2023: where will you move when your kids leave home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're moving to Belize in October. Can't wait. The kids can't wait to visit and we will be back a few times a year for a few weeks each time.

Oooh! Sounds amazing! Tell us more!

We're moving to an island off the coast so not on the mainland. The mainland is cheaper but we fell in love with the island (Ambergris Caye). We're buying a small house on the lagoon side on a canal with a small swimming pool and a nice fenced in lot for under $300K. There are no private cars so you have a golf cart or bike or walk (or boat). There's about 20,000 people on the island altogether at peak season. It's around 82 degrees and usually sunny every day. English is the official language. There's no one day delivery, no chain stores or restaurants, no mass shootings, no commuting. It's a simpler, slower way of life. I've been working online/phone throughout the pandemic so I'll continue to do that. We're also starting a small, simple business that we can at least afford to run/break even on and will probably significantly contribute to our expenses.

Including my portion of my kids' college tuition, health insurance in the US just in case of a catastrophic illness (routine care down there is super cheap), and a reasonable day-to-day existence including travel to/from the US, tickets for the kids, and meals out usually at local, sometimes at tourist restaurants, we can live on under $4,000/month. Easily. Most Belizeans on the island live on under $1,000/month so that would be a very comfortable existence.

We're tired of the violence in the US, the political situation, the orange man possibly coming back, the traffic, the commute, the commercialism, the expense. Belize is absolutely not perfect, but people are happy, it's beautiful, we can work to live and have more time for outdoor activities, we will have a lighter footprint on the earth, and it's really not that much harder to get to than if my kids went to college anywhere from the Midwest to California. Around 8 hours from BWI to the island if you work it right.

I give it 5 years, tops, before you’re back.

Yeah, OK, not too concerned about your opinion. We are well aware of the downsides of our move, but feel the upsides way outweigh them.

In terms of hurricanes, they're not too frequent on Ambergris Caye -- something about the reef being protective. They do evacuate to the mainland occasionally and there is some damage. We're buying a low profile house away from the Caribbean side of the island so we have more protection than we would. My house here had quite a bit of hurricane damage previously so it's not like we are out of danger of that here. Again, we all choose what we are willing to live with and I choose not to go to shopping malls, drive in traffic, deal with the prospect of mass shootings, and the consumerism of American society. To each his own.

I think it's an awesome idea, and ignore the naysayers. People here in DC can be crabs in a bucket, mostly driven by envy and fear that the safe treadmill they've chosen may not be the VERY BEST option in life. Great on you for getting out of here and seeing what else is available. I hope to have the guts to explore that when my kids are a little older.

Disagree. PP is moving for emotional reasons and sounds hysterical. Moving because of school shootings and consumerism? The only reason there isn’t consumerism in Belize is because everyone is too poor and their government and legal system is so incompetent that your average person can’t build any wealth or really accomplish much at all. It’s easy to bash American consumerism but it makes our life very comfortable and it’s what pretty much what every single person on the planet wants. I doubt PP will be giving up his American consumer goods (iphone, TV shows, antibiotics, Tylenol, clothing etc) when he or she moves to his or her second world country.

PP will be back because of bad healthcare, corruption, lack of building codes, crime that actually affects wealthy people, a lack of infrastructure and consumer goods, etc. I could go on.

Speaking of hysterical.... It is obvious you've never lived in a less materially rich place, so your perspective is one of fear and ignorance. The fact that you cannot imagine a world without the things that make your life "very comfortable" says a lot about you, and pretty much makes my point that you have gone all in on the "getting and spending" and have lost perspective on other ways to enjoy life.

And yes, you can have things like Tylenol and antibiotics without also the culture in the DC area of constantly trying to make and spend money to feel important. You act like if you want some basic things you must also stay chained to the tread mill that you've chosen. Maybe you can't imagine another way, but plenty of people do. Lots and lots of people retire to places that are less materially well-off to enjoy a culture not as focused on getting and spending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The real trick is to have a couple of residences that you can bounce between during your retirement years. If you keep residency days below the statutory threshold, you can conceivably also eliminate any state taxes. When not staying in a home, you rent it out as a furnished unit.

Lets say you had a 1BR in NYC, house in Chevy Chase MD, and a home in San Diego CA. With enough documentation and staying below the 183 day/six month rule, you could conceivably pay no state income tax other than that related to rental income of the home in the jurisdiction.

