Depends on how long you live and the housing market , the same as buying a house before retirement.
Back to the OP- if it’s an additional $300K over the retirement income I’ll already have, then I’m moving to Myrtle Beach for the winter and staying in NYC for the rest of the year.
Would probably want to retire somewhere in western North Carolina. My sister lives in Morganton, and if she still lives there when I’m of retirement age, that would give me some family to visit. Outside of Asheville property is fairly affordable, and the climate is not too cold in the winter nor unbearably hot in the summer, but still has some change of seasons. The Appalachians and Atlantic Ocean are both within a day’s drive for recreation opportunities.
We are closing on our retirement home in a smallish town in western NC in about a week. Not moving there quite yet but will enjoy the house and explore the area during visits until we do. That is precisely where we both want to be. Paying cash for the home; when we move up there we will have ~$500k, get about $3k a month SS (if it’s still viable), and ultimately hopefully money from selling this house. Just give me a deck with a mountain view, a comfortable chair, and a good book and I will be happy.
Ha–just saw goonhead’s post when I posted this! Yes, it’s a great area!
I said I’d hit the open road, but I didn’t say anything about an RV.
I sort of already “retired” from '01 thru '06 when I took a buyout and got a fairly nice lump sum. My best friend rented a room to me for $400/month so I had a place to come home to, and I made several leisurely cross-country trips in my 4Runner (full of travel/camping gear and my bike) and went to NZ and Oz a couple of times. After that, through sheer luck I went back to work with my old company, and I’ll accrue 30 years of service next month.
Now, that room at my friend’'s house is still available, and I think 300K tax-free would last me almost a decade. Whatever happens after that doesn’t matter so much to me… I will have had all those years of freedom and grand adventures where otherwise I would be spending 40-plus hours a week at a job that bores me to fucking death.
Then we’d just move back home, I suppose, or we’d sell our house and drive around on that for the rest of our lives :D. We’d drive off a cliff before we’d pay money into an HOA or buy a condo in Arizona.
(And really, there are still tripod.com sites? Wow!)
No income tax, but a hefty sales tax.
Looking back, there is no way I would have retired with only $300K in the bank. We’re living on our SS money and the small retirement checks we get, which is easy if you don’t have a mortgage payment, but the money is there if we need it. If you’re only going to live on the $300K, you’re going to run out of money fairly soon. Even if you’re frugal and don’t have any long-term debt, you’re only likely to make it about ten years or so. Add travel and the other things mentioned, and you’ll be broke in half that time.
Taiwan or Thailand. Ideally somewhere near the coast.
Panama, where I am right now.
Lots of retirees from the US think the same.
Back to Finland, where I lived for a couple of years back in the early sixties. Turku, probably. A nice medium-sized city on the coast.
I don’t want to go anywhere. I’m happy to stay where I am after retirement.
Thankyou everyone, the replies are informative and interesting.
Thinking about it overnight, here’s a few places that occurred to me:
Thailand, Fiji, Costa Rica, Botswana, Turkey, India, Bhutan.
Some criteria to apply would be:
Stable politically, stable economy, basic infrastructure (clean water, sewerage, telephones, internet), medical care, some English spoken, access to an international airport to visit family.
Yeah, just watched an episode of House Hunters International and a guy moved to an inland city in northern Thailand - rents were ridiculously cheap (he picked an apartment for $230/month that was quite nice, but declined a $620/mo four story modern house that was spectacular!). Plus, they mentioned most people never cook at home as food is so cheap and such and abundance of places to eat.
Not quite sure about things like health care, political climate and language barrier (I would imagine learning Thai is a bit of a challenge), but otherwise, seems like a great choice for someone with limited budget and wanting adventure and great weather.
What town was it, if you don’t mind me asking?
Gig Harbor, and the neighborhoods to the north and west of it.
300k is probably not enough to retire the way I want. Unless I get to keep my pensions too.
Some place warm. On the ocean.
Goa. Definitely Goa.
I’m Konkani and my fiance fell in love with Goa when he worked there for a year and a half for his first post-college job.
It’s pretty weird-my parents immigrated to the West from India in the early 80s for economic prosperity and better opportunities and my SO and I are thinking of going back within this decade. For me it’s definitely going to be an Immigration Event to a foreign country because I am very thoroughly American at this point and pretty attached to living here.
A nice log home around Charlevoix, MI. close to lake Michigan, a couple acres of land, tall pine trees and amazing sunsets.
I’d never leave.
oooh, tell me more! why do you like Panama? is it the weather? is the living inexpensive? more, more!!
Montreal. It’s where I’ve lived all my life, but I love it so much I’d like to stay here.
Maybe also Vancouver, but housing prices are three times what they are in Montreal, and $300,000 there wouldn’t last me the rest of my life (I’m only 27.)
Well, since I probably couldn’t live in Barcelona on that budget, Andalucia it is. As long as I could find a place with modern heat and air conditioning.