When you retire you plan to?

TheTimeLord · Post by **TheTimeLord** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:35 am

What are your plans for your current house when you retire? Select all that apply.

pennstater2005 · Post by **pennstater2005** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:38 am

Stay in my current home and become a snowbird.

midareff · Post by **midareff** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:39 am

My plans were to stay .... plans made 2009/2010 .. retired in 2012 and since those plans were made Mr. Market has been kind enough to easily enable a George Jefferson.

TheTimeLord · Post by **TheTimeLord** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:43 am

pennstater2005 wrote:Stay in my current home and become a snowbird.

Will you rent or buy when you are down south?

pennstater2005 · Post by **pennstater2005** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:47 am

I'm far away from retirement so things could and probably will change but I would most likely rent as I would only stay a few months. I love southern Florida anywhere near Naples.

Johm221122 · Post by **Johm221122** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:48 am

Move to las Vegas

John

HomerJ · Post by **HomerJ** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:59 am

Original plan was to sell the big house in the suburbs, buy a smaller house on a lake (same price though) in a warmer state like Arkansas or Texas. Tired of winters.

We recently bought a lake condo that's much smaller and much cheaper than our primary house (but high end), and we discovered we really like it. It's in Missouri (Lake of the Ozarks) where the winters are still too cold.

Now we're wondering if maybe we could retire to the condo 9 months out of the year (April-December), and then use the money we'll be saving by downsizing to travel January-March.

Maybe each year rent a place for 3 months in a different state or country. Florida one year, California another year, Mexico or Belize the year after that... Maybe an extended vacation in Australia/New Zealand one year.

We'll have to see... Retirement is still 10 years off.

bloom2708 · Post by **bloom2708** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:05 am

As long as we have family around Fargo, ND we would like to keep a 2-3 bedroom condo in the area.

As of now we would like to own a home in Anthem, Arizona. NE of Phoenix. Warm, sunny, dry, quiet, relatively inexpensive.

Be content, read, exercise, maybe golf. If we need to hit the beach, go to the Florida Keys for a couple weeks.

chaz · Post by **chaz** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:08 am

Move to a smaller house.

Bungo · Post by **Bungo** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:23 am

Move to a cheaper area: fortunately almost anywhere is cheap relative to Silicon Valley. Will buy either a similar sized house (2000 sf) or a somewhat smaller one, maybe 1500 sf. Hopefully for about 1/3 the price

Old Guy · Post by **Old Guy** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:32 am

I retired last week. Now in Aruba for two weeks. We plan to move to Hilton Head SC where I will volunteer; work out; ride my bike; and sit on the beach.

BHCadet · Post by **BHCadet** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:34 am

We're staying at our current house.
However, we may move in the future if our kids moved away after college.

IlliniDave · Post by **IlliniDave** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:45 am

My default plan is to sell my current home, move to a different area, and substantially downsize. I'm considering the purchase of a "summer cabin" where I'll spend up to six months of the year. If that thought comes to fruition my summer place and downsized main home will add up to around 100-120% of my current home's value. So I said I'd move, downsize, and buy a second home, although the latter is far from certain.

Bill M · Post by **Bill M** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:53 am

Moving is hard work. Staying put is easy. So while there are many nice places to move to, there needs to be a reason to move. We've not identified any such reason, so are staying.

gerrym51 · Post by **gerrym51** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:04 am

My wife and I moved to a small condo-over 20 years ago-all children are adult-now at 63 no moving for us

Sriracha · Post by **Sriracha** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:11 am

The tentative plan is to move someplace with a much lower COL. Our home is of modest size now so I doubt we'll significantly up- or downsize.

countdown · Post by **countdown** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:22 am

I voted stay in home and buy second home, although that is not carved in stone.

1-2 years from retirement, and positioned to be able to stay in current home with rent from a studio on the property offsetting the nominal mortgage payment.
Problem is a great deal of equity in this home.

Plan to purchase small condo in area near family.

Still in planning stages... Keeping or selling the ocean view home is a large decision.
Anyone ever in a position where they kept their primary residence where a rental studio on the property either offset their costs or provided additional income?

jfn111 · Post by **jfn111** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:26 am

Retired, kind of, 2 years ago. No plans to move from house of 26 years. Just had our first Grandchild and enjoying the time spent with him but will probably look at becoming snow birds in a few years.

ychuck46 · Post by **ychuck46** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:28 am

My wife and I are now both retired at 60. We moved South four years ago and intend to stay here. The only thing that may change, if things get progressively worse in this country, is a move to Central or South America.

HomerJ · Post by **HomerJ** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:40 am

countdown wrote:Anyone ever in a position where they kept their primary residence where a rental studio on the property either offset their costs or provided additional income?

