Update on Year 8 of ER

[Scuba]

Year 8 of ER was a busy year for us! We moved from Southern CA to Southwest FL, and despite 3 hurricanes this season, we are very happy with our move. We now live in a Del Webb community and are busier than ever! So much to do here. Fortunately, since we are almost 15 miles from the beach, we didn’t have any major hurricane damage from any of the storms. We miss friends and restaurants from CA, but there are many aspects of life in FL that have been a major upgrade.

We went to Venice, Slovenia, Croatia, and Greece for 2 months this past summer. It was wonderful! We also did a dive trip to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman in March. Between these trips, we have spent lots of time visiting family in GA and SC. We’ve also had lots of visitors. A close friend and her husband visited and have now decided they’re moving to an area close to us - very exciting!

We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to retire in our 50’s. We are now in our mid-60’s and have our ups and downs health wise. For me, nothing major, just annoying plantar fasciitis which is keeping me off the pickleball court for now. DH recovered nicely from his open heart surgery in 2022 but has recently experienced cardiac electrical irregularities. The docs don’t seem to feel it’s urgent to resolve, but he is scheduled for several tests and appointments over the next month. Scary given his history!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

 

[pb4uski]

Nice update. We are in year 13 of retirement and also moved this year... from SWFL to a Del Webb community north of Austin, TX. Boy, moving is a PITA... changing voting, insurances (home, vehicle and health), vehicle registrations, drivers licenses, homestead, doctors, dentists, etc. is quite a process not to mention the belongings.

There are 3 golf courses, 4 amenity centers with fitness facilities and pools and 50 clubs to keep us busy and everyone is very friendly. The cherry on top is that we are less than an hour from our two kids and the grandchildren and gt together with them at least once a week.

 

[Dtail]

Good to hear your update. Now get yourself healthy and back on that Pickleball court.

 

[pacergal]

Nice update, we are also finishing year 8.

 

[street]

Great Update and sounds like a wonderful 8 years. Thank You and always nice to hear how things have gone for people.

I am also 8 year in to ER. I had some doubts about ER but I'm so glad I went out early. No traveling like you have done but have just enjoyed life to the fullest and there has been so many firsts in these 8 years of ER. God has Blessed us in so many ways.

 

[Dtail]

To add, we are also in our 8th year of retirement. Great times.

 

[iloveyoga]

Year 8 of ER was a busy year for us! We moved from Southern CA to Southwest FL, and despite 3 hurricanes this season, we are very happy with our move. We now live in a Del Webb community and are busier than ever! So much to do here. Fortunately, since we are almost 15 miles from the beach, we didn’t have any major hurricane damage from any of the storms. We miss friends and restaurants from CA, but there are many aspects of life in FL that have been a major upgrade.

We went to Venice, Slovenia, Croatia, and Greece for 2 months this past summer. It was wonderful! We also did a dive trip to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman in March. Between these trips, we have spent lots of time visiting family in GA and SC. We’ve also had lots of visitors. A close friend and her husband visited and have now decided they’re moving to an area close to us - very exciting!

We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to retire in our 50’s. We are now in our mid-60’s and have our ups and downs health wise. For me, nothing major, just annoying plantar fasciitis which is keeping me off the pickleball court for now. DH recovered nicely from his open heart surgery in 2022 but has recently experienced cardiac electrical irregularities. The docs don’t seem to feel it’s urgent to resolve, but he is scheduled for several tests and appointments over the next month. Scary given his history!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Thanks, I enjoy your updates.

 

[rkser]

Thanks for your update, we retired 9 yrs back & had soon downsized to a single storey house in a nice neighborhood in Central Florida. Life is good.

 

[FlaGator]

Thanks for the update. Had been wondering if all was OK with you and Mr. Scuba, glad it's at least "good enough".

Hope there is another WFL gathering next year and we both make it so that I can get a live update. Best wishes to you and Mr. Scuba in the meantime.

 

[Scuba]

Good to hear your update. Now get yourself healthy and back on that Pickleball court.

I’m trying! Doing my PT exercises every day!!

 

[EarlyandLate]

Thanks for the update Scuba! I had been wondering how your big move worked out. Other than the hurricanes, have you been happy with the weather in FL?

