In my research, I realized that we should make realistic estimates about what kind of expenses we will have in retirement. We have to be honest about how we want to live in retirement and how much it will cost. These estimates are important when it comes time to figure out how much we need to save in order to comfortably afford our retirement. Looking at our bank account, it looks like we have saved enough, but we did not anticipate this high leap in the costs of living.

The goal is to find a balance between a place that allows us to maintain our financial security and one that doesn’t compromise our quality of life.

For many retirees, relocating to save money could be a jolting experience if it takes them far from family and friends. For us, we have two daughters who are still in school in other states and who informed us they would not be returning home (one is offered a research grant and the other has a fiancé). It’s nice to be near family, but if we live in a place with lots of friends and have a quality life we enjoy, we would go more towards being where we want to be and our family can come and visit, or do like they do now and talk with us on Skype.

The idea of retirement is not the same with everybody! For some, it may be the time to relax, to enjoy life to the fullest! To others, it may be a dreaded future – with no extra income coming in, and no big savings in the bank – it means living within what Social Security provides. However, during these difficult times, sometimes the pension does not really match the current high cost of living.

We are among those who have lived a practical life during our younger years, and we have saved up for a semi-comfortable retirement. Now we have a choice how we want to spend our retirement years, here, there, or anywhere!

Currently, we live in an area which is not gated; although everything has been quiet so far, I don’t feel that it is completely safe for a retired couple. Plus, some facilities which we will need in the future are not readily available nearby. This house will definitely have to give way to a senior-friendly community.

On some weekends, Simon and I, instead of watching movies, actually spent some time looking around in the US for possible retirement villages, and we’ve seen some that are actually nice. We’ve been to one where they have complete amenities like swimming pool, restaurant, ballroom, library, card room, activity rooms for painting, sewing, pottery, and may others. Our main problem is the prohibitive cost of their houses.

A 2-bed, 2-bath 1,100 sq ft house starts at about $135,000.00! I am not convinced that we need to purchase a new, expensive house to retire to! What about the other expenses on top of this new mortgage? Even with our Social Security combined, we still could be living a tight life! I was hoping it was time to just go easy and relax!

We have saved enough, but we are not sure if we can afford to buy this kind of house at this stage in life and in this kind of economy. A retirement home in the U.S. doesn’t seem to be the answer. At a time like this when nest eggs are shrinking and Social Security looks less likely to cover basic expenses, living for less in a foreign locale can make good financial sense.

The last option we had to consider is to go overseas where cost of living is cheaper.  We are encouraged by the advancement of technology where we can easily talk face-to-face to our grandchildren in another state.  These technologies also apply in other countries, so we have no apprehension of missing the family.  We don’t get to personally see them often, anyway!

We have considered retiring to nearby countries like Mexico, Panama, Argentina, Costa Rica and many other neighboring countries. However, most of the people there do not speak English! We can’t imagine how difficult life can be trying to put our message across to everyone on a daily basis! We don’t have the patience (or the memory) to learn a new language at this stage! Besides, some of these people don’t seem to be exactly friendly to Americans. We’ve been to these countries on our cruises and vacations before, and they seem to just want us to “leave the dollars and go!”What about neighboring countries that speak our language? Yes, we have also considered Canada and others where people speak English, but then their lifestyles are also expensive, that retiring there is almost suicidal!

And the countries where cost of living is low are usually a little further away from the US. After all, we have to give a little to get a lot…

We can live better for less, travel further and have a lot of fun when we expand our world beyond home shores.

It’s not easy moving so far out, but… we’ll see…

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