All that equity invested would probably provide a lot MORE income than that rental studio.

Crimsontide · Post by **Crimsontide** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:43 am

We plan to keep our current home in North Texas but spend the 2 weeks of winter on PCB with the Snow Birds

kaudrey · Post by **kaudrey** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:52 am

I marked "move" and "downsize to a smaller house", although really, we might buy a bigger house but in a cheaper area.

We currently own a townhouse in a DC suburb, a condo that we are renting, and a cabin in the mountains. In 12 years when we retire, we will likely sell all three, pay off whatever mortgage balances are left, and use the rest of the cash to buy a house somewhere else. Place is TBD...

countdown · Post by **countdown** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 12:16 pm

HomerJ wrote:
countdown wrote:Anyone ever in a position where they kept their primary residence where a rental studio on the property either offset their costs or provided additional income?
All that equity invested would probably provide a lot MORE income than that rental studio.

Yes, that is true, although a portion of the equity would be used for a less expensive replacement home.
The issue for us is, we have worked so much we haven't really had the opportunity to enjoy our home together as much as we should have, and are therefore considering remaining here for a number of years in retirement before selling.

It is probably a wiser monetary decision to sell.
Will have to decide over the next year or so whether emotional satisfaction trumps wiser monetary decision.
The studio rental seemed to help 'justify' remaining, but we will eventually require some of this equity in our total portfolio for income purposes.

Reality check appreciated.

Wannabe · Post by **Wannabe** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:01 pm

Old Guy wrote:I retired last week. Now in Aruba for two weeks. We plan to move to Hilton Head SC where I will volunteer; work out; ride my bike; and sit on the beach.

Sounds awesome!

jmoroney · Post by **jmoroney** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:08 pm

Stay in our home and become snowbirds.

22twain · Post by **22twain** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:34 pm

We live in a low cost of living area (small town in the southeast), in a house which is about the right size for us. Most of our friends are colleagues (or former colleagues) from work who live in this general area, and we have no kids to move closer to. So we'll probably stay where we are, unless we find some other part of the country that really really attracts us (and is affordable), or we need to move into an assisted-living facility.

DVMResident · Post by **DVMResident** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:50 pm

My pie-in-the-sky dream is to live in multiple places for a few months at a time before deciding. Then doing part-time inspections in my field that will go all over the world.

We'll see what life has in store.

replyguy · Post by **replyguy** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:13 pm

Swap my 900 sf 20 year old condo an outside parking space with $4k property taxes and $530 a month condo fees in Northern VA
for a 2000 sf new house with a 2 car garage with $1k property taxes and $20 a month HOA dues in West VA. (plus water, electric and trash)

MathWizard · Post by **MathWizard** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:32 pm

We'll stay in the current house, and later either buy a handicap accessible built house
or rent such a house/apartment.

Likely either my wife or I will get to a point where we will not want stairs, a big house to clean,
a large lawn to care for, and may well at least occasionally need wide doors on the bathroom and
maybe a roll-in shower, and levers rather than knobs for doors.

There is a movement to build houses that are more versatile over generations. I have one of those
split levels where you always have to manage half a flight of stairs whenever you enter or exit.
What a stupid idea that ever was! We're fine now, but when my MIL visits, I see what will be happening in
another 20 or 30 years.

I bought the house for the school district when the kids were young, when we move, we'll get a house that
would be OK for us if we never moved again.

gary11 · Post by **gary11** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:19 pm

Retirement is still 20 years away so anything could happen between now and then but older I get my tolerance for colder weather gets lower and lower so there is a really very thin possibility of me spending my wonder years in this crazy Wisconsin winter....no way!

Toons · Post by **Toons** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:42 pm

We retired to Tennessee 3 years ago,downsized.Went from 5k in property taxes to 670.00.Life is Great in the HIlls

Ldevelopment · Post by **Ldevelopment** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:13 pm

replyguy wrote:Swap my 900 sf 20 year old condo an outside parking space with $4k property taxes and $530 a month condo fees in Northern VA
for a 2000 sf new house with a 2 car garage with $1k property taxes and $20 a month HOA dues in West VA. (plus water, electric and trash)

That is incredibly high HOA fee, ouch!

Ldevelopment · Post by **Ldevelopment** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:13 pm

Ldevelopment wrote:
replyguy wrote:Swap my 900 sf 20 year old condo an outside parking space with $4k property taxes and $530 a month condo fees in Northern VA
for a 2000 sf new house with a 2 car garage with $1k property taxes and $20 a month HOA dues in West VA. (plus water, electric and trash)

That is an incredibly high HOA fee, ouch!

island · Post by **island** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:29 pm

How about a choice for I have no idea

hmw · Post by **hmw** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 12:03 am

We are at least 15 years away from retirement. We plan to move to the pacific northwest and buy a nicer retirement house than our current house.

