US.

I’m no different from the rest of you, I can be a very vocal, demanding citizen of the USA and I want what I want when I want it. We have to remember that although that may work where we come from when living in Costa Rica we are visitors. The best thing we can do is act in accordance with that.

Why am I talking about this stuff? Because you need to know it! It could be because I’ve been caught with my pants down a couple of times and I don’t want you to make the same mistakes. Let’s be real! Heaven is a place that we hope to go to after death. It does not exist here.

I like it here. You might, too, but it isn’t for everyone. Running away is not the best reason to relocate. Do your homework, check it out, rent or visit a lot before investing your life in a move.

Costa Rica B&B in Grecia with Jeanetta Owens

[custom_script adID=97]


Written by Jeanetta Owens who owns the lovely La Terraza B&B in Grecia which is about one hour from San José, Costa Rica. For a taste of living the good life in Grecia, Costa Rica, may we suggest you to book yourself into Jeanetta’s B&B for a nice long vacation.

Jeanetta’s B&B has been rated the #1 B&B in Grecia, Costa Rica by Trip Advisor. You can find her blog here at La Terraza Blog

Calling from the U.S. 1-786-363-9036
Toll Free Calling from U.S. or Canada 1-(877)-298-7439800
Calling within Costa Rica 2494-0970
Calling direct from other countries 011-506-2494-3493
Fax number from the U.S. 011-506-2444-5221

Are you into beautiful Costa Rica?

All interesting things you want to know about Costa Rica are right here in our newsletter! Enter your email and press "subscribe" button.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *