I receive nothing useful from the mail here in the US. It's completely overrated. Yes, you can order Amazon products but seriously that's not something you should expect in a place like Costa Rica. If you're living there, you exist in the real world and you go out to the store and buy what you need. If you want to live online, stay in the states. You can see endless pictures of sunset beaches with lightning fast internet service and hire the neighbor kid to throw buckets of water and sand at you.

@@darioinfini Thanks for the reply. I order Amazon products all the time. Amazon actually ships to Costa Rica now. However, I mostly use a forwarding service (Liberty Express) to forward items I purchase online in the US to me here in Costa Rica. I have 100 Mbps cable Internet. A lot of my friends in town have fiber based Internet. There is a PriceSmart (Costco for Central America) about 20 minutes from my house. The conveniences that differentiate the US from Costa Rica are falling away one by one.

@@brucethompson2940 Oh no kidding. How about that. Good to know. I've been there a couple of times and it's quite a lovely country, at least to visit. I'm surprised about the expense as described in the video though, I hadn't really paid attention to cost because I wasn't doing real time price conversions in my head.

Correct! I collect stamps & have some recent Costa Rica stamps in my collection. 🇨🇷

If you listen correctly then you hear him say " We have eliminated the need of mail". This is not really saying "there IS NO mail here" in the sense of "no postal service"..to me his statement that there is no mail here means that "hey, you ABSOLUTELY get no darned Junk Mail here" and that is 100% positive to me. LOL P.S.: Most countries in the world have postal service so ...yeah!

my question then is, what would it really cost to live there, as a middle class, i have internet, nice things - musical equipment, bicycle, computer equipment - nothing worth a thief stealing here perhaps, but if i want to stay in CR, how much would i really expect to spend a year?

Denise Ortiz right, which is why they build cages around their houses. Lol it’s a sh*thole.

We are a third world country homie, of course we ain't got good infrastructure regarding traffic lol.

Yes I was in shock I was there in 2018 shocked w prices..lol ghats why we ended up in Nicaragua 🇳🇮 🤣 so beyond beautiful

@@jasminel.4778 Hah, here we go - Jasmine, what sites would you recommend to watch for "should i retire in Nicaragua?"? I just turned 60, i do not want to wait a decade to make critical "last 20 years" decisions on what do do "later". Nicaragua is as viable a place as CR as far as i'm concerned. off-topic from this site i know. dcparham at gmail if you would not mind corresponding. thx!

@@fibo12358 I'm personally looking to Nicaragua 🇳🇮 they are a hidden gem and if we don't act soon we will lose out on the opportunity 😉

I have been living in Costa Rica for 5 years now. I refer to US healthcare as the "NASA" of healthcare systems. The US has the latest surgical procedures, but for everyday issues it is just WAY to expensive. If I had a health issue that required some cutting edge surgical procedure and I had US insurance coverage, I would go back to the US. I have had more than one urgent health issue (Dengue fever, Chlorine gas inhalation, etc) in the past while living in Costa Rica and went to the Costa Rican private health care system for treatment. The treatment was excellent and very reasonably priced. Everyday healthcare issues cost between 10% - 30% of US healthcare using the private healthcare system here. Costa Rica also has a public healthcare system. I have not used it, but many of my friends say it is very good. I think Costa Rica's public health system has proven itself during the pandemic. Almost all Covid cases have been handled by the public healthcare system. Costa Rica's Case fatality ratio for Covid-19 is an order of magnitude lower than the US.

@@brucethompson2940 Before the pandemic, where I live now, in Colombia, there was a significant trade in health tourism. US citizens coming to Colombia for medical procedures because the care is every bit as good as the US, but at a fraction of the cost.

Good word :). Can you please clarify, "Retirement will include months, possibly years, in Mexico"? "...will include...? As i, will take that long to effect, secure retirement?

They returned to Canada several years ago.

There’s mail there.

OR - heck, maybe i should consider opening a pizza shop there lol.

You have here a public and private health system, there several types of insurance , it all depends. However, please not, coast cities in Costa Rica does not have the best hospital, the best, even private ones are on the capital, San Jose. Pacific and Atlantic cities are normally places where the government does not invest much.