GerryL · Post by **GerryL** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 1:42 am

I retired TODAY -- about a year earlier than originally planned. Last year I had the whole house remodeled/refreshed with the intention of staying in it for at least 10 more years. I didn't really do any age-in-place improvements; too $$$, too small and two stories. I know that if I live as long as my financial plan will allow, I will likely need to move into a more age-friendly home or living situation.

scone · Post by **scone** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:02 am

I'm planning to build a small energy efficient home on land we bought in Kennebunkport, Maine. We hope to spend the winters with family in Australia or Europe. Less than three years to retirement. Steady as she goes!

carolinaman · Post by **carolinaman** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:11 am

I retired at end of 2010. Our initial plan was to relocate to either the mountains or beach but decided to wait on rebound of housing market. In interim, we did some major remodeling and have decided to stay put for now. Our house is a nice size (2000 sqft) and is a ranch, so very few steps to navigate. We have a very nice 2 acre lot with lots of trees and privacy, even though we are in a suburban area with lots of houses. It is hard to find that nowadays without going to a rural area which I do not want to do.

One caveat to those who have or plan to remain in their home during retirement like what we did. Our house is 41 years old and well maintained. Nonetheless, older homes are susceptible to major repairs from time to time. I am in process of replacing old ductwork to my HVAC at cost of $5,500. Also had to replace 10 feet of band joist due to wood rot at cost of $1,500. Also will replace a 20x12 deck this year as well. I have other maintenance items that need to be done as well. A newer home would likely have fewer of these major repair expenses, at least for a number of years. I always said that I did not want to grow old in my present house but here I am.

midareff · Post by **midareff** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:24 am

Ldevelopment wrote:
replyguy wrote:Swap my 900 sf 20 year old condo an outside parking space with $4k property taxes and $530 a month condo fees in Northern VA
for a 2000 sf new house with a 2 car garage with $1k property taxes and $20 a month HOA dues in West VA. (plus water, electric and trash)

That is incredibly high HOA fee, ouch!

With condo fees you have to check what they cover. In my case it covers air-conditioning (very biggie in South Florida), hot water, 24/7 concierge and security, hurricane insurance, extended cable TV with 4 movie channels, gas and maintenance for BBQ grills, heated pool (great in winter) and a ton of other stuff ..... you gotta look under the hood.

midmoder · Post by **midmoder** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:01 pm

What we plan to do next year when we retire isn't a choice in the poll. We're going mobile and will full-time RV (Airstream) for several years and travel around the country depending on the weather. We just sold our house and our stuff and are renting for our last year until we take off. When we're ready to settle down again, who knows where we'll end up. But I'm hoping I remember how carefree renting can be.

curmudgeon · Post by **curmudgeon** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 8:20 pm

Our current thinking is to move not long after retirement. Someplace closer to at least some of the grandkids. Probably a somewhat smaller, but similar quality house (but maybe half the price because we would be leaving HCOL area). It's possible we'd do a deeper downsizing; to a condo, for example, to make travelling easier.

beachlover · Post by **beachlover** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 8:38 pm

pennstater2005 wrote:Stay in my current home and become a snowbird.

+1

Stay in our house for now and explore various warmer locations for winter.

DFrank · Post by **DFrank** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 8:54 pm

We plan to relocate from SoCal to north Idaho. We purchased our retirement home last year, and it's rented for the next 2-3 years until we're ready to retire.

We were looking for a somewhat larger house. Here SoCal we do a lot of living outside pretty much year round, so our home is effectively 4-500 sf larger than the inside space, but in Idaho we'll be doing a lot more living inside during the winter. Turns out the home we fell in love with is a lot bigger, mainly due to having a very big finished basement. We're doing a lot of things differently than the norm. Bigger home, larger property, but we're living our dream. Ask us in 20 years how it worked out!

Dave

bluelight · Post by **bluelight** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:43 pm

Move to a different area
Buy a new house of similar value
Upsize to a nicer house

DH is already retired, I'll probably retire in 2 years. We live in a small colonial in a high COL area with high property taxes. I love my little house, but the reality is the DH has problems with the stairs so a ranch is in our future. Once we move from this area, we will be able to buy a nicer home that is about the same price range as our current home, but with 1/2 the property taxes.

surfstar · Post by **surfstar** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:53 pm

I imagine traveling and renting for weeks to months at a time along with camping / road-van lifestyle.