That only works if one of the jurisdictions is a state income tax free state and you have actively established your residence in that state (voting registration, car registration, etc.). You've listed 3 high tax jurisdictions - you have to pick one of them for state tax purposes. So make one of those Florida or Texas or Wyoming (or TN or Washington state) and establish that as your primary residence and that model works, as long as you want to move around a lot, or ultimately settle in the no income tax state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're moving to Belize in October. Can't wait. The kids can't wait to visit and we will be back a few times a year for a few weeks each time.

Oooh! Sounds amazing! Tell us more!

We're moving to an island off the coast so not on the mainland. The mainland is cheaper but we fell in love with the island (Ambergris Caye). We're buying a small house on the lagoon side on a canal with a small swimming pool and a nice fenced in lot for under $300K. There are no private cars so you have a golf cart or bike or walk (or boat). There's about 20,000 people on the island altogether at peak season. It's around 82 degrees and usually sunny every day. English is the official language. There's no one day delivery, no chain stores or restaurants, no mass shootings, no commuting. It's a simpler, slower way of life. I've been working online/phone throughout the pandemic so I'll continue to do that. We're also starting a small, simple business that we can at least afford to run/break even on and will probably significantly contribute to our expenses.

Including my portion of my kids' college tuition, health insurance in the US just in case of a catastrophic illness (routine care down there is super cheap), and a reasonable day-to-day existence including travel to/from the US, tickets for the kids, and meals out usually at local, sometimes at tourist restaurants, we can live on under $4,000/month. Easily. Most Belizeans on the island live on under $1,000/month so that would be a very comfortable existence.

We're tired of the violence in the US, the political situation, the orange man possibly coming back, the traffic, the commute, the commercialism, the expense. Belize is absolutely not perfect, but people are happy, it's beautiful, we can work to live and have more time for outdoor activities, we will have a lighter footprint on the earth, and it's really not that much harder to get to than if my kids went to college anywhere from the Midwest to California. Around 8 hours from BWI to the island if you work it right.

I give it 5 years, tops, before you’re back.

Yeah, OK, not too concerned about your opinion. We are well aware of the downsides of our move, but feel the upsides way outweigh them.

In terms of hurricanes, they're not too frequent on Ambergris Caye -- something about the reef being protective. They do evacuate to the mainland occasionally and there is some damage. We're buying a low profile house away from the Caribbean side of the island so we have more protection than we would. My house here had quite a bit of hurricane damage previously so it's not like we are out of danger of that here. Again, we all choose what we are willing to live with and I choose not to go to shopping malls, drive in traffic, deal with the prospect of mass shootings, and the consumerism of American society. To each his own.

I think it's an awesome idea, and ignore the naysayers. People here in DC can be crabs in a bucket, mostly driven by envy and fear that the safe treadmill they've chosen may not be the VERY BEST option in life. Great on you for getting out of here and seeing what else is available. I hope to have the guts to explore that when my kids are a little older.

Disagree. PP is moving for emotional reasons and sounds hysterical. Moving because of school shootings and consumerism? The only reason there isn’t consumerism in Belize is because everyone is too poor and their government and legal system is so incompetent that your average person can’t build any wealth or really accomplish much at all. It’s easy to bash American consumerism but it makes our life very comfortable and it’s what pretty much what every single person on the planet wants. I doubt PP will be giving up his American consumer goods (iphone, TV shows, antibiotics, Tylenol, clothing etc) when he or she moves to his or her second world country.

PP will be back because of bad healthcare, corruption, lack of building codes, crime that actually affects wealthy people, a lack of infrastructure and consumer goods, etc. I could go on.

Speaking of hysterical.... It is obvious you've never lived in a less materially rich place, so your perspective is one of fear and ignorance. The fact that you cannot imagine a world without the things that make your life "very comfortable" says a lot about you, and pretty much makes my point that you have gone all in on the "getting and spending" and have lost perspective on other ways to enjoy life.

And yes, you can have things like Tylenol and antibiotics without also the culture in the DC area of constantly trying to make and spend money to feel important. You act like if you want some basic things you must also stay chained to the tread mill that you've chosen. Maybe you can't imagine another way, but plenty of people do. Lots and lots of people retire to places that are less materially well-off to enjoy a culture not as focused on getting and spending.

I'm the poster moving to Belize and I just want to say thanks! This is exactly our perspective. We know there are some things that might get harder and we are fortunate enough (unlike many Belizeans), to be able to plan for that. We can fly back to the US, use our US health insurance, and get care. We can self-pay in Mexico which we can quickly access via water taxi. As for routine care, I got a UTI when we were there last and it his hard. I walked into a pharmacy and for around $5, in 3 minutes, I was taking my first dose of antibiotics.

