The Best Places to Retire - Warm & Sunny
Great Retirement Places helps retiring baby boomers with modest financial resources find the best affordable places to retire. Cheap places to live can be found in many areas of the world, but we focus on warm and sunny retirement places where there's NO SNOW. The best places to retire can include the cheapest, as long as they have safety, abundant activities, recreational opportunities, efficient transportation options, convenient shopping, and a pleasant, attractive community. Great Retirement Places researches and reports on active adult retirement homes and communities, but not assisted living, nursing or independent living facilities.
Your hosts, Dave and Linda, love our home here in the Midwest, but we just can't handle the cold weather here most of the year. As we approach full retirement, we spend what time we can exploring warm places in the USA and overseas. We have visited senior-friendly communities with homes that range from beachside rentals to manufactured homes to tropical condos, townhouses, and villas. We then report on what we find, both here and on our Boomers Blog. Sharing our findings with you seems like a great idea; we hope we can help you find your best place to retire.
Cheap Retirement Options in the New Economy
In 2006, when we first conceived of a web site to help retirees find the best place to retire, we had no idea just how challenging retirement would become. With retirement savings depleted by investment losses and the housing market crisis, finding an affordable place to retire has become more difficult. Add in soaring health care costs, unemployment, and tight credit, and the task becomes daunting. So, are there cheaper places to retire that fit our vision? Thankfully, yes, there are. In fact, we look for the best retirement places with homes selling for less than $250,000.
Are the cheapest places to retire necessarily "cheap," or are there great retirement places that are truly affordable? That depends on what you want and where you are willing to look for a retirement place. As gloomy as the economy may seem, there are many places in the world, and yes, in the USA, where your dollars buy you more than you'd think, and they offer a comfortable standard of living.
The current market conditions represent an unparalled opportunity for finding cheap places to retire, even in warm, sunny retirement places. Bankruptcies and short sales have the potential to offer great retirement opportunities, but you must be careful—they are definitely "buyer-beware" deals. We help you find great retirement places in the US and overseas that are warm and sunny yet surprisingly affordable. Here at Great Retirement Places, you can explore a variety of housing options and locations looking for the best places to retire.
GreatRetirementPlaces.com is not for everyone. We want to help those who are concerned about not having enough money to retire, but who want to move to a great retirement place offering a comfortable quality of life and a reasonable cost of living. On the other hand, if you have a large nest egg and a generous pension to look forward to, you may not need our help. Likewise, if you don't mind winter snow and ice, you can find many locations to retire cheap. If you are content where you are and your home is paid for, you can probably live comfortably with modest means.
Where to Retire?
Where do you want to live when you retire? Before you answer, think about what really matters. Where to retire might not be obvious. You need to think about cost of living, climate, community, your family, your health, and other factors. Then decide which criteria are most important.
We have put together a list of questions that you should ask yourself to help you decide where to retire. Go through this list and identify all of the characteristics of your best retirement place, and then use these criteria to evaluate any potential retirement place. We will help you find the best retirement places for those seeking affordable living in a warm and sunny location.
In this search, you'll discover the most affordable places to retire in the U.S., and explore the concept of retiring abroad in beautiful locations where American, Canadian, and British retirees are welcome and the cost of living is a fraction of what it is at home. You'll also learn that living and retiring overseas is not for everyone; the various regions of the world represent challenges that you need to be aware of.
Where to retire - questions that will help you decide