Taipan wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2024 2:15 pm
Well the ex-pats tell us your money goes further in warmer climes,, which is good news as last night my Wife told me she does want to retire to the sun but possibly keep a small place here as well. I still think she'll change her mind if grandkids come along but she is adamant that we'll be Nanny and Grandad Spain and a villa with a pool will be good bait to get them over...
Strike while the iron is hot. Decide which part of Spain you prefer and start hassling estate agents. Once it's a done deal it's much harder to back out...
Not ready for a couple or few years yet, but we're going to Nerja for a holiday/shufti in August.
Taipan wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2024 2:15 pm
Well the ex-pats tell us your money goes further in warmer climes,, which is good news as last night my Wife told me she does want to retire to the sun but possibly keep a small place here as well. I still think she'll change her mind if grandkids come along but she is adamant that we'll be Nanny and Grandad Spain and a villa with a pool will be good bait to get them over...
Strike while the iron is hot. Decide which part of Spain you prefer and start hassling estate agents. Once it's a done deal it's much harder to back out...
Not ready for a couple or few years yet, but we're going to Nerja for a holiday/shufti in August.
I'd definitely buy before retirement, get yourself settled in and any expenditure out of the way before heading into retirement, even if only a couple of years before quitting work.
mangocrazy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2024 3:42 pm
I'd definitely buy before retirement, get yourself settled in and any expenditure out of the way before heading into retirement, even if only a couple of years before quitting work.
There's also the fact that retirement itself is a venture into the (comparative) unknown for most folks, so it's a good idea to be in a stable situation with any property abroad before entering retirement. Dealing with the onset of retirement and the purchase of a property abroad (and the associated upheaval and learning curve) are best not done together. IMHO, of course.
mangocrazy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2024 6:58 pm
There's also the fact that retirement itself is a venture into the (comparative) unknown for most folks, so it's a good idea to be in a stable situation with any property abroad before entering retirement. Dealing with the onset of retirement and the purchase of a property abroad (and the associated upheaval and learning curve) are best not done together. IMHO, of course.
Sounds like I took the wrong approach. I sold up in the UK and set off in a camper van to find somewhere to live. Ended up in Spain, the best move I've ever made.
mangocrazy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2024 6:58 pm
There's also the fact that retirement itself is a venture into the (comparative) unknown for most folks, so it's a good idea to be in a stable situation with any property abroad before entering retirement. Dealing with the onset of retirement and the purchase of a property abroad (and the associated upheaval and learning curve) are best not done together. IMHO, of course.
Sounds like I took the wrong approach. I sold up in the UK and set off in a camper van to find somewhere to live. Ended up in Spain, the best move I've ever made.
Nah, if it worked out for you it's a winner. You were going for it, and you made it work. Well done you. Tiepin wants to keep a footprint in the UK and seems more conservative in his attitudes and my comments were based on that.
We have elderly dependants, so wont make any moves until they've, well, died. Then I think we'd like to just head off in our campervan and have a mooch about and find a place with the right vibe and spend some time there and if its fits, buy a place. There are of course other factors, such as selling our home here, or maybe rent it, but not sure about the landlord thing, but do realise the uk property market is much better than say the Spanish one. TBH I'm not good with planning when its all hypotheticals, so I guess i'll have to how life is at the time...
Definitely agree about scoping out the possible areas you might buy into in advance. Touring round in a campervan would be ideal.
When I bought my place it was as a result of having a holiday in the area with a bunch of friends (9 of us!) and that crystallised my thoughts and desires. I'd been talking about buying a place in France for years (decades, even) before and I had this overwhelming feeling that if I didn't do it then that I'd never do it, so once the holiday had finished I made plans to head back a month or so later on the bike and hit up all the estate agents in the area, having first done some Internet searches while back in the UK.
I was there for about two weeks and when I found the place I eventually bought it was so obviously what I was looking for and and still (just about) in budget. If the place doesn't tick your important boxes and actually 'talk' to you then move on. If you find yourself thinking mainly about downsides then the property isn't for you.
It's a big nope from me, I could tell you all about working abroad, but living abroad in retirement isn't for us, in fact in my experience for the majority of people it doesn't last forever, we don't want to spend the rest of our lives away from friends and family.
Even Ronnie Biggs came home in the end
I'm chucking it in at the end of 2024 and I'm winging it as I go. Looks like the practice may be sold and I'll stick around for the transition. I'll continue on at a local shelter doing surgeries until I'm too old and shaky to not gut them accidently.