I have all the clothes I need for now. I'm a simple girl. I already said I'd be coming back to the US a couple/few times a year to see my kids/family and I fully anticipate I will stock up when I'm here. Again, I'm fortunate that I can do that. The island is a simple place and my shorts and plain t-shirts and summer dresses will suit me just fine.

I'll admit we're cheating. A lot of North American expats who move to Belize move off the grid -- solar, cistern water, septic, and even growing their own food. We will be living in the village with a shop on the corner, public electric and water, and, while we are going to try to use Belizean air conditioning (open windows and doors on all 4 sides to create a breeze), I'm sure that we will be turning on our AC units from time-to-time.

We will also do what many expats do and continue our streaming services. We don't even have regular TV here so I don't see any decrease in availability of entertainment. I'm not sure why you don't realize that my AT&T iPhone works just the same there as it does here. Not even an extra fee. The government upgraded internet services and it's quite good. A little more expensive than here, but since just about everything else is significantly cheaper, it's a wash.

We know what we're giving up. What we're turning away from. We're ready and excited and believe in what we're doing. I don't expect other people to embrace this type of move, but it seems silly to disparage what others are doing without actually knowing the reality of what they're doing. I actually wouldn't have the nerves to move to neighboring countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, or Honduras specifically because of the concerns about government, law, and corruption, plus crime and I don't speak Spanish. So that would be a huge step too far for me. But I understand why others do it and applaud them for being able to take that step. I've also lived abroad before, way before internet or easy phone calls, etc. so I know what it feels like, but this practically feels like cheating that I can Facetime my kids in the US for free!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're moving to Belize in October. Can't wait. The kids can't wait to visit and we will be back a few times a year for a few weeks each time.

Oooh! Sounds amazing! Tell us more!

We're moving to an island off the coast so not on the mainland. The mainland is cheaper but we fell in love with the island (Ambergris Caye). We're buying a small house on the lagoon side on a canal with a small swimming pool and a nice fenced in lot for under $300K. There are no private cars so you have a golf cart or bike or walk (or boat). There's about 20,000 people on the island altogether at peak season. It's around 82 degrees and usually sunny every day. English is the official language. There's no one day delivery, no chain stores or restaurants, no mass shootings, no commuting. It's a simpler, slower way of life. I've been working online/phone throughout the pandemic so I'll continue to do that. We're also starting a small, simple business that we can at least afford to run/break even on and will probably significantly contribute to our expenses.

Including my portion of my kids' college tuition, health insurance in the US just in case of a catastrophic illness (routine care down there is super cheap), and a reasonable day-to-day existence including travel to/from the US, tickets for the kids, and meals out usually at local, sometimes at tourist restaurants, we can live on under $4,000/month. Easily. Most Belizeans on the island live on under $1,000/month so that would be a very comfortable existence.

We're tired of the violence in the US, the political situation, the orange man possibly coming back, the traffic, the commute, the commercialism, the expense. Belize is absolutely not perfect, but people are happy, it's beautiful, we can work to live and have more time for outdoor activities, we will have a lighter footprint on the earth, and it's really not that much harder to get to than if my kids went to college anywhere from the Midwest to California. Around 8 hours from BWI to the island if you work it right.

I give it 5 years, tops, before you’re back.

Yeah, OK, not too concerned about your opinion. We are well aware of the downsides of our move, but feel the upsides way outweigh them.

In terms of hurricanes, they're not too frequent on Ambergris Caye -- something about the reef being protective. They do evacuate to the mainland occasionally and there is some damage. We're buying a low profile house away from the Caribbean side of the island so we have more protection than we would. My house here had quite a bit of hurricane damage previously so it's not like we are out of danger of that here. Again, we all choose what we are willing to live with and I choose not to go to shopping malls, drive in traffic, deal with the prospect of mass shootings, and the consumerism of American society. To each his own.

I think it's an awesome idea, and ignore the naysayers. People here in DC can be crabs in a bucket, mostly driven by envy and fear that the safe treadmill they've chosen may not be the VERY BEST option in life. Great on you for getting out of here and seeing what else is available. I hope to have the guts to explore that when my kids are a little older.

Disagree. PP is moving for emotional reasons and sounds hysterical. Moving because of school shootings and consumerism? The only reason there isn’t consumerism in Belize is because everyone is too poor and their government and legal system is so incompetent that your average person can’t build any wealth or really accomplish much at all. It’s easy to bash American consumerism but it makes our life very comfortable and it’s what pretty much what every single person on the planet wants. I doubt PP will be giving up his American consumer goods (iphone, TV shows, antibiotics, Tylenol, clothing etc) when he or she moves to his or her second world country.

