Two things today!
First:
Today I started reading Martha Beck's book Steering by Starlight, Find Your Right Life No Matter What.
The introduction was enough for me to recommend it. I won't give it away and it is looking like it will take me a while to get through it because of the interactive process it will require.
Second:
Yesterday I wondered how much it would cost to live at the ski condo full time. Today I applied the same thinking to the cottage. Here are the fixed cost numbers.
-- property taxes -- $1000 / yr
-- utilities -- $480 / yr
-- insurance -- $600 / yr
-- internet -- $600 /yr
Total -- $2680 /yr
Not bad either.
How and where we would spend our retirement/early retirement has been on our minds lately.
Do we sell the main house (by far our largest and most expensive home), pocket the gain and use it as retirement savings (would mean earlier end to paid work)? Or keep all three? Would we still want to be in the same city if neither one of us were working anymore? Do we want more homes in neat locations?
I certainly do not have all the answers right now but it is a nice "feeler" exercise to do once and a while.
How many of you are planning to stay in your current home and or location when retired?
Hello
ReplyDeleteI intend to keep my current house when we retire but as a secure base, for us and for the children. We have a bigger house in Crete and a flat in Syria(yes, I do know that unusual but also superb. The house that we live in isn't very big so its not a white elephant that we will get stuck with anyway, just a little cottage in an English Village.
Hope you enjoyed Christmas
Lizzie
I'm definitely not planning on staying in my current home ;)
ReplyDeletedh and I have spent most of our afternoon thinking about how much we'll need to fund our lifestlye when we're in Portugal - I need to get out more! :)
Hi Lizzie! That sounds wonderful! When is your house slated to be completed in Crete? You are very smart to have such a perfectly manageable home base--great planning. Are the home renovations completed?
ReplyDeleteHi Laura! Are you planning to build there or buy already built? Will you start now or once you sell your current home? I think you get out plenty! (you don't acquire such awesome plans from not getting out...!)
The Crete house is liveable as it is but there will be more building works.They wont break through to the main house until the end. Next year plan is landscaping and pool, replacing the old house with the beginnings of a single storey house, and starting on the new rooms. But with the exchange rate tot he euro as it is then it could be a longer term goal than we originally planned!
ReplyDeleteHere the work never finishes! We plan to finish the guest bathroom over the Chrsitmas break but the main bathroom has a leak which is taking all our time at the moment. Never mind, its a hobby!
Gosh, it must be so exciting to see everything come together without a strict time line! You have the best of all worlds going on there!
ReplyDelete