 

[Scuba]

Thanks for the update Scuba! I had been wondering how your big move worked out. Other than the hurricanes, have you been happy with the weather in FL?

Yes, we love the weather here. Keep in mind that we are both originally from the South, so heat and humidity are not new to us. During the summer, we find that as long as we have access to a pool or the beach and air conditioning, we like it, and it’s much better to us than the misty gray marine layer Southern CA beach communities have. The winter in Sarasota was a bit cooler than we had hoped last year, but locals said it was unusually chilly. We’ll see.

 

[Dtail]

Yes, we love the weather here. Keep in mind that we are both originally from the South, so heat and humidity are not new to us. During the summer, we find that as long as we have access to a pool or the beach and air conditioning, we like it, and it’s much better to us than the misty gray marine layer Southern CA beach communities have. The winter in Sarasota was a bit cooler than we had hoped last year, but locals said it was unusually chilly. We’ll see.

Been in Tampa for 8 years and last winter was definitely the coldest one yet, so hoping for warmer this year.

 

[FindingForward]

Enjoyed reading your latest update and other posts! Apologies for a bit of a thread hijack, but you and other posters here mentioned Del Webb. Could you share your opinions on their reputation? Would you still choose them if you could do it over again? Would you recommend new or a resale? Any scuttlebut re: DW developments to avoid?

I've explored a couple as I consider a move and HOAs ranged from 250-400 and only covered public amenities (no lawn care or any other individual home expenses,) which seemed high, but I get that it covers a lot of amenities.

 

[53anddone]

Nice to see someone around the same timeframe. I am in year 6 and finally have some friends starting to retire as well. Biggest budget item is kids education and second to that is travel so I think I have it right.

 

[Palmtree]

Great update. I can relate to a lot of what you wrote. We retired nine years ago in our 50's. I'm 64 now and my wife is 61. Since then we've enjoyed visiting Venice, Slovenia, & Croatia also. Along the years we've both experienced some health scares but fortunately we're still in fairly good health and absolutely loving retirement.

 

[Scuba]

Enjoyed reading your latest update and other posts! Apologies for a bit of a thread hijack, but you and other posters here mentioned Del Webb. Could you share your opinions on their reputation? Would you still choose them if you could do it over again? Would you recommend new or a resale? Any scuttlebut re: DW developments to avoid?

I've explored a couple as I consider a move and HOAs ranged from 250-400 and only covered public amenities (no lawn care or any other individual home expenses,) which seemed high, but I get that it covers a lot of amenities.

We enjoy life at Del Webb. We didn’t originally target a 55+, but if you want to live in a community with loads of amenities and plenty of activities, Del Webb is hard to beat. Our HOA is around $430 which includes landscaping maintenance. There is something for everyone here, or if you’re an introvert like DH, there is no pressure to participate.

The downside is that it can sometimes feel a bit cliquish. At large neighborhood parties, many people get tables of 8 or 10 put together in advance and just sit with their friends rather than mingling. DH and I went to an event last Saturday and sat alone at a huge table for a while until friends made room for us at their big prearranged table. I think our desire to mingle and meet new people is greater than most, and we are also ok sitting alone or floating among various tables.

I think Pulte does a pretty good job on the homebuilding. Our neighborhood survived 3 hurricanes this season with minimal damage.

 

[FindingForward]

We enjoy life at Del Webb. We didn’t originally target a 55+, but if you want to live in a community with loads of amenities and plenty of activities, Del Webb is hard to beat. Our HOA is around $430 which includes landscaping maintenance. There is something for everyone here, or if you’re an introvert like DH, there is no pressure to participate.

The downside is that it can sometimes feel a bit cliquish. At large neighborhood parties, many people get tables of 8 or 10 put together in advance and just sit with their friends rather than mingling. DH and I went to an event last Saturday and sat alone at a huge table for a while until friends made room for us at their big prearranged table. I think our desire to mingle and meet new people is greater than most, and we are also ok sitting alone or floating among various tables.

I think Pulte does a pretty good job on the homebuilding. Our neighborhood survived 3 hurricanes this season with minimal damage.

Thank you. Appreciate the additional perspective.

