The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica [Paperback]

Christopher Howard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2000

The updated and expanded 2000-20001 11th edition if the New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica offers invaluable assistance to anyone looking for a safe, affordable place to live outside the United States. This useful book contains all the ins and outs and dos and dont's and much more indispensible secret insider information about all areas of living in Costa Rica. It guides you step by step and shows how to live on a budget; how to start a business and includes 100s of sure-fire tips for making money; how to stay busy and happy ; where to; live in Costa Rica; how to aquire residency; shortcuts for learning Spanish; how to take advantage of the many tax savings for foreign residents(make up to $74,000 a year tax free), how to find high-interest investments paying 20% or more annually; how to pay fewer U.S. taxes as a foreign resident; how to make the break from the rat race and start a new exciting life; and even how and where to find quality peo! ple for companionship.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is packed with practical information for retirees, investors or anyone who wants an entree to the local scene...." -- Chicago Tribune

"We highly recommend this guidebook to ALL of our members and to anyone else thinking of living in Cost Rica..." -- Debiem Gomez Residents Association of Costa Rica

About the Author

The author, Christopher Howard, is a paid consultant for National Geographic in Costa Rica. He is a columnist for the newspaper "Central America Weekly", "Costa Rica Outdoors" magazine as well as the Association of Residents of Costa Rica magazine El Residente. He is the only author of any of the guidebooks about Costa Rica that actually lives there full time. It is not surprising, therefore, that he is considered the foremost expert on all areas of living and investing in Costa Rica.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Costa Rica Books; 11th edition (July 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881233375
• ISBN-13: 978-1881233374
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,385,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Howard has resided in Costa Rica for over 30 years and is Costa Rican citizen. During this time, he has had the opportunity to gather a plethora of information about living, retiring and investing in Costa Rica. It is not surprising that he has first-hand knowledge and insight into all aspects of Costa Rica's culture and its people. Because of his expertise, he is a frequent lecturer at numerous retirement and investment seminars. He has also appeared on the NBC Today Show and CNBC World Business News and was interviewed for Good Morning America.

Mr. Howard has extensive foreign language background, having earned a B.A in Latin American studies and a Masters degree in Spanish from the University of California. The author writes columns titled "Learning the Language" for the Association of Residents of Costa Rica's magazine La Voz, "Short Cuts for Learning Spanish" for the newspapers AM Costa Rica and Inside Costa Rica and the Costa Rica Living News Group.

Christopher has written 14 language and travel guidebooks about Latin America including 16 editions of the perennial bestselling "New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica", "Official Guide to Costa Rica Spanish" and the one-of-a-kind "Guide to Real Estate in Costa Rica."

Due to a multitude of requests from the readers of his guidebooks, Christopher Howard began to offer monthly relocation and retirement tours to Costa Rica starting in 1997. Since then he has personally helped thousands of people move to Costa Rica successfully through his one-of-a-kind licensed tours, seminars and private consultation services. Please see www.liveincostarica.com for more information about his unique tours.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good resources for the aspiring Tico, March 9, 2002

By 

Dan Miley "software product developer and dad" (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica (Paperback)

If you're interested in additional, recent, close to the ground reportage on living in CR, The Tico Times publishes an annual report in english on living in CR with an expat focus. It's avail on the Tico times website, on the subscribe page.

42 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The New Golden Door To Retirement Living in Costa Rica, September 17, 2000

By 

Irish Wehle (Oroville, Ca USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica (Paperback)

I found this book to be of tremendous help, we are thinking of retiring in Costa Rica, and Christopher Howard has written about everything you can possibly want to know and where to find it. Excellent reading, am more excited about going to Costa Rica now than I was before I read this book. This book is written honestly and without judgement, it tells ALL about Costa Rica, its people, crime, markets, bankings, driving, walking, safety, etc. I can't think of a single question that was not already answered in this book.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Place To Start, June 25, 2001

By 

LARRY DAVENPORT (SAN RAMON, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica (Paperback)

If you are considering living in Costa Rica or even an extended stay, this book is a good place to start. You cannot do too much research and this author will get you thinking in areas that you may have previously overlooked.

A word of caution: Don't let this be the only book you read on the subject. Even though the publication date suggests otherwise, I feel that some of the data is outdated. At least half of your research time should be spent seeking out people who live there now or in the recent past.