Searching for the "perfect" destination to live out your retirement years can take you from place to place...until you find the one that finally delivers you a place that reminds you of home.
Some couples have dreams of living where their grandchildren can come to visit....until they find out that kids don't go to grandmother's house anymore. You, as grandparents, have to go to the kids' house where all their activities and friends are. So it really doesn't matter where the grandparents live as far as their children are concerned.
Author Ciji Ware of "Rightsizing Your Life" explains how different places to live fit into different seasons of your life. "The 50s are the empty nest years," she says. "In the 60s, many people are slowing down an old career and maybe starting a new one. In the 70s, there may be grandchildren coming along. And in the 80s, you may have health needs to think about...You may not ever find the perfect retirement nest, but you'll find what suits your age and stage currently."
Joe Dineen and Ginny Cooney retired to Martha's Vineyard from the Boston suburbs but got tired of having to elbow their way onto the overcrowded ferry. Seeking a change of pace, they moved across the country to Sun City, AZ. After that, they lived on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in balmy Boynton Beach, FL and, as of last fall, in a lakeside retirement community in southeastern Michigan. "We wanted to come back to a place with four seasons," says Mr. Dineen, 71.
Nomads, unlike those who stayed at home or those who retired to one place, relocate when they retire, then pick up stakes a few years later and move again. And, maybe, even a few times after that.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, March 31, 2007
Subscribe to this blog