There is a nice Hospital (Cima) in Escazú Costa Rica. I believe it’s private but my insurance is taken there. www.hospitalcima.com/

Its definitely nothing like the 70s.

Thank you Merrill for your answer.

Even after doing that you can still have issues when you arrive. Having lived in 3 other countries, I can say that even in the most ideal situations, there will be culture shock, differences in laws and regulations and big adjustments that will have to be made.

$500 per semester, for the waiver.

Just because it is cheap doesn't mean you will have clean running water, consistent electricity, a source of food and medical services nearby and not be robbed or worse. Even the most vigilant have been robbed. We come with our strange clothes and behavior and expect everything to be just like the USA. We can be rude without realizing it. In some places we are resented. It would be good to study up on culture before relocating. Ask others who are already here where their experience has been.

Try Puerto Viejo de Talamanca or Jaco. Costa Rica is building a new airport between San Jose and Jaco beach that should make living in Jaco more appealing.

@@srdricks468 Samara? Aeropuerto (an airport) Liberia is not so far. I think Samara is a one of the most beautiful beaches in Nicoya peninsula. And I saw many locals were fishing there. Sorry for my english )) I never use Google translator and try to speak english and spanish.

Not as bad as the U.S: but Costa Rica has block the entry of the United States into CR. The numbers are hard to say because they don’t test as much as the U.S.

Actually in parts of San Jose, it is more expensive. Very glitzy like Hollywood. A small pizza was $31 at one place we visited and this was in December of 2019.. Their eyes flash dollar signs when they see us coming, especially in the big tourist areas. Get off the tourist track and things will be a lot less expensive.

@@amywalker7515 it is true, even for us locals, there are places that are super expensive, however, the Covid situation has changed things a lot for restaurants, they are one of the most affected sectors so prices are going down.

Free range agreed with you , I lived in Costa Rica, expensive, unsecured

As a local, it's great to see expats that can adapt to and respect the culture.... too many times do you see Americans expecting things to be the way they're used to.

Beautiful people but some of their comments are wrong, the biggest one is no mail service, that is just nonsense.

@@carloslopez-jq8nn I visited a post office in Puntarenas and asked about delivery to Russia. It works.

Edr59@yahoo.com

Uber eats exists in Alahuela and San Jose.

J. M. I certain,y understand your frustration but you must realize NO country is safe without the strengthen of the USA continuing. Let’s PRAY for our Nation !!!🙏

@@KTWardlaw Our Imperialism around the word has caught up to us! Trillions in foreign wars have caught up to us. It's time to ficus on what more important! your consideration, please share if you wish.. America’s “booming economy.” More than 80% live paycheck to paycheck! 70% have less than 1K in savings with no interest over 10 years because interest rates Zero! 1/10th of 1% of the wealthiest Americans (535 individuals) own more than the bottom 90% The (3) wealthiest Americans have more wealth than 164 Million Americans 27.5 Trillion country in debt!!! 50 Million live in poverty! 40 Million have no health insurance! 21 Million on total disability! Over the last 30 years the top earners amassed 22Trillion in wealth while the bottom half has lost 2 Trillion! America’s household debt (14 Trillion) Credit card debt (1.5 Trillion) 1.6 Trillion student loan debt with (5 million) college graduates going into the worst job market in history! 75% black households fatherless 40% Latino fatherless and 30% white fatherless! 60% of marriage divorce within 2 years! The federal deficit is 135% bigger than GDP! Public schools 17Th in the world! America’s productivity 27Th in world! The infrastructure is dilapidated! Social security and Medicare make up 43% of the federal budget and 90 million mostly obese and unhealthy will retire over the next (10) years 3.7 Trillion spent on healthcare and 75% is metabolic syndrome alone! A 70% overweight/obesity rate!!! 52% have type2 diabetes (a choice BTW which cost $600 Billion yearly!) 2200 a day die from heart disease!! 80 Million have heart disease! 40 Kidney disease! 30 Million Fatty liver disease! 140 Million hypertension! 68% of Americans use illicit DRUGS!!! Endless WARS that have cost 7 Trillion! Ya feel any safer!!? Our food supply is poisoned with (650k products in grocery stores (85%) have added sugar! America makes up 5% of the world’s population and writes 90% of the opioids! That is (256 million scripts yearly!) The average Americans on (6) Big Pharma meds while the entire country is obese And unhealthy Less than 3% meet the basic criteria of a healthy lifestyle!! America hates each other to a point where they actually boast about it wearing “I hate people” and “leave me alone shirts” A house divided amongst themselves will not stand ~Abraham Lincoln Richard Nixon took us off the Gold standard In 1971 and started price and wage control with China and since then a rapacious road to surfdom has led us to now! It’s pretty clear in my eyes THE 2 PARTY system has crippled the once greatest Republic in the history of the WORLD! 535 congressmen and senators and 4,000 lobbyists that all work for BIG Corporations and Wall Street have left America bleeding! In November you will get to VOTE for your favorite party, democrat or republican, which is all the same party and we the majority are not in it! We will get the same thing, more wars, deficit spending, more taxes, less health care and the Most dangerous “expansion of government!” Keep in mind that America is 70% socialized already starting in 1932 under the “new deal” So until Americans start taking care of themselves mainly “health” we will soon be fully socialized! I compose this data which is really just touching the surface I’m affiliated with NO party or tied to anything but the truth! In my eyes -America is a third world nation in disguise!!! Just look around with your own eyes! At least we had a great ride, but now it’s time to pay the price and boy are we!!! ~Chef Jimmy 2020

