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I am seriously thinking about renting an apartment in the city where my daughter lives, about 350 miles from where I am right now, to see if I would like it there and to focus on finishing the long-abandoned Great American Novel in my computer.
I don't want to sell my condo here until I know for sure that I'd be OK living there. Homeless Brother will benefit, as he is currently staying here and can continue to do so while I sort all of this out.
Currently I live on a sufficient pension, still paying a mortgage comfortably. I work part-time, but that's not really necessary. I went back to work as a way to manage the grief of loss I experienced earlier this year, but it's not something I want to do forever.
I am 65 and four months. My SS FRA is 66 8 months. So, the idea is to collect SS earlier, as in NOW (or more realistically, perhaps in the Spring). The SS money of $3K less taxes would cover the rent and expenses for the apartment as well as that of a better vehicle as discussed in the "auto" thread, and the pension would continue to cover the mortgage/taxes and savings and so forth it does now.
There's nothing really to hold me here; in fact, until two years ago, the plan was to sell this place and move to Ontario, but that plan died with my fiance. Basically, I feel as though I'm in one of those horror movies where I've been walking for hours in a forest and found myself back in the same place I started. At any rate, because of a very large employer close to inking a deal for a new facility two miles from my home, it may be worth it to hold onto this condo because property values may go up if this deal goes through.
Anyway, that's one idea. The other, not yet fully formed, I will poke my nose into when I take my Christmas vacation to Costa Rica next month. I hear there's a significant expat community there...
I am seriously thinking about renting an apartment in the city where my daughter lives, about 350 miles from where I am right now, to see if I would like it there and to focus on finishing the long-abandoned Great American Novel in my computer.
I don't want to sell my condo here until I know for sure that I'd be OK living there. Homeless Brother will benefit, as he is currently staying here and can continue to do so while I sort all of this out.
Currently I live on a sufficient pension, still paying a mortgage comfortably. I work part-time, but that's not really necessary. I went back to work as a way to manage the grief of loss I experienced earlier this year, but it's not something I want to do forever.
I am 65 and four months. My SS FRA is 66 8 months. So, the idea is to collect SS earlier, as in NOW (or more realistically, perhaps in the Spring). The SS money of $3K less taxes would cover the rent and expenses for the apartment as well as that of a better vehicle as discussed in the "auto" thread, and the pension would continue to cover the mortgage/taxes and savings and so forth it does now.
There's nothing really to hold me here; in fact, until two years ago, the plan was to sell this place and move to Ontario, but that plan died with my fiance. Basically, I feel as though I'm in one of those horror movies where I've been walking for hours in a forest and found myself back in the same place I started. At any rate, because of a very large employer close to inking a deal for a new facility two miles from my home, it may be worth it to hold onto this condo because property values may go up if this deal goes through.
Anyway, that's one idea. The other, not yet fully formed, I will poke my nose into when I take my Christmas vacation to Costa Rica next month. I hear there's a significant expat community there...
It doesn't have to be a purchased home. Good idea about making this a thread about spending substantial blocks of time in retirement in multiple places, including, but not limited to, purchasing/owning a second home.
I am seriously thinking about renting an apartment in the city where my daughter lives, about 350 miles from where I am right now, to see if I would like it there and to focus on finishing the long-abandoned Great American Novel in my computer.
I don't want to sell my condo here until I know for sure that I'd be OK living there. Homeless Brother will benefit, as he is currently staying here and can continue to do so while I sort all of this out.
Currently I live on a sufficient pension, still paying a mortgage comfortably. I work part-time, but that's not really necessary. I went back to work as a way to manage the grief of loss I experienced earlier this year, but it's not something I want to do forever.
I am 65 and four months. My SS FRA is 66 8 months. So, the idea is to collect SS earlier, as in NOW (or more realistically, perhaps in the Spring). The SS money of $3K less taxes would cover the rent and expenses for the apartment as well as that of a better vehicle as discussed in the "auto" thread, and the pension would continue to cover the mortgage/taxes and savings and so forth it does now.
There's nothing really to hold me here; in fact, until two years ago, the plan was to sell this place and move to Ontario, but that plan died with my fiance. Basically, I feel as though I'm in one of those horror movies where I've been walking for hours in a forest and found myself back in the same place I started. At any rate, because of a very large employer close to inking a deal for a new facility two miles from my home, it may be worth it to hold onto this condo because property values may go up if this deal goes through.
Anyway, that's one idea. The other, not yet fully formed, I will poke my nose into when I take my Christmas vacation to Costa Rica next month. I hear there's a significant expat community there...