PP will be back because of bad healthcare, corruption, lack of building codes, crime that actually affects wealthy people, a lack of infrastructure and consumer goods, etc. I could go on.

Speaking of hysterical.... It is obvious you've never lived in a less materially rich place, so your perspective is one of fear and ignorance. The fact that you cannot imagine a world without the things that make your life "very comfortable" says a lot about you, and pretty much makes my point that you have gone all in on the "getting and spending" and have lost perspective on other ways to enjoy life.

And yes, you can have things like Tylenol and antibiotics without also the culture in the DC area of constantly trying to make and spend money to feel important. You act like if you want some basic things you must also stay chained to the tread mill that you've chosen. Maybe you can't imagine another way, but plenty of people do. Lots and lots of people retire to places that are less materially well-off to enjoy a culture not as focused on getting and spending.

I'm the poster moving to Belize and I just want to say thanks! This is exactly our perspective. We know there are some things that might get harder and we are fortunate enough (unlike many Belizeans), to be able to plan for that. We can fly back to the US, use our US health insurance, and get care. We can self-pay in Mexico which we can quickly access via water taxi. As for routine care, I got a UTI when we were there last and it his hard. I walked into a pharmacy and for around $5, in 3 minutes, I was taking my first dose of antibiotics.

I have all the clothes I need for now. I'm a simple girl. I already said I'd be coming back to the US a couple/few times a year to see my kids/family and I fully anticipate I will stock up when I'm here. Again, I'm fortunate that I can do that. The island is a simple place and my shorts and plain t-shirts and summer dresses will suit me just fine.

I'll admit we're cheating. A lot of North American expats who move to Belize move off the grid -- solar, cistern water, septic, and even growing their own food. We will be living in the village with a shop on the corner, public electric and water, and, while we are going to try to use Belizean air conditioning (open windows and doors on all 4 sides to create a breeze), I'm sure that we will be turning on our AC units from time-to-time.

We will also do what many expats do and continue our streaming services. We don't even have regular TV here so I don't see any decrease in availability of entertainment. I'm not sure why you don't realize that my AT&T iPhone works just the same there as it does here. Not even an extra fee. The government upgraded internet services and it's quite good. A little more expensive than here, but since just about everything else is significantly cheaper, it's a wash.

We know what we're giving up. What we're turning away from. We're ready and excited and believe in what we're doing. I don't expect other people to embrace this type of move, but it seems silly to disparage what others are doing without actually knowing the reality of what they're doing. I actually wouldn't have the nerves to move to neighboring countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, or Honduras specifically because of the concerns about government, law, and corruption, plus crime and I don't speak Spanish. So that would be a huge step too far for me. But I understand why others do it and applaud them for being able to take that step. I've also lived abroad before, way before internet or easy phone calls, etc. so I know what it feels like, but this practically feels like cheating that I can Facetime my kids in the US for free!

That kind of lifestyle is definitely not for me but I checked out your island and I approve your move. Also, I like you, PP, so my DH and I decided to visit you next year. We have no food allergies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4 years for us! Requirements (we haven't yet figured it out, but am watching this thread for ideas):
Blue state
Good medical care
Within 50 minutes of an International Airport
College town a plus, but not tiny college and not big state U
Would like to be on a natural lake, but not a deal breaker
4 seasons, ok if winters are miserable, we will head to Costa Rica or Puerto Rico for 2 months
Ok if summers are humid and miserable, we will head to Maine or Oregon for 2 months

How about Peachtree City, Georgia, renowned for 100+ miles of multi-use golf cart paths? I am semi-retired, living at Tysons and having a second home at Peachtree City. Your criterion is pretty similar to mine.

-GA from red to blue state in recent years
-5 to 10 minutes of drive to Piedmont Hospital (ranked among 100 best hospitals in the nation)
-20 to 30 minutes of drive to Atlanta International Airport
-Situated around beautiful 3 lakes
-Definitely 4 seasons with mild winter
-Ranked as best place to live/retire (Money, Forbes)

https://www.expedia.com/stories/cities-that-must-be-seen-this-year/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcVGqtmd2wM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 on moving somewhere fun not far from an airport so adult kids & grandkids to visit. Buy a house with a couple extra bedrooms and a pool. Your adults kids will return, and you can celebrate holidays there.

My parents did this and are living their best life.

