Retirement Destinations?

[Joe Hutch]

I’ve been going for 28 years and I’ve not been homicided once. The first time I went to a good restaurant there, I was scanned at the door with ‘good evening sir, are you wearing a firearm tonight?’

The first time I went to Nottingham, my taxi driver said ‘This is the gun crime capital of England, you know, but it’s not that bad really’. He’d obviously missed his vocation and should have been working in the tourist office.

 

[hifinutt]

My folks are the same. A stairlift solves the problem, or there is space for a lift.

one of the folks i look after was told she couldnt have a stair lift due to narrow and curved stairs but we eventually got one . Its a small terrace house and we even had to have a single bed cut in half ( the base) to get it up the stairs !!

 

[Bob McC]

I wouldn’t have a stair lift but a lift looks cool.

 

[mandryka]

Some friends of mine, English woman married to a man from Umbria, he’s early 90s she’s late 80s - she has bad, widespread, osteoarthritis. They have a three story big house, same house as they brought up the kids in, and they say they will stay there until they die, and cope with the stairs etc. No lift. They see the stairs, possibly rightly, as a form of exercise.

However - and this is the reason I wanted to post - they’ve got a house in Umbria, an old farmhouse, and there they’ve fitted a lift - on the outside! I think it looks fabulous - old stone farmhouse with a modern lift attached to the exterior. (they like the looks of it less than I do in fact.) That’s what I’ll do with my place if I have problems with the stairs, a lift on the outside.

 

[mandryka]

My priority for older age is a home with no stairs ( or a lift) and an accessible bathroom and kitchen. Also decent public health care services within short transit times. Caring for my 90-year old dad has made me appreciate that mobility is everything; an upstairs bedroom and a downstairs loo could take up much of your day when you are old.

I have my eye on a small, cheap town nearby; Coop, doctors, health centre, library, cafe, nice walks from the front door and most importantly; a good social mix of working people who are friendly and welcoming and actually talk to each other in the street and shops. Add in a community centre, two pubs, petrol station with mechanics, regular express bus service to the nearest city.

When you get older company, care and things to do are most important. Weather is not such a big deal. It's always 20C indoors and feeding British birds is great entertainment.

This is my view in fact. I used to feel that I’d move to France, where I can speak the language, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ve learned that, as you say, weather is not as big a deal for me as it was in the past. Anyway, I can’t do it easily because of Brexit.

I have tried to do what you suggest and use holiday rentals for long vacations, but it’s easier said than done because it’s real hard, or has been for me, to find places which I enjoy staying in. They are all a bit soulless, so that I never want to go back to any of them. There was one place, I used it for long stays in Marseille in fact for years, but then the owner decided to sell it.

@richardg - I too liked Menton and thought I’d live there, for me the attraction was the microclimate - I wanted to make a garden with pomegranates and clementines! However now I’m not so sure that, if I could live in France, I wouldn’t choose Marseille, city with a bad reputation obviously but so much character, and many attractive arrondissements, without the feeling of being a bit bourgeois, geriatric and small town like Menton.

 

[anubisgrau]

So where‘s that Anubis?
I‘ve been sailing around the greek islands a lot these last years, I have a few favorites, but I‘m not sure they would suit me to live at during winter….

My choice is North Aegean - Lemnos (or Limnos in Greek). A bit far away from sailing routes (mostly in Cyclades).

Winters are harsh but the houses tend to get warm once you decide it's your home throughout the year and you install a proper system. People heat on oil, pellet or wood. The later are a bit of work but nothing impossible.

We are not there all the time in winter but we do spend some weeks, heating on simple wood stove. My wife is sometimes alone there with dogs, if she can manage, everyone can.

Old people tend to live long, longer than at many places in Europe due to Mediterranean diet. Fish, olive oil, legumes. Wine, grape brandy.

Medical system not perfect but manageable I would say.

 

[Bob McC]

How do they deal with dementia?

 

[Hook]

Throughout our 50’s, I thought the chances of us retiring to South Africa were very good. Have visited many times, and always enjoyed our stays. Mrs. Hook has sisters in Pretoria and Barberton, and cousins throughout the country. But then came our 60’s along with health issues for both of us.

Plans have changed, and we are staying in the US. Despite the very cold weather, we still like living in Minnesota and have very dear friends here. I turn 65 next month, and will begin healthcare coverage under Medicare. This is much more affordable than private insurance, with a much lower maximum annual out of pocket.

For us, the issue now is how long will we enjoy (or be capable of) maintaining our home. There are times now when it feels like too much, so we are looking at townhomes and condos as our next move. We like being in/near the city, and enjoy the many conveniences. Also don’t want to be more than about 10 minutes from a major hospital.

 

[richardg]

I’d choose Villefranche sur Mer.

Anywhere between Nice and the border. I've just sold the part of my business here that takes up most of my time and am intending to work part-time during 'retirement' due to not enough pension. I'd need to get to the Italian post office a couple of times a week to despatch parcels. It's looking like 2024 when I'll be 55 when this might happen.

 

[richardg]

we must look at our insurance coverage, we pay about CHF450 each per month with SWICA.

as it happens, we have decided the same as you and want to stay in CH. Today we had our first meeting with a financial planner at BKB to plan our retirement in CH, we are aiming to pack it in at age 60. So 7 years to go for me. We will soon see if that is a realistic possibility. i do hope so.

