<p>Do you watch House Hunters on HGTV? They occasionally have shows on people looking for homes in Mexico and Central and South America. Pretty interesting.</p>
<p>No cable at my house, but on occasion I might have access at friends’ houses. Will ask them to watch for it. </p>
<p>Madison would be a great place to retire, if not bothered by winter! Property taxes here at a point may be prohibitive for some of us. My kids insist they want to live in places with warmer weather.</p>
<p>OT–Kathiep–re your suggestion, I moved it over to SA.</p>
<p>We are in the process of getting our house on the market in anticipation of a retirement relocation sometime in the fall. We have fallen in love with a golf community in the Knoxville area with mild winters and will be visiting in March, with a few others on the short itinerary. And yes, the Ashville region will be looked at too.</p>
<p>BTW, we did see a production of Shakespeare’s King john in Ashland Oregon a few years ago and enjoyed it greatly.</p>
<p>I’ve heard there are retirement communities springing up in Mexico for ex-pats. Don’y know any details though.</p>
<p>Plan A:
Two dwellings: 1) house in the Northeast - probably right here in NJ (which is a likely central location for the kids) for spring, summer and fall. 2) condo/small house in Florida for Jan/Feb/March this would be either on the water or more likely in a very active/social/young-ish 55 & over community.</p>
<p>Plan B:
Two dwellings 1) house in Northeast as above 2) condo on the ocean in South Carolina (Myrtle Beach/Hilton Head) or Georgia for winter months. The thought behind this alternative is that the condo could be rented out during peak rental periods of late spring/summer/early fall to help defray its costs.</p>
<p>Plan C:
Two dwellings: 1) Condo in New England ski resort town for May through October, rent it out during peak ski season. 2) condo on SE coast to be rented out while we’re living in New England.</p>
<p>Plan D:
One dwelling in the Northeast and rent a condo in Florida for Jan/Feb/March.</p>
<p>Plan E:
Win lottery and develop Plan F.</p>
<p>ff – I like the sound of Plan E (& by extension, Plan F). Let me know your strategy for accomplishing it!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t choose Mexico right now…too many bad things happening there…a friend was murdered last New Year’s eve (of course, he was an idiot), and just last month there was an article in the paper about a car racer who went down for an event, and robbers attacked them on the way back, stole everything, and he was sure they were going to murder them…you never know when the police are the bad guys…I’m sure some places are better than others, but I’d rather not worry.</p>
<p>fundingfather, this is definitely OT but I had seen a thread last week about the best screen names on this board and yours has got to be a contender!</p>
<p>Since we already live in Florida (corporate relos) we’ll probably stay right here, but DH would like to retire to New Jersey! (He’s not from there, but I am) The sun is baking his brains out, I think!</p>
<p>If you go to the nice parts of NJ it’s hard to beat. Close to NYC but you can live in a small village or on a farm. Great little beach towns if that is what you like. Now taxes and prices are another issue.</p>
<p>If DH wants NJ, consider Delaware instead. I’m by no means an expert, but I think it’s less expensive, lower taxes, with a lot of the same goodies as NJ.</p>
<p>We bought our retirement house in South Jersey. FAirly low price, and *much *lower taxes than you would think. We love it there and can’t wait to move down full time. I’m a Jersey girl at heart, and really didn’t want to leave my home, even with all its recent problems. We can walk to the ferry to Delaware if we want to, too!</p>
<p>We have time to decide but in an ideal (fantasy) scenario, we would own several dwellings and we would go back and forth between them. They would be:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Apartment in Manhattan, preferably the West Side overlooking the river for the Spring and Fall (opera season).</p></li>
<li><p>Own or rent a house on the beach in Sanibel or Naples, FL during winter.</p></li>
<li><p>House in Northern Montana or Southern Alberta with access to the Rocky Mountains during the summer.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>We might need fundingfather’s plan E first, though.</p>
<p>Fundingfather, My Plan A is similar. I continue to live in the NE. Unfortunately there is no second residence and I also need to continue to work until about age 70. I also need to downsize and find living arrangements that a more suitable than taking care of a property in suburbia. Plan B: I retire to an area of the country with a cost of living that is about average. I buy a small house or condo and a camper and spend about 6 months/year traveling mostly in the National Parks. Plan C: is similar to Plan B, except I find a transitional job that will cover health care benefits until I am 65. I am working on Plan C.</p>
<p>
Thanks - and to bring this back on topic, the last tuition payment has been sent, thus making the next phase (retirement) more practical to think about. I have been considering re-registering as FormerlyFundingFather, or FFF for short.</p>
<p>FFF why do you want to retire? With tuition out of the way you can enjoy all your money. Or retire and get a job doing something that you really want to do. That’s what I did.</p>
<p>“Or retire and get a job doing something that you really want to do. That’s what I did.”</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking along those lines as well, but haven’t come up with a job that: a)I really want to do that b)I would be qualified to do and c)which would pay enough to make it worthwhile to have to conform to a schedule.</p>
<p>I just want to live long enough to be able to afford to retire ;)</p>
<p>Between paying college tuitions for two and now a wedding…(and he’s the groom)…</p>
<p>I’d prefer to retire to my living room with a good book and comfortable chair…</p>
<p>After arriving home from Charleston, SC on a college visit tour, I think I could be perfectly happy there. I am tired of the NE and the neverending winter. I just need to hang tight until the real estate market picks up.</p>