<p>I think I’m the opposite of many here - I’d prefer a place where I could have multiple cars, preferably at least a half dozen, so with all my massive wealth I (would like to) have I could buy a few more classic cars and I want to drive them all. I also have no desire at all to live in an urban environment surrounded by the people, noise, buildings, lack of trees, lack of nature, etc. I guess I just don’t adore a penthouse view - non-urban living is the place for me.</p>
<p>It’s a good thing we all have a different idea of what we want or else it’d get mighty crowded - somewhere.</p>
<p>^^^so funny that you should say that. We have neighbors in the eastern NC neighborhood (where we’ve built our future retirement home) who left Conn. to retire to eastern NC because the large lots/low prices enabled them to have enough space to build a very large garage specifically for his classic car collection. My fav. is a really old restored Rolls Royce.</p>
<p>My H would agree with u u dad. He’d never want to give up his cars. The house we bought in SC as a second home and where we’ll spend more time in retirement has a four car garage, and already has one car there! He’s also looking to sell the SeaDoo so he has another opening! He jokes that the only way he could live in a city with his ‘collection’ would be to have an arrangement like Jerry Seinfeld has in NYC, with his own private parking garage for dozens of cars. :)</p>
<p>Tangential question to all readers-- Without getting into the nitty gritty of all the variables that affect your answer to this question (location, cost of living, expenses, etc-- just put that aside for a moment) what general number do you have in your head as to “how much” is enough to have in savings/pension/retirement funds to retire “comfortably”. My dad thought he had enough but he almost ran out of money before he passed away and we had to refi his house so he could afford to stay there. How much is “enough”?</p>
<p>I’ve read that 7 figures in the IRA or other retirement fund is a benchmark? Though I can’t get my mind around the idea that we actually should be a nation of millionaires in order to retire comfortably.</p>
<p>The other concept is what does “comfortably” mean? A long life is expensive unless you’re one of those very fortunate people (and I know some) who can remain healthy and independent right up until the very end.</p>
<p>Our financial advisor helps us with that, but a lot depends on your guess as to how long you both will live. My father and stepmother planned very carefully, but they are now 85/89 and not exactly running out of money, but they aren’t going to have a whole lot left. They are in an independent living complex and soon to be in assisted living. It’s a nice place in Charlottesville and quite pricey. He says he worries about “outliving his money”.</p>
<p>“Our financial advisor helps us with that, but a lot depends on your guess as to how long you both will live.”. True. And a lot depends on how much you can earn (after inflation).</p>
<p>I suppose another factor is SS and traditional pension (if any). Those steady incomes will get degraded by inflation… but they involve less guesswork on life span.</p>
<p>This weekend, H and I had a very brief discussion of where to retire. The conversation really went nowhere when H said he wasn’t interested in researching yet since he thinks waiting until 5 years before retirement will be plenty of time. He figures he has 8 years til retirement.</p>
<p>How long before retirement is reasonable? How long could it take to decide on someplace, expecially when you’ve never been there before? I’d certainly like to see someplace at different times during the year before I decide it’s the right place for me. Maybe I’ll just start this process on my own for now.</p>
<p>^^ There are disadvantages to planning it all out too far in advance. Your health can change, your financial situation can change, your kid/grandkid situation can change…</p>
<p>We decided in 2000 that we wanted to retire in Colorado. We bought a lot in western CO (not in a resort town). In recent years, we realized we probably would want easier access to top medical care (Denver is 3 hours away) and easier travel ability for people to come see us. We love Colorado, and will spend time there, but we are selling the lot. Also, as we got older we really didn’t want that long of a winter. So- our plan changed quite a bit. </p>
<p>We are building our “last” house here in the Nashville area.</p>
<p>An interesting exercise is to see what it would cost you to provide your social security benefit. A person who is earning at the top end of the social security wage cap will get about $2400 monthly at retirement at age 66. The cost of providing that as an annuity would be a current lump sum investment of about 470,000, based on Berkshire Hathaway’s annuity calculator. </p>
<p>So, it would cost about 950,000 or so to generate an income of 4800 monthly.</p>
<p>One thought about snowbirds: eventually you have to choose one place. My parents had a wonderful 15 years living part time in Wisconsin, and part time in Ponte Vedra, Florida. But eventually the traveling back and forth became too much for them. They ended up staying in Wisconsin, which is where they had lived since 1949. It was “home”, they wanted to keep their physicians, their friends, their routines. They remodeled their two story home to allow them to live on one floor, and were able to age in place until they both passed on.</p>
<p>It worked for them, but they did become quite housebound those last years because of the weather.</p>
