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"I wouldn't call the decision to return to the place from where someone moved a 'nightmare'."
I wouldn't either, necessarily, esp. if it results in a happy ending. It's just evidence that whatever they so resolutely retired TO didn't work out as hoped and planned.
[quote=otterhere;44914069]To clarify: I plan to make a major change (relocation) and major purchase (retirement property), so I definitely feel the pressure to "get it right."
Dear one, what's been done can be undone if it's not right. Try not to over think everything. If it feels right, do it.
I'm coming up on my first year of unemployment and there hasn't been one mistake. It's just been day by day of changing direction to have fun and adventures.
Just appreciate the moment and live in the here and now. Deal with the rest when it comes one step at a time.
There is no right or wrong. There's just days and days of freedom to make choices.
Oh oh, there's a storm coming. Time to change direction and pick up after the boys before it turns to mush. See, adventures What? I didn't say they were all fun.
Last edited by animalcrazy; 07-28-2016 at 10:23 AM..
To clarify: I plan to make a major change (relocation) and major purchase (retirement property), so I definitely feel the pressure to "get it right." If you'll be aging in place with your usual home, location, family, friends, hobbies, etc., the only difference is that you don't go to work any more. Not much can go wrong there? If you're bored, add more hobbies or another job. Many, however, have a "retirement dream" they pursue that is a major life shift, and I sometimes wonder if it turns out as they planned.
If not, why not, and how could that have gone better?
Well, I've heard of people who do all sorts of research, go visit and pick the perfect place....move, then hate it. So you move again. The only thing carved in stone is the saying nothing is carved in stone.
And there is no need to get it right the first time.
If you are a social person or a joiner and make friends easily you will have an easier time with a major relocation. If you are relocating to a smallish or insular area with no family or friend connections you are probably going to be viewed as an outsider and maybe for a long time. Many small communities without much inward migration are networked by many generations of family connections. Coming from St. Louis to rural Missouri decades ago I was surprized that many people I met were distant, or close, cousins. I hired a secretary and after a year or so we discovered we were cousins to the same person, which was very odd since I was from 140 miles away.
One thing I didn't expect, and one of my biggest challenges, was finding a church that I liked after I moved 1.000 miles in retirement. It took a while and even though the different churches were the same denomination, it felt like I was wearing someone elses shoes.
I'm assuming you rented in Tuscon? For various reasons, "renting for a while" wouldn't be as easy for me as it is for others, although I agree that's sensible advice.
Often it doesn't take much to upset the apple cart and turn a dream into a nightmare. Plan as well as you can, but at the end of the day, some stuff is just plain out of the individual's control.
I retired without a "plan" - and things are going okay.
Just take it day by day. Well, I did have a pension and a house. But other than that - just que sera sera.
This. I spent most of my life planning for "the future": graduating from high school, graduating from college and grad school, building a career, changing careers, rebuilding career, planning retirement. Well, my future is now, and I'm done planning except for the short-term. The future is now.
Maybe tomorrow I'll mow the lawn, but then again, maybe I won't because it's not going anywhere.
We decided three years ago not to wait until we were in our 60's to move to our retirement destination. We are in our mid 50's and decided to go ahead and move and get established in the community while we still had at least 10 more years to work.
Everything fell into place nicely, sold our house, purchased one in the new area after many visits and have become employed.
Very glad we did the move now since it was quite stressful and now won't have to deal with moving in the future.
One thing for seniors is that simply have less time to recover from a trauma than younger people.
If an older person experiences a financial trauma, they simply have fewer years to recover - they likely won't see the markets rise as high as someone who is younger, may not even live until a situation improves, etc.
OP, you just have to come to a decision as to which mixed bag you want to deal with, the one you have now or the one you will have when you move.
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What? I didn't say they were all fun.
I spent most of my life planning for "the future": graduating from high school, graduating from college and grad school, building a career, changing careers, rebuilding career, planning retirement. Well, my future is now, and I'm done planning except for the short-term. The future is now.