Bangor Me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're moving to Belize in October. Can't wait. The kids can't wait to visit and we will be back a few times a year for a few weeks each time.

Oooh! Sounds amazing! Tell us more!

We're moving to an island off the coast so not on the mainland. The mainland is cheaper but we fell in love with the island (Ambergris Caye). We're buying a small house on the lagoon side on a canal with a small swimming pool and a nice fenced in lot for under $300K. There are no private cars so you have a golf cart or bike or walk (or boat). There's about 20,000 people on the island altogether at peak season. It's around 82 degrees and usually sunny every day. English is the official language. There's no one day delivery, no chain stores or restaurants, no mass shootings, no commuting. It's a simpler, slower way of life. I've been working online/phone throughout the pandemic so I'll continue to do that. We're also starting a small, simple business that we can at least afford to run/break even on and will probably significantly contribute to our expenses.

Including my portion of my kids' college tuition, health insurance in the US just in case of a catastrophic illness (routine care down there is super cheap), and a reasonable day-to-day existence including travel to/from the US, tickets for the kids, and meals out usually at local, sometimes at tourist restaurants, we can live on under $4,000/month. Easily. Most Belizeans on the island live on under $1,000/month so that would be a very comfortable existence.

We're tired of the violence in the US, the political situation, the orange man possibly coming back, the traffic, the commute, the commercialism, the expense. Belize is absolutely not perfect, but people are happy, it's beautiful, we can work to live and have more time for outdoor activities, we will have a lighter footprint on the earth, and it's really not that much harder to get to than if my kids went to college anywhere from the Midwest to California. Around 8 hours from BWI to the island if you work it right.

I give it 5 years, tops, before you’re back.

Yeah, OK, not too concerned about your opinion. We are well aware of the downsides of our move, but feel the upsides way outweigh them.

In terms of hurricanes, they're not too frequent on Ambergris Caye -- something about the reef being protective. They do evacuate to the mainland occasionally and there is some damage. We're buying a low profile house away from the Caribbean side of the island so we have more protection than we would. My house here had quite a bit of hurricane damage previously so it's not like we are out of danger of that here. Again, we all choose what we are willing to live with and I choose not to go to shopping malls, drive in traffic, deal with the prospect of mass shootings, and the consumerism of American society. To each his own.

I think it's an awesome idea, and ignore the naysayers. People here in DC can be crabs in a bucket, mostly driven by envy and fear that the safe treadmill they've chosen may not be the VERY BEST option in life. Great on you for getting out of here and seeing what else is available. I hope to have the guts to explore that when my kids are a little older.

Disagree. PP is moving for emotional reasons and sounds hysterical. Moving because of school shootings and consumerism? The only reason there isn’t consumerism in Belize is because everyone is too poor and their government and legal system is so incompetent that your average person can’t build any wealth or really accomplish much at all. It’s easy to bash American consumerism but it makes our life very comfortable and it’s what pretty much what every single person on the planet wants. I doubt PP will be giving up his American consumer goods (iphone, TV shows, antibiotics, Tylenol, clothing etc) when he or she moves to his or her second world country.

PP will be back because of bad healthcare, corruption, lack of building codes, crime that actually affects wealthy people, a lack of infrastructure and consumer goods, etc. I could go on.

Speaking of hysterical.... It is obvious you've never lived in a less materially rich place, so your perspective is one of fear and ignorance. The fact that you cannot imagine a world without the things that make your life "very comfortable" says a lot about you, and pretty much makes my point that you have gone all in on the "getting and spending" and have lost perspective on other ways to enjoy life.

And yes, you can have things like Tylenol and antibiotics without also the culture in the DC area of constantly trying to make and spend money to feel important. You act like if you want some basic things you must also stay chained to the tread mill that you've chosen. Maybe you can't imagine another way, but plenty of people do. Lots and lots of people retire to places that are less materially well-off to enjoy a culture not as focused on getting and spending.

I'm the poster moving to Belize and I just want to say thanks! This is exactly our perspective. We know there are some things that might get harder and we are fortunate enough (unlike many Belizeans), to be able to plan for that. We can fly back to the US, use our US health insurance, and get care. We can self-pay in Mexico which we can quickly access via water taxi. As for routine care, I got a UTI when we were there last and it his hard. I walked into a pharmacy and for around $5, in 3 minutes, I was taking my first dose of antibiotics.

