www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Open for discussion...

Many guys here are, in some way, working towards a day in their future where they will totally or mostly move to Costa Rica or other Latin American country. We have guys here that certainly do live there, and guys that will.... and guys that wish, at least for the moment....

So my question: What kind of strategies or approach do the hopeful brothers here consider that might be the swiftest path to that golden moment: moving to CR to retire....

Some, surely, have lots of money saved, big 401k, functioning business that will proceed to generate income from afar, growing investments, or these types of things. Solid plans. And while some may not have direct plans to move to CR, they may still aspire to leave the workforce and vacation/monger frequently.

But what else? Any other hot tips, fast tracks, bright ideas that they are moving within? I have a few specific investments that I lean towards, that I think have huge short and long term upside, and will share them on this thread shortly, but curious to get any other input on this.

What's your plan?

Respectfully,
King Solomon

_________________
check yourself before you wreck yourself

Oops, meant to send via pm, and don't know how to just delete this. Nevermind guys!

Here's one tip. Don't use the words Brothers and CR Retirement in the same sentence. It brings back bad memories for some guys.

ya I heard something about that just today.... don't know anything about it except some good people got ripped off...
Just curious, before I explain an approach I have, any other input

BTW I sell nothing and want nothing from anyone here. Period.
Just curious, and have a helpful idea I will share soon.
I have no interest, and don't care if anyone thinks I'm nuts.
just tryin to help.

Thanks!
KS

_________________
check yourself before you wreck yourself

Yes some did and some made a lot of money. Depends on when you "loaned" Enrique the money.

A lot of guys cry about how they were scammed after they collected 2 or 3 times the amount of the loan in interest or way more than that. There real tears are being shed over the fact that the monthly check is gone.

Can anyone say...seems to good to be true it is ...

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

OK..... so here is idea #1....

I am running into a few guys who are investing in something I never would have thought of... but huge potential upside....

Iraqi Dinars!

this currency has become grossly de-valued, for obvious reasons. You can buy TONS of it with american dollars... if it goes back to even HALF of what it was worth before Operation Iraqi Freedom..... the return is more than 1000%... a guy did the math for me and I forget it exactly... but it was something like $4000 US worth of Iraqi dinars.... if dinars return to HALF its previous value... would be worth $200,000 plus?!?!?!?!?

If the dinar collapses, your investment is crap. If Iraq recovers, it is a phucking lottery ticket!

So, will Iraq recover? They have sh*tloads of OIL!!!!! and have the US obligated to help them for some time to come, after bombing everything... if their government becomes solvent and the dinar survives, and they start selling OIL consistently.... hmmmmm......

I would not even know where to buy Iraqi dinars, but know a guy I might ask...

Just think, one quick move, invest $10,000 and make say $500,000 or more? I know it sounds like a get-rich-quick thing, maybe too good to be true.... but a small investment = small risk, and the upside is so great, it maybe worth the risk....

YMMV... I don't know about you all, but this is one thing I intend to check into, and I am just trying to help others.... no guarantees....

I have one more, with killer upside, that is much more stable... practically zero risk.... but I hesitate to post it.... give me your feedback on this post!
Pura Vida!

KS

_________________
check yourself before you wreck yourself

I happen to be a CFM so know a little about these things in general. There are two basic principles of financial investment that are relevant here. The first one is risk vs. reward. Assuming perfect knowledge, something that admittedly does not always exist, reward is inversely related to risk. That means the investments that offer the greatest rewards also come with the greatest risk. To the degree they don't that would lead more people to take the risk bidding up the price and reducing the rate of return to the point where equilibrium returns. To a certain degree each person has to decide their own comfort level where on that risk-reward continuum they want to invest. Generally the younger one is and the further one is from retirement the greater risk one can take. As one gets closer to retirement the less risk one can assume for 2 reasons. First, if you get wiped out there is far less time to recover. Secondly, some investments take time before the rewards are realized. If one has to liquidate early before the payoff time arrives, because of retirement or illness, one might be forced to suffer a large loss.

