Where to live when you retire

[shoemak38]

Hubby and I are in our early 50s; I am basically retired (self-employed but not working due to implosion of the economy). He plans to retire in 2015, at age 57.

1. Do you want one home or a main stay and a retirement home? -- I would prefer one home. Trying to take care of two does not sound like a relaxing retirement! However, we've considered purchasing a vacation home (condo) that is rented out by a management company, while having a full-time residence elsewhere.

2. Where would you want to live if you could afford anywhere in the world? -- Somewhere in the Caribbean. But unless we win the lottery we'll have to settle for long visits.

3. Is your plan to not have a mortgage payment when you retire? -- That's possible if we purchase just one home; if we also purchase a vacation rental, we'll probably have to have a mortgage on one of the properties.

4. Are you settling for where you are currently living because you are close to family? But you desire to live in a different location? -- No. Our closest family member is a three-hour drive; my mother, our only living parent, lives in Florida and is researching independent-living communities. So being near family is not important, that's what airplanes are for! We will definitely move south but still not sure where.

5. Is your plan to stay put in the four season area you currently live in but plan to spend the cold months in a warmer area? -- No, we'll leave New England's nasty, snowy winters and head south for good. Hubby is a waterskier, we both love boating and golf; our ultimate retirement home would be in a gated, adult-only golf community with a fresh-water marina.

Look at this link
http://www.dataw.org/
We will be taking several vacation trips during the next few years to golf/lake communities in northern Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas to see what each has to offer. Last October we vacationed in Hilton Head, SC and although we loved the island, we cannot ever imagine living there during high tourist season.

The whole retirement thing is scary-exciting!

[Teddy Salad]

Interesting topic Terry.

1. Do you want one home or a main stay and a retirement home? Kind of complicated for us. We have a home in Denver, and also family property about 200 miles west of Denver. I would like to live at the family property from April thru November (winters are brutal there, but summer and fall is unbelievably nice). I wouldn't mind selling the Denver home but DW loves Denver and wants to keep the house, so who knows? Would probably rent a warm place in the winter, but might buy if we find a great deal.

2. Where would you want to live if you could afford anywhere in the world? We love St. John, but probably Kauai, at least in the winter. Steamboat in warm months.

3. Is your plan to not have a mortgage payment when you retire? We paid ours off over a year ago. Such a great feeling. Highly recommended.

4. Are you settling for where you are currently living because you are close to family? But you desire to live in a different location? Family is not a consideration for us. We have good jobs in Denver and like where we live. I need to be close to the family property as it needs caring for and my siblings live too far away.

5. Is your plan to stay put in the four season area you currently live in but plan to spend the cold months in a warmer area? Would like to spend December thru March in a warmer area, although Denver winters are not bad.

[Terry]

You have all had great responses. Much like where we want to be in retiremenmt.

One more question...

Do any of you own rental property already and need to live in it or pay capital gains?

I feel like we have such a retirement complicated life. I will get a pension, husband will not cause he's self employed. He'll receive Social Security as long as it lives.

If we would have bought one of our rental properties in Venice FL back in 1976, we'd be in great shape for owning a warm resort property for the winter months. But we own several properties in CO. Grant it we love CO, but this winter almost did us in. We have molded snow in the backyard.

[AquaGirl]

This is such an interesting topic, since we are just starting to think about retirement and where we want to live. I envy people who know exactly where they will live for retirement. We live now in Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. and will definitely NOT live here when we retire, even though we have family here. I love Virginia in the spring and fall, but we will live someplace warm all year around, then come back to visit Virginia and the mountains (we love mountains too).

My parents owned 2 homes for several years (Florida and Virginia), and it seems like too much of a pain to me. We love to travel, so we will stick with one house, then travel different places as much as we can afford. Since we love to travel, we will want to live near a decent size airport.

Terry - I visit Venice, Florida several times a year to visit my parents. Its such a lovely Florida town close to some great beaches. I always look at houses for sale, just for fun, when I'm there. Due to the economy, there are quite a few for sale at a decent price. Of course, much more than in the 70s, but good prices compared to where I live.

[pegoode]

Love Venice FL! My mother had a place there and my husband and I consider that one of the few places in the state that we like enough to consider as a retirement option.

