Perfect place to retire to?

[yellowjack]

Pretty much where I am now, I think.

After 25 years in Farnborough we moved to Bournemouth last year. Not coastal, no sea view, etc, but only 2½ miles to the beach and easily cycleable.

Pros? More modern, smaller house. Supermarket and hospital very close. On street parking restrictions. Great new neighbours. Can just about get to/from London and spend decent time there on a day return ticket. Several decent gig venues too. Free fireworks and air display in summer and the council make an effort with parks and gardens. New Forest National Park nearby.

Cons? Further from London. No chance of watching an encore at a London gig and also getting back at a sensible hour. I've lost my doorstep access to great mountain biking and the organised races back in/around Farnborough. And less convenient to see friends and our old neighbours.

I'm 49. In receipt of a pension. Happy living near the sea. Back in my wife's home town. Even a lottery win wouldn't see me moving again, except maybe to a slightly fancier pad closer to the beach. Buses are good, trains would be OK if SWR could settle the strikes, and there are oodles of parks and cycle routes through them. I walk to go shopping now, and car use has shrunk massively. There's very little to not like here, save for the traffic twice daily on Castle Lane. And once you've fought your way through the traffic to the countryside, there are some tidy little routes you can actually enjoy driving on...

[Riley Blue]

eldar said:

I love British summers, not too hot, cold, wet or insect infested. Lovely light evenings. Perfect

Live in the middle of England since retiring 4 years ago, M6 20 minutes, M1 15, so in the middle of the motorway network. 2 airports within 35 minutes. Everything is near, but not too near.

Downside is winter, so bugger off somewhere warm two or three times a winter.

Works for me.

Same for me in North Derbyshire. Cadwell, Donington, Mallory and Oulton all a 90 minute drive, Peak District on my doorstep, M1 six miles away, railway station with direct routes to London or Edinburgh a mile away. Five excellent hospitals within 15 miles, all major supermarkets within two miles, good selection of local shops too.

[heisthegaffer]

vixen1700 said:

That's all twenty minutes on the tube from me at the moment and I grew up hanging round the West End, so not something I'd be bothered with as I get older. The lure of musicals isn't there either. Also a lack of garden is something I wouldn't be keen on.

Going to start looking in the Spring for something as a holiday home to begin with a view of retiring to.

Something like this:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-property/prop...

What a stunning place.

[anonymous-user]

Interesting to see rural property in France so cheap. most people just retire in the towns and cities they grew up in and have little interest in these rural properties unless you are an eccentric writer sacrificing social life in name of your art! I wonder if there is an element of grass is greener in the UK, growing up in tiny houses and flats.

[otolith]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Central London, Soho, or anywhere with a W1 postcode. Get rid of the cars, and walk, cycle and use public transport. The very best of everything you could want is on your doorstep.

It's a mistake to opt for the quiet life as you get older. You need noise, crowds, etc.

Another one here who would utterly detest that life. My interests and recreations are rural - London has the very best of nothing I want. I dislike crowds. I dislike noise. I find cities depressing. I want green space (and not a sodding park).

[bloomen]

Sambucket said:

Interesting to see rural property in France so cheap. most people just retire in the towns and cities they grew up in and have little interest in these rural properties unless you are an eccentric writer sacrificing social life in name of your art! I wonder if there is an element of grass is greener in the UK, growing up in tiny houses and flats.

I don't think Brits understand how grotesquely deformed their property market is compared to most other places.

In other countries it's treated more as a utility and a necessity rather than investment or speculative vehicle.

In France they have the same population and double the space which must have an effect not only on values but also services nearby. The French also like their new houses and building plots are 5-20x less or near free in the places experiencing depopulation.

Houses also seem to stick around forever and of course you have the French inheritance thing where one shack might be owned by 12 squabbling descendants.

[Kermit power]

Sambucket said:

Interesting to see rural property in France so cheap. most people just retire in the towns and cities they grew up in and have little interest in these rural properties unless you are an eccentric writer sacrificing social life in name of your art! I wonder if there is an element of grass is greener in the UK, growing up in tiny houses and flats.

My parents bought a house in rural France in 1993. They sold it for what they'd paid for it 20 years later! It had more than paid for itself in holiday rentals over the intervening period, but there's certainly no market in France itself for these properties, as every greying English or Dutch pensioner wanting to buy one if more than replaced by the young French people wanting to move into the towns and cities, albeit that is reversing a bit now that the towns and cities are so expensive.

