What'll your retirement look like?

[honobob]

Just wondering what people think their retirement will look like. I realize most people will probably have some combination of the different choices but select the one that will be closest to the bulk of your retirement.

 

[freebird5825]

Staying put in moderate cost area! Middle class life, limited travel but no W*rk!

Already FIREd and living it in real time.
I just love the way you did the choices in the poll.

 

[Moemg]

I was not sure whether Florida was a high cost of living area since some of our posters seem to live in incredibly cheap places . So I voted staying in a High cost of living area and living a middle class life . Travel Optional !

 

[unclemick]

Thinking maybe tightening up a tad - although I checked live cheap, party good.

Maybe only New Orleans, reneck riviera, baja this year - and maybe restart my fishing hobby of years ago - maybe some Missouri Ozarks - although could go back to Lake Weiss Alabama and stay with friends - da Crappie Capital of The World.

The current unpleasantness may bring on a chickenheartedness attack - cheap wise - even though I'm not getting any younger and I'm still positive you can't take it with you.

Not looking to tie up a lot in RE - rent, party - leave a huge mess and a big tip for the maids.

heh heh heh - Do reserve the right to flip flop my opinion. .

 

[Rambler]

I'm with Moemg, I don't know whether our US home would be considered high or low cost...the prop taxes sure stink, so I chose high. Home here is high-high cost, but we won't ER here. We plan to RV some, but not full time, nor even half-time, and only north america. Although, every day that I look at the markets, I wonder if we will be living as paupers in a high cost area, and that our RV may end up being a bicycle built for two...

R

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

DW and I are not together on this. I voted the most probable outcome: that we would live in a low cost area and live frugally. She doesn't want to move from where we are. I follow my father's sage advice: to have a happy marriage, compromise--do it her way.

We SHOULD move to Mexico and try to live on $350k and SS. In the unhappy event that I should outlive her, I am going south.

Meantime, I am working far away in Iceworld.

 

[haha]

Unless things go very wrong I'll stay in Seattle, not the highest cost city by any means but pretty high.

I need a city. If I really could not make it here, I might move to Dallas or Ft. Worth where my brother lives. I think that is a low probability event.

Judging by his expenses I think I could live well there on about 65% of what it costs me here, renting in both places. He'll buy the same steak that I buy, in the same chain store, but pay roughly half of what I pay.

I would miss the fresh fish, but maybe I could run a trot-line down there. I've been visiting in DFW now for 40 years, and it is one of the places that I truly appreciate.

Ha

 

[kumquat]

I chose 'way other', but only since the questions seem to suggest living in USA, Mexico or S.E. Asia.

I choose Canada, for now, since I've always lived here. I might like 5-6 month vacations during the winter. You never know, maybe southern USA will fit.

 

[Fireup2020]

Looking forward to travelling - maybe RV, sailboat, and plenty of trips across the ponds - but I don't envision them to be "upscale." Will probably be based in a high cost area.

 

[W2R]

The current unpleasantness may bring on a chickenheartedness attack - cheap wise - even though I'm not getting any younger and I'm still positive you can't take it with you.

Knowing how to live on very little is a great skill to have in one's back pocket at times like this.

It's true that you can't take it with you, but usually it is possible to cut back quite a bit while still enjoying life.

 

[Walt34]

Moving to LOW/moderate cost area and living middle class lifestyle.
What else to say about the WV panhandle area. Homes cost half to a third or even less than in the DC area, a haircut is $8 vs. $15, gasoline/utilities are about the same, food is a little cheaper but not by much. And despite all the initial jokes from relatives, we do have indoor plumbing and 'lectricity. I think they were just jealous - "You paid what for this place?"

DW's favorite sister is considering North Carolina, which is where I wanted to go in the first place, so it would take no arm-twisting to get me to move there too.

 

[OAG]

68 yo, got to reach the "withdrawal stage" sometime. A few years ago I thought it would arrive at 60, then 65, now 70 (if not 68.5). Almost to the point that "what happens, happens" is it just time to enjoy what is left of life - makes everything simpler. If I run out of money, so be it.

 

[Hobo]

Well, I already FIREd as well and in my case my decision was influenced by the fact that I was divorced. I traveled in Central and South America and, as a person, I did not like what I saw. This is 100% an individual decision that everyone must make for themselves. Then I traveled to SE Asia, and found the choices were much more diverse. In other words, Thailand is very different from Cambodia. I found a place in Indonesia that just felt very comfortable. Most single women would love to marry a Westerner - and there are many very many young women who have no problems marrying an older man. It is also an accepted practice in the culture. It has many other advantages, including the price of almost everything is incredibly low (including live-in housekeepers).

