AARP has just released their September/October issue, which covers the best places to retire abroad. AARP enlisted Barry Golson, an award-winning travel writer and founder of ForbesTraveler.com, to cover what exactly makes a destination an all-around choice for peaceful, comfortable living for the retiree.

Costa Rica has long been recommended by international living experts, as a destination seemingly designed for retirees, but until now there has not been such specific mention of a particular town that stands out above the rest. I live and work in Atenas, so at times I do feel biased; it was refreshing to read that the very same criteria I had used to select Atenas, as someone in their late-30s, also have been used to recommend this medium-sized Central Valley town to retirees.

Atenas has been selected, because it is representative of Costa Rica itself. According to Golson:

“It is lush with nature, extraordinary wildlife, active volcanoes — as well as such comforting amenities as malls, supermarkets, and restaurants. Retirees have flocked here for years, drawn my its mild climate, its prosperity, its literacy rate, its health care, and, significantly, its stable government — with no army. This is as bio-diverse a country as you’ll find anywhere.”

The above Costa Rica qualities are exactly those found in Atenas. Although Atenas is rooted in agriculture and coffee production, expats from Canada and the U.S. found the town decades ago. Naturally, one of the first concerns of those from the north is the temperature. Being a Northeasterner, I certainly looked for a destination where I would never have to pick up another shovel full of snow.

The town slogan of Atenas is “The Best Climate in The World.” That certainly worked for me. There is a rainy and dry season, but the temperature always hovers around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 Celsius). One unique aspect of Atenas is that it is quite mountainous. The dramatic change in elevation offers just the right climate for nearly anyone. A five-minute drive up or down the mountain can result in much cooler or warmer temperatures and different wind patterns.

Golson’s second category covers the social aspect of retirement. Although I’m not a retiree, I found Atenas to have just the right balance between Costa Ricans and expats. In fact, Atenas has the largest number of foreigners, per capita, outside of San Jose. I certainly wanted to be a part of Costa Rican culture, learn Spanish, and be involved on the local level, as many retirees wish to do. However, it is natural to seek people from your home culture to share common experiences, talk about news from home, offer support when needed, or just to observe the cultural differences.

Atenas’ expats are predominantly American and Canadian, but there is large group of Europeans as well: German, Dutch, and Belgian. This cultural diversity makes Atenas an exceedingly welcoming place for retirees.

The cost of living in Atenas, while a bit higher than other smaller Central Valley towns, is much less expensive than living in the San Jose area. Compared to North America, the cost is a fraction. Golson is correct to say that $2,000 is a comfortable amount per month for a retired couple (after housing), with $2,500 – $3,000 certainly allowing for more travel and dining. Services such as domestic and garden help are in the $3 per hour range. The temperate climate leads to reduced utility bills, insurance costs are a fraction, and health care (for both people and pets) is incredibly affordable.

Golson does make one error in his housing costs. A house for $100,000 certainly can be found in Atenas, but it is not likely to be to North American standards. At this price, a home will be a typical, simple Costa Rican home; certainly comfortable, but without the finishing details and cosmetic enhancements that North Americans have come to desire.

A 3 bed, 2 bath home in a gated community is likely to be above the $200,000 level that Golson states, but there certainly are some wonderful homes under $300,000.

Rentals are hard to come by, but when available in Atenas they are an excellent value between $700-$1,500 per month for a two- or three-bedroom home.

A key concern for the retiree, but for myself as well, was access to quality health care. I have a genetic condition which results in a high risk for blood clots, so having a private clinic in town and a less than 30-minute drive to a good hospital was a must. Atenas has a private clinic called Linea Vitalwhich offers emergency services, as well as 24-hour walk-in care.

Most of the staff speaks English, nearly all were trained in the United States, and they are much more attentive and caring than their U.S. counterparts, in my experience.

The same is true for one of Latin America’s best hospitals, Hospital CIMA, now just a 20-minute drive via the newly completed San Jose-Caldera highway. I found that their equipment and their protocol for treating my condition was exactly the same level as I encountered in the United States . . . but administered with far more compassion.