<p>If we can afford it- we will stay here in the city. Our house isn’t quite paid for, but it is small and fairly easy to keep up. It is a nice little neighborhood- walking distance to the hospital & grocery store. I don’t know where either of the girls will end up, D1 is in her last year of grad school, as is her sig other ( although his family is on other coast), D2 is only partway through college.</p>
<p>Relatively mild weather & nice scenery. We have both lived in this area all our lives, I think we would really miss it if we moved ( although I would consider the other side of the mts which is drier & sunnier). I also would consider moving to be closer to wherever the girls settle- if they do.</p>
I’ve had that same conversation. My dh thinks there’s no rush because he won’t retire for at least another 7 years. I say he’s going to need more time than that just to clean out his section of the basement (paper accumulator), let alone do any of the little fix-ups necessary to get the house in move-in condition for someone else.</p>
<p>But we are going to Charlottesville for a few days next month. I need to convince him it’s where we want to wind up - suggestions welcome. We’ll definitely tour a winery or two because that’s a selling point for him.</p>
<p>frazzled: I’ll be curious to hear how your trip to Charlottesville goes. Your H and mine sound very similar, both into wine, accumulating stuff, and not too interested in thinking about retirement yet. We’ve talked about VA, NC, or SC as potential retirement areas, but we’ve only been to Williamsburg so we have alot more researching to do, which is why I’d like to get started sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>MOWC: I agree that buying someplace too soon may not be the best strategy, but I’d just like to start narrowing down where we might be interested in living & start visiting those areas.</p>
<p>We are keeping the big house here in MN. Want the kids/grandkids to have a place for the holidays. Don’t think I would like to be away from friends and family here. We have a summer lake home here and the kids love it. What we also hope to do is travel during the winter to escape the cold. Have no desire to own more property. I can’t imagine leaving our support system here!</p>
<p>Okay, so I guess H and I get to live by ourselves. Our dream retirement is on a little orchard on the west coast of Lake Michigan with some beach. Someplace where H can grow apples, peaches and cherries, I can swim in the lake all summer, we can watch the storms over the lake all winter. H in particular sees nothing attractive in slowing down. His idea of retirement is once he stops teaching he will have more time for farming!</p>
<p>^^ Yeah, many of us feel that way and don’t plan to slow down, but S@@t happens! Illness, accidents, falls and…simply aging happen. I still plan to be running races when I’m 85 and hope I am!</p>
<p>I am starting to think it would be nice to have that rural place by the lake for summers, so we can garden and paddle and hike AND a little urban condo, where we can head in the winter when most of our entertainments (reading, theatre, cooking) are indoors. Then if the house gets to be too much or we need to be near better medical care, we can move full-time to the city.</p>
<p>Our running community has a solid contingent of septuagenarians who still compete in the local races. They even put together a team for our local 50 mile relay.</p>
<p>Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. All my retirement plans have been recalculated after dealing with my folks (late eighties) rapid decline from the epitome of health to the serious challenges of old age ailments. Everything “fell apart” in the matter of a year and it’s a rough move from an isolated idyllic central coast locale, to a smaller urban condo closer to us kids.
Mom was still walking 5 miles a day at 82, but now can barely make her way accross the room.</p>
<p>When we bought our H, H said he would live there until he dies. He’s still of that opinion decades later & it is “right-sized” so we won’t be rambling around in it with just the 2 of us & can fit the kids if they’re willing to be cozy. We have even had house-guests sometimes, if they’re willing to sleep on the futon in the living room as well as the one in S’s bedroom. We have good access to medical care & live near my family. My in-laws are a 5-hour plane ride away. We will have medical benefits 75% paid for by H’s employer throughout retirement until we both die. After he dies, I will get a smaller pension; the pensions are to be increased for inflation.</p>
<p>Much of your retirement needs depend on your health, how long you & spouse are projected to live, whether you’ll be bringing in ANY income during retirement (e.g. rental or other), whether you have expensive medical conditions. whether you have any pension & how secure (or not) it is, etc. Hard to say what is “certain” these days, other than it’s good to have a LOT of money for the unexpected and living longer than projected.</p>
<p>When folks continue to bring in income, the retirement funds don’t get touched or depleted nearly so fast. I may continue to work while H is fully retired, which will help us make our funds last longer. I am still enjoying my non-profit work and feel we are making a different in our community & the world.</p>
<p>If folks plan/want to do a lot of travel, that depletes retirement accounts faster as well, more than if they mostly hang out in their communities & volunteer or engage in less expensive hobbies.</p>