[17th Hole]

We're still a ways off from retirement ( I'm 40, wife 38 ) but our plan is to move to the Caribbean as soon as it's feasible. We're stashing money away as fast as possible. St. John was our first choice although a more realistic option may be Puerto Rico or St Thomas. We keep watching "House Hunters International" and get new ideas about where we want to retire. I guess we'll see where our retirement fund is in 15-20 years and decide then, but for now it's fun to look at different places and dream. I'm just glad my wife and I are on the same page about our future. I told her that one day I'm going to surprise her with "Honey, pack it or sell it. We're moving next week."

[Terry]

17 Hole,
Trust me, retiring is a bit more work than I ever thought it would be. It's like a life defining moment..getting your ducks in a row...a rebirth of life...a restructure of schedules...definitely a regrouping and learning experience.

We're just beginning this journey and have 5 years more to go until our goal. I soon realized it's not just picking a destination. It's refiguring financial goals. It's getting rid of "stuff". (Yep, we're selling our turn table and old albums, and letting the ping pong table go! ) Getting down to basics. That's just the start.

We're getting ready to move onto our second half of our life and looking forward to it!

[XOXO]

Love Venice FL! My mother had a place there and my husband and I consider that one of the few places in the state that we like enough to consider as a retirement option.

I remembered this suggestion and started looking tonight into Venice, FL. I love what I have seen so far. Can you give me any suggestions as far as good areas/developments? We want something that is gated, within walking distance to the water, and probably newer. We like town houses best but we are open to anything.

Also, what airport do you normally fly into?

Thank you for any help you can provide. I am starting to get overwhelmed.

Gina

[Coden]

These are our current plans:

We are putting our house up for sale in 2012...as soon as it sells, we are outta here!! We are also selling Everything we own, except for a few antiques which will go into storage.

First stop...Transatlantic cruise to Europe, where we will stay for approx. 4 months - backpacking our way around via trains, planes and automobiles...then we'll take another Transatlantic cruise back to the States.

Now, once we come back to the States, that is where it gets tricky. Our options are A) buy a small cabin cruiser and go around the Bahamas, USVI & BVI's...or...B) buy a small motor home and travel the U.S. This is the part we can't make our minds up on yet. We figure we'll make that decision once we land back on U.S. soil.

Then, after we are done running around we'll buy a small home wherever our son is and hopefully play with grand kids.

[XOXO]

Coden, your plan sounds GREAT! I have a friend that retired and moved into a sailboat. They spend most of their time in the Bahamas. Pretty rough, huh?

I am looking forward to hearing about it.

Last night I continued to research Venice and it sounds like they are already smelling oil. So sad and scary. Since we aren't ready to retire, but looking for a second home to eventually retire in, maybe the timing isn't as bad as I initially thought in terms of the oil spill. It will be clean by the time we move. The whole bp issue is horrible for all of us.

Gina

[Coden]

XOXO - I hope our plans work out for us, you just never know. The hard part after our return will be deciding which to do first, the boat or camper. In one way, I choose the camper because we can both still drive without being too detrimental to others on the road. But...the pull of the ocean is HUGE. Not that I'm telling anyone on this forum anything new. LOL

The BP spill is killing everything in its wake. So many lives ruined, our ecological system - gone, wildlife - gone, tourism - gone. We have plans for our yearly Sept. trip down to St. George Island which is on the far eastern portion of the Panhandle. They've set out the booms...but, it is getting closer and closer. We'll be there unless they tell us not to come.

As far as buying homes down there, you are correct in that it will end up being a good time to buy. Pity, isn't it? I always thought I would retire down that way, may still...after I get my running around done of course. Maybe we'll hook up.

[stjdeb]

This really is an interesting topic and I'm so enjoying others ideas, thanks. My hubby and I, like many of you, live in a winter hiatus kind of state, northeastern Ohio. I don't feel the need to leave for the entire winter, as I do like the change in seasons. That being said, I would like to leave for a good 6 weeks when it starts to become tiresome (which is earlier every year). Well, maybe mid-Feb to end of March. Permanent move - noooo, will miss my grandkids too much. House should be paid off in the next 2-3 years, so that won't be an issue. Taking in another mortgage for a second home? No, not into that. As far as being on vaycay for 6 weeks - stick to what you know and love, St John Villa for me. Probably not too fussy about amenities for that amount of time - go cheaper - stay longer! But keep those ideas coming, I love it!