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With the prospect of more than 30 million Americans starting to retire, many developing countries expect a windfall.
In Costa Rica's case, retirees contribute significantly to the $1.4 billion a year in direct spending by American's here, the government says. The multiplier effects--salaries in health care, construction, retail and other services--could bring the total benefits to $4 billion, nearly 25% of Costa Rica's gross domestic product. Moreover, the retirement wave is synergistic: early pensionados invested in second careers--running bed-and-breakfast hotels near the beach or operating travel agencies--which attracted more tourists and more retirees.
Costa Ricans like to say theirs is the only country in Latin America boasting a greater number of Americans---as many as 20,000 retirees are here from the U.S. and Canada---than the number of its own emigres abroad. Although that may be a stretch by counting some of the 1.4 million tourists a year, it gets at an important economic phenomenon.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2005
