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Thank you! "Unorganized township" is also something we New Jerseyans aren't generally used to.
Maine has 986 townships, of which 44% [432] are incorporated or in theory 'organized', and 56% [554] are un-organized.
Being incorporated adds layers of municipal expenses and possible services, all paid for via the municipality budget. It is interesting to watch from the side-lines as towns compete amongst each other, in adding services. Every year there are many local town ordinances on the ballots for increasing services and taxes in some manner.
For decades there had been a push for the state to subsidize the biggest cities to help fund all of their municipal services under a program called 'revenue sharing'. That extra free money came partly from the un-organized townships [UTs] who were not eligible to receive any of it.
Our current governor is a fiscal conservative, he has stopped 'revenue sharing' for the most. So the cities are whining because the UTs are no longer subsidizing them.
Without lots of municipal employees the UT taxes have always been low. Now without our taxes going to subsidize the cities, our property taxes have been dropping.
I don't think they have jug handles in Maine either.
I have never seen a jug-handle in Maine. When I was stationed in Newport News Va, there were a lot of 'service roads' that effectively did the same thing as a jug-handle. If you wanted to turn left or right, you had to off-ramp to the service road two blocks ahead of where you wanted to turn. Once you were on the service road, then you could line-up for the left or right hand turn on the next block.
Frankly the author (And many commentators) forget that living in a house is NOT the only way to exist in retirement.
There's RV living, Van dwelling or even living out of a car (Not what I'd like personally, living out of a van right now) I WAS (And still think of) trotting north in the summer and south in the winter....Get a PT job while there and enjoy time off...
The trouble with these articles they are written by people who have no clue. First off if you are in CA and are only going to have SS and decide to find a cheaper place to live you have to also get a place to live in those places. It costs money to move there and if you are going to buy a house you will need a larger income than SS to make ends meet unless you are putting down a large down payment or paying cash.
To the OP places like Belize, Panama, Ecuador should be on your list if you are in looking for places out of the US.
Watch out! What the U.S. Embassy won't tell you about Panama --- about 30% of construction projects never get off the ground and people lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. YES, I found that out the hard way. Don't look to the U.S. government for any help. The locals take horrible advantage of Americans. And for scenery, you have the ditches and the medians of the roads and the sides of the roads lined with trash and dead dogs. You will see starved and beaten animals every day. Not to mention horrendous rates of incest, AIDS, poverty and crime everywhere in the interior of the country. Cheap, forget it! Food costs 30% to 50% more than the U.S. and its impossible to get a decent steak if thats what you like. Enjoying yourself? -- stick around for spring -- it starts in April. You will know by the series of huge insects, spiders and assorted flying/biting/stinging bugs that come out. Explore every other option before Panama!!!
There is just about no place between Texas and Colombia worth living! If you are going south, think Colombia or Ecuador or south of there. And yes, lived in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, among others.
There is just about no place between Texas and Colombia worth living! If you are going south, think Colombia or Ecuador or south of there. And yes, lived in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, among others.
Please do tell. There is a magazine that advertises heavily on the internet that is about international living. They tout Panama as the #1 international retirement destination, without fail and at great length. First hand accounts of life in a first world paradise, from multiple untraceable authors.
So, if you have different insights, it would benefit me (at least) and probably everybody who has ever considered skedaddling to somewhere south of the border. At some point, you start scratching your head and saying to yourself "ALL these people can't be COMPLETELY wrong..."
FWIW, my idea for the past couple of years has been to buy a used Class B RV, like a Road Trek, and tool around to the National Parks once I hang it up (or get encouraged to hang it up). Good to have a compelling thing to do while decompressing, at least it would be in my case.
If you write a book you'd make a mint. There's not a lot of competition in the "LIVE THE EXPAT LIFE IN STYLE AFTER RETIREMENT!" space.
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
Oh wait, that's California.
"Hotel California" by the Eagles.
On the other hand, if you live in California on a small fixed income, you can and should leave. A small fixed income is great in all the places where jobs are scarce and the cost of living is low. People live in expensive places like California because of the jobs there.
... if you live in California on a small fixed income, you can and should leave. A small fixed income is great in all the places where jobs are scarce and the cost of living is low. People live in expensive places like California because of the jobs there.
I agree.
I am from California. I would have a very difficult time trying to support a family on my pension in California. I had to move elsewhere.
Some people may think that California is okay, but that impression starts with a high-paying job. Which is not something to discuss in a 'retirement' forum.
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