Click to view the Costa Rica Land Trust December 2007 Newsletter.

1-888-655-7390 US ▪ 307-5707 Costa Rica ▪ lazars@bellsouth.net

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and New Year to all! I hope everyone has been blessed this year with good health and is looking forward to next year. A great number of interesting articles and Costa Rica Land Trust development update information. We hope to see you this year when you visit Costa Rica. 

With early buyers in Vista Del Mar having realized a 30 to 40% appreciation in their property value and many more positive things happening in the area to continue to drive property values, now is a good time to consider a purchase. Give us plenty of advance notice of your arrival so that we are plan for your visit to the Central and/or Southern Coasts.

1. Vista Del Mar Update

The area between Dominical and Palmar continue to grow as infrastructure improves; the new hospital nears completion and the future international airport looks to be a reality.  Early buyers in Vista Del Mar have already seen a 30 to 40% property value increase over the last year and prices are still modest with significant upside potential for the next 3 to 5 years. 

To schedule a visit to the property or phone conference, call us at 888-655-7390 or you can email us.  We look forward to seeing and speaking with you.  Following are the available properties, click here or on the image to see a larger image:

2. Montañas y Mar Update

We are proud to announce two important events regarding the Montañas y Mar community:

Some other key facts about Montañas y Mar you should know:

• The entire property is 750 acres; 375+ will be put into permanent environmental protection

• The property is located 20 minutes from Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park

• Average property size in phase one is 2.91 acres or 1.12 hectares

• There are two rivers on the property, the Rio Damas and Damitas

• Ocean views face west which means sunset views over the ocean

• We have over 6 miles of hiking trails and one mile of groomed nature path

To schedule a visit to the property or phone conference, call us at 888-655-7390 or you can email us at info@montanasymar.com.  We look forward to seeing and speaking with you.

3. Costa Rica Maintains its Tourist Attraction

4. Four New Airlines To Fly to Costa Rica

Four new airlines have announced their plans to offer services in Costa Rica, while others like Delta Airlines will be offering more connections and more flights.  Access to Costa Rica is getting more pervasive as more options become available.  Read the rest of the article:

   http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2007/october/02/nac01.htm

5. That flood of retiring baby boomers is just a few years away

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
and wire service reports

Anyone who was wondering where all those expats will come from to fill those Pacific condos and build out those lots need not worry. But the trend spells trouble for North American businesses.

In 2011, the so-called baby boomer generation of Americans born after World War II will hit 65 and start looking at its options for retirement. While more than 78 million baby boomers are contemplating how to spend their golden years, businesses are bracing themselves for labor shortages and the biggest brain drain in history.

According to a recent study by the Conference Board, a global research and business group, organizations are not prepared for the retirement of the baby boomers. Diane Piktialis is a baby boomer working with the Mature Workforce Program at the Conference Board.

"The baby boomer population is going to be retiring in record numbers and the number of workers coming up through the labor force behind them is not enough to fill all the positions that are going to be left vacant," she said.  "Companies not only don't have enough bodies to replace retiring workers, but most organizations have not formalized any programs to transfer knowledge from those mature workers to others coming up through the organization."

A baby boomer is someone born in the United States between 1946 and 1964. After World War II, the United States experienced an unusual increase in birth rates, now commonly described as the baby boom. Piktialis says that, instead of worrying about the retirement of the baby boomers, companies should start finding ways of keeping them on board.

The good news is that while baby boomers may be old enough to retire and cash-in on their benefits, most of them don't want to give up active lives. Many are willing to go on working as long as it's on a part-time or flexible schedule.

Some will do so when they move their lives to Costa Rica and other offshore retirement havens. They will be assisted by improved Internet connections.

"All of the studies show that somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of these baby boomers, when asked, said that they would like to continue working in some capacity," she explained.  "Part of the reason is the fact that they are better educated and healthier than in the past. People want to stay engaged. They want to contribute. They want to keep their minds intellectually challenged."

To tap into the potential of the baby boomer generation, according to Piktialis, companies and non-profit groups need to rethink their approach to recruitment and start including older people in their search for talent.

Stephen Kotlikoff, a Boston University economics professor, says that the major impact of the baby boomers' retirement will be financial. He says once they retire and no longer are earning a salary and paying taxes, policy makers will have to find ways to finance government programs in a fiscally responsible way.

"The real issue with the baby boomers retirement is that there are going to be a lot of old people to support relative to the number of workers that are making Social Security contributions. We are currently handing out $30,000 per old person in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid benefits. And when the baby boomers retire, that number in today's dollar will be about $50,000. You are talking about close to $3 trillion, $4 trillion a year in outlays."

