When moving to your dream home or location in retirement, there is a lot you have to discuss with your spouse or partner.
A lot of the details are obvious, but there is one aspect of this big move that often flies under the radar. This week’s Two-Minute Retirement Solution tells us what it is.
Transcript:
First this week, thank you to everyone who took the time to write in with their ideas to stop emotional buying and selling. There were a couple of really good ones, and I will have something for you next week.
One of the best is to have a devil’s advocate that you discuss all trades with before you make them. I really like that one, and I am working on it for next week.
But this week…
Moving to your dream location or house, or just downsizing, are two of the more common goals when folks retire. I have talked about the ups and downs of these changes several times in this piece.
We all know we should have a plan for this move and discuss it with our spouse or partner. The plan should include where we’d like to be. He may want to have a golf course out back; she may want to be close to the grandkids.
I have heard that debate so often!
Of course, you also have to have the financing figured out. Don’t buy a house based on your current income and make sure you know whether you should pay cash or a take out a mortgage.
I bought a house in Florida in 2012 and got a 3.125% mortgage. So you can bet I will never pay that one off, and I put as little down as possible. It made no sense to pull money out of places where I can make much more.
And then there’s the loss of your social network.
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Getting started in a new place is tough, and not having all the familiar people and places around can be a real problem.
I’ve moved 18 times in my life, so it is no big deal for me. My wife Eileen had never moved more than a few miles from where she grew up. Our move was very tough on her even though it was her idea.
But a recent MarketWatch article mentioned a situation I had never considered: We will not be able to drive forever.
Those country club, resort or beach homes look great now but what happens when we can’t drive to food stores, entertainment, doctors, hospitals and the 10 or 20 other short trips we make each week in a car?
One prominent New York eldercare attorney’s solution is to live in an urban area. She may be a little biased about city life; New Yorkers tend to be that way.
She says that her nondriving clients who live in urban areas are more independent than their suburban counterparts. She makes a good point: being within walking distance of public transportation, theaters, hospitals and doctors is not a bad idea for the later years.
So make sure you agree on the golf and grandkids thing, figure out your money situation before you jump, and think about down the road when we won’t be on the road.
Good investing,
Steve