How your US retirement income is actually taxed here.
Straight from the same profile Glidepath's engine taxes against - not a marketing summary of it.
Territorial: US-source retirement income is NOT taxed by Costa Rica.
No US income-tax treaty - so no foreign tax credit offsets your US bill (nothing to credit).
Mandatory Caja (CCSS) enrollment ≈ 10–15% of declared income acts like a health levy.
What could change this.
A static $60,000 bank deposit historically satisfied the Rentista category, but authorities increasingly demand verifiable recurring income. The mandatory Caja contribution is also assessed on declared income at CCSS discretion, so your health cost can come in well above the modeled figure.
When: Practice is shifting now
Compliance traps that catch US retirees here.
Local investment wrappers that look ordinary to a local resident can be a US tax trap for a US citizen - these are the ones specific to Costa Rica.
Costa Rican investment funds (fondos de inversión) are PFICs
The colón- or dollar-denominated mutual/money-market and real-estate funds marketed by local banks (BAC, BCR, BN, Popular) to park your Rentista/Pensionado deposits are pooled foreign funds and classic PFICs, triggering Form 8621 and punitive Section 1291 treatment. Use the Costa Rican bank account purely to receive and exchange your pension; keep investments US-domiciled.
Voluntary complementary pension wrappers (ROPV) are PFIC/reporting traps
If you take up the voluntary complementary pension (régimen voluntario) or other operadora-administered savings, the underlying account holds Costa Rican pooled funds - likely PFIC exposure plus foreign-pension/FBAR reporting. The mandatory ROP only arises if you actually work locally.
No treaty: double Social-Security exposure if you work
With no US-Costa Rica income-tax treaty and no totalization agreement, any self-employment/work in Costa Rica can expose you to both US SE tax and Costa Rican CCSS contributions at once, with no totalization exemption certificate available.
Healthcare as a retiree.
Mandatory enrollment in the public Caja (CCSS) as an 'asegurado voluntario' is required for residency. Contributions are assessed on income declared to immigration and commonly total ~10–15% of it (SEM health + IVM pension), so a minimum-pension Pensionado may pay ~$65–130/mo while a Rentista declaring $2,500 can pay ~$200–560/mo. Caja coverage is family-inclusive. Most expats also keep private/cash cover to skip CCSS wait times.
Anchored to a minimum-pension Pensionado couple (~$800–1,600/yr Caja plus a modest private/cash supplement). A Rentista household pays materially more in mandatory Caja alone; a standalone international plan for two runs ~$3,000–6,000+. The exact Caja assessment is at CCSS discretion.
Models the mandatory Caja premium at the USD 1,000/mo-declared worked example plus market-quoted private out-of-pocket; an optional INS private plan (USD 100-250/mo/person, no new policies past 74) is not included.
The retirement visa route.
Pensionado: guaranteed lifetime pension ≥ $1,000/mo, exchanged via a Costa Rican bank. Rentista: $2,500/mo stable income for 2 years (a static $60k deposit is increasingly insufficient on its own - authorities now lean on verifiable recurring income). Both require mandatory CCSS (Caja) enrollment. (Inversionista alternative: $150k investment.)
What could this actually cost you?
A fast, illustrative estimate for Costa Rica - no login, nothing stored. Every country page carries its own, tuned to that country's tax treatment.
Your monthly spending power in Costa Rica on about $1M
A lean lifestyle in Costa Rica
Day to day, that looks like a small apartment in a lower-cost town, transit or one older economy car, cooking at home with the odd cheap meal out. For health, the public health system, with out-of-pocket costs a real worry.
As a US citizen, you keep filing US taxes wherever you live.
Costa Rica: Territorial: US-source income outside the Costa Rica tax net
This is a fast estimate, not the full simulation, and not financial advice. It only flags the tax question. The full plan works out what you'd actually owe on each side of the border. It also models real balances, every account type, and healthcare, year by year.
The terms you'll actually run into.
- Pensionado
- Costa Rica's retiree residency category requiring a guaranteed lifetime pension of at least $1,000/month, which must actually be exchanged into colones through a local bank.
- Rentista
- Residency for those without a pension: proof of $2,500/month of stable unearned income for two years (historically a $60,000 bank deposit, though verifiable recurring income is increasingly demanded).
- Caja / CCSS
- The Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social - the national social-security and public-healthcare system all legal residents must join; enrollment is mandatory to obtain and renew residency.
- Asegurado voluntario
- The CCSS 'voluntary insured' category for non-working residents and retirees, with contributions assessed on the income declared to immigration rather than a local salary.
- Renta territorial
- Costa Rica's territorial-source principle: only Costa Rican-source income is taxed; foreign pensions, US Social Security and foreign investments are outside the tax net.
Nothing on this page is invented.
Confidence: verified. Last verified June 1, 2026. Every figure above comes from one of the sources below - the same profile the paid engine uses to actually compute your projection.
See the full country-by-country build sheet on the coverage page.