Is the high health insurance cost because you are not Swiss? I pay nothing in France.

 

[richardg]

This is my view in fact. I used to feel that I’d move to France, where I can speak the language, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ve learned that, as you say, weather is not as big a deal for me as it was in the past. Anyway, I can’t do it easily because of Brexit.

I have tried to do what you suggest and use holiday rentals for long vacations, but it’s easier said than done because it’s real hard, or has been for me, to find places which I enjoy staying in. They are all a bit soulless, so that I never want to go back to any of them. There was one place, I used it for long stays in Marseille in fact for years, but then the owner decided to sell it.

@richardg - I too liked Menton and thought I’d live there, for me the attraction was the microclimate - I wanted to make a garden with pomegranates and clementines! However now I’m not so sure that, if I could live in France, I wouldn’t choose Marseille, city with a bad reputation obviously but so much character, and many attractive arrondissements, without the feeling of being a bit bourgeois, geriatric and small town like Menton.

Are you married? If not, find a French spouse!

 

[NeilR]

Is the high health insurance cost because you are not Swiss? I pay nothing in France.

Everybody has to pay for health insurance here. I suspect we just have a bad deal so probably need to shop around a bit at renewal time

 

[cctaylor]

When we moved into town accessibility indoors was a priority. A bungalow or downstairs bedroom and bathroom were our requirements. So many houses in new developments are totally unsuitable without at least the addition of a stair lift.

This house has a large bedroom downstairs with a reasonable sized shower room next to it. While there are some steps outside (an external stair lift or platform lift would be an option) the house has proved to be very suitable. One of the upstairs bedrooms became my study/music room.

Don't underestimate the space which is required for nursing when someone is confined to bed. Our large bedroom became very crowded during Heather's illness.

 

[tones]

Is the high health insurance cost because you are not Swiss? I pay nothing in France.

As Neil has said, all Swiss residents are obliged to take out at least basic health insurance (if you genuinely can't afford it, the canton will pay it for you). When it comes to November, we all start looking for cheaper alternatives! (There are services that provide comparative tables, and that will produce specific recommendations for your particular area). It's very much area-dependent -the insurance company that is cheapest in our area is not necessarily the cheapest in other areas. We started off with the one to which Sandoz (as it then was) signed us up, and since then I think we have changed about 4 times.

And of course, like the British, you do pay for it in France - it comes out of your taxes.

 

[webster]

And of course, like the British, you do pay for it in France - it comes out of your taxes.

Indeed - social charges are alive and well in France unless of course you have a registered S1 form.

 

[richardg]

As Neil has said, all Swiss residents are obliged to take out at least basic health insurance (if you genuinely can't afford it, the canton will pay it for you). When it comes to November, we all start looking for cheaper alternatives! (There are services that provide comparative tables, and that will produce specific recommendations for your particular area). It's very much area-dependent -the insurance company that is cheapest in our area is not necessarily the cheapest in other areas. We started off with the one to which Sandoz (as it then was) signed us up, and since then I think we have changed about 4 times.

And of course, like the British, you do pay for it in France - it comes out of your taxes.

Is Swiss income tax much less than uk or France? My total tax contribution in France is about the same as it was in the UK. I don't even pay an council tax here any more. I realise that employers are paying the lion's share here, though. Hence I have not yet employed anyone.

 

[BJP]

January and February are a bit depressing, like everywhere else in Europe I guess.

Andalucia is probably the best place in mainland Europe and no doubt the Algarve next door has similar fine weather .

 

[tones]

Is Swiss income tax much less than uk or France? My total tax contribution in France is about the same as it was in the UK. I don't even pay an council tax here any more. I realise that employers are paying the lion's share here, though. Hence I have not yet employed anyone.

The big problem here is that there is no such thing as "Swiss" income tax, which makes it hard to compare. Switzerland is the original small government country - the cantons do the taxing, and they and the Gemeinden/communes (local areas) get the lion's share, with a few crumbs tossed to Bern. So, we pay three taxes, direkte Bundessteuer (paid directly to Bern), Staatssteuer (the biggest one, paid to the cantons) and Gemeindesteuer (for the individual Gemeinden, a fixed percentage of the Staatsteuer). All of the wealthy people who can do so move to Zug, the canton with the lowest personal/company tax. A client of mine moved an entire department to Zug simply to avoid paying the higher taxes in Geneva.

There tends to be an inverse relationship between tax rates and house prices in any given canton. Residential property in Zug tends to be rather expensive (which, in Switzerland, is saying something). When visiting there, I looked in a real estate agent's window - most of the properties were "price on request", the ones that did have prices bore numbers that resembled the figures that astronomers quote as the distance between galaxies.

When we went house-hunting in 1991, we found that we could buy a mansion (literally) in canton Jura, but we'd need to pay the much higher taxes in that canton.

 

[Bananahead]

Is Swiss income tax much less than uk or France? My total tax contribution in France is about the same as it was in the UK. I don't even pay an council tax here any more. I realise that employers are paying the lion's share here, though. Hence I have not yet employed anyone.

Salaries are higher. Tax is much lower - maybe 10% of income.

 

[tones]

Salaries are higher. Tax is much lower - maybe 10% of income.

Hmm, not sure that ours is that low - I'd have said 20%. Of course the whole thing is very complicated (far too complicated for my tiny brain, so I have someone do the sums for me and worry about the mysteries of Verrechnungssteuer, etc.)