Locations to retire to and why?

[8-P]

Hitch said:

I find it quite strange that people move when they retire. It means you turn up knowing nobody and without any mechanism to get you into the community.

We're considering a place as a holiday-let-into-retirement-home so that we have time to build our local network. I'd choose somewhere that has (and is likely to retain) a sense of permanent community as so many of the top coastal villages are now majority lock-and-leave and are very quiet out of season.

Its a good point, but depends on your own outlook and personality. My parents live in Winchester, we moved there 30 years ago when I was a kid. 2 of them in a 5 bed house and larger garden, they are in the 70s and it still works, at the moment. But, if they moved away, they would be miles from many friends and contacts, they are both outgoing but I reckon it would be a bad idea and they could find themselves regretting it. Some areas are set up for it, lots of places for oldies to socialise and meet up, this could work.

[bad company]

kurt535 said:

I knew a retired RAF pilo a number of years agot; he reached 55, upped from family home in Saffron Walden to middle of nowheresville in Wales, then sadly got diagnosed with dementia disease. Available care in their region was poor to zero meaning wife had to become primary carer. After a number of hard years, he obviously died. now house is impossible to sell and wife couldn't afford to return to Saffron Walden in her latter years....

I have heard several similar tales. Very sad and a warning to all.

[sidekickdmr]

GreatGranny said:

we want somewhere similar to North Devon but without the expense and crowds.

Have you considered North Devon?

But seriously, I'm on the coast in north Devon (Lee Bay), I don't even know what a crowd is (apart from Woolacombe beach in the summer holidays) and some parts of north Devon are very very cheap.

It's lovely here!

[GreatGranny]

Sway said:

The very last thing I'd do is retire too far away - unless I can have a massive sum in the bank...

I've gone through a nightmare supporting my other half with her brother. Retired to Vietnam, fk all in the bank - massive stroke, with no health insurance. Absolute fking nightmare.

Buy a place for £70k, live it up for a few years, then what? Any health issues and any savings will disappear very quickly, and then you're properly stuck - nowhere near enough cash to get back and under the NHS.

Just the medevac for BiL was £65k...

Not sure we would move permanently over there.

I'm talking about place in Turkey for the winter then place in the UK for the summer.
Rent out place in Turkey during the summer. Even if it's only 50% rented it will easily cover costs of living in the UK for 6 months.

But yes could be a problem if you become ill when in Turkey.

[V8mate]

GreatGranny said:

Not sure we would move permanently over there.

I'm talking about place in Turkey for the winter then place in the UK for the summer.
Rent out place in Turkey during the summer. Even if it's only 50% rented it will easily cover costs of living in the UK for 6 months.

But yes could be a problem if you become ill when in Turkey.

Have you ever been to Turkey out of season? It's closed.

[boyse7en]

sidekickdmr said:

Have you considered North Devon?

But seriously, I'm on the coast in north Devon (Lee Bay), I don't even know what a crowd is (apart from Woolacombe beach in the summer holidays) and some parts of north Devon are very very cheap.

It's lovely here!

Agree,
I'm in Barnstaple and rarely see anything resembling a crowd. Living here means you can avoid the popular beaches in the peak weeks and go slightly out of season. Standing on a deserted Saunton beach with the sun going down over the Atlantic is a sensation only savoured when the tourists are back home.

Ilfracombe isn't the best looking town in the world, but is cheap for big Victorian villas with fantastic sea views and has a really good selection of restaurants. Villages inland are much cheaper than on the coast - try Parracombe, Chumleigh, Abbotsham etc rather than the tourist hotspots

[GreatGranny]

V8mate said:

Have you ever been to Turkey out of season? It's closed.

But it's warmer than the UK :-)

[BoRED S2upid]

GreatGranny said:

V8mate said:

Have you ever been to Turkey out of season? It's closed.

But it's warmer than the UK :-)

Yeah but give it a few more years and global warming will mean the UK is warmer.... or not.

[GreatGranny]

boyse7en said:

Agree,
I'm in Barnstaple and rarely see anything resembling a crowd. Living here means you can avoid the popular beaches in the peak weeks and go slightly out of season. Standing on a deserted Saunton beach with the sun going down over the Atlantic is a sensation only savoured when the tourists are back home.

Ilfracombe isn't the best looking town in the world, but is cheap for big Victorian villas with fantastic sea views and has a really good selection of restaurants. Villages inland are much cheaper than on the coast - try Parracombe, Chumleigh, Abbotsham etc rather than the tourist hotspots

Spent the last 2 summer holidays just outside Woolacombe and it is indeed rammed.

But as you said, out of the school holidays it will be much quieter.

Thought it was very expensive as well but looks like there are cheaper areas.

[sidekickdmr]

GreatGranny said:

Spent the last 2 summer holidays just outside Woolacombe and it is indeed rammed.

But as you said, out of the school holidays it will be much quieter.

Thought it was very expensive as well but looks like there are cheaper areas.

Summer holidays and Woolacome are your issues there, not surprised you think its rammed! (where did you stay, out of interest?)

I just got back from a dog walk on Woolacombe beach, almost a daily occurrence for me, outside of the summer holidays, nice sunny day, warm and dry, on the whole beach there must have been 10-20 people, and you know how big a beach it is, you can park for free, getting a table at a bar is no issue, its great!

I love the fact that its busy in the summer, lots of events and festivals etc going on, but then nice and quiet outside of this small window, the contrast is a positive, wouldn't always want it winter quiet, or summer busy.

