Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-19-2010, 09:34 AM   #41
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
vicente solano's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,116
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby View Post
We will almost certainly stay right here after we retire. We have high taxes and a high cost of living, but this is the place we feel that we fit in. There are many places in this country where I am sure I could not relate to the majority of the people, nor they to me. In that case, it really wouldn't matter how beautiful and warm it was or how low the cost of living.
Same opinion here
__________________
I get by with a little help from my friends....ta ta ta ta ta...
vicente solano is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 12-19-2010, 12:53 PM   #42
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby View Post
We will almost certainly stay right here after we retire. We have high taxes and a high cost of living, but this is the place we feel that we fit in. There are many places in this country where I am sure I could not relate to the majority of the people, nor they to me. In that case, it really wouldn't matter how beautiful and warm it was or how low the cost of living.
To me, this fit is the number one asset of any place. Most of us are not chameleons, we have definite and perhaps pretty well set personalities, attitude sets, and preferences in all sorts of day to day social interactions. Even when you are young and have children and jobs to help you integrate, if you don't fit you just don't fit.

Before I moved into the city I lived in a nearby area that drew some retirees, but was really a tight knit ethnic community that had no real use for outlanders. If the newcomers could find enough other newcomers, and fit in with them, all was well. But the transplants were mainly an affluent "golf and consume" crowd.

I got to know an older couple who moved into the main part of the old town, and who definitely did not fit. They were too intellectual, too frugal, and too non-golfish for the transplants, and too non-local for the locals. The man seemed content enough, just walking around town, stopping at the library, watching the harvests, and dropping into the bakery.(Where I met him.) But his wife was very outgoing and needed people. She eventually became depressed, and I hardly ever saw her. The guy continued wandering around, such that my wife and I referred to him as The Wanderer. They never left, I guessed that having bought a home they couldn't handle the financial or other costs of an attempt at another choice. They had both passed before I left, first she did then he several years later.
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-19-2010, 01:06 PM   #43
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Quote:
Originally Posted by haha View Post
They were too intellectual, too frugal, and too non-golfish for the transplants, and too non-local for the locals. The man seemed content enough, just walking around town, stopping at the library, watching the harvests, and dropping into the bakery.(Where I met him.) But his wife was very outgoing and needed people. She eventually became depressed, and I hardly ever saw her...
Perhaps you nailed the difference between the introvert and the extrovert. The introvert may never fit in anywhere, but he just doesn't care.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Where young people go to retire...
Old 12-19-2010, 04:27 PM   #44
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Brat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 7,108
Where young people go to retire...

Portlandia: The place where young people go to retire | OregonLive.com
__________________
Duck bjorn.
Brat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-19-2010, 04:59 PM   #45
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
freebird5825's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Nowhere, 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 9,037
No newsflashes here.

3. New York. Very high taxes, including property taxes. Second highest tax burden and 5th highest per-capita property taxes. Dysfunctional state legislature. Very expensive to live in this climate with cold winters. Most pensions are exempt, however.


$3200 school taxes, approx $1000 county taxes on a 1977 vintage home on 1.25 acres in East Nowhere.

8.5% sales tax

Don't even get me started about gas, liquor, sugary drinks, and tanning booth (yes you heard right) taxes.

The "one more year plan" is solidifying...
__________________
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney
freebird5825 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-19-2010, 09:20 PM   #46
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
I remember a few years ago reading about Portland being a place where many runaway teens came to hang out. City officials had to do something to keep them from falling prey to criminal elements. I do not know if this situation persists.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-20-2010, 09:21 AM   #47
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Brat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 7,108
I don't know if Portland population of runaway teens is higher than any other city with moderate temperatures but I do know that the police on the west coast are trying to address the transportation of young women for purposes of prostitution. They are finding that many were entrapped when running away from home, or even just talking to strangers. These agencies are beginning to look at the problem as tantamount to slavery, arresting the pimps and sheltering the girls.
__________________
Duck bjorn.
Brat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-20-2010, 10:44 AM   #48
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
vicente solano's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,116
Ha: Don´t you live in or around Seattle?

