Retirement Thread

Let God Arise

Let God Arise

Orthodox
Heritage
I noticed there is no thread dedicated and related to all things retirement. There are several threads that touch on aspects of it, including where to go, finances, lifestyle, etc. but no place strictly focused on it. I know some of us are getting up in age and retirement planning and considerations are coming to the fore. Personally, where to retire, or when, or even if...are still open questions. I must be in an Orthodox country or Orthodox community. This map for example surprised me a bit: I would have thought the warmer climates would lend themselves to longer life expectancy post-retirement, but the cold Scandinavian ones or Alpine ones are highest.

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Been thinking and planning for retirement alot lately. Biggest concern is obviously where to live. Selling my current property in exchange for a place where property values and cost of living (including taxation) are substantially less is really the most important consideration. Getting yourself in a position where your income will follow you instead of you following income or a workplace is in my opinion the key to retirement freedom.

Lord willing, I'm 52 and planning for retirement at 58 with a strategy of using my property, investments and pension income to get there. Thankfully, health insurance isn't a worry for me. One thing I'm not relying on is a female to be a part of that strategy. Whether or not I retire with the woman I'm with now remains to be seen. It has been my experience in life that there is always a cost associated with women. That cost has to be factored into any retirement plan.
 
Every time I make retirement plans, life happens. I'll be the guy that dies 2 months after retirement, so I'm not in a hurry anymore. I do business with urgency, but retirement, I'll do that at my leisure.
 
Uzisuicide said:
Been thinking and planning for retirement alot lately. Biggest concern is obviously where to live. Selling my current property in exchange for a place where property values and cost of living (including taxation) are substantially less is really the most important consideration. Getting yourself in a position where your income will follow you instead of you following income or a workplace is in my opinion the key to retirement freedom.

Lord willing, I'm 52 and planning for retirement at 58 with a strategy of using my property, investments and pension income to get there. Thankfully, health insurance isn't a worry for me. One thing I'm not relying on is a female to be a part of that strategy. Whether or not I retire with the woman I'm with now remains to be seen. It has been my experience in life that there is always a cost associated with women. That cost has to be factored into any retirement plan.
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Wouldnt you want to be close to your children and grandchildren when you retire isnt that a more important thing? They might also need your help in daily life and if you too far away from your family only considering taxation and cost of living etc, what good would that do for you and your family?

Unless you dont have any family then this wouldnt apply to you, I know @Let God Arise is in the situation with no family Im wondering if you are too?
 
JayR said:
If not inappropriate, can you elaborate on this?
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Health insurance is part of the retirement package. Luckily I'm union. But it could all come crashing down with society. Where I'm going, I'll probably be too far away from a hospital for it to matter anyway.

There are alot of great properties out there in Kentucky, West Virginia, Tenesee and southern Virginia I've been looking at. Theyt aren't outrageously out in the 'boondocks'. They are more than affordable if you guys want to check into retirement estates. These properties have a good house and out-buildings like a garage and workshops.0

We're talking over 60 acres with mixed wooded and cleared land with a brook and alot of ORV trails to hunt, ride dirt bikes, ATV's and the like.

A handful of states either don't tax pension income or have no state income tax at all but they probably make up for it in other ways. So again taxation is a very real consideration.
GoodShepherd said:
Wouldnt you want to be close to your children and grandchildren when you retire isnt that a more important thing? They might also need your help in daily life and if you too far away from your family only considering taxation and cost of living etc, what good would that do for you and your family?

Unless you dont have any family then this wouldnt apply to you, I know @Let God Arise is in the situation with no family Im wondering if you are too?
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Certainly being around family is a big consideration as I am a Grandfather at 52. I signed my son over to the United States Army near the end of high school when he was 17. He has moved around to different units and states and doesn't need me. Although he has been able to choose assignments as close to home as possible with mixed results, he is able to take care of himself and others and I'm proud that he has made a great life for his family and himself. We certainly discuss proximity to one another when considering future plans. My youngest son is still in high school, so we'll see.
 
The wife and kids can have the house. All I want is a half decent motor home to cruise up and down the east coast of Australia in and I’ll pop back in to say g’day and check in to see that everyone’s ok once in a while. She’s 10 years younger than me and will probably want work for another 20 years, so I’ll be cruisin solo.
 
Uzisuicide said:
Health insurance is part of the retirement package. Luckily I'm union. But it could all come crashing down with society. Where I'm going, I'll probably be too far away from a hospital for it to matter anyway.
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Ah, that's a pretty good deal you've got there. My timeline is similar to yours (would like to retire when I hit 60 in a few years), but I've worked as a software guy my entire working life, so it's savings in the form of 401K and IRA for me -- no lifetime health coverage. I'm trying to figure out a way to bridge the 5 years from when I bail on my cube slave gig and when Medicare kicks in at 65 (USA).
 