The cost for my two-day stay, medicine, and testing was $1,600, exactly 1/10th the costs as my visit to a U.S. hospital. Residents can become part of the social health care system, but private insurance is available starting around $2,200 per year.

Golson correctly highlights the leisure and abundant cultural activities to be found. Atenas has many traditional festivals and parades where both expat and locals share a terrific time. Located just 30 minutes from the beach and the city respectively, there is no shortage of things to do. In fact, in my five years of living in Atenas I have never heard a retiree tell me that they were bored. In addition to a wealth of sites to see within Costa Rica, I have enjoyed Costa Rica’s central location for quick trips to Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala, and Colombia as well.

The last category cited by Golson is access to the U.S. I would expand this to say access to North America, as travel to and from Canada is also quite simple. Access to the U.S. certainly was a key consideration for me. I can get a direct flight to my home state of New Jersey and be there in 5 hours — a quicker trip than from NJ to California!

Most people who choose to live abroad are certainly independent types, but it is nice to feel easily connected to home when the need or desire arises. Atenas is just 25 minutes to the international airport, so returning to visit friends and family (or having them visit you, better yet) is never an issue.

The title of the AARP feature is “Paradise Found.” I have seen the qualities described by Barry Golson first hand, on a daily basis, and many more that one must live here full time in order to appreciate: the weekend farmers market; the music; the sense of community; the peaceful Costa Rican people; and the Costa Rican trademark greeting of “Pura Vida” spoken in a way that indeed says, Paradise Found.

Costa Rica Tranquility

The 2010 Global Peace Index has been published by Sydney, Autralia-based Institute for Economics and Peace annually ranks 149 countries based on a range of variables, including corruption, crime rates, military spending and access to primary education.

Costa Rica Culture

The GPI commented specifically on Costa Rica’s improved ranking; “Costa Rica’s high ranking in the GPI (it rose 3 places in 2010 to 26th) partly reflects very low scores for almost all its measures of militarisation, in step with the abolition of the country’s army at the end of the civil war in 1948. Costa Rica’s relations with neighbouring countries are adjudged to have improved last year and violent crime was perceived to have fallen to a relatively low level (Cuba continues to receive the lowest score in Latin America for this indicator).”

The Institute for Economics and Peace is an independent not-for-profit research institute dedicated to developing the inter-relationships between business, peace and economic development.

By Mike McDonald
Tico Times Staff | mmcdonald@ticotimes.net

Nearly two years after receiving unanimous approval from the Legislative Assembly’s Special Environment Commission, The Integrated Waste Management Bill (GIR) became law on Tuesday through a vote of 51 to zero.

The new law directs funds and resources to the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Education to help promote waste management and to launch public education campaigns. It mandates that municipalities create waste management plans and penalizes citizens, companies and local governments that litter.

Sanctions range from fines to up to 15 years in prison, although jail time is reserved for serious offenses, such as deliberately contaminating a river.

Under the new law, companies that produce hazardous waste must sign contracts with treatment facilities that safely dispose of products’ harmful leftovers.

A commission of representatives from the Institute for Municipal Development, The Health Ministry and the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications will be in charge of enforcing the new law.

Costa Rica produces 11,000 metric tons of solid waste every day. Roughly 30 percent of that trash ends up in streets, rivers and vacant lots, the introduction to the new law estimates.

Since 1991, when the Costa Rican government declared a national emergency over the problem of trash disposal, 15 different bills have been presented to the legislative assembly in an attempt to solve the dilemma. None of them had passed until Tuesday.

Nydia Rodríguez, director of the recycling group Terra Nostra, said the approval of the new waste manage law is an important step to a cleaner future in Costa Rica.

“This law legally regulates the responsible management of waste throughout the whole country,” Rodríguez said in a press release. “It involves the participation and the responsibility of all the actors that make up the Costa Rican population…and makes crucial the role of local governments in their communities.”

by IRENE VIZCAÍNO

The administration of Laura Chinchilla is proposing three alternatives to help increase the chances of the middle class to access credit for housing.

Through these initiatives, the new government intends to give a double whammy: one side will reactivate the construction sector and the other will help the deficit of 160,000 houses.

One alternative being prepared by the Vice President Luis Liberman is a bill to reform the Organic Law of Central Bank.