At the rate we're fucking the environment, I probably don't have to worry about cash lasting me the rest of my potential life. Cheerful thoughts!
Potter wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:16 am
It's a big nope from me, I could tell you all about working abroad, but living abroad in retirement isn't for us, in fact in my experience for the majority of people it doesn't last forever, we don't want to spend the rest of our lives away from friends and family.
Even Ronnie Biggs came home in the end
I get that and I think we'd miss family, especially if we had grandkids, but its the winters, I just cant stand the winters...
Potter wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:16 am
It's a big nope from me, I could tell you all about working abroad, but living abroad in retirement isn't for us, in fact in my experience for the majority of people it doesn't last forever, we don't want to spend the rest of our lives away from friends and family.
Even Ronnie Biggs came home in the end
I'd be ok with it I reckon. I'd do what Yorick has done and make friends with the locals as well as the pats. I guess it depends what your wants and needs are.
It's probably because I've spent the majority of my adult life abroad, so now I'm looking forward to settling in the UK, whilst some of you are looking to escape.
But the missing family thing has been hard at times.
I wouldn't underestimate it, unless you're a particular loaner or don't get along with family.
I've been fine, I don't get along with my family much, but it's been rough on my missus, she's got a very close family and it's been bad for her at times, I only realise how bad now our kids have left home and I miss them like mad.
I don't currently have any plans to live abroad; we just spend spring and autumn there at present. High summer can get pretty scorchio (even more so in Spain) so we tend to spend most of that in the UK. When I get the wood burner and radiators working that will open up the winter months, which will be good. And of course there is the 90/180 days rule to observe so as I don't want full residency we're constrained in terms of how much time we can spend there anyway.
There are noises from the French govt that they may grant automatic long sta visaa to UK residents who own a home in France, but even if it does happen it probably wont be for a couple of years at least.
My mates parents spend three months a year, over winter, in Greece, France, Spain, etc, they rent somewhere.
They look for somewhere interesting, find the deal that suits them and bobs your h'uncle.
It gives them much more flexibility and none of the liability.
Potter wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 2:06 pm
My mates parents spend three months a year, over winter, in Greece, France, Spain, etc, they rent somewhere.
They look for somewhere interesting, find the deal that suits them and bobs your h'uncle.
It gives them much more flexibility and none of the liability.
That's what I'd be inclined to do if I was going to do the snowbird thing. Property abroad in many places can be easy to buy and an absolute pain to sell should you ever change your mind or circumstances change. (I know a few that were about what they could buy back here when they looked at coming back. Happily the reason for one couple returning (they wanted to come back and live in London and found they might just afford Luton-ish), changed when their daughter changed job....and moved from London to Berlin.
The other aspect one couple complained about (they have a property here and one abroad) was that every time they went from one to the other they seemed to spend their time de-wilding the gardens and doing property maintenance.
Still, better than the ones I know that got mugged into timeshare property!
Doubt is not a pleasant condition.
But certainty is an absurd one.
Voltaire
Property and retirement...
I think I may have that done in. I'm looking at selling my practice. The buyer is someone I've known since she was a young teen. Her dad lives just down the road, he, his son, and I do a bit of off roading. His daughter graduated from vet school a few years ago and has a desire to own a practice. We've discussed her buying the entire property as I cannot legally subdivide it. The property consists of the vet practice, a shed for the tractor, a 30x40 foot shop, and a log home on 11.98 acres. Our yet to be confirmed agreement involves sale of the whole place with the agreement that the missus and I stay put until we leave in body bags.
I get to sell the good will of the practice (worth annual gross receipts) and the real estate (worth a small fortune in today's market). I'll do owner financing so I'll have a nice retirement income above social security and the IRAs I've set up for the two of us. That'll abate the need to draw down savings and investments. I'll continue to work at a local shelter to keep the beer money rolling in. I have a desire to do more traveling on two wheels, that will become a possibility after shedding the responsibilities of practice ownership. I can bail out of the shelter on a whim as I'm pushing for them to hire someone else as the vet of record. I don't want to wear that leash.
I've got plenty of shit to keep me busy, some old bikes in need of some love, a bit of an area that I want to clear out for a greenhouse, and riding any damn time I please.
I guess it comes down to the age-old debate of whether to buy or rent. There are advantages and disadvantages in both. I prefer slowly getting to know the people and places in one locale and becoming part of the community. In small rural villages in France there is still a strong sense of neighbourliness; we've had neighbours bring gifts of wine and food for no other reason than to be welcoming and neighbourly. That's worth a lot in my book. If you're just parachuting in to a different place each time you'd probably not get that response.