I have all the clothes I need for now. I'm a simple girl. I already said I'd be coming back to the US a couple/few times a year to see my kids/family and I fully anticipate I will stock up when I'm here. Again, I'm fortunate that I can do that. The island is a simple place and my shorts and plain t-shirts and summer dresses will suit me just fine.

I'll admit we're cheating. A lot of North American expats who move to Belize move off the grid -- solar, cistern water, septic, and even growing their own food. We will be living in the village with a shop on the corner, public electric and water, and, while we are going to try to use Belizean air conditioning (open windows and doors on all 4 sides to create a breeze), I'm sure that we will be turning on our AC units from time-to-time.

We will also do what many expats do and continue our streaming services. We don't even have regular TV here so I don't see any decrease in availability of entertainment. I'm not sure why you don't realize that my AT&T iPhone works just the same there as it does here. Not even an extra fee. The government upgraded internet services and it's quite good. A little more expensive than here, but since just about everything else is significantly cheaper, it's a wash.

We know what we're giving up. What we're turning away from. We're ready and excited and believe in what we're doing. I don't expect other people to embrace this type of move, but it seems silly to disparage what others are doing without actually knowing the reality of what they're doing. I actually wouldn't have the nerves to move to neighboring countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, or Honduras specifically because of the concerns about government, law, and corruption, plus crime and I don't speak Spanish. So that would be a huge step too far for me. But I understand why others do it and applaud them for being able to take that step. I've also lived abroad before, way before internet or easy phone calls, etc. so I know what it feels like, but this practically feels like cheating that I can Facetime my kids in the US for free!

Good for you! I do hope if you have grandkids one day you visit your family more than a couple times a year. It might be hard for your family to visit Belize with small children multiple times a year (can be done, but it costs $$, time, and vacation).

When I started having kids my family visited us 1x a year tops and expects us to visit them multiple times. I am over it at this point (I visited 4x from 7/22-7/23 and they came 1x and they can still travel and are retired). We also don't live close to my in-laws, but my in-laws visit us frequently and make an effort, therefore I want to make an effort with them. My kids are closer to my in-laws and cousins on that side for this reason.

Although I love the beach house where my family has a home (and their area has ammenities), I want to show my kids more places so now won't visit them as much but will (and am fortunate) to take my kids to see my in-laws and travel internationally.

Just something to think about down the road. Just because it's beautiful and you LOVE it doesn't mean your family will or will want to visit multiple times a year. Maybe they will and I am wrong, but something to keep in the back of your mind. My family even after explaining multiple times don't understand why they don't have a great relationship with my kids...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are retired but have not moved from the area yet. We do like the idea of moving north. Regardless, there has not been discussion on this thread about adult community living. It just seems like a nice option to live in a community filled with people who are in a similar phase of live. Plus, these communities often have infrastructures set up that allows for easier community building (activities, club house, shows, trips, etc.) Thoughts?

I think it could possibly be appealing if we moved to a completely new place. However, I know when my parents were looking for a new place (moving from our home town to somewhere closer to my sister) that they looked at and ruled out the "55+" communities because they did not like that everybody was old. That it lacked some life. They ended up with a great compromise -- a house in a golf/lake community with a lot of recreation resources and community activities like golf teams (my dad's main hobby), tennis teams, book clubs, community service, club house with regular events. There were a lot of retirees there but also families and my parents liked having younger people around.

Is it advisable to live in a golf community when the couple does not golf? Or would a 55+ community be better then?

[Anonymous]

My DH and I are talking about buying a condo or townhouse in Baltimore- cheaper than DC but still in the general sort of area so I’d get to see my friends sometime. No upkeep on the house/yard. Close to the water. Easy winters. Culture/food/university.

[Anonymous]

Waiting to see where our kids land, but want to live in a city where it's easy to walk to things, and with good medical care, restaurants and some kind of cultural scene. Easy access to water and or hiking would be a plus. DC has a lot of those things, but I am tired of the political scene, and crime is increasing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are retired but have not moved from the area yet. We do like the idea of moving north. Regardless, there has not been discussion on this thread about adult community living. It just seems like a nice option to live in a community filled with people who are in a similar phase of live. Plus, these communities often have infrastructures set up that allows for easier community building (activities, club house, shows, trips, etc.) Thoughts?

I think it could possibly be appealing if we moved to a completely new place. However, I know when my parents were looking for a new place (moving from our home town to somewhere closer to my sister) that they looked at and ruled out the "55+" communities because they did not like that everybody was old. That it lacked some life. They ended up with a great compromise -- a house in a golf/lake community with a lot of recreation resources and community activities like golf teams (my dad's main hobby), tennis teams, book clubs, community service, club house with regular events. There were a lot of retirees there but also families and my parents liked having younger people around.