 

[almost there]

Congrats! 11 yrs over here / I believe. Wake up and its Sat. morning 365 days a year.

 

[KarenF]

Year 8 of ER was a busy year for us! We moved from Southern CA to Southwest FL, and despite 3 hurricanes this season, we are very happy with our move. We now live in a Del Webb community and are busier than ever! So much to do here. Fortunately, since we are almost 15 miles from the beach, we didn’t have any major hurricane damage from any of the storms. We miss friends and restaurants from CA, but there are many aspects of life in FL that have been a major upgrade.

We went to Venice, Slovenia, Croatia, and Greece for 2 months this past summer. It was wonderful! We also did a dive trip to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman in March. Between these trips, we have spent lots of time visiting family in GA and SC. We’ve also had lots of visitors. A close friend and her husband visited and have now decided they’re moving to an area close to us - very exciting!

We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to retire in our 50’s. We are now in our mid-60’s and have our ups and downs health wise. For me, nothing major, just annoying plantar fasciitis which is keeping me off the pickleball court for now. DH recovered nicely from his open heart surgery in 2022 but has recently experienced cardiac electrical irregularities. The docs don’t seem to feel it’s urgent to resolve, but he is scheduled for several tests and appointments over the next month. Scary given his history!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

For Plantar Fascitis, stretch all 3 calf muscles every day (toes out, toes straight, toes in). Stretch your hamstrings too. PF is those tight muscles pulling on your fascia. Over a long period of time, the stretching will help and then the PF inflammation will go away. It took me months, but I have not had PF for years. In the meantime, never go barefoot and wear shoes with good arch supports. Rolling your feet on a frozen water bottle helps too. I hope all is well with DH heart!

 

[KarenF]

We enjoy life at Del Webb. We didn’t originally target a 55+, but if you want to live in a community with loads of amenities and plenty of activities, Del Webb is hard to beat. Our HOA is around $430 which includes landscaping maintenance. There is something for everyone here, or if you’re an introvert like DH, there is no pressure to participate.

The downside is that it can sometimes feel a bit cliquish. At large neighborhood parties, many people get tables of 8 or 10 put together in advance and just sit with their friends rather than mingling. DH and I went to an event last Saturday and sat alone at a huge table for a while until friends made room for us at their big prearranged table. I think our desire to mingle and meet new people is greater than most, and we are also ok sitting alone or floating among various tables.

I think Pulte does a pretty good job on the homebuilding. Our neighborhood survived 3 hurricanes this season with minimal damage.

We are in a Pulte house in Atlanta and have been satisfied with the quality. It is not like the house we built to our own specs, but that was not possible in Atlanta.

 

[ychuck46]

I am about to enter my 11th year of retirement, while DW will be hitting her 14th. We moved a few years before my retirement while I was still working, from NY to TN, and it was the best thing we could have ever done. Now I have time to do everything possible around our house and property myself (I did before but it always took most weekends to do so) and continue to travel 4-5 months out of the year. Continued best wishes to you and yours, and all the ER readers, on this incredible journey.

 

[a60dan]

Thanks for the update!

We're closing in on year 3 of retirement. I just enrolled in Medicare

We’ve logged about 20000 miles with our travel trailer, driving Route 66, and many national parks.

Started off with a Mexican Riviera cruise, and finally made it to Hawaii staying with family & friends.

Our grandchild count has increased from 1 to 3. #4 is due in February. All boys!

Our youngest and his wife have returned to Western NY from Florida. What was a 1200 drive is now 12 minutes

Retirement agrees with me

Oh, I think our income in retirement accounts is higher than when I was working. Go figure.

 

[braumeister]

Recently completed my 23rd year of retirement, and so far, so good.
Might be premature, but I think I'm going to like it!

 

[Scuba]

For Plantar Fascitis, stretch all 3 calf muscles every day (toes out, toes straight, toes in). Stretch your hamstrings too. PF is those tight muscles pulling on your fascia. Over a long period of time, the stretching will help and then the PF inflammation will go away. It took me months, but I have not had PF for years. In the meantime, never go barefoot and wear shoes with good arch supports. Rolling your feet on a frozen water bottle helps too. I hope all is well with DH heart!

Thank you!