Yesterday I traveled to the city of San Ramón to visit two friends who are also in the Costa Rica retirement business. The city of San Ramón is located about an hour away by car from San José just off the Pan American Highway. My friends specialize in affordable housing projects for retired Americans and Canadians.

Before we left to view their projects we had a meeting over breakfast. One of the topics was the increased cost of living in Costa Rica. It seems that both the Costa Ricans and retirees have been talking about this subject lately. My two friends spent a lot of time in Miami last year promoting one of there ventures and were quick to point out that the cost of living in the States is much higher than in Costa Rica. I guess while living here one becomes blinded to external factors like the real cost of living in the U.S. and too caught up on what’s going on locally.

My friends are both single and not “high rollers.” They assured me that they were spending a minimum of $5,000 each per month in the U.S. just to get by. They said that in Costa Rica they spend about half that amount. They were also quick to point out that the weekly outdoor farmer’s markets, cheap medical care, low rents, affordable public transportation, the lack of unnecessary material things to waste their money on and a simpler lifestyle all contribute to a lower cost of living here.

Affordable housing is another factor that can help retirees save money in Costa Rica. My friends took to me to see a couple homes retirees were building in the San Ramón area. Both were well-designed, had breath-taking views of the ocean in the distance and with the land included only cost around $175,000. You’d never get anything in the U.S. in such an incredible natural setting for that price. Impossible!

The bottom line is that retired people can find good value, reduce their cost of living and upgrade their lifestyle and quality of life by moving to Costa Rica. Come check it out on one of my monthly relocation/retirement tours!

During the last few years San José’s airport has been completely renovated. There were a few bumps in the road but the new Juan Santamaría terminal is really nice. By no means can it compare to an airport in the U.S. but the new facility is a big improvement over the old terminal which should make it easier for the country’s many retirees and others to traveling to and from Costa Rica.

Most recently the Juan Santamaría was selected as the third best terminal in Latin America and the Caribbean. Airport Council International (ACI) which is an association of 1,650 airports in 179 countries bestowed this honor on Costa Rica. Cancun, Mexico and Guayaquil, Ecuador were the only terminals in the region that were ahead of Costa Rica. In addition, Costa Rica was ranked first in the category of airports that has made the most improvements over the last year. Costa Rica added four new waiting rooms and three new gates among other improvements.

Now those thinking of retiring here will be able to use one of the best airport terminals in Latin America, thus making travel more comfortable.

As most retirees know, new automobiles are very expensive in Costa Rica. If you are short on retirement dollars, look for a used car. Fortunately, there are a lot of used cars here.

So where do you start? There are ads in the Spanish newspapers like La Nación. There are also ads in English publications like the Tico Times and in the on-line newspaper, Am Costa Rica. In addition, Www.ticocarros.com is a website that has many used vehicles.

Retirees can also visit one of Costa Rica’s used car lots. Probably the best place to look for a used car is the town of Grecia. It is a charming place located about an hour west of San José. Grecia is famous for its metalic church and being known as the cleanest city in Costa Rica. So what does this have to do with finding a used car? When you drive from the main highway into Grecia you will quickly notice that there are between 50 and 65 used car lots along both side of the road with hundreds of vehicles from which to choose.

Once you have found a vehicle you have the right to take it to a mechanic and get it checked out. NEVER buy a used car without doing this. Before I forget, some of the used car dealerships will finance a vehicle if you are short on cash. However, it is always better to pay cash to avoid high interest payments.

Don’t forget to have your lawyer check any document you have to sign when purchasing a vehicle and always ask about a guarantee.

If president Laura Chinchilla has her way, Costa Rica will be one big Wi-Fi zone, which means free wireless internet for everyone.

The free wireless is included in the Plan Nacional de Desarollo (National Development Plan) 2011-2014, as one of the government’s priorities in science and technology. The goal is to have a wireless network that allows the public permanent access to Internet and to develop a free network at the highest speed possible. The idea is to have a wireless connectivity layer, for example, for young people in schools and colleges, for tourists and for small and medium enterprises. It would be a wide band but at a speed that does not compete with commercial services,.

Panama began its free wireless internet access development project last year, bringing to everyone a mixed Wi-Max, a high speed and long range signal, while Wi-Fi is lower in speed and range. In Panama, an free internet signal is available in public places like health offices, municipalities and libraries, to name a few, offering a connection between 512 Kbps and 1 Mbps.

On my monthly relocation/retirement tours and at the many lectures where I speak I am always asked by future residents and retirees about how the Internet works here. I explain that the service is very good and allows people like I to remain in contact with friends and relatives abroad and even run a web-based international business from here. With the coming of universal FREE Wi-Fi the excuse of not having Internet access should not longer deter anyone from living their retirement dream in Costa Rica.

Those who wonder about retirement in Costa Rica and crime will be interested in the following response.

Last week I posted the article (“Costa Rica is the second most peaceful nation in Latin America – good news for future retirees”) at the foot of this page and a reader responded by saying Costa Rica wasn’t peaceful. Well, he is completely wrong. No country is crime free. When you compare Costa Rica’s crime rate to that of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and the U.S. you will realize that Costa Rica is still very peaceful. In Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador over fifty bus driver’s were shot and killed last year alone. Most of this violent crime is being perpetrated by over 70, 000 gang members who live in these three countries. Mexico which used to be a retirement haven for Americans, may just be the most violent country in the world. The rival drug cartels are at war with each other and the government at the same time. Beheading and mass killings are common place among these groups. It is only a matter of time before some innocent American retirees will get dragged into this mess.

I was watching the news the other day and in Miami two policeman were shot and killed in that city and on the same day. The there were the stories about the congresswoman who was shot along some innocent bystanders in Arizona.

Thank god we mostly have petty crime here. The OIJ which is Costa Rica’s equivalent of the F.B.I. stated in Costa Rica’s major Spanish newspaper, La Nación, on January 22, 2011 that the number of robberies, burglaries, car theft and homicides dropped between 2009 and 2010. Not a victory over the bad guys but a step in the right direction.

I think it is important that when criticizing Costa Rica’s crime problem that the whole situation should be put into the proper perspective like I have done above. It is important to make potential retirees and others aware that there is some crime, but unfair to distort things and ruin someone’s retirement dreams.