Looking for a place my husband & I can retire comfortably on $25K a yr

Hi Jerry no I do not want to live in the U.S.  I think life has seen its peak there at least for the next 20 years.  I came to Costa Rica 22 years ago to leave the bad diet, bad climate, bad stress, litiguous U.S. culture.  22 years ago Costa Rica was probably the only livable Latin country.  Panama had Noreiga and a pending revolution,  Nicaragua was just finishing its revolt and was very insecure.  Colombia was being run by Pablo Escobar and Ecuador and Peru had Marxist revolts going on.

Now all those places are better than Costa Rica, all of them and there are IMHO very few places in Latin America worse than Costa Rica., maybe Guatemala, Venezuela, Honduras  probably just those 3.

So the answer to your question is no, but I would go to one of the aforementioned places.

Bard,

Are you saying that Costa Rica is not all that great anymore ? Do you live there right now ? It seems like everybody, Americans and expat rerirees living there right now, even some  Canadian expats living there,  think it's close to perfect. They sure don't seem to like it when you point out all the problems to them. Granted, I have never actually been there myself, but I can read and I have read all kinds of negative things about Costa Rica from American / Canadian expats who actually do live there right now. I wonder what the truth is ! I guess there is good and bad about everywhere, but it's just a matter of it being within your tolerance levels. As far as Colombia is concerned, Pablo Escobar has been dead now for the last 20 years and Medellin is like a city reborn. I went to MEdellin, Colombia  5 times in the last 3 years and loved it. In fact,
I went down there for the first time 3 years ago, and fell in love with the city and all the happy, friendly, outgoing, gracious people that I met there. I have also travelled all over the world, including all over Canada, the United States, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Japan and Hong Kong, so I know a great city when I see one, and believe me Medellin is a great city, it has everything you could ever possibly want all rolled up into one big beautiful city.
Of course there are no beaches and palm trees but that's OK.
I don't want to lie on a damn beach all day long every day anyways, it starts to get pretty boring after about 7 days of that. By the way, I thought it was the Colombian people, not the Costa Rican people, who were recently voted the most happy people in the world. Whatever !!! The best source of information on any country is Trip Reports from real American and Canadian and European people who travelled there recently and from American and Canadian people who actually do live there right now. Anyways, all the best !!! Everyone has their own idea of paradise, I guess. 

Brian
Toronto, Canada

[Moderated: Off topic. This is the Costa Rica forum]

[Moderated: Off topic. No need for that]

Hi all,

Please note that some off topics posts have been moved from the thread.

Regards
Armand

Hello Brian.  I'm a retired musician and painter in Toronto,acutually {Uxbrige) just north of Toronto.  I so desire to retire in Medellin but the problem I'm having is being self employed my so called pension is self directed.  To your knowledge or your beloved wife is there a way for me to retire there.   I more than qualify for the 960 dollar a month pension  income but will papers from my financial advisor be enough if its not a government or company pension.   

On another topic is envigado a nice neighbourhood and can you get a nice apartment for 500.00 to 600.00

Thanks for your help if you can

Steven

How many months do you need each year?  Also, what date are you looking at?

TerrynViv wrote:

Another good reason for everyone to do your own reconnaissance.  You could end up taking advice from someone who has yet to set foot in Costa Rica!!!

...ditto!  I cannot believe this guy raved on an on about something he has no clue about.  OMG!

BTW, this is a Costa Rica forum, not Colombian...

As a former Canadian I would like to apologize for Brian, he should not be making comments about places he's never even been to.  Outside of that he's probably a nice person with good intentions.

Not sure if you made your choice all this time later but I am on the side with a number of others here.  Having spent time in Costa Rica and Colombia, I prefer Colombia and it is not close.  For me I settled in Medellin and the number one selling point will always be the climate.   My biggest problem is not knowing what season it is because each beautiful day is similar to the beautiful day before.  There are some good expat groups there and some are even very helpful.

One of the only complaints I have is when renting your first apartment you, until you buy, you will be required to give two cosigners and that is not an easy requirement.  You can choose to rent from one of the resident "Gringos" but be prepared to pay a much higher rent if you do.

I did find the options for nicer housing seem to be much more plentiful in Colombia.

