www.CostaRicaTicas.com

upon selling my house here, and combined with other savings, etc., I will have around 250K.

If I do this, I will likely put 60K in a CR bank (to establish residency status), and I already know of some decent places with rent around 300-400/mo., and I will not live in luxury, I know, but my main concern here is - can I retire?

Assuming I can generate a 1,000/mo. income off of my investments (plus more as a part-time cook at a resort) can one live comfortably there for the rest of their life?

The answer to your question is no, you will need double that amount and in addition from your yearly earnings it is necessary to add about 8% a year to your principle amount, which you can never take from.

I should also note that I am 34 right now & it looks like making 250K last another 30-35 yrs will be tighter than a childless tica (assuming 1000/mo x 12 months = 12,000/yr x 30 yrs = $360,000)

What if I bought one of those cheaper homes in the 50k-60k range and thereby save on rent?

Another option is to keep working here (USA), and take a month or so off to go down there (I work for myself & might be able to put work on hold for a few weeks at a time once a year - but it's just not the same as living there).

Straddler wrote:



It would appear you have answered your own question. A life expectancy of 64 - 69 is a pessimistic assumption. You are most likely looking at a life spam of 40 plus years more.

If you retire in CR at your age you will not be building a retirement account for later years. It would appear you will suffer one of the worst calamities that can happen...outliving your funds.

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

Now this is tricky, but if you are smart and savvy you can set yourself up with something down here and retire well down the road. I'm buying and building this year to start my retirement plan. I figure if I can have 4-5 rental properties over the next 10-15 years, even if I didn't want to run my business I could live off the rental. Take into account that I have lived here six years and have lots of connections. I'm not speculating, I know how many units I can rent out if I have the locations. But being that is your nest egg, I would advise to be very careful down here. Good luck whatever you decide.

Just to concur...to SIT on 250k will not last you. But IF you put that money to work down here successfully and work hard with your investment, you can probably make more and live better than in the USA on that money. NOW is a good time price wise compared to 10-20 yrs down the road when the BOOMERS have pushed all the prices up to US levels here.

Just my opinion...but it will help if you know the culture and the language as well.

thanks

I think buying some property down there soon is the way to go ... can a place be had at around 50K or thereabouts? Rent plus eventual sale profit make it seem like a good idea - maybe there is the equivalent of "rental mgmt. co's" down in CR so I can live here in US while they manage the place for a fee.

Anyone know of a good realtor to line up places I could visit during my next trip?

thanks again

Why don't you PM Tman, here's his website- http://www.realdealscr.com/index.asp

_________________

Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

How about TMan. that's his business.

A few small points that others haven't mentioned.

1) Unless you have some special chef skills, do not expect to be able to earn much if anything as a part-time cook in CR, assuming you could even find someone that will hire a gringo.

2) Even if you could live in CR on $1000/mo, which may indeed be possible, would such a lifestyle be sufficient for you? Define what you mean by "live".

3) With a 40 year time horizon, it would be foolish to ignore inflation. Again even if you could live on your investment earnings that would mean you are not adding to your portfolio. Will you still be able to live on just $1000/mo 20-30 years down the road?

4) Maybe you could make $1000/mo off your portfolio once you sell your house, but are you including the money that you have to deposit in CR as part of the basis for that and will you be able to make the same amount of return on that money? One way around this is that there is no law that you need to leave that money in a CR bank account for the whole year once you've qualified for residency.

5) Closely related to the above, you think you can save money on rent if you buy property and that might be so, but keep in mind the money you have to put into CR RE is also money that you won't be earning cold hard spendable cash on so you also have to adjust your monthly income accordingly. Your net savings on rent won't be 100%.

6) Finally, investing in the hot CR RE now could be a wise move, but it is not a wise move to OVER extend yourself in any one investment area particularly one that carries huge potential risks (as does any foreign investment) as well as huge potential rewards. This basic principle of investing is referred to as diversification. I don't know how much of your net worth is tied up in your US property (another possibly risky RE investment bubble) but I'm guessing the non-RE portion of your portfolio is much more limited, so be very careful how much you put into another RE investment in CR.

Prolijo......As usual, wise advice.

Zebra

Prolijo wrote:



Pro are sure of that? I am not familiar with the Rentista residency program as I obtained my residency through a different program. However the people I have spoken with about the rentista program have said you must deposit $60,000 in the bank and then convert $1000 per month to colones for the next 5 years. They have never indicated that you could withdraw the $60,000 from the bank when you were granted residency. What would be the purpose of having you deposit 60K if you could immediately withdraw it upon approval of residency?

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

Pro wrote;
[quote1) Unless you have some special chef skills, do not expect to be able to earn much if anything as a part-time cook in CR, assuming you could even find someone that will hire a gringo.
]
Allthough Ding Dong and I know a chef that can't cook eggs. One time, he had to cook eight eggs to make two and even then it wasen't right!
Costa Rica NEEDS good short order cooks!
LVSteve[/quote]

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

there is a vegetarian resort in CR the owner of which often expresses interest in my running the kitchen, not much pay, by US stds., but if I am a CR resident, I would be allowed to work in CR.

I've also thought of just buying property and holding it for now, until I can find a way to work down there. I've seen duplexes for <60K, I could rent out 1/2 of it ...

Just ideas for now - but, prolijo, good points - that investment of mine wouldn't generate as much once it's divvied up into real estate and bank accounts and chicas ... someday.

Staddler wrote:



Being a resident does not grant the privilege to work. Only after becoming a permanent resident can you do that and depending on the type of residency you acquire that make take 5 years.

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

how about buying a place with 2/3 bedrooms and a maids room. the maid the all the housework etc, you rent out one room out to a universtity student. you pay cash for the home which you would be saving 100% on renting, make some money from renting out an extra room or two. at my novia house they rent out the maids room to tourist for $200 a month.

i'd look into taking some of your cash and starting a small business, some that would generate some spending cash, and depending on how you live you may have some left over for savings. Think, "live like a Tico." i met a lot of americans whom all have started businesses catering to Tourist. Why do you have to pay $500 a month for rent, i can pay that in the states. sitting at the rail a youg Tico came in and joined my and another guy, the Tico works for GE answering telephone calls, he makes $400 a month and splits the bills with his novia. he is able to drink in the News CAfe and on occasions hooks up with working-girls.

there's lots of ways to make a few dollars here and there... just sit down and think about your options. I would love to make the move.

my plan... sell my condo, stop paying $250 month in assesement fees, stop paying property taxes, pay off all my bills, sell everything i own, purchase a laptop, sell my Beemer and start stashing away as much money as possible. take certain things back to CR on my next trips, store them at friends home, then meet more people and make more connections. i was surprised to meet so many gringos who live in CR and whom have ways of generating money to sustain their lifes. i also speak fluent spanish and most important... i'm a sexy bitch.

you should have seen the chicas expressions when i asked them to buy me a drink. my novia won't take my money... i asked her for money to eat lunch the other day and she gave it to me. also needed a calling card and she bought it for me. whenever i call over the street musicans to play a couple songs for her i always make her pay afterwards. you should have seen the look on the faces of customers and employees alike when she took the money out of her purse and paid.