The government and the private sector have been busy for years trying to find solutions to the problems the retirement of baby boomers will cause. They have less than five years.

6. CNBC Report Regarding International Property

There is special mention in this report about Costa Rica.

Check out this segment from CNBC: This is a 6 minute news piece that ran on CNBC this Spring about why many people are buying outside the US and Canada these days.  It covers many Latin American countries, and doesn't say enough about how stable Costa Rica is. They also do not mention that foreigners may buy property in Costa Rica and if you qualify for a mortgage in the US, you also probably qualify for one in CR.  But check it out (you'll have to watch a commercial first). http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=f11fe927-2110-42d2-b4f2-d339ff1660fc

7. Racsa Announced Expansion Of WiMax Service

Interesting article regarding wireless internet access.  I have been finding more and more places in the country, including hotels in far reaches of tourist destinations, that have wireless access.

Racsa, the state monopoly on internet, has announced that it will extend its "WiMax" program to all of san José, allowing properly equipped laptops, PDA's and cell phones wireless broadband access to the internet.

The program started last year in Santa Ana and Ezcazú that included such spots as Multiplaza, and many restaurants and public spots across the Metropolitan Area. The  Juan Santamaría (San José) international airport also on WiMax.

Racsa says that once the San José program is complete, it will begin in Alajuela and Cartago.

According to the Wikipedia WiMAX is an acronym that stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, a certification mark for products that pass conformity and interoperability tests for the IEEE 802.16 standards.

Products that pass the conformity tests for WiMAX are capable of forming wireless connections between them to permit the carrying of internet packet data. It is similar to WiFi in concept, but has certain improvements that are aimed at improving performance and should permit usage over much greater distances.

Following the success of this pilot launch, Rasca now intends to expand the network to more than 400 "hotspots" in the San José area that will include commercial centres, restaurants and public buildings.

The user-base is limited by those individuals whom Rasca estimate can afford to purchase CPE units. While this is a small user base, Rasca believe that the WiMAX service will become available to more users in the future when the prices of CPE units decreases.

Costa Rica has a modern telecoms infrastructure and has the second highest Internet penetration rate in Latin America, according to Paul Budde Communications. ICE and

Rasca is a subsidiary of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), a state-owned monopoly that controls all telecommunications in Costa Rica.

8. Top Ten Reasons For Retiring To Costa Rica

Posted: 31 Jul 2007 02:05 AM CDT

From Rosemary Rein at Retreats Costa Rica comes this very informative essay about why she and her family moved to Costa Rica and love it. She has very wittily put her opinions in Top Ten form, and here is her post:

“As residents of Costa Rica for 10 years, we are often asked the reason why we moved to Costa Rica …. so here’s our Top 10 list for those of you contemplating your own adventure, living, working and or retiring in Costa Rica.

10), Climate, Climate, Climate. You can almost pick your preferred temperature in Costa Rica and we selected 72 degrees year round at our home in the Central Valley Mountains. But what about the Rainy/Green Season? Sure, we have about 2 hours of rain during our “winter” months each day, but most mornings are beautiful and sunny. That sure beats Fargo in Winter and Phoenix in Summer! We also happen to delight in that expected afternoon rain in green season for a few hours. In fact if you haven’t experienced the sound of rain falling on a tin roof, with a good book, frankly, you haven’t lived.

9) Nature Lover’s Paradise: From rain forest to crisp mountains to experiencing the “Gifts from the Sea’, Costa Rica is a Nature Lover’s Paradise. Each morning Barry and I hike out our front door to the countryside where following a cow on the road is as common and much more delightful than interstate traffic.

8) Health Care: As Business Owners in the United States faced with staggering insurance costs, we sought out a location for retirement that would provide, quality, affordable health care. Costa Rica has U.S. Trained Dr’s with state of the Art Hospitals and Medical Facilities. It also has a thriving medical tourism industry. When we first moved to Costa Rica, private insurance cost $1400 annually for the two of us covering most of our medical costs and prescriptions. What this meant was state of the art care when hospitalized. Third World? I don’t know about that. In my private hospital room, I had a flat screen t.v. dining menu options and a companion bed for my husband to stay with me. While our insurance has increased slightly as we have aged, I believe the care in Costa Rica unbeatable.

