McDonald’s, KFC, Quiznos, Taco Bell and Wendy’s are going to open 29 restaurants this year. Costa Rica is prospering despite the world economic crisis. Furthermore, the government just announced that long-awaited highway to the Central Pacific will be inaugurated next week, four months ahead of schedule. People who have driven on the part of the highway that is completed say it is as nice as any highway in the U.S.

As you can see from the above Costa Rica continues to move forward and improve its infrastructure making it a good place to invest. Baby Boomers and retirees should feel perfectly safe buying property here.

The French company Teleperformance announced the opening of a call center in Costa Rica. A spokesman for the company said they would be hiring 400 Costa Ricans. This is another example of a foreign company outsourcing to Costa Rica because of the country’s highly qualified and educated workforce. Amazon.com and other multinationals have already established themselves here.

These companies realize that Costa Rica is the perfect place to invest now and in the future because of the country’s political climate, stellar international reputation and excellent business climate.

Small investors should have nothing to fear if they do their due diligence and invest in real estate or other local ventures. Many retirees have already realized this and profited from their investments.

Despite the world economic crisis big players continue to invest in Costa Rica.

Plans call for the construction of a $280 million convention and fair center near San José Costa Rica. The proposed construction site will be across from the Hotel Herradura and be about 123,000 square meters in size. The complex will also house two hotels, stores, restaurants and a parking structure. The complex will be the largest of its kind in all of Latin America.

The world economic crisis has really had minimal impact here. Two new highways have been completed and upscale shopping centers like Avenida Escazú , a new stages of Multiplaza and Paseo de las Flores have been either built or expanded in the last couple of years. In addition more and more multinational companies like Amazon.com have set up shop in Costa Rica.

People thinking of living, retiring or investing here should take these recent events into consideration when deciding if Costa Rica is for them. Obviously, the continued growth mentioned above, the country’s stability, year-round spring-like weather, first-class medical care, incredible lifestyle and so much more will continue to make the country tops on then list of expat havens. No wonder more Americans live here per capita than any other country outside of the U.S.

On my monthly retirement and relocation tours, my guests always ask about Costa Rica’s restaurants. I explain that Costa Rica has a full gamut of restaurants from inexpensive sodas where where the locals eat to high-end establishments which offer international and gourmet fare.

The majority of the country’s best restaurants are located in San José, Escazú and other areas of the Central Valley. However, good dinning may be found at many of the beach resorts in Northwest Costa Rica and in the Central and South Pacific. You’d be surprised where some of the country’s best restaurants are located. For example, Exotica is a little establishment in the middle of the jungle in the town of Ojochal in the South Pacific region. The French-Canadian owners prepare some of the best food you have ever tasted. During the beach portion of my monthly retirement and relocation tours I take my clients to dine at Exotica. Needless to say everyone loves the place.

The other night I had dinner with a couple of my closest friends at the Taj Mahal, the country’s outstanding Indian restaurant. The food is absolutely mouth-watering. The Taj is a high-end restaurant but worth every penny of the cost. I only go there a couple time a year on special occasions. I had a couple of friends in town from the U.S. and really wanted them to experience Costa Rica’s dining at its best.

If you are interested in Costa Rica’s restaurants, I suggest you purchase the “Tico Times Restaurant Guide to Costa Rica.” It is an informative guide featuring the restaurant and dining scenes both in San José and throughout Costa Rica. If you decide to move here you can be sure that you won’t miss he restaurants from home.

Recently I had a relative from the States in my home for a couple of weeks. It had been five years since her last visit and she was amazed to see all of the home improvements I had made.

First, she noticed my new kitchen. When I told her how much my custom cabinets cost she almost fainted. She remarked, “In the U.S. that would have cost four times the $4000 that you paid here”. Then I showed her my second story addition and asked her what it would cost to do the same work in Washington State where she lives. She said that the same improvement would have cost around $60,000. I only paid $9,000 for a large second-story room with a 180-degree panoramic view of the Central Valley.

If home improvements are so reasonable here, imagine how much cheaper it would be to build your retirement dream home or remodel a home in Costa Rica.