Is it advisable to live in a golf community when the couple does not golf? Or would a 55+ community be better then?

I guess it depends on what you want to do with your time. My parents' community seemed to have a bunch of different subgroups. In addition to the golfers there was the tennis group and the boating people, women who played cards in the club house, swimmers and water aerobics, community service. A lot of the same things you'd find in most 55+ places.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We are retired but have not moved from the area yet. We do like the idea of moving north. Regardless, there has not been discussion on this thread about adult community living. It just seems like a nice option to live in a community filled with people who are in a similar phase of live. Plus, these communities often have infrastructures set up that allows for easier community building (activities, club house, shows, trips, etc.) Thoughts?

I think it could possibly be appealing if we moved to a completely new place. However, I know when my parents were looking for a new place (moving from our home town to somewhere closer to my sister) that they looked at and ruled out the "55+" communities because they did not like that everybody was old. That it lacked some life. They ended up with a great compromise -- a house in a golf/lake community with a lot of recreation resources and community activities like golf teams (my dad's main hobby), tennis teams, book clubs, community service, club house with regular events. There were a lot of retirees there but also families and my parents liked having younger people around.

+1

Would like to avoid God's Waiting Room if possible.

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Anonymous wrote:You people are really something else.

You move to the DC area because you have a single focus in your life – your high-powered career. You spend your entire life here focused on that, and when you do decide it’s time to fit some kids in you make damned sure they follow your single-minded footsteps and go off to the best bumper-sticker worthy college they can get into and off they go and never return. Then, once your all consuming career is over and your high achieving kids are long gone, you look around and tell yourself there is no community here and that this area is too transient for you to stick around.

Some of us haven’t structured our lives the way you did. So we do have a community here, and we have every reason to stick around.

We have community here. But we can also find community somewhere more pleasant. If we don’t have to live in this sheethole then why would we stay? We will keep in touch with good friends. Just like we keep in touch with friends we met when we lived elsewhere.

If my life was merely one of “keeping in touch with friends”
who now live elsewhere I’d be pretty depressed.

We don’t “have” to live here either. We choose to live here because our roots are now here and our entire family also lives here. Apparently none of this is true in your case - presumably because you structured your life just as I have described.

I'd be pretty depressed if I had poor reading comprehension.

And I'd be pretty depressed to forever live in this sheethole.

YMMV.

Maybe if you weren’t such an angry and nasty twit you wouldn’t have to keep moving hoping you can “find community somewhere more pleasant.” Clearly you haven’t found it yet.

How far away have your kids moved from you? Probably not as far as they wished they could.

Wow, the irony here hahaha.

Anyway, it's hard to predict what grown kids will do. My ILs bought a large house with a pool to host us when our kids were little, then we embarked on 15 years of overseas postings in 5 countries. We visited maybe 2x, they came to us a few times, and more often than not we gathered at a beach rental in SC.

FS people always gotta drop how many postings they’ve had lmao
can’t just say “we lived abroad” b/c that doesn’t signal enough

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Depends where my kids end up.

No. Please don't be sure that will be for the best.
My mom moved to the area after I had my first child and she decided she wanted to be a very involved grandparent.
I warned her she wouldn't like it here, and cautioned against it time and time again when she would bring it up.
DC is very different from where she was born and raised and spent her whole life until at 65 she wanted to move to be near us. I hadn't lived anywhere near family for 10 years at this point, so it wasn't a new thing for me to be "gone".
She wore me down and I couldn't stop her, and she ended up moving 10 minutes away from us in the city. Was it good for childcare? Sure, for a little bit.
But at the same time it made us feel trapped here, when perhaps in those early years we would've made a different move. It strained my relationship with her. She never adapted to east coast urban life and became depressed and isolated.
Cue health problems (exacerbated by alcoholism and depression) and in the span of 5 years i was trying to manage 2 little kids and caretake for a parent with serious health issues in a place she had no other infrastructure or history. She moved away from siblings and friends she'd been near her whole life and thought our family would be enough. We weren't and also didn't want that burden. It did not turn out well.

counterpoint- my siblings and I all ended up here within a mile of each other, and 2 of us and my parents are in the same neighborhood. my parents help with childcare for all of our kids in a significant way (e.g. watches my baby everyday, feeds us dinner, pick up from school/camp/etc for older kids). I think this is a know your family dynamic sort of thing- works great for us and we love it but won't work for everyone

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Anonymous wrote:We're moving to Belize in October. Can't wait. The kids can't wait to visit and we will be back a few times a year for a few weeks each time.

