My father used to point out that teachers were involved in a trade-off: you traded high salaries for tenure, lifetime employment. So at the beginning of the economic downturn, I watched with lurching stomach the downturn in my retirement accounts. I solved that problem by not opening any statements EVER.
But then the scary statements about program reductions starting wending my way. Maybe my job IS in danger. OK: worst case scenario: unemployment in your 50s.
I wrote about this before, declaring that I'd rent out my house and move to Costa Rica. Now I have a longer list of places to go. I asked the library to order How to Retire Overseas by Kathleen Peddicord>
And the LOVELY bookbuyer did order it. And I'm reading it now. Predictably, the author of the book has lived overseas--and still does--and makes her money by running a website on retiring abroad.
What is useful about this book is that it contains numbers: how much it costs per month to live in various places. Buenos Aires: $2590; Paris: $2960; Morella (Mexico): $899; Abruzzo: $1405; and so on through other places. My current fantasy is Languedoc, coming in at $1495, which includes $300 for household help, which I am pretty sure I wouldn't avail myself of.
Isn't it nice--or nicer--to mix panic with wonderful--and apparently do-able--fantasy?
Where would you like to live?
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9 comments:
I'd want somewhere with seasons, but mild seasons. I could never retire to a tropical island somewhere with nothing to do; I'd go crazy. South of France, maybe? But we're limited to placed that would have services for our son, who's developmentally disabled, so developed countries are pretty much it for us, which keeps costs higher.
Gosh, I'd love to live in the south of France. That's been one of my fantasies for years.
At the rate the market's going, though, I kinda doubt that my retirement savings still have enough to pay for airfare, much less for a place to live there. ;-)
Not sure what to make of those numbers, as my cost of living looks more like Mexico than Paris, but if we're fantasizing, then I would go for either Barcelona or Genoa. But then, I've often dreamed about how cool it would be to live in New Orleans, especially as my Mom lived there for several years in her early 20s.
I too would wish to live in a country with mild seasons. Winter in Finland is all too long and cold and dark. Since I have visited so few places, this is a hard one. I do like Denmark. Maybe Denmark would be nice to live in. We have so few relatives and are not attached to any of them. There is only the four of us: My two daughters, my husband and me. I only wish that Denmark would change their money to euros!
@DejaPseu--I totally agree about the island. I'm not rally taling about retirement FOREVER. I'm talking about a 6 month sojourn. As for your son--I wonder if other countries have better programs, just as other countries have better health care systems. i have some friends who recently moved to New Orleans where there is a better program for their son.
@Funny--The numbers cited INCLUDE rent of an apartment!
@Shelley--Must do another post on this. The numbers INCLUDE rent; you perhaps have lower housing expenses???
@metscan--I have a friend here who also loves Denmark--he has an old friend there. Maybe I'll go there too.
Let's see..someplace with a mild climate..no hurricanes..no tornadoes..no earthquakes...no volcanoes erupting..some nice tall and shady trees..some hills or mountains (don't like flat like where I live now)..isolated is ok so long as I can have internet and withing an hour to shopping/civilization. oh and inexpensive and others who speak english and also maybe another neat-o language so I can occupy my time having fun learning a language (but without it being necessary for survival!)
so what does that leave available for me?!
for a quick visit I'd love to take a tour of England/Scotland/Ireland then perhaps go back for more specific things. I'd pick a tour because I have no idea what I'd like to do or want to see other than some castles and the countyside.
Shelley I'll pass on New Orleans - visited there once and didn't care of it (other than the food that is) and I live near Houston now..too humid and too flat..though we do have a lot of hospitals which could be important during retirement..ooh maybe I'd better add Italy to my list for the food and Greece for the heck of it!
Definite somewhere warm and tropical for us. I'm thinking Mexico or the Caribbean.
There is so much more to consider than cost of living, especially proximity to friends and family and healthcare. Do people think they can find new friends to replace those they've had for decades? And what about seeing your children and grandchildren? Some of us embark on these adventures but I would not want to be half a world away from my family, even the ones I grouse about.
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