Introduction and hello

Dog_Pound wrote:

Good afternoon all,

Looking to move to either Puerto Rico or USVI.  My wife has lived in the Bahamas and I have speak several years overseas, so we are fairly prepared to deal with the nuances of island life.  I did not consider PR until recently and it might be an appropriate choice. 

We hope to retire relatively soon and would like some input and opinions on certain aspects of PR.  E.g. referral to a well regarded real estate agents vs picking online; potential expenses besides common sense stuff,  a reasonable persons explanation of PR taxes for retires from the armed forces; access to to the commissary and PX on Ft Buchanan and the size; best part of the island to retire to (I have heard Rincon several times)  etc....  If someone would be so kind as to PM me for more detailed questions and potentially a meet and greet next June ish that would be great. 

I look forward to speak g with someone
Thank you
JM

Hi Dog_pound,
Welcome to the forum and Puerto Rico soon.
There is a lot of information available in the forum and you can do searches, this may be faster than putting out questions if the answers are available.
But do not be afraid to ask questions by starting a new subject tread for every category.

Spanish is the language of Puerto Rico, areas like Condado, Dorado, Rincon, Las Palmas (in Humacao) and others have high concentrations of English speakers so you may not have difficulties making friends and doing your shopping. But that is not the case everywhere in the island. Since people go to the states and return some locals probably 3 out of 10 speak well enough English to help you.

Renting in PR is usually a rent for the 4 walls, most rentals have no refrigerator or stove, so be prepared for that, and very few have any furniture.

As to taxes, if all your money comes from retirement money from the states like Military pension, 401k, 403b, IRA,or social security for example, you will end up paying Federal Tax and not Puerto Rican tax. Any income from PR sources will complicate matters and you will end up also paying PR taxes in that case. If you purchase property you will also pay property tax to PR government, other than renting, there is no avoidance on property tax.

Do some searching and make up a list of your questions and we will do our best to help you out.

Due to your name I assume you may have a dog, If it is a pit bull you will not be able to bring it to PR.
Rey

Welcome JM

Jm, PuertoRico is cheaper than USVI, food, housing and overall. It is also larger so more choices as where to live and not as crowded

Negatives: english is not as common as in USVI.

Thank you for the replies, the 2 dogs are pugs, so no pit.     The income is all retirement from military etc... and we have passive investments from real estate 401k and savings.  I and my wife will be in PR in June.  We hope to rent for a couple of weeks to explore the island.  We are working on our Spanish and I am not concerned about that aspect we are looking forward to making friends local and expat learning Spanish is a priority for us.

Pretty sure we want to be away from San Juan on the west side (I believe)  we plan to rent first 6 months to a year before

I have a few questions that I hope to find answered already but will ask if I don't find them.

Looking forward to talking with you more

Yes get to know the island first, rent for 6 months to a year before you commit to purchase a place.

Depending on what you like to do with your free time you may want to consider different parts of PR. For example if you like surfing the west coast is best. If you like to boat to the different virgin island and have many, many places to scuba, the east of the island is best. If you like deep sea fishing the north coast, if you like museums either the south (ponce) or the San Juan area. If you like lots of night life, then San Juan.

There is boating, scuba, snorkeling and surfing all over the island but the places I mention have their concentrations.

If you like farming the borders around the center of the island but still 5-20 minutes from the sea.

No matter where you stand in PR, you can not be more than 18 miles from the sea since the island is only 35 miles wide (as a bird flies) by road, that is another matter.