I am asking because I happen to have seen a documentary about Spaniards living there. All of them very impressed and happy with the city and surroundings.
__________________
I get by with a little help from my friends....ta ta ta ta ta...
vicente solano is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2010, 10:27 AM   #49
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,323
Well, this confirms I was right about Illinois anyway.... The taxes are h-e-double hockeysticks! (And I won't even mention the cold)

My friend that is sick moved to Vegas and is questioning medical care there. With such a serious case as she possibly has...bad decision to move there.
__________________
Please consider adopting a rescue animal. So very many need a furr-ever home and someone to love them! And if we all spay/neuter our pets there won't be an overpopulation to put to death.
Orchidflower is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2010, 10:49 AM   #50
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound View Post
The introvert may never fit in anywhere, but he just doesn't care.
Hey, I resemble that remark ...

"What you think of me, is none of my business"...
rescueme is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2010, 10:59 AM   #51
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
vicente solano's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,116
The other day my wife -non English speaker- suggested taking a sabbatical and going for a year to the States. Her suggestion included me teaching Spanish over there..... She must think that kind of plum job grows on trees over there.... How many Hispanics among you that would aspire to such a job....20 million?

I suppose it was some sort of idle daydreaming on her part, but..... just in case she insists on her notion and strarts pestering me into researching the issue, I am documenting myself, studying all your posts on this thread
__________________
I get by with a little help from my friends....ta ta ta ta ta...
vicente solano is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2010, 11:31 AM   #52
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
FinanceDude's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,483
Does not surprise me Wisconsin is on the list, some of the high property taxes, short summers, high gas taxes, etc. Why the hell do I still live here? Oh, that's right, Summerfest!
__________________
Consult with your own advisor or representative. My thoughts should not be construed as investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results (love that one).......:)


This Thread is USELESS without pics.........:)
FinanceDude is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2010, 12:19 PM   #53
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
Quote:
Originally Posted by vicente solano View Post
The other day my wife -non English speaker- suggested taking a sabbatical and going for a year to the States. Her suggestion included me teaching Spanish over there..... She must think that kind of plum job grows on trees over there.... How many Hispanics among you that would aspire to such a job....20 million?

I suppose it was some sort of idle daydreaming on her part, but..... just in case she insists on her notion and strarts pestering me into researching the issue, I am documenting myself, studying all your posts on this thread
I think it should be a real possibility. Remember that many if not most American Spanish speakers speak a Spanish that is to educated Spanish about like inner city English is to educated English. There are often educated people posting on grocery message boards, etc. that they offer Spanish lessons, but remember that many of these people also speak English and can get regular full time jobs with benefits, etc. It also depends on how much she expects to earn, both per hour and per lesson.
I don't know about visas, green cards, etc., but this kind of thing should be easy to run quietly. Just don't hang out in the parking lot at Office Depot.

Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2010, 12:50 PM   #54
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
vicente solano's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,116
Quote:
Originally Posted by haha View Post
I It also depends on how much she expects to earn, both per hour and per lesson.

Ha
I would be the one doing the teaching. She would be too busy learning English and touring all over the place.

Anyway it was pure daydreaming on her part, I hope, ´cause I´m a bit old for such an adventure. I do feel my age.
If I were 5 years younger, just when I E-retired......

Out of curiosity....Would we lead a decent life on, say, 5.400$ per month? I know, it depends....but a ballpark estimation?
__________________
I get by with a little help from my friends....ta ta ta ta ta...
vicente solano is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2010, 01:12 PM   #55
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
Quote:
Originally Posted by vicente solano View Post
Out of curiosity....Would we lead a decent life on, say, 5.400$ per month? I know, it depends....but a ballpark estimation?
Sure, you could get a nice apartment in a close in neighborhood where you could get to groceries, restaurants and bars, libraries, parks on foot, and a longer walk to easy bus ride downtown for downtown shopping, museums, etc. Food over here is cheap. You could join Zip-Car for when you wanted to drive somewhere, or rent for a longer weekend trip for ski-ing or visiting the mountains. I am using Seattle prices, it will cost more for rent in Boston or San Francisco or New York, which are the main cities besides Seattle where you could realistically do fine with no car. Portland my work too, but I am less familiar there. Also fairly expensive but not boring and ok with no car would be Palo Alto and Berkeley.

