Andy and Fran Browne were living the American dream.
They had a gorgeous home in the suburbs,
drove nice new cars, owned all the latest toys
and high-tech gadgets, and could afford to travel at whim.
Then in August of 2008, they both lost their jobs.
Too young to collect Social Security or Medicare,
they knew it would be impossible to retire
and maintain the lifestyle they'd worked so hard for Two years later they're still not working.
But they're living better than ever—in Costa Rica.
Andy and Fran Browne are the all-American couple—they both grew up in Miami and married in 1973. They raised two sons and have a couple of grandkids.
Andy worked his way up to vice-president of technology for a large North Carolina bank and Fran to marketing manager for a printing company. They were living the good life. They drove new cars, had all the latest high-tech gadgets and a beautiful home full of nice furniture and souvenirs they picked up on their world travels.
In 2008 they were happily riding this wave of prosperity. Until August, when both of them lost their jobs.
Andy and Fran (both age 58) were told by their employers that their "services were no longer needed."
What to do now? "Buy more wine, for one thing," laughs Andy.
And, he says, the more wine they sipped and the more they talked, an idea began to take hold.
"We're too young to collect Social Security and too young for Medicare. The one thing we were certain of was that we were tired of working," Andy says.
As they studied their finances, they realized that it was "impossible to retire now, at our age, in the country of our birth!"
"We needed a strategy that would allow us to stretch our retirement dollar while at the same time not feel that we have to take a vow of poverty in order to live a contented life."
For years, Andy and Fran had fantasized about retiring to Costa Rica. Nearly a decade before, on a winter holiday, they'd fallen in love with the little Central American country.
They made a checklist of everything they were looking for in a retirement destination. And within days of being laid off from their jobs, they were on a plane to Costa Rica to see if retiring there made sense.
Costa Rica, they found, ticks almost all the boxes on any retirement checklist:
- Conveniently close to home—With many direct flights to two international airports (with a third soon to open), it's conveniently close to the U.S. and Canada (less than three hours from Miami).
- Excellent weather—From the Central Valley and its cool, lush mountain forests to the beautiful unspoiled beaches of both Caribbean and Pacific Oceans, there's a climate for everyone.
- Top-quality health care—The World Health Organization praises Costa Rica for its exceptional government-run health care system, and has ranked it better than the U.S., despite spending 87% less on health care per capita. (I'll tell you more about health care in Costa Rica in just a bit. Importantly, it gets these great health care marks despite providing free care to 86.8% of the population!)
- The most stable democracy in Latin America—No other country has the peaceful history and democratic stability of Costa Rica (and no army)!
- All the comforts of home—The centrally located capital city of San Jose boasts modern shopping malls and world-class hospitals. And reliable high-speed Internet is available just about everywhere.
- Low, low taxes—You'll pay zero income taxes on your foreign-earned income...very good news. And if you buy a home in Costa Rica, your annual property taxes will be laughably low...no more than $100-$200 in most cases. And there's no capital gains tax!
And although it has one of the lowest poverty indexes in the world—which means Costa Ricans have a high standard of living—it's surprisingly affordable, with a low low cost of living.
Sure, some of the things I've just mentioned are also true of many Latin American countries. All of them are more affordable than the U.S., and some are even closer geographically (but not by much). Many have democratically elected governments, although few with as longstanding a history as Costa Rica.
But as Andy and Fran learned, there are many advantages unique to Costa Rica that most of us aren't aware of:
- There's a built-in community of English-speaking locals and expats—some accounts say that more than 11,000 U.S. retirees currently live in Costa Rica.
- It's healthy...as one of the 'greenest, cleanest' countries in the worldwith little pollution and lots of clean water and fresh air. (Costa Rica is one of the only countries in the world to actually reverse deforestation!)
- A staggering 99% of its energy comes from renewable sources. I don't have to tell you what that means in terms of dollars...and sense!
- Adult literacy is practically 100%. People are well-educated and well-informed. (Many international companies have established international offices, factories, and call centers here for this reason—contributing to a strong and stable economy.)
- Sociologists say Costa Ricans are the happiest people on the planet. This is according to the Happy Planet Index, an independent think tank founded to study environmental impact and human well-being. They say: "Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world and have the second-highest average life expectancy of the Americas (second only to Canada)
Costa Rica, the surer they became that this was the right move.
Today they're living the good life once again...in Costa Rica
They've happily adjusted to "life after work," they say. They spend their days doing "fun things"—playing with the dog, hanging out with friends, and volunteering whenever possible.
And, they say, a pleasant side affect of the retirement in Costa Rica is they've each lost 25 pounds...without dieting. "We attribute this to better eating habits and no fast food," Andy says.
Even though their primary motivation to move to Costa Rica was to reduce expenses, Andy and Fran say they've benefited far more than just financially.
"We love it here," they say, "Costa Rica is our new home."
In Costa Rica, you very well
may live longer!
Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula is one of the world's "Blue Zones," where scientists have studied and proven that locals have the longest life expectancy of anyone in the world, regularly living well into their 90s.
Overall, according to the World Health Organization, life expectancy at birth for Costa Ricans is 78.8 years, among the top country rankings in the world and nearly a year ahead of the United States—even though the per-capita income of Costa Ricans is about one-tenth that of the U.S. Arguably, one reason for this is the slower pace of living and the warm, welcoming climate in Costa Rica. And, of course, you'll eat healthy, fresh foods...without preservatives and chemicals in them. Costa Rica is a healthy place to live.
Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.
