Retirement Alternatives

 

Doing the basic planning steps and finding out how much money we should have saved can be depressing and/or discouraging.

When I did the estimate using the tools mentioned I came up that I should have  about $2 Million dollars to retire comfortable  !!

Most people don’t have that kind of money saved – no wonder so many seniors end up going back to work.

But there are alternatives – not sure which ones are viable yet.
However, I will find out.  I doubt my uncle has $2 million in the bank but he has retired comfortable. I’ll ask him.

He does have properties he can live in. Worked several jobs before retirement for years to finance his projects.

It is tough in today’s bad economy to retire since most of us are counting on our homes appreciation to bank roll our retirement.

However our properties have lost value.
Like a wise financial person told me, you only lose money when you sell it, so hopefully my property will gain some value back in the next couple of years. There is already an upswing in real estate in some sections of the country but most experts don’t expect a full recovery for a couple of years.

Options: Selling your home in the U.S. and moving to a cheaper state or country .
This way, you can live reasonably well and have money to travel to the States and see family 0r they can visit you.

Another option is to move to States with low taxes for seniors and have low cost housing.
See Forbes, Best Places To Retire:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampbarrett/2011/03/23/the-best-retirement-places/
Florida a favorite for ever is even more attractive now with the housing troubles since prices have dropped so much and are still dropping.

See this article on CNN Money of condos in Florida that cost less than a car !
http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/02/real_estate/condos_less_than_cars/index.htm
Any Suggestions ? Advice ?  More on this as I get more information.