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My dh retired over two years ago. One year ago, we moved from OK to SC, and downsized(from house to condo). At the same time, we went from 2 cars, down to one. Our son and dil live in this area of SC, but, there is no guarantee they will remain here. Our plan is to remain here. We are very happy here. We just celebrated 32 years of marriage.
We changed most everything. We are still active in church, but otherwise it is all different.
For the first 25 years of our marriage, we were apart most of it. My career required that I was deployed a lot.
We moved around a lot. Generally every 3 years we were transferred, a couple times it was 4 years, but other times it was months.
After I retired, we cashed-out our investment portfolio. We bought rural forest land, and began building a farmhouse. Now we grow crops, that I sell at a Farmer's Market. I raised livestock. Our freezers are filled with food that we grew.
We have now lived in this house longer, than any home we have owned previously. We just settled and took root in one spot. Which has allowed us to get active in community. I serve on the board of a couple different organizations [private non-profits, and quasi-government agencies].
I went from nuclear weapons strategy and killing people, to growing things and organics.
Our 'retirement plan' has been to change our lifestyle in many ways.
You do NOT want to be stuck in Northern Virginia. It is a way station because it has decent employment. However, that pushes the prices of everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - sky high.
We're getting out of Northern Virginia and heading somewhere where our moderate home equity will buy a house much nicer than the one for which we are carrying a burdensome mortgage. Not hard to do -- as long as we stay out of NYC, San Francisco, or Honolulu, we'll be ok. Anybody who stays here when they don't have to work in the area should have their head examined.
We're getting out of Northern Virginia and heading somewhere where our moderate home equity will buy a house much nicer than the one for which we are carrying a burdensome mortgage. Not hard to do -- as long as we stay out of NYC, San Francisco, or Honolulu, we'll be ok. Anybody who stays here when they don't have to work in the area should have their head examined.
Some enjoy the amenities of the area and can afford the cost of them in retirement. Reston Town Center is a wonderful place for retirement in the minds of those who are comfortably retired there. We all have our own heads and are probably best qualified to examine ours.
Our plans for retirement included living in SW Florida, being as debt-free as humanly possible, and being able to do exactly what we pleased, within the confines of health and financial resources. We saved money for retirement in IRAs, and other investments.
We bought property in 1996 ( waterfront, and it was cheap at the time), paid off the mortgage on our home in Miami in 2000. Built our retirement home on the property financing the build with an equity line of credit on that home, which we paid off when we sold the Miami home in 2012. So there's no mortgage on the retirement home. Cars and paid off and no credit card debt, so our expenses aren't great.
We both have pensions and SS, and I work part-time from home on a contract basis, so our cash flow is decent. We don't travel much, mostly because we like it here so much, enjoy boating and other hobbies and have gotten involved in volunteer activities ( including amateur radio) in the community and made some good friends here. Although I would enjoy a road trip once in a while, neither of us have any desires to travel overseas, or even take a cruise at this point. We have several pet birds that share our lives, but we always have had birds. We enjoy eating out, but we don't spend a lot of money doing that.
What we didn't anticipate in retirement was having our daughter live with us. She didn't anticipate that either but developed a life-threatening cardiac condition some years ago which put the kabosh on her plans- she had to drop out of school, stop working, and spent several years in and out of hospitals, undergoing medical tests and cardiac and other procedures ( one of the reasons I retired in 2011). Finally cardiac surgery and a pacemaker gave her her life back and she's on her way, working again and climbing the nurse ladder. She's still living with us, but anticipates being on her own when she is able to financially.
What type of lifestyle choices did you make as part of your plan?...
I was disabled for a few years upon retirement, and while waiting for surgery meticulously researched places around the U.S. where I might want to move. (I had been living in Manhattan, NYC for forty-plus years.) When D-Day arrived I found that I had zero interest in the two places I had narrowed it down to in my years of researching. Bummer, very depressing.
Then I thought...maybe look outside of the USA? Within a year I had given up my teensie-weensie too expensive apartment in a very tired building, gave away my furniture, said farewell to the cat and left for Europe.
No concrete plans...other than southern Portugal would be the first stop, and maybe the only one as it satisfied on many counts. Despite the "no plans" seat-of-the-pants aspect, I did give myself a crash course in every bloody thing you had to do to live there, knew a bit of the language, had bought the necessary insurance, already opened a bank account in Portugal while still in NYC...so, at least navigating would be easier.
I don't feel that I ever could have had this "no plans" approach if I had stayed in the U.S. I think I would have felt a compulsion to be fitting in some place, somehow, doing it right, etc. These were not options in Portugal, I knew no one and had no connexions of any sort.
Now I have lived a number of places in Portugal and Cyprus, and I have been on the fringes of various crowds, cliques, etc. everywhere I've lived and made a few goods friends over the years.
However, being planless has proved to be a life-changer. I found myself with endless time to devote to interests, projects, etc. that I had had only a small amount of time for in my working years....these were mostly personal interests in which I had rarely found kindred souls during my younger years...things too boring or esoteric for most folks. And I found, unexpectedly, that being detached almost completely from my previous life slowly has given me a different view of past times and past events, and of myself as well. I would say, "The past isn't what it used to be."
