Where Do Young Retirees Live?

[nayslayer99]

Has anyone here ever considered Panama for ER. My wife and I along with some friends are looking into this for our next move. We are also considering just staying here in the U.S. Probably somewhere in the Northwest like Portland, OR or Seattle, Wa. Any thoughts on this?

I know nothing about Panama (except there is a canal there). I do know a bit about the Portland area, as I
have been there and both my son and brother lived there in the 80s and 90s. My son was in Eugene, Ore.
and my brother in Portland. Both liked the area very much and in fact my brother opined that if he ever made another long distance relocation, he would like to return.
The area would not work for us as we prefer warmer climes. It's pretty country though.

John Galt

I don't think that there are any proven strategies that could work for making this decision.

Have you considered Bend Oregon? The weather is much better than Seattle, and there is good skiing, golfing, and other outdoor activities. The cost of living is still reasonable (relative to Seattle), but it's quite a drive to the ocean.

[ShokWaveRider]

Here is what we plan on doing. (No Kids) We WERE also SoCAL workers till we E'retired last year at 50 and 45 respectively. We have a friend with a large boat, and spend the winters with him in the Caribbean sailing about. This summer it is Toronto Canada, with the Family. Next summer it will be Cruising to the Med on our friends boat.

We are Canadian AND US Citizens.

You can get a small apartment in St. Maarten in the Caribbean for 700 Euros all inclusive of utilities etc all except phone. So we may spend a few months there.

We plan on settling in Western Canada some place, probably Kelowna or Vancouver Island (Still not decided). Probably purchase a small home there for the summers.

We intend on exploring Jacksonville, Florida. Anyone live there

SWR

[JonnyM]

As someone who did it I can tell you that very early retireement is not an urban legand. Yes, it's true that not everyone can make this choice however there are plenty of people who can especially if they are childless, healthy and either have a job that provides an early pension and/or pays a good wage. It's just a matter of when you find out about ER and whether or not you decide to make it a priority.

Bullseye. I'm still 2-3 years away but completely on track for FIRE in the hole.

It was a matter of waking up one day and having that epiphany. "yes we (wife and I) can do this" .

We had both just got out of extreme debt from previous relationships (worth every penny or should I say c-note) and realized that at 43, we could likely pull the plug at 50 with a small DBP w/Cola, plus whatever we could save in the 7 year plan. We're 6 years in, DW had to DR after injury recently, hence I'm adapting by staying on either 1 or 2 extra years to beef up the nest egg portion.

We both fit the Tech Job demographic, and both live in CA. Although we plan to take our DBP dollars to somewhere more depressed where our money will go farther. Olympic Rain Forrest in WA looks promising. We love rain.

My Worst Case Secenerio is 52 with tons of padding in my Calc. I work in a large building with about 1000 other souls, many of whom are becoming aware of my Church of the Early Retirement. My simple Excel file that provides a plug in formula for our County's retirement formula is proving to be quite popular. Maybe I'll do seminars, wink, wink, nudge nudge, KWIM.

We intend on exploring Jacksonville, Florida. Anyone live there

SWR

ER at 40. I bought my 'investment' property in the Jacksonville, FL- Julingcreek area in Jan 2003 for 139K. Recently, the property next door was listed for 189K and a 'SOLD' sign went up within 2 weeks. St Johns county is the most desirable in terms of real estate appreciation due to highly-rated schools and communities. If you have big bucks (1.5M-2M+), check out the Ponte Vedra Beach area since that is one beautiful residential non commercial stretch of land in Florida that you can find anywhere in the East coast. If not, look for properties in the rural-turning-into-urban developments that seem to be appreciated fairly well.
I've never liked hot weather, but love the beach so it was a trade off to settle down and wait it out for the 2+ years tax free appreciation (hopefully, the value will hold). I plan to move to cooler climate ie. Washington -Vancouver or Olympia (monitoring a real estate burst )
TV

[nayslayer99]

Thanks for the replies John and John. I'll have to research Bend, OR more. Now it's sounding more and more like we will just move to the NW instead of Panama. None of us really wants to leave our homeland.

[Beachbumz]

Shockwave,
I have not looked at this sight for a while. We have been in St. Martin . We have friends that FIREd to St. Augustine, Fl, just south of Jacksonville and it is very nice, not congested like Jville, but close enough to it. We live in Cocoa Beach, Fl and love it.

Oh, and PLEASE don't tell anyone esle about St. Martin

The beachbum