7) Adventure: We probably saw too many Raiders of the Lost Ark movies, but we wanted the next chapter in our life after the rat race to be a True Learning Adventure ! Flying through the Forest Canopy, White Water Rafting are just two examples and we have a long list of adventures still on the list. Every day, daily living in Costa Rica is an adventure from exploring exotic fruits to rescuing a sloth. I have to say it beats going to Walmart.

6) Social Community: We could keep ourselves entertained 7 days and nights a week with Costa Rica’s busy and diverse ex pat community. There’s a club for every interest (Birding, Hiking, Bridge, Gourmet Food and Wine, Volunteer Opportunities) just name it and it’s here. Foreign residents find each other at social centers and hubs and groups like the Newcomers Organization that help with the transition of moving to a foreign country.

5) Safety: While we now look back to the good old days when there was virtually little crime when we came to Costa Rica. Sadly we are not immune to the increasing crime rates that you find almost everywhere in the world, much linked to the growing drug problem. Still crime tends to be more property related than violent and so we have added precautions like a home security system. What should be noted is there is more violent crime in most major U.S. Cities in one day, yet the media will spotlight any violent crime against U.S Citizens that occurs outside of her borders. Costa Rica ,it should be noted , is also a peace-loving and stable country with no Army, often referred to as the Switzerland of the Americas.

4) Cost of Living: Indeed there are financial benefits of being a U.S. citizen living in Costa Rica. One of the attractions for us in selecting and moving to Costa Rica was the benefit of the first $75,000 of foreign earned income being tax free; Another? property taxes on our new contemporary home in Escazu, Costa Rica were a whopping $100.00 a year. That sure beat $6,000 a year property taxes in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. . There was also no heating or air-conditioning expenses to contend with and the real kicker indulgence for me was massages were $10.00 an hour. I remember saying “I’m so there” There is no doubt, that we could not afford our current lifestyle in the United States and while Costa Rica is unfortunately being increasingly discovered and developed, there are still affordable options for creating a quality lifestyle at a fraction of U.S. prices.

3) Warm and Hospitable Costa Rican People. Pura Vida! “That’s a Costa Rican expression that means “pure life”. Sunday morning is our favorite day for walking in the barrio…Mothers and Fathers walking hand in hand with their children to church reminding us of our own childhood. “It’s like the United States in the 1950’s” . There is tranquility and a commitment to family.

2) Connected: Today’s Ability to Work and Live Anywhere. Yes, we have wireless Internet and low-cost phone service in Costa Rica that enables us to work from home on the deck with parrots flying overhead. It’s not everywhere in the country and certainly not deep in the rain forest, but technology has enabled us to work and stay connected with our offices and families and friends. Just 2.5 hour flight from Miami and 3 a.5 hour flight from Houston, we are closer to many relatives and clients than they are with others living within U.S. borders

1) The Mangos, The Monkeys, The Magic: I love to watch visitors in our learning retreats discover their own magic here while staying amidst the jewels of the Costa Rican rain forest. Forever changed from their journey to paradise, their discovery is almost child-like. I developed the brand for my speaking and retreat business from the voices of those who have discovered their own passion here. On seeing lava flow from an active volcano, a child-like WOW would be uttered competing only slightly with the volcanic rumble.”

Rosemary Rein is the author of “Go Wild! Survival Skills for Business and Life” and a new book to be published in January 08 with Dr. Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard entitled “The Blueprint for Success and Survival”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone express these things better. Thank you, Ms. Rein.

9. Government Doubles Investments in Public Works

(La Nacion) — So far in 2007, the government has almost doubled its investment in public works compared to 2006. The government has poured 195 billion colones ($375 million) into road projects, educational programs, school cafeterias, pensions and other programs, which represents a 95 percent increase over the first seven months of 2006. The Ministry of the Treasure said better tax collection has allowed the government to spend more on public projects. Read article

10. U.S. Forgives Costa Rican Debt to Help Environment

Good see the US help with the environment in Costa Rica even if some skeptics view it more of a political maneuver.  Read the complete article:

11. Costa Rica Plants 5 Million Trees This Year

(Infocom) — Costa Rica has made good on its commitment to plant 5 million trees this year, one of country’s steps in its plan to become the world’s first carbon-neutral nation. At a ceremony that took place at Casa Presidencial, President Oscar Arias planted himself the symbolic 5 millionth tree, even though estimates indicate the total number of trees for this year will reach almost 6 million. Read article

12. Schedule Your Trip To Costa Rica

If you are heading to Costa Rica or are thinking about visiting Costa Rica, let us know.  We can recommend hotels, places to visit and help you plan your trip.  Email us or call 404-310-9869.