I had gone through my twenties to my fifties thoroughly believing - and saying - that I hated change, and was deeply intimidated by any prospect of it because of a deeply ingrained feeling of incompetency. This appears to have been probably the most profound misunderstanding about myself that I had in my life. "Who was that masked man?"
This "style" of retirement has seemed (to steal someone else's words) like a life of unexpected changes at the last minute.
We choose to live where what we call fun and entertainment is built-in and Free, we love snorkeling, walks, pretty scenery, etc. We live in a rental that's just over 500 sq ft, have no pets, drive a truck we bought new 21 years ago, still runs great.
We rarely eat out, never go 'clubbing', need only one seasons wardrobe, etc.
We really like it, been here almost 3 years but it's not for everyone, we don't have kids/grandkids so being out in the middle of nowhere is easy and cheaper for us with no expensive trips to the mainland to visit family, ours are able to come here.
Wow, my son and family love it there and we love it there and most I talk to love it there and most I knew over the years loved it there. Now when it comes to retirement some like to move on.
Tuborg, respectfully - this is the only area in the country where, since the crash, you could walk across the street and get on board with a competitor within a month if your firm had a layoff. OF COURSE working-age people are going to love it here! What (other than family and health) is more important than economic stability?
That being said, there is a "full employment tax" amounting to 20%. Cost of living is out of sight. The traffic is dehumanizing (you did not have this to deal with when you left, and no doubt your son does not have it either - how do you get your kids to activities, given that it frequently takes an hour to go four miles?). The imported diseases sneak up on you. At least they did on the medical establishment here. The infectious diseases don't show up on CDC data because docs around here have only recently begun to understand the symptomatology and diagnostics, so as to give them a name. Most doctors practicing today don't have a clue about what to look for, in ruling out TB - they've never seen it previously, only read about it in a textbook. Until it was re-introduced by the illegal aliens, it had been eradicated in this country for fifty years.
The list of cons so far omits the quintupled rapes, sexual assaults, violent assaults, carjackings, and murders. Although MS-13 may not dominate your neighborhood, its murder stats get rolled up with the county's. The illegals tend to congregate, four families to a three BR rental, in areas where there are bus lines.
I'm holding my nose about it, but I'm still here for the jobs. Which the illegal aliens (so far) can't crash, because they only speak the language enough to breed and fill out the paperwork to get on welfare (with an interpreter, of course).
I'm sure that when you left, you did NOT witness these symptoms of urban decay.
Along with everybody else under these circumstances, I pays my money and makes my choices.
Tuborg, respectfully - this is the only area in the country where, since the crash, you could walk across the street and get on board with a competitor within a month if your firm had a layoff. OF COURSE working-age people are going to love it here! What (other than family and health) is more important than economic stability?
That being said, there is a "full employment tax" amounting to 20%. Cost of living is out of sight. The traffic is dehumanizing (you did not have this to deal with when you left, and no doubt your son does not have it either - how do you get your kids to activities, given that it frequently takes an hour to go four miles?). The imported diseases sneak up on you. At least they did on the medical establishment here. The infectious diseases don't show up on CDC data because docs around here have only recently begun to understand the symptomatology and diagnostics, so as to give them a name. Most doctors practicing today don't have a clue about what to look for, in ruling out TB - they've never seen it previously, only read about it in a textbook. Until it was re-introduced by the illegal aliens, it had been eradicated in this country for fifty years.
The list of cons so far omits the quintupled rapes, sexual assaults, violent assaults, carjackings, and murders. Although MS-13 may not dominate your neighborhood, its murder stats get rolled up with the county's. The illegals tend to congregate, four families to a three BR rental, in areas where there are bus lines.
I'm holding my nose about it, but I'm still here for the jobs. Which the illegal aliens (so far) can't crash, because they only speak the language enough to breed and fill out the paperwork to get on welfare (with an interpreter, of course).
I'm sure that when you left, you did NOT witness these symptoms of urban decay.
Along with everybody else under these circumstances, I pays my money and makes my choices.
I understand the negatives and had concerns about the longer term outlook for the area. My comments stand that there are and will be areas with great amenities along with safety at a price. There is a reality that in retirement you can pick and choose the time of day you do things along with the day of the week. All of the good comes at a cost and for some it isn't worth the price for others it is. Great medical services etc etc etc along with shopping etc etc etc. Being retired enables you to pick the time of day. It is just like visiting up there. Great for us going up there and lousy for them coming down here. We can go after rush hour here and get there before rush hour there and be going against the monstrous traffic the other way. Same with coming back. I have to laugh about your easy employment conversation as what you say is so very true. Not only can you leave and have another job quickly but it can come with a promotion, raise and competitive other offers. Living close in can as you say suck very quickly with all of the ills you suggest. Retirement there without a lot of bucks could be a bear and retirement there with the bucks could be a great experience. With the great experience comes a price. The closer in you are the greater the challenge to find a great neighborhood. Can't remember the name of the Chinese restaurant I believe in Arlington. It is quite famous and was George Bush's famous along with a number of other dignitaries and celebrities. The neighborhood and the ride in defy the clientele inside having dinner. My only real bone of contention was with the comment that folks wanting to retire there need their heads examined as that might be my wife in a few years. She loves town center.
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