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Like most other Baby Boomers, we have been thinking about retirement for a while now. Will we have enough money saved to retire? Will our house hold or increase it's value? Will our IRAs ever rebound? How will we afford health insurance when we stop working? What can we do, where can we go to make our money go further? Will we be able to retire at all?
In his book review on Choose Costa Rica for Retirement, Paul writes about how we first considered Mexico. We also considered the southeastern United States. But none of these attracted us the way Costa Rica has. We have fallen in love with this small country, the unhurried lifestyle, and the warm and friendly people we have met. It fits all of our criteria for a place to retire, such as a stable government, lower cost of living, and a great healthcare system. As a bonus, Costa Rica has one of the world's best climates, and incredible natural beauty.
So...we have started the process to retire in Costa Rica, having filed our residency paperwork in February '09. We've visited numerous times, met with realtors, visited many of the towns in and around the Central Valley, and identified the town in which we want to live. It hasn't been without the help of the expat community, including George Lundquist's Retire in Costa Rica on Social Security tour. We will rent first, as many have advised. We want to be optimistically cautious. But, already, we can hear the warm breezes calling our names...
Paul & Gloria
**UPDATE** As of April 1, 2009, we are now living in San Ramon de Alajuela in Costa Rica's western Central Valley! We came with 12 suitcases, one trunk, and one cat. We rented our house in Baltimore for three years and now consider ourselves Costaricenses.
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