Let me recommend this Facebook Group as many are willing to help you in many ways. facebook.com/groups/174600219312015/ 

Also you can check out medellinvida.com which is a blog by some expats and locals with listings of things to do in Medellin as well as a pretty good Medellin restaurant guide.  Also listings for places to avoid.  This site has been a good resource for me.

Always you want to keep the numbers of the your Embassy handy and having a good knowledge of your go to agencies and safe places is a good idea.   - http://bogota.usembassy.gov

Just throwing in my two cents on the Costa Rica, Colombian debate.  It is probably a good idea to have as many options as possible.  In the end, you choose the lifestyle you wish to have for your retirement and go for it.

J

Hello Brian,
I'm a Toronto born Canadian living in Costa Rica.
You can contact me at bejcuoman (at) yahoo.com if you have any questions.

topper46 wrote:

Hi,
Forget Costa Rica - too many bugs and poisonous toads....My best advice for you to live really well on US $ 25k per year is to retire in Medellin, Colombia. It's the perfect spot, lots of gringos retiring there now, and prices are really cheap, and they love gringos. The climate is the most peffect climate of any city in the world...very low humidity....People there are relaxed, happy, friendly, educated....Go there once and you will never want to leave. Trust me on that one ! It's the perfect city....It is the best city in all of South America all around. Don't even waste your time thinking about going somewhere else because Medellin is # 1.

Signed,
The Mayor of Medellin

Someone is not willing to admit the number of deaths related to drug trafficing in Columbia, with some innocent bystanders also being shot.  The Columbian government does not make enough effort to keep that country safe.

http://travel.state.gov/content/passpor … rning.html

BUG PROBLEM??? You must have been listening to those people who either live near the beaches or Jungles ..Here in the Central Valley NOT SO !
Thank God our  climate is fresh and mild and Spring- like year round (except of course for the rainy season.)  WE are not  infested with bugs..

Look around. and check out  the Heredia Hills area and you can always g'o for weekends to the Beaches UGH... too hot and Humid.  and the ocean  is dirty ..but hey some think its OK  and chic  to live there and pay Hundreds of $$$ for A/C which we do not need.

And as for "suicide showers"  whichever  is still using that dumb "very dumb"  description is not well informed..MILLIONS of us use what is OFFICIALLY known as "HEATERS ON DEMAND..I also have them under my sink.
SOME suckers pay a fortune for the old fashioned  Heating tanks which continually re heat water and cost a fortune while no one is using the water but it stays hot a24/7 even if put on timers.. DUH!
"Suicide showers"  was a name given to " heater on demand" showers many years ago by a drunken ill informed Gringo..and of course all the other little sheep followed suit and named them that...
HUNDREDS of us have been using them as I have for over 27 years and NEVER has there been even an Injury ,never mind a suicide..!reported in Costa Rica  as I would have heard of. ...

(Yes I do install them myself and UNDERSTAND the need for using those ingenious gadgets.. I even have then under my kitchen sink OH SHUDDER SHUDDER..... They are SAFE and WHY would anyone mess with ANY Electric wiring  DUH !
Same with the bug problem rumours,  ONLY IN CERTAIN HOT HUMID AREAS ..yes many beaches apply! good luck in your choice of areas in which to live,

Medellin?? What a oad of BS Mr Mayor IF you indeed did write that BS...I happen to KNOW MANY people who escaped from the danger and drug cartels there..so Please be honest about your propaganda..IT is a VERY Dangerous city especially for foreigners and to compare it as BETTER than Costa Rica is a JOKE... ask any Colombian who is living n Costa Rica..
They (if not too scared to say so, ) will tell you the TRUTH ...

@pebs

Lighten up !!!
The old post (2015)  was tongue in cheek and was definitely not from the mayor Medellin.

Then SAY SO ! and take your tongue out of your cheek...especially when describing "places of safety"

I've seen people replying to posts that are from 2011 and the original poster is no longer a member... funny...  It would be nice if the moderators would remove posts more than 1 year old.

Zeus.wmo wrote:

I've seen people replying to posts that are from 2011 and the original poster is no longer a member... It would be nice if the moderators would remove posts more than 1 year old.

I disagree.

Expat.com, previously Expat Blog, has been in existence for about 12 years.  There is a wealth of valuable material, much of it still evergreen, on older threads.  Threads that are two years old are not necessarily out of the Dark Ages.

It's up to individual posters to recognize when they are reading or responding to vintage threads.  And, IMO, that's how it should be.

cccmedia