written by Frederick Palmer and published in the New York Times was:
"Happy Little Costa Rica The One Real Republic in Central America Civilized, Prosperous,
Orderly and Most of Its People Whites."
Needless to say that kind of a shocking news headline would never be published today...
Over fifty years ago on the 1st January 1945 Time Magazine published an article entitled
Costa Rica: Happy Land.
Three years ago on the 4th July 2009 the New Economics Foundation, a British think
tank that promotes ecology and sustainable economics came out with the results of
their most recent survey of 143 nations:
The results announced were simple: "Costa Rica comes top of the Happy Planet Index"
"Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world, have the second-highest
average life expectancy of the Americas (second only to Canada) and have an ecological
footprint that means that the country only narrowly fails to achieve the goal of 'one-
planet living': consuming its fair share of the Earth's natural resources."
On the 14th June 2012 once again Costa Rica was ranked at the top of the Happy
Planet Index.
Costa Rican girls rank culture, personality, good health and a liking for home life (in
that order) among the traits they want in their husbands. Faithfulness they rank,
fifth: good looks, 24th. Said one: "I don't think there is a faithful husband in Costa
Rica."
Although the U.S. is not the most popular nation in Costa Rica (ranking below Mexico,
Argentina, Spain, France, El Salvador), Costa Rican girls fancy Americans as
husbands: half of those questioned (56) would like to marry Americans. One reason:
"Americans are more considerate, faithful and helpful, and less jealous." Costa Rican
men never dry dishes."
Today in 2012 it would appear that the more things change, the more things stay
the same...
Costa Rica still has a very high standard of living, the ravishingly pretty Costa Rican
women - the Ticas - are still looking for men with "culture, personality, good health
and a liking for home life," and the Costa Rican men are still unfaithful and never
dry the dishes...
In the investment world, we are accustomed to seeing the disclaimer that says
"past performance is no guarantee of future results" but after seeing these headlines
about Costa Rica for over one hundred years, you can't help but think maybe - just
maybe - Costa Rica really is an extraordinarily happy place in which to live and retire.
Scott Oliver - We Love Costa Rica
Believe in your dreams and they may come true; believe in yourself and they will come true.