I'm no expert on this topic but it seems like you've thought this through pretty well and have a goal and plan in place. I have confidence you'll find the right path and enjoy the rest of your retirement despite this last year.
I am seriously thinking about renting an apartment in the city where my daughter lives, about 350 miles from where I am right now, to see if I would like it there and to focus on finishing the long-abandoned Great American Novel in my computer.
along those lines...
We looked into buying a condo in the city ~ an hour from us. We are there all the time, with sporting events, musicals, etc. and thought a second home would be great.
We also looked into renting, but in that area, buying was cheaper than renting (at least it was at the time - have NO idea about now).
What we ended up doing was joining a club that has restaurants, bars, and 'hotel' rooms.
The monthly dues are the same as a condo's HOA fees and we do not carry a mortgage. We pay for the facilities we use. We can entertain friends without having to clean, cook or clean up. Their bars are stocked better than ours would be. Their restaurants cater to a wide range of tastes. Rooms are usually cheaper than the hotels.
We have a place to relax before events (in case there is no traffic and we are early) and after events (while we wait for traffic to die down).
We do consider it our second home, and it has worked out very well for us.
We looked into buying a condo in the city ~ an hour from us. We are there all the time, with sporting events, musicals, etc. and thought a second home would be great.
We also looked into renting, but in that area, buying was cheaper than renting (at least it was at the time - have NO idea about now).
What we ended up doing was joining a club that has restaurants, bars, and 'hotel' rooms.
The monthly dues are the same as a condo's HOA fees and we do not carry a mortgage. We pay for the facilities we use. We can entertain friends without having to clean, cook or clean up. Their bars are stocked better than ours would be. Their restaurants cater to a wide range of tastes. Rooms are usually cheaper than the hotels.
We have a place to relax before events (in case there is no traffic and we are early) and after events (while we wait for traffic to die down).
We do consider it our second home, and it has worked out very well for us.
Is this like a timeshare? I hope not! Timeshares are most commonly a very bad deal, financially and in any other way, and seniors are frequent victims of timeshare schemes. AARP occasionally runs articles on that topic, and has been known to run advertisements for some guy who offered a reliable legal help with getting rid of a timeshare (which seems to be a really difficult and costly thing to do, where seniors tend to be scammed twice - first time when they buy a timeshare, and second time when they are fleeced by "agencies" which promise to help the senior to sell the timeshare (which usually becomes unwanted after a couple of years, since the maintenance costs greatly exceed the enjoyment of the very limited allowable use of the timeshare) on terms allegedly favorable to the seller, but in fact not favorable at all).
I am 65 and four months. My SS FRA is 66 8 months. So, the idea is to collect SS earlier, as in NOW (or more realistically, perhaps in the Spring). The SS money of $3K less taxes would cover the rent and expenses for the apartment as well as that of a better vehicle as discussed in the "auto" thread, and the pension would continue to cover the mortgage/taxes and savings and so forth it does now.
I think this is an interesting question/possibility….maybe because I was thinking of taking the same approach. My wife and I have sufficient funds to take care of our “one-home” lifestyle comfortably. We don’t anticipate that situation would change even if we never took social security. (We recognize we are fortunate.) We are a few years younger than you, but we thought of looking at social security like found money and taking it at 62 and using those funds to secure a second home. I’m not sure why, but we are reluctant to do this. Guess we have been conditioned to wait atleast untIL FRA to take social security.
Most people buying a second home for snowbirding or another reason need to take costs of acquiring and maintaining the second home into account. The property taxes as well as any state taxes a second home might result in is a large part of any analysis to proceed with a second home, or not.
The decision to maintain a second home is obviously not irreversible but there may be a cost of undoing it. We know plenty of retirees with second home - it works for some and not others.
Most people buying a second home for snowbirding or another reason need to take costs of acquiring and maintaining the second home into account. The property taxes as well as any state taxes a second home might result in is a large part of any analysis to proceed with a second home, or not.
The decision to maintain a second home is obviously not irreversible but there may be a cost of undoing it. We know plenty of retirees with second home - it works for some and not others.
Make sense….clearly one has to cover property taxes, maintenance, the cost of furnishing and paying utilities on a second place, and if one borrows to make the purchase, financing the home. If one can pay cash, however, I think the actual purchase price is probably more of an asset allocation decision than a cost of acquisition. It would be deciding to put more of one’s portfolio in residential real estate vs, equities/bond/cash/or whatever. I guess that could work out well or not depending on how the residential real estate market performs.
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