Uzisuicide said:
Health insurance is part of the retirement package. Luckily I'm union. But it could all come crashing down with society. Where I'm going, I'll probably be too far away from a hospital for it to matter anyway.

There are alot of great properties out there in Kentucky, West Virginia, Tenesee and southern Virginia I've been looking at. Theyt aren't outrageously out in the 'boondocks'. They are more than affordable if you guys want to check into retirement estates. These properties have a good house and out-buildings like a garage and workshops.0

We're talking over 60 acres with mixed wooded and cleared land with a brook and alot of ORV trails to hunt, ride dirt bikes, ATV's and the like.

A handful of states either don't tax pension income or have no state income tax at all but they probably make up for it in other ways. So again taxation is a very real consideration.


Certainly being around family is a big consideration as I am a Grandfather at 52. I signed my son over to the United States Army near the end of high school when he was 17. He has moved around to different units and states and doesn't need me. Although he has been able to choose assignments as close to home as possible with mixed results, he is able to take care of himself and others and I'm proud that he has made a great life for his family and himself. We certainly discuss proximity to one another when considering future plans. My youngest son is still in high school, so we'll see.
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Thats good your son is doing well, I ment that your kids might need your help when they married and have children with baby sitting etc, for example, my wife and I didnt really need any help from our parents for many years when we were married but now that we have small kids the biggest help we get is when they help us with our kids, baby sitting while we work, helping to take and fetch kids from school, preparing food or bathing and dressing kids when we running late or leaving home early etc, and yes our parents enjoying being with their grandkids and making food for them etc etc.

Im also thinking what about when both your kids are married, arent you going to have a relationship with them, their wives, and with the parents of the wives, its an extension to your family, the other problem we have in our modern world is nobody stays put in one place anymore so even if you want to stay near to your kids they might move somewhere else or to different countries...
 
Let God Arise said:
his map for example surprised me a bit: I would have thought the warmer climates would lend themselves to longer life expectancy post-retirement, but the cold Scandinavian ones or Alpine ones are highest.
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I think this has more to do with the fact that certain northern European countries have excellent free health care systems for the public thus extending the life expectancy of the population.

But yes all other things being equal (which they clearly are not) I would argue a warmer climate is generally better for health than a cold climate.
 
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Uzisuicide said:
Selling my current property in exchange for a place where property values and cost of living (including taxation) are substantially less is really the most important consideration.
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Where you own property and where you live do not have to be the same place.

You could rent out your home in your own country (instead of selling it) and rent a place to live in a cheaper country when you retire.

There are a number of reasons to do this. One is for some people its beneficial for tax reasons depending on their circumstances, two you avoid the costs associated with buying and selling real estate, thirdly its easier to unwind the move overseas in the case it doesn't work out if you have a home to go back to. The fourth reason is property rights. Many countries do not have good property rights for foreigners. Some countries only have leasehold land, in Thailand foreigners can only own apartments but cannot own houses or land, etc.
 
Australia Sucks said:
I think this has more to do with the fact that certain northern European countries have excellent free health care systems for the public thus extending the life expectancy of the population.

But yes all other things being equal (which they clearly are not) I would argue a warmer climate is generally better for health than a cold climate.
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Australia Sucks said:
I think this has more to do with the fact that certain northern European countries have excellent free health care systems for the public thus extending the life expectancy of the population.

But yes all other things being equal (which they clearly are not) I would argue a warmer climate is generally better for health than a cold climate.
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Im not convinced having access to a hospital increases the life expectancy, even actual doctors have a short life expectancy than the average couch potato, Cuba has a higher life expectancy than USA, the pharmacies basically have a lot of herbs dried out in glass jars, USA has far better facilities, better hospitals and people in USA take the most medicine etc etc far above any other nation yet they dont have the highest health expectancy not even close.
 
Let God Arise said:
Average retirement age in Europe is now 67. Add 15 years, and you're at 82.
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Only German has anywhere near that "average". But I see what you mean. I also wonder if the current 35-40 year olds think any of that fake 20th century pension/socialism stuff holds. I doubt it, as much as they might protest in vain.
 
I'm too "young" for this thread.,...

giphy.webp
 
The max IRA contribution per year right now is $7000. That's a very doable amount to invest, and you'd be living pretty large in 30-40 years. And that's not including any money from social security (if it's still there).

That should be the minimum goal for retirement investing in my opinion. Also getting the max matching from a 401k if you have access to one.
 
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