Christmas Bonus

Continuing the work theme, an important work vocab word for Costa Rica is the aguinaldo. Hold on to your hats, folks. In Costa Rica the state actually enforces an obligatory wage in the month of December for all employees, whether employed by the state or not, equivalent to a full month's salary (the average monthly salary for the year) on top of that month's salary. This aguinaldo has become a huge part of Costa Rican culture, as Ticos await this bookoo cash for holiday purchases.

Personally, I think the concept is a bit strange, especially since it's mandatory, but I must admit that it has its virtues. For example, it's nice to receive something at the end of the year. It's like Christmas, but for adults. Also, it does leave something to spend at the end of the year, whereas many people would otherwise spend their extra wages if they were evenly dispersed in their yearly paychecks.

One perceived virtue of the aguinaldo that, in my mind, is not a virtue at all is the idea of "free money" or "extra money." Costa Ricans often tell me, "it's so bad that there's no aguinaldo in the United States--the extra money at the end of the year helps us out." Now, as I stated before, the aguinaldo does help people save for the end of the year, but not everyone is best off with this "big brother" approach. If you ask me, I'd rather have that money dispersed in all of my paychecks, which is what my employer would use to calculate average monthly costs anyway! That's right, it's not free money. Employers know how much they'll need to spend on aguinaldos, so they'll pay you less than they otherwise would on a monthly basis to make up for it. Even more, they'll pocket that money they would have otherwise paid you each month until the very end of the year. So, they have your money for a whole year, leaving you to pay the opportunity cost of that cash, effectively decreasing--not increasing--your average monthly pay in real terms.

Ticos like their aguinaldo and I'm glad for it. I, however, would like my money now.