Locations to retire to and why?

[MKnight702]

GreatGranny said:

Now I'm into my early 50's chats with wife mates etc.. seems to revolve around when and where to retire to.

It's a few years away for me (youngest is just 11 so realistically 7/8 years until he leaves home)

Quietly sniggers at the optimism of the OP.

[Fru.T.Bun]

bad company said:

Theraveda said:

bad company said:

Sway said:

It's no longer a case of just rocking up and buying a house, but if you're able to afford to not be a burden on the State places like Portugal are still entirely achievable.

Wish that was the case for the USA.

Unless you're seriously wealthy, why would you want to retire to the USA? The medical costs are crippling.

Yes medical costs are very high but most things including housing are much cheaper. Also we have our son, daughter in law and grandchildren there.

If they live there (i believe for 5 years +), and become citizens, I was under the impression that led to a path for parents to do the same?

[monkfish1]

Vasco said:

moorx said:

monkfish1 said:

bennno said:

monkfish1 said:

bennno said:

monkfish1 said:

troika said:

monkfish1 said:

Not sure i agree, thouygh i wish it were as you say. I can see a stabilising of prices, but i cant see it dropping back to 2018/19 levels.

Waiting for a drop is a high risk strategy. As in, getting even further priced out

Wales beckons..............................

Whereabouts in Wales are you thinking?

Wherever the right property comes up. But probably not north wales.

Carmarthen offers good value. 20 mins from Swansea etc.

Thanks.

I trust you have no regrets?

None, we just walked dog and had dinner on beach tonight......

Excellent!. Good to hear.

Yep, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion are well worth a look as well as Pembrokeshire (which tends to be more popular/expensive). Powys too has some lovely countryside. We are pretty much between Carmarthen and Cardigan.

I went to Newcastle Emlyn many years ago. A nice place, but fairly quiet if I recall correctly.

Quiet is good. Im not sure anywhere can be too quiet.

[monkfish1]

moorx said:

Vasco said:

I went to Newcastle Emlyn many years ago. A nice place, but fairly quiet if I recall correctly.

That's why we like it We are 3 miles outside Newcastle Emlyn. It was what sold the place to us - a proper 'market town'.

Did you move from england?

[theboss]

Sway said:

theboss said:

troika said:

Shropshire is a good shout. I’d happily live in Much Wenlock or Church Stretton if the right place had turned up. However, the prices have jumped too far IMHO, to the point where it’s not ‘that’ far behind the nice Cotswold market towns. To me, it was worth going that bit extra for location, amenities and longer term benefits.

I just moved from a long-term rental in MW to a first (and hopefully last) purchase in CS so know the market well. I can confirm the latter is retirement central (we just moved here witha toddler) but suits us extremely well. Prices are mental but my friends from the affluent Southern counties when seeing what we bought still think its dirt cheap for what it is.

I've spent bits of today looking at Rightmove around that area.

Suffice to say, it's now top of our list to explore more - and yes, staggering value compared to what I'm used to!

It's not quite the relative bargain it used to be, but its still a stunning area, quite underrated and well worth looking at. Nowhere near the coast so useless to the OP though.

[bad company]

Fru.T.Bun said:

bad company said:

Theraveda said:

bad company said:

Sway said:

It's no longer a case of just rocking up and buying a house, but if you're able to afford to not be a burden on the State places like Portugal are still entirely achievable.

Wish that was the case for the USA.

Unless you're seriously wealthy, why would you want to retire to the USA? The medical costs are crippling.

Yes medical costs are very high but most things including housing are much cheaper. Also we have our son, daughter in law and grandchildren there.

If they live there (i believe for 5 years +), and become citizens, I was under the impression that led to a path for parents to do the same?

They have green cards at the moment. I think they may be able to sponsor us to join them when they have citizenship. That may be complicated as my son was from a previous marriage, Mrs BC isn’t his mother.

[moorx]

monkfish1 said:

moorx said:

Vasco said:

I went to Newcastle Emlyn many years ago. A nice place, but fairly quiet if I recall correctly.

That's why we like it We are 3 miles outside Newcastle Emlyn. It was what sold the place to us - a proper 'market town'.

Did you move from england?

Yes - from North Somerset. We didn't retire here - I work for the NHS locally.

[monkfish1]

moorx said:

monkfish1 said:

moorx said:

Vasco said:

I went to Newcastle Emlyn many years ago. A nice place, but fairly quiet if I recall correctly.

That's why we like it We are 3 miles outside Newcastle Emlyn. It was what sold the place to us - a proper 'market town'.

Did you move from england?

Yes - from North Somerset. We didn't retire here - I work for the NHS locally.

Any regrets at all? North somerset is also very nice!

[moorx]

monkfish1 said:

Any regrets at all? North somerset is also very nice!

No. Somerset is nice, but we could never have afforded there what we have here (and that was 10 years ago).

[Jaguar steve]

El stovey said:

Jaguar steve said:

Vasco said:

Isn't this the issue with so many of the hot and sunny venues ?

So many that seem attractive initially are only 'sun and sand' venues, much like you can do for 2-3 weeks anytime. I'd want somewhere with more to do, good travel links to other towns/countries etc.

Absolutely.

Traveling around on a big road trip and seeing the sights then yes I'm up for that but just lying in the sun day after day because that's all there is to do then no thanks.

That’s like someone from Spain saying all there is to do in the U.K. is sit in the rain.

