Panama vs. Costa Rica

We retired in Costa Rica from Canada seven years ago.  Not a great amount less as far as cost of living goes.

Hello TerryViv,

Many THX to share your expatriation experience. I'm slowly looking to rent something as a first step and maybe buy a condo.
If you don't mind I will send you few questions to get your guidance avoiding bad mistakes.

Ok - I'm surprised to hear that.  I'm not disagreeing with you - you have real experience and I've only done the reading.  Everything I've read would indicate it is cheaper to live in Costa Rica than Canada - that you could live well on $1500USD a month, etc.

Can I ask what area of Canada you retired from?  I'd be comparing Ottawa, Ontario area to more rural CR.

Hello Guy, would be more than willing to share our experiences!

Sean, we lived just outside of Red Deer, Alberta.  We live pretty much the same way here as we did in Alberta.  There is no doubt that we could live on less but that was not how we chose to live.  We pretty much spend $2,500.00 CDN per month on the average.

TerrynViv - Thank you very much for the info.  Your $$ figure is within budget and arguably less than we spend monthly here in Canada.  We were thinking a budget of around $2500 USD per month - less is always better!  It's always a difficult topic as it depends so much on life choices and preferences.  If I want caviar and cognac 5 nights a week, high end vehicles in the garage, a pool etc. etc. the cost goes up.  I'm not looking for a high flying retirement - I'm looking to be comfortable and happy.

We own our house so rent is not part of my above figure.
We live in a rural setting so a car is a must for us.
We have fractional ownership of a community pool.
We are definitely comfortable and happy!
Best of luck in your endeavor!

Thanks.  We've got about an 8-10 year glide path to this, so we're doing all the research now.  Planning trips over the next few years to scout out areas of interest.  We'll take the advise of others and live for at least a year renting before we purchase.  The areas we are currently interested in (again - strictly from internet research) are the rural mountain areas, but close enough to spend a day or weekend at the beach.  For CR we're thinking Tinamaste \ San Isidro area.  For Panama we're thinking Boquete or Volcan area - the higher elevation areas around David.

If everything were to go according to the loose plan in my head - we'd find a nice property in the 2-20 acre range and build a nice house in the 1300-1500sf size, or with an existing acceptable house on it - funding that purchase from the sale of our current residence.

It sounds like our tastes may be a bit similar.  Rural with a vehicle.  We've lived on 150 acres south of Ottawa for the past 22 years.  We just can't see ourselves in a condo.  Temperature wise - we'd love to be in the mid to high 20s (thus the altitude preference).  I couldn't stomach over 30 degrees every single day.

When we came here in 2010 we were pretty convinced we wanted an ocean view on the west coast.  Spent a few days looking at properties in the area and soon decided that we were going to have to get higher in elevation to get the temperatures that we could tolerate.  We ended up on three acres 17km south west of Puriscal.  We really enjoy the temperatures and the abundance of birds and wildlife!  We rented a few different houses during vacations from 2011 to 2013.  Built and retired in 2014.

Guinness13 wrote:

Thanks.  We've got about an 8-10 year glide path to this, so we're doing all the research now.  Planning trips over the next few years to scout out areas of interest.  We'll take the advise of others and live for at least a year renting before we purchase.  The areas we are currently interested in (again - strictly from internet research) are the rural mountain areas, but close enough to spend a day or weekend at the beach.  For CR we're thinking Tinamaste \ San Isidro area.  For Panama we're thinking Boquete or Volcan area - the higher elevation areas around David.

If everything were to go according to the loose plan in my head - we'd find a nice property in the 2-20 acre range and build a nice house in the 1300-1500sf size, or with an existing acceptable house on it - funding that purchase from the sale of our current residence.

It sounds like our tastes may be a bit similar.  Rural with a vehicle.  We've lived on 150 acres south of Ottawa for the past 22 years.  We just can't see ourselves in a condo.  Temperature wise - we'd love to be in the mid to high 20s (thus the altitude preference).  I couldn't stomach over 30 degrees every single day.

Hi, did you say you are a couple? 2 people only? I'll assume that's a yes...

As you noted, it depends on HOW you live - your lifestyle.
Property is cheaper here than most of the USA. You can get an ocean view lot in the mountains for about $25k an acre.

As to Panama I checked it out to buy there, 7 years ago. We checked out Volcan and I think Boquete. Volcan for sure. Volcan when we were there was super windy and not much there. I'm sure it must have grown by now. I think we went to Boquete too and it was much smaller and nothing there (7 years ago).

We had an unusual experience in Panama. We crossed on foot after taking the bus through San Vito Costa Rica. The signage wasn't good so somehow we were not directed to go to the guy who gave us the stamp in our passport. It was a weird set up, and we saw one guy, gave him our passports, and he either neglected to tell us where to go for the stamp or we didn't hear him, and we missed getting our stamp. Thought he'd put it in. We were tired from riding the bus all morning.

Ended up in David. Things were definitely a LOT cheaper in David than in Costa Rica but it's kind of a "nothing" town. Pretty big but not a lot to offer.

So first thing the next morning we went to the bank to get Travelers Cheques cashed in (no one uses them any more, at least  not in Costa Rica!) and the bank looked at the passport and said "you are not here legally". That's how we found out we didn't get the stamp.