This amendment seeks to allow banks, mutual funds and other institutions that lend money for housing, to issue bonds for an eight-year period free of the legal reserve requirement.

“Everyone who has bought a home knows that in the first years you can drowned in fees,” said Liberman.

The official felt that this initiative benefits the borrowers and banks, but said that the latter can guarantee that people will risk buying a home and can repay the loan.

“Sounds interesting,” was all the manager of the Banco Nacional, Fernando Naranjo commented.

For its part, Guillermo Quesada, Bancrédito manager, endorsed the terms of the proposal, especially because exempt entities such legal reserve requirement may offer fixed rates.

This is continued from Retirement Living In Atenas Costa Rica – Free video part I here.

Many clients ask us “If I retire to Costa Rica what is there to do for retirees?” Well, once you’ve gotten settled and exhausted all of the day-tripping to see the many wonders of Costa Rica, which are often repeated when your guests are in town, there are many activities and social gatherings to keep you busy.

In our town of Atenas, you’ll find just about any activity that would interest in your home country. Within a 30-minute drive there are golf courses, tennis courts, modern malls and movie theaters, beaches, volcano tours, hiking, biking, rappelling, world class fishing and so much more.

Also in Atenas, there are a variety of social groups like womens’ clubs, garden clubs, book clubs, poker clubs, and volunteer groups along with classes for painting, dancing, cooking and Spanish to name a few. All of these activities are in addition to the morning coffee shop chat, the weekly farmers market, expat dinner parties, the countless local fiestas, and other local events.

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Retiring to a foreign country comes with many challenges. First, you must decide what type of lifestyle you desire in retirement.

Lifestyle choices like climate, cost of living, access to services (especially quality health care), quality of life, social opportunities, and distance from loved ones seem to be the most important to the average retiree.

Increasingly, it is becoming more difficult financially to retire in the United States. Although real estate prices have come down in popular retirement areas like Florida and Arizona, the cost of taxes, health insurance, food, and other necessities have skyrocketed making it very difficult for North Americans to retire comfortably in the States.

TO WATCH FREE VIDEO AND READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

Not only has Costa Rica elected its first woman president  (only the 5^th in Latin America, but one of more than 50 the world over since 1960), they have done it by a landslide, as Chinchilla nearly doubled the percentage of her nearest contender, Ottón Solís.

In my local neighborhood of Atenas, there was a marked air of festivity surrounding this year’s election.  The area was draped in the green and white of Chinchilla’s PLN party; caravans and parades would follow.  Costa Ricans who I spoke to said they had never seen such voter turnout and enthusiasm.  While Americans were screaming at their TVs during the Super Bowl, the same level of emotion could be observed by Costa Ricans in front of their TVs:  arguing, debating, and speculating, but fully absorbed by the event.

Doña Laura has been criticized by some as being a puppet-like extension of former President Arias, serving as another “president for the wealthy.”    Since the do-nothing presidency of Abel Pacheco, however, Costa Rica has been observably transformed.  Many were fearful of the swift action proposed by Arias after 4 years of sloth by Pacheco, which produced a very thin victory for Arias in the last election.   But, it seems that an objective look at the state of the nation by most Costa Ricans has led to the conclusion that the current development and change that is taking place will indeed benefit nearly all Costa Ricans.  Moreover, the policy extension can be seen as a willingness to walk the fine line of luring and placating all-important foreign investment, corporate business interests, tourists, and retirees.   If Costa Rica can continue to walk this fine line between the fast-changing modern world, and the slower, Pura Vida-defined world of its heritage, it will continue to be a shining example on the world stage.

Chinchilla has extolled the policies of President Arias, and certainly has not indicated any change in direction to what she cites as, “solid growth and development.”  She intends only to “propel them forward.”  She has also responded to polls that overwhelmingly show the concerns of most Costa Ricans:  crime, insecurity, drugs, and domestic violence.   She promises tighter border control, improved police equipment, and not to shrink from addressing some of the underlying “Machista” attitude taking place behind closed doors.  She believes that by reducing poverty and focusing on the needs of women (with a possible nationalized daycare system), empowerment will follow as opportunities are equalized.