[sidekickdmr]

This was taken on woolacombe beach on a lovely sunny evening, back on the 5th Sep, as you can see, hardly a crowd

https://youtu.be/BqsvoLEViFU

[GreatGranny]

sidekickdmr said:

Summer holidays and Woolacome are your issues there, not surprised you think its rammed! (where did you stay, out of interest?)

I just got back from a dog walk on Woolacombe beach, almost a daily occurrence for me, outside of the summer holidays, nice sunny day, warm and dry, on the whole beach there must have been 10-20 people, and you know how big a beach it is, you can park for free, getting a table at a bar is no issue, its great!

I love the fact that its busy in the summer, lots of events and festivals etc going on, but then nice and quiet outside of this small window, the contrast is a positive, wouldn't always want it winter quiet, or summer busy.

We were at the Willingcott Caravan & Motorhome Club site.

Went for last 2 weeks in July but weather wasn't the best.

Nicest time on the beach was one evening when we went body boarding at about 7pm.

Beach very quiet, fantastic waves, sun out and cheap parking :-)

We did go to Puttsborough more than Woolacombe.
Bit of a pain to get to but less rammed especially in the sea and nice beach café.

Went into Ilfracombe and Barnstaple when the weather was crap.

Just looked at prices and once you are inland a few miles they aren't too bad.

[GreatGranny]

sidekickdmr said:

This was taken on woolacombe beach on a lovely sunny evening, back on the 5th Sep, as you can see, hardly a crowd

https://youtu.be/BqsvoLEViFU

That's my idea of heaven.

Thanks for posting.

[Dr Interceptor]

The Algarve it will be for me when that time comes - close to Lagos.

Seven hours door to door from me, including the train to Gatwick. Wonderful ex-pat community to get involved in, the Portuguese natives are very friendly, and can drive there in a couple of days if I want to take a car.

Wonderful food and restaurants, doesn't 'close' over winter like some tourist spots do, and some wonderful bits of country to explore.

Just avoid flying peak weeks, and its usually £100 each way. Although EasyJet appear to have whacked their prices up with the demise of Monarch.

[wisbech]

Sway said:

The very last thing I'd do is retire too far away - unless I can have a massive sum in the bank...

I've gone through a nightmare supporting my other half with her brother. Retired to Vietnam, fk all in the bank - massive stroke, with no health insurance. Absolute fking nightmare.

Buy a place for £70k, live it up for a few years, then what? Any health issues and any savings will disappear very quickly, and then you're properly stuck - nowhere near enough cash to get back and under the NHS.

Just the medevac for BiL was £65k...

Yep, difference is though that will have much more family support in Indonesia than the UK, given relative size of families... Plus one of us has to be ‘away’ and as it has been her for most of our time together, seems fair to be the other way round

[Igurisu]

In a similar situation to you Greatgranny, but a couple of years further down the path. My wife and I started looking for places to retire to around 4 years ago. We were set on Devon, fond memories from childhood holidays etc. Visited a few times for long weekends and holidays, we were really talked out of it by people who had moved away. Basically, overcrowded in season and deserted out of season. In the end we settled on Shrewsbury, bought an apartment 100 metres from the railway station. Ready access to Manchester and Birmingham airports, lots of major towns and cities, also rural Wales and the coast. Great town with lots of shops, bars and restaurants and a pretty busy annual events calendar. The annual rainfall is 50% of our hometown in East Lancashire and whilst not on the coast, our apartment is on the bank of the River Severn. Waking up in the morning watching the ducks, geese and swans going by is still something I haven't tired of. Not retired yet, but close enough (2 hours drive), for us to spend all of our weekends there.

With my PH head on, some great roads within easy reach around Shropshire and Wales, also Loton park hill climb circuit 15 minutes away. That's my newly planned activity when I fully retire 😀

[K50 DEL]

For me it'll be one of two options depending on the finances.

I shall either sell up in the UK and move to Portgual (not the Algarve!) or I shall buy a Winnebago and spend a decade or two touring North America before returning to the same area of the UK that I'm in now.

[Rosscow]

I'm only a mere whippersnapper, and retirement is still at least 3 decades away.

However, why would you retire somewhere away from family and friends?

The last thing I'd want to do having finally escaped the Monday to Friday drag would be to find myself in a strange place trying to integrate myself into a new society.

I'd be concentrating on my hobbies, having lots of holidays/weekends away (mainly UK/France based, I don't expect my retirement will be as lavish as some) and having a good time with the people that I've had around me for the last however many years.

I can understand the idea of buying a place in France or Portugal, etc. but you'll always be an outsider and I just don't think you'll ever really get that feeling of belonging.

Oh, and one major thing of course, I just couldn't be without our seasons!

Absolutely love this time of year heading into winter, nights drawing in, leaves falling, fires being lit. You just can't beat it!

Edited by Rosscow on Wednesday 11th October 08:34

[GreatGranny]

We moved to our present location because of my wife's family so she had support with our 3 kids as I'm out of the house 13 hours a day for work.
We have made friends but not one's we would stay here just because of them.
Think we knew this move wouldn't be for ever and had always wanted to move somewhere coastal when/if we could.

My family are over in Manchester so I've always had to travel to see them.

I have other friends and family I keep in touch with who are dotted around the UK.

We don't mind being noobies in a community.

This is at least 7-8 years away so nothing is set in stone.

ETA, this is my longest ever thread on PH!

[wisbech]

In the last 25 years we have lived and worked in five different countries, so not really a case of moving away, more moving to...