@chris younts You will love it!

J. M. Lol

You're absolutely right. I'm on my way down there. The only thing waiting for Americans is debt and death. I'm a little scared but I have to do it. Staying In LA is suicide.

Incidentally, I too grew up in Miami.

If your home is paid off, you can live fine on $1500. We did it on $1200. My husband also plays tennis. He joined a tennis/gym that catered to locals. Not one of the fancy $300-$500 tennis clubs that can be found. Learning Spanish, with time, also saves you money. Being friendly with locals gets you the “Tico price”.

@@Mexicobeanpole i soo thank you for that. I'm starting to learn Spanish now. I forgot to mention about my SS and that I'll be moving solo

@@Mexicobeanpole do u still live there? My friend and I wanna retire in Tamarindo

I may just rent too

This couple and the interviewer try to be so discouraging; funny thing is it doesn't work on me

$1,000,000 about...more or less ...😂😂😂

Beach area can get hot and stay hot thru the night. AC definitely needed on beach.

The women? They love American accents? Can I rent and live in Australia and bring my dogs? What's a city by water in Australia?

But who the hell wants to sit and look at a flowerpot 5 nights a week ?.

Guess you people have never been to CR. American products are way more expense.

@@golferpro1241 senior citizens want to move their. They all think there gonna live like a king with a maid for 1200 a month social security.

Jaco is a dangerous place, not even us the locals visit there, too many thieves, drugs, etc. North Pacific, Guanacaste is much better. But true, some touristic areas do have 2 prices, one for visitors and one for locals.

I agree we were there in January, would never go back. Scammers everywhere, crime everywhere.

I agree. I've been to Poland several times. It's a beautiful country and the cost of living is really low. It has just two downsides that I know of. 1. It's a lot colder than the UK in winter, althought the summers are hotter. 2. Polish is a fiendishly difficult language to learn.

Poland indeed is very affordable cost is less than in Costa Rica

Only you can make this decision. If you live like a tico, you'll save money. If you embrace the gringo lifestyle, you'll pay lots more.

Believe you me, there are some wicked unpaved roads in Central and South America and everyone drives like they are race car drivers.

Jessica yes, as of 4/18, you can order from Amazon and have it delivered to Costa Rica. But, you’ll pay shipping charges.

Yes, custom charges are high but there are many forwarding companies we use, however, there has been restrictions on cosmetics, food, liquids, etc. Some products require a permit. I do purchase a lot of stuff on Amazon. However, please not they are talking about the Pacific Coast, where not all services are available.