Perhaps the largest gap between perception and reality is with the country’s ailing infrastructure.  The new San Jose-Caldera highway opened under fanfare and media attention, and now provides the ability for people to sail along on a straight, flat road.  However, it is also true that many key bridges, roads, and the nation’s ports remain in poor condition – the president-elect would do well to shore up those lacking areas, lest she encounter more accusations of putting the interest of foreigners, businesses, and the wealthy ahead of the average citizen.

It is a momentous time for the small country of Costa Rica.  As a foreign resident myself, I cannot identify as intimately as Costa Rican citizens with what is at stake, culturally, but I am overwhelmed by the courage and involvement of the people of Costa Rica in coming to such a historic vote.

Michael Anthony

With most of the votes from Sunday’s election counted, Laura Chinchilla held a 22-point lead over her closest rival. Her 47 percent share of the vote was well beyond the 40 percent needed to avoid a run-off.

The 50-year-old protege of the current president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, promised to pursue the same economic policies that recently brought the country into a trade pact with the U.S. and opened commerce with China.

“Today we are making history,” said Chinchilla, who will be the fifth Latin American woman to serve as president when she takes office in May. “The Costa Rican people have given me their confidence, and I will not betray it.”

The closest contender, Otton Solis of the Citizens Action Party, got 25 percent of the votes. He and the other main rival, Libertarian Otto Guevara, quickly conceded defeat.

It was unclear, however, whether Chinchilla’s National Liberation Party would gain a majority in congress.

Analyst Heather Berkman of the Eurasia Group said coalition building without a majority would likely delay or derail controversial fiscal reforms to shore up government finances and energy deregulation.

The third-place candidate, Guevara, congratulated Chinchilla as “our president,” but he also pointed out the new political muscle of his tax-bashing Libertarian Movement Party. He won 21 percent of the vote.

Arias’ economic policies helped insulate Costa Rica from the world economic crisis as he kept a high profile on the world stage as a negotiator in Honduras’ political crisis after a coup deposed President Manuel Zelaya in June.

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Costa Rica Beach Championships

As a former college and beach volleyball player, I was thrilled when Atenas Costa Rica was chosen to host the beach and indoor volleyball championships for the 2010 Juegos Deportivos Nacionales (National Sports Games). Beach sand and bleachers were shipped in to the Central School Park where three courts handled the men’s and women’s under 21 tournament. In addition, the gym in Atenas was retrofitted with new sport court volleyball flooring for the indoor tournament.

The event welcomed teams from all over the country and offered a great time for Atenas residents. Admission was free to the public who enjoyed the high level of competition and various food vendors. The men’s championship match for the two-on-two beach event was this Saturday. There was standing room only to watch the final between Escazu and Atenas. Escazu entered the championship match undefeated, while Atenas lost one match (to Escazu) and had to climb through the loser’s bracket to face Escazu in the final.

Both teams were highly skilled and athletic which made for an epic battle. The lively crowd was overwhelmingly routing for their hometown team and their energy proved to feed the underdog Atenas duo. Raúl Sandoval and Julio Álvarez of Atenas won the first game to the delight of the crowd, before narrowly losing the second game to force the tie breaker.

A skirmish broke out in the crowd during the second game between several Atenas fans and a single Escazu fan which caused a break in the action followed by loud chants of “Ole, ole, ole, viva Atenas!” Atenas jumped to and early 4-to-0 lead in the final game to 15, and they never looked back. With the crowd cheering wildly, the Atenas duo claimed the 2010 Beach Volleyball Championships.

In a country that is crazy for soccer and not much else, Atenas has created a legacy in volleyball. The success of men’s indoor team who are also perennial national champions has spawned youth programs for boys and girls. Their success also brings pride to locals and resident expats. The event was such a success in Atenas that the commission is considering Atenas as the regular host of the volleyball games for years to come.

For volleyball players and teams in the U.S. interested in touring and playing Costa Rica teams, a new tour company is offering volleyball tours in Costa Rica. Your teams of all ages can come to play local competition and enjoy the many attractions of Costa Rica. Find out more information at http://www.costaricavolleyball.com/.

Jeff Hickcox – Author of the Real Estate Investing Guide – Costa Rica