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We definitely downsized (3000+ sq ft to 1120 sq ft) but we both like it - easier to clean, less clutter to worry about. And we moved to Maine, where the climate better suits us.
But we did spread out in other ways; for the first time we have 2 homes. The 2nd one is in Tennessee, as a vacation home (or if the snow gets too high in winter LOL). My wife has family down there, and I really like the people, food, and newness of a place I'd never gotten to know before.
Neither place has a mortgage. That was the agreement we made before retirement. I'd rather have freed-up cash and the ability to do other things, than to live in a big expensive house!
DH retired early with a EEO Grievance - he was Fed Cop so got full pension at 51 with more than 20 years. We still have kids at home (15/17) I am eligible for full retirement at 56 with 37 years in gov including USAF - We thought he would work until 57 but again (shyt) happens. He has family history of sudden death (heart) before 60. Dad at 59, paternal grandfather at 53. I am praying that he is still alive when I retire - somewhere between 56 and 62 probably. We won't downsize - but will move back to Texas where we lived for 25+ years and where family (daugher, grandkids) and close friends are. Since we are now close to his 80 yo mother - we will stay here as long is she is alive and kids are thru high school.
We have never lived extravagantly before retirement and see no need to change that in retirement.
We did decide to downsize in retirement. Even when we lived in a large home, we never used more than about 750 square feet in any home we owned. Last year, we decided to purchase a 950 sq ft condo. The major motivation was that it is much easier to maintain a very small condo.
We did move from the Chicago area to Tucson. That saved us a lot in property taxes, condo fees (no snow removal and the like), and medical costs. That savings helps to fund our medical insurance until we qualify for medical care.
We moved from two cars - one owned and a company car - to one car. At this point, we are probably staying with that although I am thinking about getting a golf cart for local trips.
Well, this is the truth. All our retirement "plans" are prefaced with "IF all goes as planned." We do have our worst-case scenario plan, and figure that realistically we'll end up somewhere between that doomsday scenario and our "dream" retirement.
Isn't that the truth?
We're trying to decide if we should move or stay put. If we move, it'll be into a retirement community (55+ only) but it's expensive and a big hassle. Will it save us any money in the long run? Heck no, it'll add two years to the projected retirement date just to pay for the overpriced "new" house, but...
It's in another city, far from the madding crowds, and we like the idea of living in a community filled with retirees.
I retired over seven years ago, at that time my wife and I decided to move to a small town one hundred miles south of the city we lived in for over thirty years. Here's the bad aspect of thinking that planning at this stage in life will always work out, my wife died from cancer about two months after we moved, I was left to survive in a very different social situation, a single guy in a very small town. Grieving while unpacking, living in shock instead of being happy, but worst of all was the anger of a plan gone bad and blaming myself for not staying put. My wife had many health problems, but cancer wasn't in the mix, it may have been the cumulative of overall poor health, I'll never know.
Fast forward seven years: I met a wonderful gal and got married, moved another hundred miles south and now enjoying my life to the fullest. I'm still an advocate for some planning in one's retirement, but, as we age it's instructive to allow for the fact of our growing social fragility, think ahead to that time that you may find yourself alone and vulnerable, include that in your choice of housing and distance from those in your network of friends and family. It's right up there with all the financial planning that we usually find touted as the number one consideration. The one thing I did find was the fact of our resiliency, we are all stronger than we think...
Perhaps God simply thins the herd. We too are animals after all.
That is so very true and could be a thread of its own.
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