You could even buy a car, and resell it before you go back- that way you could live in Montana if you wanted to.

New York is in a class by itself, and its rents are in a class by themselves.

You would need to get some sort of temporary insurance, since if you ran up a big hospital bill they might sell your body parts before they would allow you to go back to Spain. (Just kidding, I hope.)

If you come to Seattle, I can introduce you to some Spanish speakers living here so your wife will not get lonesome, and also give you some pointers on living in this city. Maybe even get you tango dancing.

Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2010, 01:30 PM   #56
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,472
Quote:
Originally Posted by vicente solano View Post
Out of curiosity....Would we lead a decent life on, say, 5.400$ per month? I know, it depends....but a ballpark estimation?
Median household income in the United States in 2009 was $4,185, before taxes.

The cost of living in the U.S. is widely variable depending on location. $5,400/month would be a fabulous income in some southern or midwestern rural areas. But it would be hard to scrape by on that income in Manhattan, for example. Cities tend to be more expensive than rural areas, and generally east coast and west coast locations tend to be more expensive than the midwest and the more central southern states such as Alabama and Mississippi.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2010, 01:48 PM   #57
Moderator Emeritus
Bestwifeever's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
Quote:
Originally Posted by vicente solano View Post
The other day my wife -non English speaker- suggested taking a sabbatical and going for a year to the States. Her suggestion included me teaching Spanish over there..... She must think that kind of plum job grows on trees over there.... How many Hispanics among you that would aspire to such a job....20 million?

I suppose it was some sort of idle daydreaming on her part, but..... just in case she insists on her notion and strarts pestering me into researching the issue, I am documenting myself, studying all your posts on this thread
Here you go: https://applicants.rosettastone.com/

Come on over!!!
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Bestwifeever is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2010, 05:00 PM   #58
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Brat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 7,108
What HaHa said +

On $5,400/mo they could live VERY comfortably in either Portland (where we now live) or Seattle. [My complaint about Seattle is the traffic.] The cost of living in Palo Alto and Berkley, in nice neighborhoods, is substantially higher.

My question would be what do you want to do during the sabbatical? If you want to research alligators the west coast of the US is not the place to spend your time.
__________________
Duck bjorn.
Brat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-23-2010, 01:55 AM   #59
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
vicente solano's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,116
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brat View Post
What HaHa said +

On $5,400/mo they could live VERY comfortably in either Portland (where we now live) or Seattle. [My complaint about Seattle is the traffic.] The cost of living in Palo Alto and Berkley, in nice neighborhoods, is substantially higher.

My question would be what do you want to do during the sabbatical? If you want to research alligators the west coast of the US is not the place to spend your time.
Hey! I was just imagining ourselves out there! By the way, you have so many things I like....I wouldnt know where to start!
__________________
I get by with a little help from my friends....ta ta ta ta ta...
vicente solano is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-23-2010, 06:54 AM   #60
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
Quote:
Originally Posted by vicente solano View Post
Hey! I was just imagining ourselves out there! By the way, you have so many things I like....I wouldnt know where to start!
I understand you have lost your desire to relocate after yesterday's news:

Spain's lottery hands out $3B to thousands of winners - USATODAY.com
rescueme is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Worst Retirement Mistakes You Can Make?? or Not? HsiaoChu Life after FIRE 30 03-14-2010 11:30 AM
Worst Possible Retirement Date? yakers FIRE and Money 63 10-22-2008 09:20 PM
Retirement- , Singapore, State of Mind, Returning to States Rob Life after FIRE 4 07-09-2007 10:00 AM
the best & worst of early retirement lazygood4nothinbum Other topics 11 02-05-2007 05:48 PM
What Profession Has The Worst Retirement Planning? yakers Other topics 16 10-11-2005 09:35 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:14 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.