My husband and I were discussing what we were going to do when we retire. I’ve got over 20 years unless I happen upon a million dollars or so.
If our recent tax assesment is true (there’s a big controversy over this here on Long Island over this assesment) then we can expect our house to appreciate by 8% every 2 years. At that rate it will be worth over a million in 23 years.
We could sell and take our money to someplace cheaper. Which would be anywhere in the country except for San Francisco or Boston. Hubby says he’d like Arizona. Me, I’d like for there to be something to do. Florida seems nice. Sure it’s cliche. That’s where old New Yorkers go to die. But it looks like it could be cheap with plenty to do to pass the time until the grim reaper comes a-knockin’.
There was also some discussion about retiring to a Caribbean island. I hear the US dollar can go pretty far there.
So, where do Dopers think is a good place to retire to?
Don’t count on ~4% appreciation in your home’s value every year. I know NYC is pretty much the only place in the country where housing prices aren’t yet falling or at least flat, but better, for your planning, to assume your house will be worth about what it’s worth now.
That was my thought too. Not sure about the mainland though. Belize City is rough.
Where in Belize would you consider?
My Wife and I live in a very rugged environment. I suspect that about 10 - 15 more years is all we will be able to handle. And that’s right in line with our retirement.
I donno. It sort of depends on whos left at that time. All of my Wifes family is back East. Charleston sounds nice. But I think it’s going to be hard to leave the West.
I’m considering bucking the trend and not packing up and going to some Money-Magazine-Ranked retirement place where I don’t know anybody. We’re thinking of staying in the city and downsizing to a condo or something. There’s better services, more to do, and I expect there will be a few friends left.
I’m sure as hell not retiring to someplace where I have to sweat off my wrinkled old ballsack. I’m thinking Prince Edward Island would be nice. Someplace out in the country where we can hunker down and hardly ever see a soul.
Just so long as I have quantum internet access so that I can hololog into the Dope every once in a while.
Yeah, I don’t really get why people want to pick up and mover to an entirely different place when they retire. If you don’t like where you’re living now, why live there?
Dang. That’s exactly my answer, minus the ballsack (coz I don’t have one).
I guess that means that property values in PEI will spiral into the stratosphere long before I can afford to retire… Hell, by then a little dream cottage near the shore will probably cost more than my east end TO 3-bedroom. ARRGH.
Time for plan B. I hear you can live like a king/queen in Thailand if you’ve got the cash.
Dunno 'bout anybody else but our reasoning is that our cost of living would be reduced by a factor of 10 and we can make our retirment money last and last and last. . . so that we can live past 100 and still take vacations every year.
I’m totally planning to snowbird - probably Arizona. It will be quite easy, since the US dollar will be in the crapper, US house prices will be rock bottom, and the Canadian dollar and economy will still be strong.
(I’ve also heard that Belize is very nice and affordable.)
I haven’t looked into the legalities of it but my husband and I have long discussed retiring to Mexico. No idea where in Mexico, but I’ll worry about it when it’s time, I guess.
I do know that luxury flats in Cancun go for around $600k, but I have no interest in living IN Cancun. Maybe somewhere inland where I can hunker down in a hut for the rest of my life, but close enough to the coast that I can take easy weekend trips for snorkeling. Also when I retire I am never wearing sunblock again. I’m just going to get all withered and brown, cancer and wrinkles be damned.
Although now everyone’s talk about Belize has me interested. Eh, I have 35 years to worry about it.
Panama has become extremely popular with US retirees lately. It uses the US dollar, and you can get a residence permit easily if you can show a fairly minimal regular income (from a pension, say). Senior citizens (including foreign retirees) get I think a 15% discount on restaurant meals and other items. Although not as cheap as some places, you get a lot more bang for your buck than in the US. Crime is not a serious problem in most of the country, and amenities are pretty good, as is health care. And the weather is great.
A little place on a couple of acres in the bush…not too far from a major town with health facilities and a supermarket, but far enough away to sit on the porch and watch the kangawallabats and the budgies doing their thing.
I can kinda see this and it also makes sense if you’re someone that’s moved aroudn quite a bit. But it just seems like if you’ve lived in a community for 30 or so years, you’d have ties to that community, friends and contacts. Living overseas would make it so much harder for your children to visit and harder for you to go visit. I know it’s not an uncommon strategy but it’s one I dont’ entirely get.
One recently returned poster just posted about the difficulties she was having with her parents who had up and moved to Mexico. They needed medical treatment and had to go to the states and no support system in place in Mexico. It seemed like a bad situation.
There are lots of US & Canadian retirees around Lake Chapala. Just south of Guadalajara, the area has great weather–due to altitude, it doesn’t get too hot or too cold. Guadalajara is Mexico’s 2nd largest city, with lots to do. (Wow–they’re building a Guggenheim there! Plenty of “old” culture, too.) Jalisco borders on the Pacific–so you’re within striking distance.
There seem to be real-estate folks who specialize in flying potential retirees down & showing them places to buy near the Lake. But I’d advise visiting &/or renting first. Some of the retirees are friendly & involved in the area. But others are not so pleasant. (From a friend of a friend.)
