moving to Durango, Colorado (Denver, Telluride: low income, sale, home equity)

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Machines we can destroy, unless the Supreme Court says machines are people too.

If they were the only thing containing someone's consciousness wouldn't they be? It would add a whole new dimension to long term care.

I better think of some way to bring this back to Durango or it will be one of the more egregious hijacks. So should I locate my consciousness machine/aritificial body part business on Main Avenue or out in Hesperus?

[CosmicWizard]

Mfbe wrote:

Machines we can destroy, unless the Supreme Court says machines are people too.

The scary thing is...the people running the court are the kind of people who might do such a thing.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

I better think of some way to bring this back to Durango ....

We just did.

Durango is a great place to live, with lots to see and do.

[CAVA1990]

How about "Playground of the 1%" as a new tourism/development marketing campaign?

[CosmicWizard]

1% is probably a s-t-r-e-t-c-h. In reality it is likley to be less than .1%, which would still amount to 300,000 American visitors.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Retiree spending is going to be big in places with great natural beauty, that means COLO, Utah, NM, WY, ID, OR, WA and other spots. The baby boom generation (1946-1964) is just beginning to retire and find their havens away from big expensive cities. I'm a 48'er and somewhat represent the bow wave of boomer retirement and relocation. Those born around 1960 are only 51 and still in the workforce. This wave of retirees is going to last for quite a while; and their economic forecast may well be on the low side.

That sounds like something written in 2006.

That's all great if that retirement money is going to be there, but if the Great Recession continues for another decade and the private sector and citizens revolt against public employees and their free pensions or we just go plain broke, it wont be pretty. Who funds that "big wave" of retirees with a diminished in size generations behind?

The scenario you mention already croaked. I've seen it in mountain Colorado with retirement/2nd home real estate coming to a virtual stop in 2008. It was like someone turned out the lights.

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by wanneroo

That sounds like something written in 2006.

That's all great if that retirement money is going to be there, but if the Great Recession continues for another decade and the private sector and citizens revolt against public employees and their free pensions or we just go plain broke, it wont be pretty. Who funds that "big wave" of retirees with a diminished in size generations behind?

The scenario you mention already croaked. I've seen it in mountain Colorado with retirement/2nd home real estate coming to a virtual stop in 2008. It was like someone turned out the lights.

As with all groups, it's impossible to generalize and be accurate in any way. The bursting of the real estate bubble created opportunities for retirees & future retirees (like me) who have the money to take advantage of it. The "bow wave" of that baby boomer generation has those pensions locked in in most cases. It is the later baby boomers who need to be concerned. Boomers like me who have no pension but have saved & invested aggressively during our "hay making" years have retirement money. Our challenge these past few years has been to preserve it and weather the storm so to speak. My money is professionally managed & so far so good. I have "stayed the course" through all of the market volatility of the past few years (expected to continue for a few more years) and have continued to float to the surface. In 2-3 years, I plan to finally pull the plug & retire to Durango and build a house on the 5 acres that I own.

Everyone's situation is different with some boomers in better shape than others. Those who have locked in pensions should count themselves as the lucky ones. Those pensions will be among the last ever provided as they will be gone forever and it will be up to every worker to save for their own retirement.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by SoButCounty

Everyone's situation is different with some boomers in better shape than others. Those who have locked in pensions should count themselves as the lucky ones. Those pensions will be among the last ever provided as they will be gone forever and it will be up to every worker to save for their own retirement.

And I'm sure there are a few like me who have virtual jobs while collecting a pension from a previous career (lots of retired military and civil servants for example) and running a couple of internet businesses on the side. There are only about 50,000 residents in the county there so it wouldn't take that many folks like me to keep things going. Like land, they're not making any more nice places for those not dependent on the local economy.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by SoButCounty

As with all groups, it's impossible to generalize and be accurate in any way. The bursting of the real estate bubble created opportunities for retirees & future retirees (like me) who have the money to take advantage of it. The "bow wave" of that baby boomer generation has those pensions locked in in most cases. It is the later baby boomers who need to be concerned. Boomers like me who have no pension but have saved & invested aggressively during our "hay making" years have retirement money. Our challenge these past few years has been to preserve it and weather the storm so to speak. My money is professionally managed & so far so good. I have "stayed the course" through all of the market volatility of the past few years (expected to continue for a few more years) and have continued to float to the surface. In 2-3 years, I plan to finally pull the plug & retire to Durango and build a house on the 5 acres that I own.

Everyone's situation is different with some boomers in better shape than others. Those who have locked in pensions should count themselves as the lucky ones. Those pensions will be among the last ever provided as they will be gone forever and it will be up to every worker to save for their own retirement.

All this kinda reminds me of a development near me that got going in 2005 with 20 lots or so and many of them were quickly snapped up and the developer put up all these signs like "Ron and Linda from Baltimore, MD bought this lot" and "Joe and Sarah from Newark, NJ bought this lot". Here in almost 2012, only 2 houses have been built, both back in 2006 and 2007 and all those lots sit empty. All those what I suspect to be boomer retirees never made it here.

I think there are some people that weathered everything fine, but I think most people haven't and a lot of baby boomers will not be retiring cause they can't afford it and the country can't afford it either.

In mountain Colorado I saw the explosive growth of real estate for such boomers, but real estate has literally died. Everything just stopped in 2008 and I think reality has bit many people that thought they could live up in the mountains in a nice home in retirement. I have a few relatives in real estate(both sales and construction/development) on the western slope and it's been an "interesting" few years for them.

As my own family in Colorado goes back 100 years, everyone that I know of struggled in the mountains as they got older. The isolation, the weather, the lack of health care. When everyone passed away, it was down in Denver, because they had to leave the mountains as they got older.

So I will not dispute that some are going to be able to pull it off, as the next 2 decades go along, I really do not believe the money is going to be there for hordes of ponzi scheme pension and social security holders and "virtual" workers to live this easy mountain dream. I think people above 50 would like to trick themselves into thinking that, but us younger people already see the big picture.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by wanneroo

As my own family in Colorado goes back 100 years, everyone that I know of struggled in the mountains as they got older. The isolation, the weather, the lack of health care. When everyone passed away, it was down in Denver, because they had to leave the mountains as they got older.

What's that got to do with Durango? Even 100 years ago they had a pretty decent hospital along with most other amenities found elsewhere. It's never really been an isolated place up "in the mountains" too rugged for old folks. Some did move from the surrounding areas into town as they got older.