You can open an account with one of the private mail services in order to be able to purchase items form the States.
If you choose to retire in Costa Rica you can’t hop on a plane every time you need something from the States. Everyday more and more items from the U.S. are available in Costa Rica. Nevertheless there are many things you still cannot get here. What many foreigners and Costa Ricans are doing is opening an account with one of the private mail services in order to be able to purchase items form the States.
Really the process is very easy. All you have to do is go to the offices of one of the private mail companies like Aerocasillas and open an account. What they give you is a P.O. Box in Miami where all of the merchandise you order can be sent to. This method of shopping on-line stores really has caught on and grown so much that Aerocasillas has over 130,000 clients who use their services.
Business really picks up around Christmas time, especially among Costa Ricans. They purchase hard-to-get gifts on line and have them shipped to Costa Rica. I recently went to one of their offices to pick up my mail and the placed was packed with Costa Ricans picking up the merchandise.
If you retire here you can get almost you need by using this service. You won’t have to use your hard earned retirement money to travel to the States to go shopping. I have personally used Aerocasillas for over 10 years and am 100% satisfied. Before this service existed I would to the States a couple of times a year to visit relatives. While there I would try and stock up on everything I couldn’t get in Costa Rica. I even brought a couple of televisions with me on different trips. This not the case anymore. I have seen people order large flat-screen televisions and have them brought in by one of the private mail companies. I even saw one person pick up a couple of large bumpers for his car. Small items like books from Amazon and DVDs are some of the ore popular items people purchase on line and have shipped here.
San José and the malls in Costa Rica was packed by the Christmas shopping.
I was watch the evening CBS Evening New on satellite yesterday and the reporter showed how empty shopping centers were in the U.S. I guess she was trying to prove that people were cutting back on their spending due to the recession there.
In Costa Rica things seem to be quite the opposite. Downtown San José is a madhouse. The streets are packed with wall to wall people doing their Christmas shopping. Judging by this beehive of activity you’d never know that there was a world financial crisis.
The malls here are so crowded it takes up to 45 minutes to find a parking space. In order to avoid the Christmas rush at the malls you have to get there early in the morning. The afternoons and evenings are impossible because of the hoards of shoppers.
Yesterday I went to the Hipermás supermarket. In case you don’t the Hipermás chain is one of the groups of supermarkets owned by Walmart of Central America. Each Hipermás store resembles a giant warehouse. You’d think you were in a Walmart in the U.S. Retirees will be happy to know they can find many products from the U.S. in these stores. Anyway, yesterday I visited the Hipermás in San Francisco de Heredia and like downtown San José and the malls the place was packed. Costa Ricans and others were stocking up on food and other items for the Christmas festivities. The store was giving away so many free samples of food that one could virtually eat a complete mean while shopping. They were giving away small cups of wine, cake, pastries, cooked meats and much more.
Many years ago I studied as an exchange student in Mexico. I was lucky enough to live with a Mexican family and really fell head over heels in love with the country. After returning to the States I made it a point to visit Mexico every chance I had. In fact, I ended up spending about ten summers exploring the country and taking graduate courses in Spanish. My dream was to move to Mexico.
Many retirees also found Mexico the ideal place. Over the years thousands of Americans chose to make their retirement home south of the border. All of that has changed radically.
There is a virtual civil war between rival drug gangs fighting each other for control of the lucrative drug trade and the Mexican government trying to stop it. The wave of violence has spiraled way out of control. In Tijuana, for example, there are shoot outs in broad daylight with many innocent people being caught in the crossfire. Reporters have been killed by the drug cartels for trying to expose the people behind this crime wave. Kidnappings are also perpetrated by these same criminal elements.
This year more Mexicans were killed as a result of these drug wars than all of the U.S. Soldiers in Iraq during the last six years. This makes Mexico more dangerous than Iraq!!!! I know of a Costa Rican couple that was robbed twice I one day by different taxi drivers while visiting Mexico City.
Retirees are not immune from this widespread violence. Who in their right mind would want to live there?
Costa Rica is a much alternative to Mexico and therefore continues to be the most popular retirement haven south of the border. Panama and Nicaragua are making some headway but will never offer the choices nor quality of live that Costa Rica has. There are more Americans living in Costa Rica proportionately than any other country outside of the U.S. They can’t be wrong!
About a week ago I wrote an article about the 60th anniversary of the abolition of the armed forces in Costa Rica. This unique event occurred on December 1, 1948. Since that day the country’s military bases have become schools.
The abolition of the army has brought numerous benefits to the Costa Rican people. First, universal “cradle to grave” medical care for all Costa Ricans and legal residents with special emphasis on preventative health care and special services for children, women and seniors. Second, the second highest literacy rate in Latin America and percentage of children attending school. Third, an average life expectancy of over 75 years. Fourth, Costa Rica occupies third place in Latin America in the number of computers per person. Other benefits are 100% natural coverage in telecommunications, drinking water, electricity and social security.
Furthermore, with no army and the most stable government south of the U.S. Costa Rica doesn’t run the risk of military takeovers as in many other Latin American countries. Since Costa Rica is such a small country, voters can participate more directly in the democratic process. People settle arguments at the ballot box, not on the battlefield. Each vote carries more weight, so politicians are more accessible and have more contact with the people. Costa Ricans approach the presidential elections with such enthusiasm that they celebrate Election Day as if it were a big party or national holiday. People wearing party colors, honking cars and bands playing Latin music all contribute to the festive atmosphere. For the last presidential election the turnout was about 90 percent— a figure that dwarfs the United States,’ meager 50-percent turnout.
Costa Rica has no enemies or terrorism.
What other country in the world has all of the attributes mentioned above? This is why Costa Rica is the world’s number one retirement haven.
Costa Rica was the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army in 1948.
December 1st marks an historic date in Costa Rica’s history. On this day in 1948 President José Figueres abolished Costa Rica’s army. From that moment on Costa Rica has lived as a peaceful and democratic nation. Besides getting rid of the army this decision had another important effect on the country’s development. The money that was formerly spent on the military is now spent on education and universal health care and has had a tremendous effect on human development for the average Costa Rican.
No other countries can make this claim!
This peaceful tradition continues to live. Costa Rica’s current president, Dr. Oscar Arias Sánchez was the recipient of the Noble Peace prize for being instrumental in bringing peace to the nations of Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua in the 1980s.
Furthermore, there is no threat of terrorism here because Costa Rica has NO enemies. This added stability is one of the primary factors that make our unique country such a special place in the world and perfect for a peaceful retirement and investment. For these same reasons large multinational corporations like Citi Bank, GE, Walmart, Intel, Proctor Gamble, Firestone, Amazon.com and many others have invested millions of dollars here. I am sure this list will continue to grow as more big players and individuals realize the advantage of investing here.
Finally, this peaceful ambience, excellent investment climate and unparalleled beauty are the reasons Costa Rica has become one top five emerging real estate markets in the world.
