Baby Boomers - Retirement - Where - On a Tight Budget

Do a web search for finding the best retirement places and you will find a plethora of information about the subject of Baby Boomers and Retirement. You will find sources on the best places, the worst places, the top ten list and on and on. The simple fact of the matter is that retirement and where to live are as specific to each individual as our genetic makeup.

With that said, my husband and I have started giving some thought to where we might want to go in a few years when he can retire. Of course, the first consideration has to be our budget and it's constraints. For many of us, we would love the thought of retirement in Palm Springs California, but it is not a monetary possiblity. As the cost of living continues to rise in the United States and the tremendous financial hits in our housing values as well as savings and retirement plans, living full time in the US may not offer much to those on a tight budget. As a matter of fact, there are indices that warn many Boomers may end up in abject poverty. Reading these reports is what led me to begin looking at other possibilities and options. Because the information sources are so vast, you can wade through tons of information that will be useless to your own personal situation and what your perception of "quality" life is. No one size fits all. It is of no use to sort through all kinds of lists in your search and blindly follow the advice that is out there. Although fantasizing is all well and good, where to retire is a serious subject and fantasy will probably only end up making you feel disappointed, unless that is, you are Donald Trump or his equivelent. That is why many professionals will always start with a client self-assessment test before helping a client search for a retirement location. I found this article, Baby Boomer Self Assessment, a very good starting point of the pertinent questions you and or your significant other want to ask yourselves prior to beginning any serious search.

First, we will assume that you have already calculated what your budget will be, that is, if you need to have a budget. If not, skip this hub entirely, as it will fall into the category of 'totally useless information'. If you are still reading, then we make the assumption that like most of us, you will retire with budgetary constraints. However, there are other very important factors. If you love the big city life, you do not want to retire in a remote area with the nearest restaurant 25 miles away and that restaurant is the one with the golden arches and a clown. For anyone interested, here is some trivia I ran across. History of McDonald's. On the flip side, if you are more the homebody type and don't eat out often, a remote town may be just the thing. If you are still ready and able to mow your own lawn, you may not want an active adult community with high community fees wherein your lawn is maintained for you. You may have special interests or hobbies that you prefer to be near places that allow you to continue with those activities. There are a number of folks who are hobby pilots and want to live near a small airport to be able to keep flying. These are the sorts of special considerations to think about to, again, narrow down your search criteria. Here's another list or category that was completely news to me; niche category retirement communities. Apparently this is becoming very popular with new retirees. This article, Boomers Flock to Niche Retirement Communities, was very enlightening. I can understand why this would be very appealing to many folks.

One would also want to narrow the search by seeking out the most well known and absolutely worst places to retire . I ran across this slide show which I agree is good information to pass along as well as entertaining. Worst Places to Retire To

There are as many lists as there are places and the main purpose of this hub is to provide information and sources for retirement on a budget, and that my friends, is not a easy thing to do in the United States, unless you are one of the "don't need a budget" people who would have stopped reading prior to reaching this point. If you are someone who would not entertain the thought of leaving the United States, you can stop reading here. To read further, would again, be totally useless information.

In my search I found a very interesting article about living comfortably on $695.00 a month and living in a decent place in comfort. My first thought was right...where, Fukushima next to the damaged nuclear reactors? Nevertheless, it got my attention and I started following some of the research done by the author of the article. She has invested 27 years of her life to this research and based on the US economy's outlook, is saying that one must diversy outside of the United States. I, for one, have loved this country and always viewed it as the land of opportunity for each and every individual. Isn't this one of the beliefs this country was founded on. As of late, I am very concerned about America, not just from a financial aspect, but also as, "the land of the free". Over 20,000 hours of research has led me to believe that our country is slowly robbing us of our Constitutional freedoms as well as our money and is too quickly becoming the land of the rich, richer and the have nots. This is very frightening to me, but at my age, I can only try to figure out the best way to live out the life I have remaining as comfortably as possible. When you look at many economic statistics, the largest segment of our society, the middle income earners, are barely holding on. Housing costs, child care costs, food costs, fuel costs and other necessities have made it impossible to live on one income. Even more astounding is the fact that most couples are really not making it on dual incomes. Look at the staggering figures of credit card useage in this country for everything. If credit were suddenly cut off from everyone the country would, I have no doubt in my mind, collapse. These are not the musings of a crazy pessimist but just pointing out reality. However, the subject of our nation overall is not what this hub is about but just some insight as to the how and why it may be advantageous to look outside our home country. Keep in mind, if you don't take care of yourself, no one else will.

The author I referred to above is Kathleen Peddicord who travels extensively for the purpose of finding and studying good and safe retirement places outside of the US. She also covers the subject of health care, which usually increases in need as we age. Many of the places she recommends to live also provide very good and affordable health care. She covers everything you can think of if you are considering an overseas move at some point in your life. Her article, The Best Places to Retire Overseas is a great article if you have any interest in this subject. I receive no incentives for mentioning her but only as a great source for good information that I personally have been reading and thinking about.

We all know that there is no actual place of "utopia". Each of us must make our own decisions and take the time needed to sort through the good, the bad and the ugly. Most, would not give up living in the United States under any circumstance and that is fine. This hub is to offer a spark of insight for those curious about living on less outside of the US. I hope that you find the information and sources useful and interesting.