Author Topic: Retiring But where?  (Read 25609 times)

OUTSIDEWAVE

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Retiring But where?
« on: February 10, 2019, 10:03:03 PM »
Well  getting time to retire.  But it is going to be a challenge.  I spent the heart and soul and  27 years of my career. Building a business. Finally got there only to have a MF partner steal it out from under me leaving me with little to nothing to show for my the. Bulk of my life’s work.  So I found my self starting over at 55 with nothing.  Now 10 years later  I am looking down the barrel of retirement.  At that time lost the house in the recession.
 The thing is I have lived in so cal since 1964 the same year I learned to surf.    Now I am thinking about retiring. And have scraped together a paltry down payment. And am looking to buy a house. Most likely out of state   I would like to be able to paddle. But maybe  more along some rivers or lake.  Looking at Oregon or Washington  maybe. Maybe along the coast. So what are your ideas on where? Given this is going to be a low budget affair?
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Zooport

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2019, 05:01:02 AM »
This is probably way outside of what you were thinking, but I am pretty happy in the Charlotte, NC area.  Housing here is less than 25% of what it is in California and there's lots of lakes nearby.  A small, but beautiful lake is just 11 minutes from my house.  The drawback is that surf is 3 hours away and I rarely see really good waves by California standards.  I have some pretty bad surf withdrawals, but I'm filling it in with all the other cool things to do here.  If you are into mountain biking, you would be in heaven here.
« Last Edit: February 11, 2019, 05:03:50 AM by Zooport »
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OUTSIDEWAVE

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2019, 06:54:53 AM »
Hey zoo good to hear from you. It’s a thought. For sure  thing is our family  all the kids are out here in ca. And even though I don’t see them a lot  we still see them. How are you adjusting to the colder winters.  Did you get snow? I looked at some possible places. And they all have snow in the forecast.   Wow!
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Night Wing

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2019, 08:19:03 AM »
I think the West Coast is expensive. As an example, compare the housing prices in Oregon/Washington to say some places in the state I live in, Texas.

A great place to retire is near the small city of Port Aransas, Texas. PA is right on the coast though. But it not as expensive to live there as it would be in Oregon/Washington.

As of right now, gasoline is some where near $1.79-$1.95 per gallon (cash). Use a credit card for "convenience" and the gasoline is more expensive. Why is gasoline fuel so cheap? Because Texas has lots of oil refineries and these refineries make lots of gasoline. And a lot of this gasoline stays in Texas.

Housing prices are affordable too. My next door neighbor to the left of me paid $140,000 for a 10 year old used house (built in 2009) which has 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 2 car attached garage and the house has 2100 square feet of living area with a 500 square foot garage. His lot is about one-third of an acre.

Food is not expensive either. As for electricty, since my house is all electric, we pay $0.12 per kwh. My home is 1860 square feet with a 500 square foot attached garage and my January electric bill was ($230.63). City, school and county taxes came to a combined $1500 dollars. But I am a senior in age and get a homestead exemption. Texas has no state income tax either.

The only drawbacks; Texas has 6 months of Summer, 3 months of Fall and 3 months of Spring. My grass is starting to grow again and the trees in my are yard are starting to bloom.

Another drawback is the weather. Texas does get tornadoes and hurricanes. I can't do much about tornadoes, but hurricanes are manageable. I live 90 miles from the beaches on the Gulf Coast. Back in September of 2008 when Hurricane Ike's eyewall was 30 miles to the east of me, the wind speed at my house was 60 mph. Hurricanes lose at of their punch when they make landfall and start to move inland. This is why I live 90 miles from the coast.

And Texas is hot with lots of high humidity (if you live near the coast). Today's high temperature is going to be 70 degrees F. You can see what our temperatures for this week (which is close to me) are going to be. Not bad for almost the middle of February.

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=30.2094&lon=-95.7508#.Vj6C1492Ols

And the surfing is good because most of our waves are wind generated. If there is no wind, you can always tanker bow wave surf at Port Aransas. With our mild winters, get yourself a wet suit and you can sup surf all year round. So if hurricanes bother you, live about 60 miles from the coast from Port Aransas.

BTW, the weather forecast for Port Aransas for the rest of this week is below.

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=27.836&lon=-97.0682

The above is "food for thought".


« Last Edit: February 11, 2019, 08:29:41 AM by Night Wing »
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PonoBill

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2019, 08:31:30 AM »
I started a book on retirement but never finished it. One of the big issues is where to retire. Oregon is a terrible choice as is Hawaii--both place that I have homes. So there's that. Washington is a bit better since it has no income tax, but retirees don't need to worry so much about income tax. Property tax and other expenses are a bigger deal.

Here's a link to as much of the book as I wrote. It's a bit of a mess, but there's some good stuff. https://retirement.pressbooks.com/front-matter/introduction/
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Wetstuff

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2019, 09:02:43 AM »
Outs...  Sorry to hear about the 'partner' deal.  My wife and I reached the health plateau where it would be imprudent to live outside the country, but I (we) would in a heartbeat if we could.  We have an east coast orientation (and my wife was born/raised in the Canal Zone) so our choices (changing over the years) come down to Panama or the DR. 