There’s all kinds of things you could get involved in if you spent longer in these countries from sports and exercise based activities to joining clubs and meeting new people, getting involved in local communities. Maybe charity work or something else fulfilling?

When you retire in the U.K. are you going to just sit in your garden?

It reminds me of when I lived in the Far East as an expat. Some people, loved it and got involved in all sorts of activities and things they enjoyed and others just ended up bored and having affairs and becoming alcoholics.

Spain yes you're right, you could be as involved as you want to be, but as far as the Canaries go which is what triggered my remark then there really isn't that much on offer to amuse apart from lying in the sun, some trail walking and fairly hardcore sports such as kitesurfing and cycling at the sweaty Lycra + level.

[sam greenock]

bad company said:

sam greenock said:

bad company said:

Marxist is a bit extreme but both Scotland and Wales have very left wing governments.

You’ll be shocked to discover then, that’s what the voters of Wales and Scotland voted for.

You really need to go and read upon the works of Karl Marx, then come back and explain why you’re talking complete cobblers.

The voters of Wales and Scotland are welcome to the governments they voted for. I just won’t be joining them.

I said they were left wing, not Marxist and I stand by that.

Edited by bad company on Sunday 27th March 21:38

Nah, you said very left wing ( see above) yet for some reason Scotland has the lowest starting rate of income tax in the UK - Sunak has just announced his plan to match that but not until 2024

Perhaps you could define ( with examples from Scotland & Wales) of what you mean by " very left wing"?

[tribalsurfer]

I'm mod to late 40's and started to consider this question myself. For me I love Dorset and top of my list would be Swanage. Reasonably good resources locally and only 20 mins from Bournemouth/Poole and the resources they have.

[DKL]

tribalsurfer said:

Swanage. Reasonably good resources locally and only 20 mins from Bournemouth/Poole and the resources they have.

Only if the ferry's working! It's a bit longer around the outside.
But that coast from there to Lyme or even Exeter is lovely, but definitely not cheap.

[Siko]

theboss said:

It's not quite the relative bargain it used to be, but its still a stunning area, quite underrated and well worth looking at. Nowhere near the coast so useless to the OP though.

Totally agree....Shropshire prices have shot up recently and whilst some way behind other nice areas, the gap isn't quite as big as it was. Certainly around us in North Shropshire there are very few bargains left - toying with downsizing I saw a lovely house in a lovely village for just under 500k come up, which unfortunately turned out to back onto a bloody huge pig farm, by back on I mean literally in the back garden

Other than that there's not much of interest around us and whilst we only bought 3 years ago we couldn't afford to buy anything in our village with the same budget.

[troika]

theboss said:

troika said:

Shropshire is a good shout. I’d happily live in Much Wenlock or Church Stretton if the right place had turned up. However, the prices have jumped too far IMHO, to the point where it’s not ‘that’ far behind the nice Cotswold market towns. To me, it was worth going that bit extra for location, amenities and longer term benefits.

I just moved from a long-term rental in MW to a first (and hopefully last) purchase in CS so know the market well. I can confirm the latter is retirement central (we just moved here witha toddler) but suits us extremely well. Prices are mental but my friends from the affluent Southern counties when seeing what we bought still think its dirt cheap for what it is.

Congrats, it’s a lovely town and area. I looked at a house on Longhills Road in CS. Nice spot but were asking too much for it. Looked good in the pics but is actually very tired and will need £££ spending. It keeps selling then coming back on at a reduced price. As always, the market will decide but something which has been on and off for a year in this market is clearly overpriced.

[pubrunner]

Siko said:

. . . toying with downsizing I saw a lovely house in a lovely village for just under 500k come up, which unfortunately turned out to back onto a bloody huge pig farm, by back on I mean literally in the back garden

Ha Ha !

Almost certain, that we discounted the same place - for the same reason . . . I'll bet it was in West Felton.

[blue_haddock]

theboss said:

troika said:

Shropshire is a good shout. I’d happily live in Much Wenlock or Church Stretton if the right place had turned up. However, the prices have jumped too far IMHO, to the point where it’s not ‘that’ far behind the nice Cotswold market towns. To me, it was worth going that bit extra for location, amenities and longer term benefits.

I just moved from a long-term rental in MW to a first (and hopefully last) purchase in CS so know the market well. I can confirm the latter is retirement central (we just moved here witha toddler) but suits us extremely well. Prices are mental but my friends from the affluent Southern counties when seeing what we bought still think its dirt cheap for what it is.

Throughout furlough and lockdown the long mynd was my 'happy place' could walk for hours with seeing a single soul.

I was up the long mynd at the weekend and whilst it was busy at the far end of the bureau towards the gliding club it was still easy to find peace and quiet.









I absolutely adore the county of Shropshire and am proud to call myself a salopian.

[ARHarh]

First time i saw the long mynd was when we staying in Rattlinghope, set off shortly after arriving for a pub meal in Church Stretton. What a lovely shock that quick trip was, so glad we decided to drive past the Bridges to CS. Spent many a happy hour up there.

[Register1]

bad company said:

Sway said:

It's no longer a case of just rocking up and buying a house, but if you're able to afford to not be a burden on the State places like Portugal are still entirely achievable.

Wish that was the case for the USA.

USA would be way down on my list of places to retire, actually thinking about it, it wouldn't be on my list.
Sorry if that offends.

[marine boy]

Abroad, Slovenia, fell in love with the place, so much so I plan to spend a good chunk of my retirement there

As for the UK, Herefordshire, Powys or Shropshire would be my 1st choices