The Coffee House

cgw · May 2, 2023

jeffashman said:
We've started looking for retirement locations, since I've circumnavigated the sun more than sixty times, and retirement is looming on the horizon. Our first option is to stay put, but North Texas isn't cheap. The trick is to balance access to good healthcare with affordable cost of living in an area for someone on a fixed income.

Defect to the Great White North, Jeff!

SquarePeg · May 2, 2023

For now my plan is to stay put when I retire in a few years. I have a lot of close connections here, both friends and family. My house is small, close to great hospitals and downtown, the beach and even the mountains are just a few hours away. If I can afford to stay here I’d like to. But who knows? With Princess being my only child, I’ll probably stalk her to wherever she settles! Plus if the US defaults on our debt and the stock market tanks I may never be able to retire.

smoke665 · May 3, 2023

@SquarePeg from someone that's made that decision, there is no best solution. DW had always wanted to move back to MO, but when presented with the opportunity, she chose not to. She didn't want to go to the beach because of all the sand and hurricanes. The mountains of TN were calling, but all our friends, banking and medical connections were here. So we decided to stay put for awhile, then came Lil'Bit, now you couldn't pry us out of here.

limr · May 3, 2023

I'm not convinced I'll ever be able to retire, so I'm glad I at least always have the option of moving back to Portugal where things will be a lot cheaper, including - especially? - wine

CherylL · May 3, 2023

jeffashman said:
We have staying in the area at the top of the list primarily because this is where our kids and grandkids live, otherwise we really have no anchor here. We are fortunate that in two years I get a nice property tax cut, because I will no longer have to pay the school property tax, but it's crazy expensive even then. I've tried to sell my wife on the idea of Belize or Panama (big American expat community in Boquete, in the mountains), but that puts us too far away from the kids. With so much political instability at the moment, things can change drastically between now and retirement time.

No school property tax!! That would be great. I don't mind paying some for the schools, but our tax is very high.

Panama would be nice. We hosted a few grad students from Panama that would probably help us get settled. The 3 grands live by and the other one is 4 hours away. I don't want to miss out in their life events.

terri · May 3, 2023

CherylL said:
No school property tax!! That would be great. I don't mind paying some for the schools, but our tax is very high.

Panama would be nice. We hosted a few grad students from Panama that would probably help us get settled. The 3 grands live by and the other one is 4 hours away. I don't want to miss out in their life events.

There are several states/municipalities that give tax breaks to retirees and seniors by excluding the school taxes. It can make a difference.

The challenge is getting into the mindset of being retired. You can visit anytime it's convenient. In the North, I am appreciative that snow removal is handled, as is leaf removal in the fall. We don't have to venture out in it. I do not miss the relentless heat of the South, that's for sure!

smoke665 · May 3, 2023

CherylL said:
No school property tax!! T

We get hit for a large property tax bill in both MO and IL. Here in AL they have several breaks for Property owners. First up your primary residence is automatically eligible for a Homestead exemption, which reduces your state property tax bill. At 62 if you're permanently disabled you can file for exemption of ALL property tax, (state, county and local). At 65 you can file for an exemption of just the state portion of property tax. On all of the exemptions, you are not subject to income restrictions, and it only applies to the primary residence in which you live, however if that residence is connected to any other property..IE on a farm or other large tract, that property is also subject to the exemption without limit. Not surprisingly they don't advertise this much.

jeffashman · May 3, 2023

limr said:
I'm not convinced I'll ever be able to retire, so I'm glad I at least always have the option of moving back to Portugal where things will be a lot cheaper, including - especially? - wine

I agree, I may work forever, especially if the market guts my 401K, I may be living in a cardboard box and drinking my $1 bottle of wine wrapped in a paper bag. Speaking of Portugal, I saw a thing called a Francesinha, and now I'm studying recipes to see if I can recreate it. I'll need to see if Total Wine has a Portugese beer to accompany it.

jeffashman · May 3, 2023

cgw said:
Defect to the Great White North, Jeff!

That has been considered as well... along with Spain and Portugal.

nerwin · May 3, 2023

I want to share something that happened to me this afternoon.

I wanted to cook something for lunch, so I reached for something in my cabinet and the little bottle of vanilla extract fell out and onto the cabinet and the cap broke, vanilla extract went everywhere!

Now the entire kitchen smells like Vanilla! Not that I'm complaining. But it sure was a mess to clean up!

And $15 down the drain

jeffashman · May 3, 2023

nerwin said:
I want to share something that happened to me this afternoon.

I wanted to cook something for lunch, so I reached for something in my cabinet and the little bottle of vanilla extract fell out and onto the cabinet and the cap broke, vanilla extract went everywhere!

Now the entire kitchen smells like Vanilla! Not that I'm complaining. But it sure was a mess to clean up!

And $15 down the drain

Sprinkle some nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon around the kitchen as well, and that would be heavenly!

NancyMoranG · May 3, 2023

Late to the conversation but I love trains!
As a kid from Michigan to NY, I woke up middle of the night at my window seat, and saw a girl get off to her waiting dad, under a small station light and a gently falling snow.
They hugged. It was Christmas time and I was hooked.
My Brother says it was probably a college student going home for holiday as we had passed through a big college town on our trip.
Took 2 trips Fl to Boston and Fl to Chicago with my son when he was 8-10 yrs old. Just perfect trips and memories.

terri · May 3, 2023

jeffashman said:
Sprinkle some nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon around the kitchen as well, and that would be heavenly!

This!!! I mean, come on - who hasn't sneaked into the kitchen to smell the vanilla in the middle of the night, amirite? :1247:

terri · May 3, 2023

NancyMoranG said:
Late to the conversation but I love trains!
As a kid from Michigan to NY, I woke up middle of the night at my window seat, and saw a girl get off to her waiting dad, under a small station light and a gently falling snow.
They hugged. It was Christmas time and I was hooked.
My Brother says it was probably a college student going home for holiday as we had passed through a big college town on our trip.
Took 2 trips Fl to Boston and Fl to Chicago with my son when he was 8-10 yrs old. Just perfect trips and memories.

What a lovely group of memories, Nancy!

snowbear · May 3, 2023

I never intended to retire. I wanted to be the office poltergeist:
"Damn, who keeps turning off the lights?"
"Charlie."
"Who took all the Keurig coffee pods?"
"Charlie."
"Why does my PC power down every time I go to the bathroom?"
"Charlie."

The State stops taxing my pension starting this year.

I got the "barn doors" down from the basement office, and cleared out about 1/2 of the stuff in there. I'll start pulling down the dark paneling and the 1x2s holding them tomorrow. The ceiling planks in there are already gone but the track is still in place. Once we get back from Maine, I'll put up 2x4s and install the new wall treatments. I was going to just put up drywall but I've decided to go with a white bead-board paneling. I haven't decided on the ceiling, yet, but that will go up after the HVAC update.