A friend who resides in Fl, and still in the surf clothing trade, has had small factories in China, MEX, Nica and now the DR. He keeps a condo in the DR and raves about locals he's met and paddles out whenever he is there. He lives in Melbourne and pops back-in-forth quick and cheaply.  In contrast, flying into Panama is pricy. (Panama City and David have US-connected healthcare, but who wants to live in a city?!)

From everything I see, if MEX could crush the cartels - they would be building a wall: to keep us out.  My wife has friends with property in central MEX who love it there  ..and, Key'Ryst!, the weather and surf around Sayulita would keep my joints flexible well into the grim reaper's schedule. 

Rick Weeks (Creek) told me once; "Don't ever get a dog!"   We have a really wonderful animal that comes to work with me every day - life's restraints are also planned around him.   Good luck with your next choices.

Jim
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RideTheGlide

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2019, 09:35:06 AM »
I am 60 and starting to visit possible landing spots. I am in NC now and will probably head to Fl, where I have lots of family. With some sort of 'itis in just about every joint, I really don't like cold anymore. Probably space coast. There are options for just about every budget and mine should be decent. My sister and her husband live in a duplex just north of JAX about 5 minutes from an inshore access and 20 minutes from a beach on Amelia Island. It's a nice enough area not to be too concerned about crime. They have a really low budget. There are lifestyle trade offs if the budget is tight, but it is doable without much.
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stoneaxe

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2019, 10:06:01 AM »
Ugg...sorry to hear the partner stuff. Starting over had to be tough. Wish I could help with suggestions but we're all over the place about what we'll be doing.....or where we'll be doing it anyway.

I'm also going to get away from the cold once my wife retires. We aren't in bad shape for retirement but we'll have to be frugal and plan well. I'm looking at creek and how he swings it and seriously think we'll head in the same direction, with our own modifications of course. Our latest thought is a summer cottage here near the beach and then go live someplace warmer but inexpensive for a few months...Portugal is looking nice. I have an old friend that is moving to Kalamata, Greece in a few weeks. I love olives....:)
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TallDude

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2019, 11:09:47 AM »
Close friends of ours have been living the Vagabond life in a nice (but not over the top) motorhome for about 8 years now. They have a space they own in and RV community in Palm Springs and one in Arizona. The one in PS has a small 9 hole golf course and a fixed patio cover/room with an outdoor kitchen, BBq, couch etc and a storage room. It has trees around it, very nice set up. They rent it out during the winter to snow birds from Canada. That's when they stay in there AZ spot. During the really hot summer days they travel all around the US and Canada following jazz and blues festivals. They stay at Doheny for the blues festival there every year. They do own a duplex in SoCal which they rent out year round. That brings in some income along with renting out the PS space for $2500 a month. They have one car they share and tow behind the motorhome. They never had kids and don't have pets. They basically travel a lot.
« Last Edit: February 11, 2019, 12:07:32 PM by TallDude »
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Califoilia

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2019, 11:53:26 AM »
They never had kids and don't have pets. They basically travel a lot.
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PonoBill

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #10 on: February 11, 2019, 12:10:57 PM »
Pets are a far bigger expense and restraint than most people realize--or care to acknowledge. I like dogs, but wouldn't have one if my wife wasn't so attached to them. I've been looking at our expenses per year and dog expense is big enough to pop up on the radar. That was a surprise. Add to that, there are a lot of things we don't do, or have to do in a contorted way, because of the dog. Our dog is a service dog--a diabetic alert dog, but with a continuous glucose monitor, the benefit is hard to justify on a medical basis.
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Bean

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2019, 12:39:36 PM »
Great observation PB, we have an English Bulldog...nuff said.

supstoked

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #12 on: February 11, 2019, 01:39:08 PM »
I have been retired for 13 years.  My home base is Deep South Texas.  Super cheap unless you live right on the water.  Too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.  We spend the winter at our home in Mexico.  Very inexpensive and perfect climate.  Too hot in the summer.  We spend summer in Costa Rica.  Pleasant temperatures but very expensive.  Hawaii level prices unless you are eating rice and beans.
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lucabrasi

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2019, 01:54:35 PM »
Ever check out the Idaho panhandle? Tons of water, tons of fishing and species, a less brutal winter overall than lots of places. Lots of smaller towns, small lakes, big lakes, rivers. March/April when days are starting to get long you can actually be out doing something instead of waiting for snow and ice to melt and able to get out on the water some and in Oct/November when days start getting shorter there are great days when everything isn't frozen yet either. It's definitely worth a peak. 

addapost

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Re: Retiring But where?
« Reply #14 on: February 11, 2019, 02:10:41 PM »
What about abroad? Lots of great countries where a retired expat can live quite well.
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