Costa Rica is once again benefiting from a growing shift among older Americans who are looking outside the United States for their next chapter. In polling released by Monmouth University, 17% of Americans age 55 and older said they would like to resettle in another country, up from 4% in 1974. Advisers who work with relocating retirees told Bloomberg that interest in moving abroad has picked up in recent years and has accelerated during Donald Trump’s second term.
For Costa Rica, the reasons are familiar as our country continues to rank near the top of retirement lists aimed at U.S. readers, with International Living placing it third in its recent Annual Global Retirement Index and pointing to healthcare, climate, quality of life, and established expat communities. Realtor.com also listed Costa Rica among the best global retirement havens for Americans, highlighting its mild weather and lower living costs compared with many parts of the United States.
Costa Rica also keeps an advantage that matters to retirees living on fixed income: the move is still relatively accessible for people with pension income. The country’s pensionado residency category is open to foreigners who can show a lifetime pension of at least $1,000 a month. Foreign residents are also tied into the public healthcare system through the Caja, with Costa Rican rules linking residency approval or renewal to social security enrollment and CCSS guidance stating that foreigners with legal residence can access health coverage.
That does not mean Costa Rica is as cheap as it once was. The stronger colón has cut into the spending power of retirees bringing in dollars from Social Security or pensions. Recently, the Central Bank’s reference exchange rate stood at ₡452.59 for purchase and ₡458.64 for sale, while the MONEX wholesale market closed with a weighted average of ₡456.12 per dollar. OMFIF said in March that the colón had reached its strongest levels in more than a decade, a change that has made daily life more expensive for many dollar-based foreigners than it was a few years ago.
Even with that pressure, Costa Rica remains one of the most durable options in Latin America for Americans looking to retire abroad. It offers a stable democracy, a well-known residency path for pensioners, public healthcare access for legal residents, and an established network of foreign communities that can ease the move.
For many retirees, that mix still outweighs the currency squeeze. Costa Rica may no longer be the bargain it once was, but it remains one of the countries most clearly positioned to benefit as more Americans decide their retirement plans lie somewhere beyond the U.S. border
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