I guess the bottom line is this: If you do not have a wife and do not want to grow old alone, then IMO, the choices are much broader if you move out of the country. This doublely important if you want to live like a king on a modest retirement income.

 

[ziggy29]

Retirement? What's that?

 

[unclemick]

Well - as bad as Mr Market is lately - I value my life - far be it from me to suggest we skip New Orleans trip when her Granddaughters twins arrive - discretion being the better part of valor and all.

Oil change and tire rotation today - hope they arrive after Mardi Gras.

heh heh heh - 16th yr of ER - core budget is waaay different than el cheapo year 1.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

I voted Staying put in high cost area! Middle class life.

We'll likely stay in SoCal, but will probably downsize our house to something more manageable when the kids have left the nest. That's 16-20 years off, though, so check back in another decade or two.

 

[shoe]

I voted "staying put in moderate cost area! Middle class, limited travel". Dh and I will live on $48,000 COLA with very high medical insurance cost. Good thing we don't care to travel much! Truth be told, I would miss my kids who all live locally.

 

[harley]

I guess the bottom line is this: If you do not have a wife and do not want to grow old alone, then IMO, the choices are much broader if you move out of the country. This doublely important if you want to live like a king on a modest retirement income.

Mr. Hobo, meet my daughter Anna Nicole Nguyen!

 

[haha]

I guess the bottom line is this: If you do not have a wife and do not want to grow old alone, then IMO, the choices are much broader if you move out of the country. This doublely important if you want to live like a king on a modest retirement income.

Hobo, Are you currently married to a young woman? I think live-in housekeepers, if that is what they truly are, would just be another source of frustration, which I need like I need an abcessed tooth.

Ha

 

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

Globe Trotting followed by living the hermit lifestyle when I find a good country.

 

[RAE]

I voted for staying put in moderate cost area, middle class life, limited travel, no work.
We'll keep our paid-off modest home here in the upper midwest, and our lake cottage, but hope to spend a few months each winter down south somewhere. About one more year to retirement for me, so we'll have to see if this plan works out or not. We could cut back (or cut out) the winter stay down south if we have to - maybe not stay as long down there, and maybe rent a small house in town, rather than a place closer to the beach, to save some $$.

 

[hankster]

Staying put in moderate cost area! Middle class life, limited travel but no W*rk!

We like the area we live in now. It's relatively close to many of our favorite vacation spots and our kids and grandkids are nearby. The travel would be geared toward escaping from the winter cold in January/February. We're still trying to decide if that will be a rented condo or just a used travel trailer set up in Arizona for the winter. The way the market looks today, we may have to start checking out the higher end camping tents

 

[ziggy29]

Our plan is to stay right where we are in a low-cost, small home (low utility bills and property taxes). We've been weaning ourselves into a more frugal, lower-cost existence since even before cheap became "cool." Within another [-]10[/-] [-]12[/-] 15 years or so, hopefully we'll have had our retirement stash recover enough that I can start safely drawing from it for income.

 

[W2R]

I voted "Moving to LOW/moderate cost area and living upper class lifestyle", though it felt funny to vote that way.

If Firecalc is correct, I could probably live an upper-middle to upper class lifestyle there. I wouldn't know what to do with a McMansion and a Mercedes, though, so I won't be buying that sort of thing.

I guess you could say that I will live an enriched middle class lifestyle, though, assuming the economy recovers. Otherwise it's back to penny pinching for me and probably for everyone.

 

[honobob]

I chose 'way other', but only since the questions seem to suggest living in USA, Mexico or S.E. Asia.

I choose Canada, for now, since I've always lived here. I might like 5-6 month vacations during the winter. You never know, maybe southern USA will fit.

It's not that easy making one size fits all polls. I specifically said "staying put" to encompass all areas even Canada! I don't think there are any posts of people moving "OUT" of anywhere except the US, go figger.
Mexico and S.E. Asia were meant to represent an "Adventurer's Guide" type of retirement. Heck, it could be anywhere foreign to you that's perceived to be cheaper than where you've lived most of your life. Perhaps I should have added a snowbird option, high and low end.