In reality, it is not quite as simple as that. It is not really an either or decision or a matter of finding a specific risk reward balance level. The second basic principle of investment is diversification. By making a variety of investments one can reduce ones overall level of risk without sacrificing as much of the reward. One can blend low risk-low reward investments such as bonds with higher risk higher reward ones like growth stocks or even international investments. If one investment doesn't pan out another will Even if one only makes high risk investments, diversification still helps as barring a world war or a meteor strike, not all of them will end up going belly up. Incidentally, foreign investment is the riskiest type of investment of all because on top of the usual risk of any investment there is also currency risk and in the far less stable 3rd world risk of war, coups, expropriation, etc. (I learned that firsthand when Baby Doc was overthrown)

So how does all this relate to what has been discussed previously in this thread. Those that lost their shirts with the Brothers (or Enron or any other single investment) have only themselves to blame. They shouldn't have put all their eggs in one basket. As for Iraqi dinars, they're devalued for good reasons. They reflect the perceived level of risk associated with that country. One could also buy German Marks by the TON...back in the 20's and 30's. Unless KS really knows something special about the situation in Iraq that the rest of us don't (the imperfect knowledge I alluded to earlier), like the insurgents are definitely going to lay down their arms within the next few years, the current exchange rate accurately reflects the value of that currency. There does not exist a stable democracy anywhere in the Middle East except for Israel. There are bombings and unrest in Egypt and they get more US foreign aid than any other country except perhaps Israel and Colombia. And Egypt hasn't been torn up by war like Iraq has. Even if Iraq forms a stable government of some type, the insurgency could very well continue for decades. And even then it could wind up being a theocracy unfriendly to the US or split apart by civil war. Just having oil is no guarantee of economic vitality, just look at neighboring Iran.

As far as how to invest. It will probably be years before anything like a local stock exchange develops in Iraq. Most domestic companies would probably be unlisted anyway and so not easy to invest in unless you became directly involved with its principals. Barring direct investments or a local stock market, the next common way to invest would be ADR's or American Depositary Receipts. Far simpler, and safer would be to just invest in companies that will be doing business in Iraq such as the Oil Companies themselves or one of the rebuilders such as Haliburton.

Why is this subject still coming up? I'm sure there is a lot more of us that have lost a lot on the US stock market. These mistakes are history. Know what you are investing in. SEAHAWK

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DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND LOVE WHAT YOU DO

Ah... as a guy who retired at 50, I feel I am qualified to speak on this subject.

The biggest factor in being able to retire young is simple, and also very difficult: You have to spend less than you bring in. Whether you do this by earning so much money that you can't spend it fast enough (as most Americans try) or by being cheap (my method), but you can't 'retire' if you spend every penny that comes in.

If anybody cares to discuss this in any more detail with me, PM me. I think, however, it's a waste of time to think of retiring by some get rich quick scheme. You might get lucky, but then again, you might get lucky putting a month's wages on 00 at roulette.

"I've got something Donald Trump can never have. I have... ENOUGH."

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

Invest in what you know & understand not in what others know & understand! A deal for you always seems to end up as a deal for them.

KISS formula usually is better too me anyway.

Don't become a slave to our insecure egos & see if life becomes more fulfilling.

If starting at age 40 instead of taking those 6 trips per year to CR spending $1500 each time, you invested that money at 12% you'd have nearly $750,000 by the time you were 60, more than enough to retire quite comfortably in CR.

Prolijo,

This is very true but I believe it is a flawed formula as if you don't take those trips for that 20 year period & loose your sanity form dealing with all the gringas BS & your dickk doesn't work too well at 60 you are totally phucked in my book anyway & yes you have money but now what are we going to spend it on health care?

Better to have balance I believe money can't buy back those 20 years of Fear & Loathing in CR & all that joy. Everyone has to do what works for them & I know you were just showing us the math & didn't mean don't go out & have fun it's just I have too many friends that have money & never seemed to know how to use it to have fun as they are to busy counting it & thinking about how much power they could control with it.

Zipp

Prolijo wrote:



Have no doubt that those figures are accurate. What occurs to me however is that few people have the financial resources to spend $9000.00 per year visiting Costa Rica and those that can do that most likely have a well defined retirement plan in place.

What is more frighting is that you deny yourself the pleasure of 19 1/2 years of enjoying Costa Rica and at 59 1/2 suffer a fatal heart attack and some gringa gets to enjoy your almost $750,00 retirement account

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Ding Dong,

RIGHT ON!! Man some days we really do think alike.

Zipp

$1500 a trip in CR?? Are you kidding me? How many days are you talking about? That would last me 5 days max but then again I tend to go with 2 and sometimes 3 girls at a time.