House & Home Where to settle in retirement?

Hi Geoff
It does sound like a beautiful area with lots to offer. Didn't mean to sound closed minded, language would be the biggest issue. I've struggled to get by in France, Italy and Spain in the past, although people always try to help and it's fun having a go at the language.
The dog would stop us retiring there but I've been looking at house/dog sitting both for us to try but also for people to come and look after our dog while we travel so it may be possible for us to explore South America. I might have to come back and pick your brains Just struggling to find our actual base at the moment, can't decide between NZ where we have a few ips and renos to do plus a lovely little place to live or to stay in lovely NE Vic with all the options of driving around Oz.

 

Wow, so many exitic places you are all retiring to .

For me, Palm Beach / Miami / Mermaid Beach in the Gold Coast.

It's very generic and cliche but my wife and I love it up there .

With a bit of luck, we will move up there before we retire (I "might" be able to transfer) but in to the home we will live in post retirement .

 

Thats interesting. Yes humidity is a struggle I was born in Singapore so I guess can get used to it quicker. Interesting that she didn't like penang, what was it out of curiosity?

Btw when I say penang I'm specifically referring to Georgetown and surrounds, it was a revelation to me my 2 trips last year after having just been to the coastal resort area batu ferringgi which ultimately is like any south easy Asian tropical beachside area and nothing special imo.

 

I must admit after 12 years working in Indonesia and Thailand, I am certainly happy to leave the humidity behind...and having no seasons..and traffic ..and smog and the rest.

 

No worries, the humidity is understandably a no go for many people. My mum was born in Singapore, lived there for over 40 years and doesn't think she could live there again in large part due to humidity.

 

Funny that this thread came up. I have been thinking about retirement a lot lately. Like you @Lacrim we are way off. Our kids are young and at best we will be able to semi retire/scale back work at 55 with the youngest still at School. We will have to stay put and do extended holidays. The ultimate goal would be to have an endless summer though.

 

@Dan Donoghue

It's a nice place to live when you don't need to clock in or can work remotely.

 

I'll stay put in Brisbane, perhaps move to Cairns where it's a bit warmer. Or spend summers in Brisbane and winters in Cairns. Like to be near family.

I have the means to travel extensively and for long periods, so where 'home' is doesn't really matter.

 

We have a couple of sites up there between Brisbane and GC. I could possible work from one of them, ultimately it will be the companies decision, I will just go with what they say .

I can work remotely ie I have the functionality and indeed have done so for many months whilst recovering from surgeries and treatment but these were special circumstances and a 100% work from home program is not supported. I see the logic, if they trust me to do it, they ave to trust everyone and to be honest, there are a number of people in every company who would abuse the privilege.

The main point here though is I cannot wait to live there, I am so excited and will be up there as soon as I conceivably can . Hoping to buy an IP when we are up there in Jan with a view that we move into it in the next couple of years.

 

Alan and I planned to live in Melbourne during the summer and Cairns during the Winter. We bought a very nice town house with a small garden, close to the beach at Yorkeys Knob in anticipation. In 2005 we planned to fly there in May for 3 or 4 months and renovate the Town House and enjoy the warm weather. As some of you already know Alan died unexpectedly in March 2005.

I did go up there in 2006 and renovated it with the help of builders but it was not the same staying there for months at a time on my own, so now I have it permanently let.

So now I escape overseas in the Melbourne Winter months to visit various countries and go to the Beach House I purchased 3 years ago in the Summer.

 

Yes, I am struggling too. I love Perth but as I get older I get less and less tolerant of our cold winters. I would love to spend about 8 months in Perth, when the weather is nicer and spend winter in Brisbane or nearby.

 

I love where I am at the moment in Bermagui on the far south coast and don't think I will be going far. Great weather, snow (nearby), beaches and no crowds. Am blessed I get to work here.

 

I have thought about living o/seas six months of the year as I have lots of family in Italy and I speak the lingo, but I would miss my 2 daughters, family and friends in OZ....... it just wont work for me and I love Australia.

My eldest daughter just moved to Melb, and we have rented an apartment and live between Perth and Melb, daughter no. 2 is at Uni in Perth, but she wants to move to Melb, so I guess we will eventually pack up and move to Melb, that includes my dogs of course.

I love Melb and I think living expenses are much cheaper than Perth, though perhaps the weather may be a downside.

 

Do you need a PA?

 

You can forget the really cheap places in Central Europe like Hungary and Slovakia. They are incredibly hot in Summer, hotter than Brisbane, and under several feet of snow in Winter. We did one of those Scenic Tours "Afternoon with the Locals" in Slovakia in 2014. However if, as Aussies, we cant get permanent residency in Europe, a month or two renting in various European locations would be OK until the six months run out.