My main concern in retiring to France, much as I love it and speak the language fluently, is that my wife needs insulin, and neither of us can be guaranteed good health as we grow old, and thanks to all the morons who voted for Brexit, any French hospital or GP would be likely to just laugh in our faces whilst handing over the credit card machine in the future.

[anonymous-user]

I won't be retiring and settling in any one country. I've already experienced some great countries to live in but come to the conclusion that variety is most definitely key.

The plan therefore will be something along the lines of 5-6 months UK to enjoy the spring, summer and authum on the south coast. Thailand for Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and spend the other 2-3 months enjoyinh travel with sporadic monthly rentals in places that take my fancy such as Canada, USA, Spain, Caribean etc.

[SCEtoAUX]

Of the places I've been it's certainly Portugal that I'd like to retire to. Lovely place.

[98elise]

SCEtoAUX said:

Of the places I've been it's certainly Portugal that I'd like to retire to. Lovely place.

That was my exit plan if Corbyn got into power. The immediate plans are off, but I'm going to give it some serious thought over the next couple of years.

[K50 DEL]

SCEtoAUX said:

Of the places I've been it's certainly Portugal that I'd like to retire to. Lovely place.

That's where I'm aiming for, though away from the regions populated by nothing by expats.
I love everything about PT and can easily see myself enjoying my dotage there.

I've been slowly teaching myself the language for the last few years and hope to be fluent by the time retirement beckons.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

I'm considering buying somewhere in PRT too, initially as a holiday home but also with longer term retirement in mind. I live in Luxembourg which has excellent links and a large ex-pat PRT population so there's constant demand for flights and a good network.

Positives are weather, costs, ease of travel, wine and food, but the major minus for me is the difficulty of the language. I know English is widely spoken but that isn't really the point. One of my current lady friends is Portuguese but I'm really struggling with the lingo and that is a slight concern.

[PositronicRay]

heisthegaffer said:

vixen1700 said:

That's all twenty minutes on the tube from me at the moment and I grew up hanging round the West End, so not something I'd be bothered with as I get older. The lure of musicals isn't there either. Also a lack of garden is something I wouldn't be keen on.

Going to start looking in the Spring for something as a holiday home to begin with a view of retiring to.

Something like this:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-property/prop...

What a stunning place.

It is but, whenever I've fleeting daydreamed whilst on holiday I've not seen that sort of value.

Makes me wonder, a money pit? I could afford that, but don't want to become a slave to a place.

[K50 DEL]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

I'm considering buying somewhere in PRT too, initially as a holiday home but also with longer term retirement in mind. I live in Luxembourg which has excellent links and a large ex-pat PRT population so there's constant demand for flights and a good network.

Positives are weather, costs, ease of travel, wine and food, but the major minus for me is the difficulty of the language. I know English is widely spoken but that isn't really the point. One of my current lady friends is Portuguese but I'm really struggling with the lingo and that is a slight concern.

I found that living in a Portuguese speaking country really helped (I was based in Angola for 3 years) there really is no substitute for immersion.
That said, I'm finding DuoLingo really helpful at the moment, for a free language teaching option it's not too bad at all

[CharlesdeGaulle]

K50 DEL said:

That said, I'm finding DuoLingo really helpful at the moment, for a free language teaching option it's not too bad at all

Thanks, I'll have a look at it.

[Robertj21a]

I'd probably go for my main home to be in Portugal (not Algarve) as long as I could still have an apartment in the UK. It's easy for people to have a moan about the UK, poor weather, grey and dull etc etc - but it still has numerous benefits over many other places.

[dxg]

I intend to retire up my own arse. Some would say I'm already there...

[NNK]

DoubleTime said:

I won't be retiring and settling in any one country. I've already experienced some great countries to live in but come to the conclusion that variety is most definitely key.
.

I agree, summer here in NZ (Dec - end March) then Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia for a couple of months each.
Even better if we decide to do it on a yacht.

[Some Guy]

A nice motor sailer in south east Asia.

[Bibbs]

wisbech said:

So far happy with our choice of Perth and Bali

Not retired yet, but it's a pretty nice place to live.