Best Place to Retire

One question that I encounter more and more frequently is: Where is the best place to retire?

A short answer is impossible. No one can answer that question for you. You’ll have to find the answer yourself. Simply because your criteria and constraints are totally different from the next person’s.

I have seen so many people make a move, based on the well meaning advice of others, just to regret and complain about the move. And often the cost of another move would blow a retirement budget out of the water.

“Knowledge is cheap. What’s expensive is ignorance.”

Yea, I know! I’m repeating myself with this quote. But it remains true whether you want to set up an offshore structure and retire in Switzerland or you just want to set up a global business on the Internet that you can run from anywhere in the world while you look for the best place to retire.

When you search the Internet for “best place to retire”, “best city to retire to”, “top place to retire”, or “where to retire”, you are going to get a wealth of confusing opinions. This is not the way to gain the knowledge you require.

With Baby Boomers starting to join the ranks of the retired, the demand for “best place to retire” is going to peak during the next few years.

Reality number one

What is the one reality that eventually gets to every retired person? It’s boredom. “I’ve got nothing to do.” Well into his eighties my father who always seemed to find something to do, complained about it. So did my uncle. My neighbour, in his early seventies, moves with the seasons between three residences in Mallorca, Campione and Belgium. And he complains about boredom too. Somehow women seem to be less affected.

If you have an active social life and many friends it helps a lot. But if you see friends too often you find that true soul-mates are rare. The people who seem to cope best with retirement-boredom are those with a hobby, or a passion, or running a small business that keeps them busy. When you love to do something, you do it better, for longer, and with greater enthusiasm than any competitor.

Warren Buffet, one of the world's most successful investors, teaches that there are core principles you should consider when creating your own plans. It applies to plans for investment as well as plans for retirement:

1. Do what you like
2. Money isn't everything
3. Work only with people you like
4. Buy businesses, not stocks
5. Invest only in what you understand
6. Don't over diversify
7. Keep looking for new opportunities
8. Buy businesses you plan to keep for life
9. Look for businesses that are available at a good price

Warren Buffet’s businesses though cannot be run by a single person. They are huge. I believe half the fun and enjoyment is in building your own small retirement business based on your knowledge, hobby, or passion. For some ideas please click here.

If you already have a successful business you could use it to set up a structure that would allow you more retirement freedom and options.

But even if you have a successful business the time will come that you’ll want to take it easier but still have something to get up in the morning for. Again, nothing beats your own small global business on the Internet to fill that gap. It takes time to build, but it’s most rewarding and you can manage it from virtually everywhere in the world.

Reality number two

If you’ve achieved financial independence you’re one of the “lucky” few. In fact, it has got nothing to do with luck. It’s about taking control of your financial future. The sooner the better.

Reality number two is that you probably realise by now that your provision for retirement has been inadequate. All the years of contributing to a pension plan seem wasted when you look at the expected return today. Years ago, seen together with the rosy picture your advisor painted, it looked a lot better!

Your own small business on the Internet can bring you financial independence. It might take a few years, but it will grow. Something which is unlikely for your pension portfolio! It has been proven many times that it’s better to invest in your own small business on the Internet than to invest in a pension plan. And if you enjoy what you are doing you’ve got the best retirement imaginable. Have a look at some case studies by clicking here.

Reality number three

We often hear the statement: “Oh, when we retire we are going to travel and see the world!”

Now, the reality is that travel is hard work. If you haven’t travelled before, and enjoyed it, then retirement is not the time to start. Keep in mind that business travel is very different from retirement travel. Invariably your retirement travel budget is a fraction of the business travel expense account you were used to.

My wife and I love it to travel. But we’ve travelled the world now for more than thirty years. Some basics are second nature to us, but it takes years of travel to know what to avoid, and what works.

Former neighbours bought a camper when they retired and fitted it out with all possible gadgets. But when they started to travel they hated it. They sold the camper after some six months. I suppose they enjoyed the fitting out and the anticipated freedom, but it would have been more prudent to hire a fitted camper for a few trips first to test the water.

If travelling is not your thing then the best place to retire is right where you are now or where you went regularly for holidays. Anything else would be a risk.

Ready for the best place to retire?

Only when you’ve achieved all these things, when you can have something meaningful to do wherever you are, when you’ve achieved financial independence, and you’re an experienced traveller does the question about the best place to retire start to make sense. It could be tremendous fun to go look for that place. Spend a month, or two, or three in a rented furnished apartment when you find someplace promising. Move on. Come back later during another season. Buy only when you are comfortable to stay for life - only then will it be the best place to retire. The best place for you!

Philip de Bruin