Not all items give the option to be delivered to Costa Rica. But yes you can have thing delivered to your local post office in Costa Rica. I mail things to the U.S. all the time from CR and even return things to Amazon from C.R.

security - re impoverished areas, theft, etc - i've pondered this, but also have heard for years about it. i suppose i trek to CR there with my several guitars, PC, Mac laptop, DSLR, new video camera, a few nice pieces of furniture - would home owners insurance really protect me there?

LOL - yeah, a knew an expat in the Philippines that never received his drivers-license. He would go to the driver's licence office and ask if his license had come in yet. The clerk would open a drawer full of new plastic licenses, look at the drawer, look up at my friend and shrug. The clerk wanted a bribe to look through the licenses waiting to be picked up. Since he had the paper receipt that the police would accept, he didn't feel compelled to pay the bribe. This went on for years.

You are calling Costa Rica a 3rd world country , You need to get your facts right, one of the must advanced countries of the Americas, is a matter of fact a higher level of literacy than The United States. put that in your pipe and smoke it.

James Wellman great comment. Went a year ago and loved it. Your assessment is spot on.

James Wellman been there, it sucks. Filthy and scammers everywhere. Sewer smell everywhere. Not going back.

What is the value ? Most of the world see,s America as a rip-off greedy complaining cesspool.

Usually when you hear about expats abroad, many have left high stress business careers or retired from any number of different kinds of professions. There are many with low incomes coming for a better life for less money and others who have figured out how to run a business from their computer or remotely somehow.

how are health care costs inherently political? Sure, you can make it political, but facts are facts. Politics is subjective.

@@seanmac5093 Politics (noun): The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.

Nicaragua - wow. nope.

how is it weird?

Alot of inconsistent facts.

@@biffmasterson9786 My sights are higher than a troll such as you.

@@biffmasterson9786 Don't spend all 20 rubles you earn trolling on vodka Ivan

I'll stay in Cambodia.

@@edgregory1 Enjoy

Why?

Pretty soon, 3rd world will be the place to be.

third world it sounds like all latin americans are third-rate human beings.

Developing country

@@jonathanmataaguilar7631 - What's wrong with third rate? Not everybody can be first rate. And the 3rd world covers way more than just latin countries. It's not necessarily about race. Japanese are asian and so are the Vietnamese, but one is 3rd world and the other isn't.

Ih

That's the 3rd stanza, which is virtually never sung, not the 3rd verse. The controversy surrounding the lyrics is due to the reference to "the slave" not finding refuge, and there is debate on what the author meant by that, but it is a wide stretch to say it is supremacist.

@@MudDingo_Lets see, there is Nigeria, Ghana (both prior to colonization), Ethiopia and many other countries where one group "conquered" another BUT, the original inhabitants did not suffer genocide and another group was not subject to chattel slavery. Indentured servitude is fundamentally different from chattel slavery. In the aforementioned countries as with many others, the conquering group MIXED with the conquered group. The US is very unique in that it was founded on the principle of white supremacy. Most other countries do not have that claim to fame. Name ANY country who's constitution designated a group as 3/5 human. Name a country who's chief justice of the supreme court stated "The Blackman has no rights the Whiteman is bound to respect". Name a country who's police force shoots a particular ethnic group on average every 28 hours. Name a country who's police force enters a citizen's home and shoots that citizen 8 times in her bed while she slept (Breonna Taylor). The answer is the good old USA. Only in Amerikkka!

Ken Corprew you’re either ignorant or purposefully blinded by an agenda. Either way your hate filled rhetoric is disgusting

@@MudDingo_ responding to the truth with insults is a very predictable response, because of one's inability to deal with the facts in any constructive way.

RosyElio Seymour LOL I was in CR six months ago. It’s a poor, filthy, crime ridden crappy place. Yes, I will take Trump and the US any day.

@@the_original_skytiger LOL let's hope the US doesn't lose its democracy, don't know if it would survive another 4 years. Agree on CR and many other similar countries. Would like to keep US free.

This thread would be better IF you cut your stupid comment. Why everyone thinks they need to comment is nuts.