Lair Davis (Our Man in Costa Rica)

How to retire on Social Security?

The answer to that question is certainly not to attempt to retire in the United States! Costs of living in the U.S. are well beyond the means of anyone who hopes to live within a budget primarily funded by monthly Social Security checks. If you do not have substantial investments of another sort, you had better be looking elsewhere for a place to retire.

One very nice “elsewhere” is this place that I have chosen — Costa Rica:

“A country without an army in a world that counts tanks and missiles and nuclear warheads as the measure of a nation’s strength. Where the national hero is not a general but a young, barefoot peasant boy. Where schoolchildren, not soldiers, parade on Independence Day. A country that abolished the death penalty one hundred years ago, while other countries still debate the issue.”

So is Costa Rica one of those scary “Third World” countries? Hardly! More than 60,000 United Statesians call this magic land their home.

There are many reasons why they have chosen to live here: The weather that is spring-like all year round; the most beautiful beaches in the world (so says Condé Nast Traveler magazine, among others); a biodiversity that is simply astounding (the abundance of micro-climates permit a wide variety of flora and fauna to flourish); mountains, rainforests, cloud forests, waterfalls and hot springs; and warm, welcoming, gentle, peaceful people who actually like norteamericanos. (As my friend Carlos said, “We like people from other countries because we are not jealous of them. We know we live in a paradise.”)

United States Social Security requires retirees to have their checks directly deposited in their bank. It matters not whether you maintain you bank in the States or use a Costa Rica-based bank.

I use an Internet-based bank, called Bank of Internet (FDIC-insured, by the way), which pays amazing interest on accounts because they do not have the expense of maintaining buildings or paying salaries for tellers and other employees. Check it out. Here in Costa Rica, I access my money via my trusty ATM card.

When living outside the U.S., a retiree is not eligible for Medicare, so what about healthcare, you ask?

Since Costa Rica does not maintain a military establishment, which uses up almost half of all other countries’ budgets, the money that those other countries are using to feed their military machines is used in Costa Rica to support the education system and to provide free NATIONALIZED healthcare to all Costa Rica citizens. What a concept!

As a legal resident (although not a citizen), I am permitted to buy into the Costa Rica healthcare system for $37 a month. This includes everything — drugs, doctors (who make housecalls, by the way), emergency care — the whole lot! Prior conditions do not limit medical coverage in any way.

Doctors here are trained in the U.S. (the government pays to send their best students to foreign universities in order to provide them with the best education available). Many doctors speak English, as do quite a few Costa Ricans generally. The government also pays for up-to-date medical equipment and facilities.

And you wondered why I love this place!