Top Ten Reasons for Living in Costa Rica

Here is a great excerpt from an expat, Tom R. who answers what people ask him most.

Since Tom has lived here in Costa Rica for the past 15 years, not only has he seen many changes, he has lived through them. This gives Tom a unique perspective that he offers to people when asked "Why did you move to Costa Rica?"

Here is Tom’s answer: the Top Ten Reasons for Living in Costa Rica

1. Climate. My metabolism thrives in the consistent warm temperatures here. No Heater or A/C required, therefore my old bones are always comfortable.

2. Nature. Every morning I enjoy the views of the mountains from my dinette table while I’m waking up to the sounds of exotic birds and a flowing river.

3. Affordable Medical Care. I had a procedure done in CIMA hospital here that cost $350 for a first class operating room, anesthesiologist and my internal specialist. The same procedure in Florida costs $2500. This private hospital has 86 private rooms, 14 private suites and is equipped to handle medical, surgical and maternity cases. It has a 24-hour emergency room as well as laboratory, X-ray services, and pharmacy. They accept several U.S. health insurance plans. Affordable dentistry is abundant here as well. A friend from Florida came here specifically to have 6 implants installed and this was his 2nd trip to have this work completed by the same dentist. During his 1st trip he had 2 implants and crowns installed and the total procedure took 3 days. The dentist arranged for hotel and transport from the airport and daily for the office visits. The cost he paid is $500 per tooth for titanium steel covered with bone material implants. The actual procedure takes less than 30 minutes per tooth. The impressions and the porcelain crowns cost $250 each. The dentist makes the crowns right in his office so he had the impressions made on Monday and the crowns installed on Tuesday. This dentist was educated at the U of Missouri. He does the implants and his son takes the impressions and installs the crowns. Click here for more information about dental implants crowns Jaco Costa Rica.

4. My Tico Neighbors. Here in my pueblo, I live vicariously through the Tico families that live nearby with their close family unit and laid back ways of entertaining themselves and their kids. No video games or HDTV movies down here. The kids always have plenty of soccer in the center of town and then it’s home with the folks to study and watch a little local TV with an old fashioned antenna on the roof.

5. Safety. Whenever I see a sensationalized report about a crime committed here, I wonder what the reports on the 11 o’clock news are in New York or Miami. There is more violent crime in most North American cities in one month than we experience here in a year, yet the media loves to highlight crimes against U.S citizens that occur outside of US borders. No country is immune to the increasing crime rates that you find almost everywhere in the world. In most Costa Rican pueblos, crime tends to petty theft rather than violent. Unless you frequent areas targeted by criminals, you should not come face to face with crime. Costa Rica is a peace-loving democracy with no military and is frequently referred to as the Switzerland of the Americas.

6. Cost of Living. The financial benefits of being a U.S. citizen living abroad is attractive because we enjoy the tax-free foreign earned income benefit of more than $80,000 per year. Property tax for a cozy two bedroom condo including all municipal services such as garbage pickup twice per week and street and sidewalk maintenance is only $60.00 per year and the monthly condo maintenance fee is only $10.00. Monthly potable water costs $9.00. The electric bill is just $7.00 because ceiling fans are all that’s needed to stay comfortable. In 2008, we had a 5.1% increase in the minimum wages. Below are the MONTHLY minimum wages for the following services as of 2008:

• Housemaid = $186.

• Messenger = $316.

• Security Guard = $343.

• Retail Salesperson =$252.

• Bus driver = $263.

• Secretary = $334.