So we had to spend half the day taking a taxi back to the border, getting the stamp.

But on the way, the bank had called the Federales and a guy with an automatic weapon, a military type guy stopped us on the highway back to the border, and insisted on riding with us in our taxi back to the border.

Threatened us the whole way, trying to scare us that this was a criminal offense, could cause jail time etc. It was scary. I mean, the guy was very menacing and had that weapon. But finally I realized he probably just wanted and was insisting on a bribe though he didn't ever say it. I gave him $20 and he shut the hell up.

But it was a very unpleasant experience and turned me off of Panama.

Also in Panama there are booths along the highway like toll booths but instead they check your passport and etc. They are very military-ish as well and I guess it's okay - I guess they are looking for drug traffickers - but I really did not like the whole Panama vibe. Very "police state"-ish.

As to Volcan it was just cold and windy and not much there at that time 7 years ago. We tried to see one other place the next day - we rented a car - but we didn't find anything we thought was a place we'd like to live.

By and large, Costa Rica is prettier, the people are friendlier, and there is less of a military or police state type atmosphere. Panama is probably still cheaper than  Costa Rica, though, I think. Roads are generally better in Panama.

Okay. As to cost of living in Costa Rica.

My wife and I built our house, a small one bedroom, on 9 acres. We have an ocean view (15 or so miles in the distance).  The point is we live in a "paradise" as far as our view and our property etc and we live on about $1,000 a month. No rent. We pay car insurance, water, electricity, phone, internet and propane and property taxes. We buy whatever we want as far as groceries but we only order out food once every 10-12 days or so, usually a large pizza. We don't go out, but we do go to the USA once or twice a year and sometimes stay at a hotel for a night or two at the Arenal Volcano or somewhere like that.  (Of course, since the pandemic, no trips to USA nor anywhere.)

So it all depends on what you want. When gringos tell me it costs $2500 a month to live here or that it costs "more" than the U.S..., I have to wonder what they are  spending it on! I guess they live the "high life" as compared to us. Yet we don't "scrimp" - we buy anything we really want or need. And if we want to buy something like a new phone or new furniture etc we CAN. But we are thrifty. Before the pandemic we'd go to the USA and bring back anything we need from there because a lot of stuff - like electronics - is almost half price in the USA.

But I'm happy with the amount of money we spend and we are able to save some each month as well.  One thing is that if you live in a gringo gated community as most do, you will pay development fees (sometimes up the ying yang) and whereas I pay $4/hour for my gardener/handyman, they probably pay $10. They probably pay higher property taxes (there is a penalty for those who build "luxury" (big American-style) homes, too and the more electricity and water you use the higher the per/watt or per/liter cost. So it pays to build on your own lot, not a development (or buy a house on its own lot), and not build a luxury home.

Also a luxury home is more of a target for a poor person who decides to turn to a life of crime and break in to some luxury gringo home. Of the about 4 major break-ins I've heard about since I lived here, every one of them was in a gated gringo community. That doesn't mean every gated community will suffer break-ins. Just that they tend to be targets, so they'd better have good security. And what happened at 2 that I know of is that the guard was in on it.

Thank you very much for your perspective - quite appreciated.

Yes - by the time we move - there will only be the two of us - my wife and I.  The kids are well on their way to their own lives.

Yeah - that sounds like quite the uncomfortable experience you had coming into Panama.  Glad it worked out!  I'm uncomfortable with the whole bribe thing.  Having never lived in that culture I have visions of pulling out $20 when I think it's expected and then landing in jail for trying to bribe an official!

We are definitely keen on building our own home if possible.  I like my creature comforts - but I'm not extravagant either.  I'm ball-parking at $100 per sf as an estimate for home building - plus the cost of land.  I think a gorgeous piece of land can currently be picked up for between $50k and $150k from what I've been scrolling through.  We want a nice house - we don't want a luxury house.  Comfortable, clean, modern and efficient.

We are ok with or without a gated community.  What we wouldn't want is such a closed community that  it's trying to be a mini Canada\US within CR. That's kinda my definition of a "gated gringo".  Living in a gated community and participating in the local culture and community is not a gated gringo (as decreed by me... lol).

From what I can tell - if you try and replicate your life from Canada\US in CR - then it will cost you more than if you stayed in Canada\US.  I guess that's to be expected.  If you live a combination of Expat\Tico - you can do so quite reasonably.

Curious - when you fly to the US and bring items back with you - are there taxes and duties on those items when you return?

You seem to have a pretty good handle on how to determine your cost here.

By the way, I am not comfortable offering a bribe either. But in this case I was willing to try  it to get this guy to stop threatening us.

And as I said our experience in Panama is probably not coming how much so I wouldn't deter you from checking it out further. But there is a lot of Federale police presence there for sure.

I have brought back many things many times from the US and have never had my bags checked nor charged Duty.

In my opinion it is a good idea to take all new things out of boxes and carry instructions and warranties in a separate place like in your carry-on.

Do the best you can to make new things not look new, without damaging them so that if you do need to return them you can. But you can unwind new cords for example, remove packing, Etc
Good luck. If you are interested in the San Ramon area send me a private message.