Oooh! Sounds amazing! Tell us more!

We're moving to an island off the coast so not on the mainland. The mainland is cheaper but we fell in love with the island (Ambergris Caye). We're buying a small house on the lagoon side on a canal with a small swimming pool and a nice fenced in lot for under $300K. There are no private cars so you have a golf cart or bike or walk (or boat). There's about 20,000 people on the island altogether at peak season. It's around 82 degrees and usually sunny every day. English is the official language. There's no one day delivery, no chain stores or restaurants, no mass shootings, no commuting. It's a simpler, slower way of life. I've been working online/phone throughout the pandemic so I'll continue to do that. We're also starting a small, simple business that we can at least afford to run/break even on and will probably significantly contribute to our expenses.

Including my portion of my kids' college tuition, health insurance in the US just in case of a catastrophic illness (routine care down there is super cheap), and a reasonable day-to-day existence including travel to/from the US, tickets for the kids, and meals out usually at local, sometimes at tourist restaurants, we can live on under $4,000/month. Easily. Most Belizeans on the island live on under $1,000/month so that would be a very comfortable existence.

We're tired of the violence in the US, the political situation, the orange man possibly coming back, the traffic, the commute, the commercialism, the expense. Belize is absolutely not perfect, but people are happy, it's beautiful, we can work to live and have more time for outdoor activities, we will have a lighter footprint on the earth, and it's really not that much harder to get to than if my kids went to college anywhere from the Midwest to California. Around 8 hours from BWI to the island if you work it right.

I give it 5 years, tops, before you’re back.

Yeah, OK, not too concerned about your opinion. We are well aware of the downsides of our move, but feel the upsides way outweigh them.

In terms of hurricanes, they're not too frequent on Ambergris Caye -- something about the reef being protective. They do evacuate to the mainland occasionally and there is some damage. We're buying a low profile house away from the Caribbean side of the island so we have more protection than we would. My house here had quite a bit of hurricane damage previously so it's not like we are out of danger of that here. Again, we all choose what we are willing to live with and I choose not to go to shopping malls, drive in traffic, deal with the prospect of mass shootings, and the consumerism of American society. To each his own.

I think it's an awesome idea, and ignore the naysayers. People here in DC can be crabs in a bucket, mostly driven by envy and fear that the safe treadmill they've chosen may not be the VERY BEST option in life. Great on you for getting out of here and seeing what else is available. I hope to have the guts to explore that when my kids are a little older.

Disagree. PP is moving for emotional reasons and sounds hysterical. Moving because of school shootings and consumerism? The only reason there isn’t consumerism in Belize is because everyone is too poor and their government and legal system is so incompetent that your average person can’t build any wealth or really accomplish much at all. It’s easy to bash American consumerism but it makes our life very comfortable and it’s what pretty much what every single person on the planet wants. I doubt PP will be giving up his American consumer goods (iphone, TV shows, antibiotics, Tylenol, clothing etc) when he or she moves to his or her second world country.

PP will be back because of bad healthcare, corruption, lack of building codes, crime that actually affects wealthy people, a lack of infrastructure and consumer goods, etc. I could go on.

Speaking of hysterical.... It is obvious you've never lived in a less materially rich place, so your perspective is one of fear and ignorance. The fact that you cannot imagine a world without the things that make your life "very comfortable" says a lot about you, and pretty much makes my point that you have gone all in on the "getting and spending" and have lost perspective on other ways to enjoy life.

And yes, you can have things like Tylenol and antibiotics without also the culture in the DC area of constantly trying to make and spend money to feel important. You act like if you want some basic things you must also stay chained to the tread mill that you've chosen. Maybe you can't imagine another way, but plenty of people do. Lots and lots of people retire to places that are less materially well-off to enjoy a culture not as focused on getting and spending.

I'm the poster moving to Belize and I just want to say thanks! This is exactly our perspective. We know there are some things that might get harder and we are fortunate enough (unlike many Belizeans), to be able to plan for that. We can fly back to the US, use our US health insurance, and get care. We can self-pay in Mexico which we can quickly access via water taxi. As for routine care, I got a UTI when we were there last and it his hard. I walked into a pharmacy and for around $5, in 3 minutes, I was taking my first dose of antibiotics.

I have all the clothes I need for now. I'm a simple girl. I already said I'd be coming back to the US a couple/few times a year to see my kids/family and I fully anticipate I will stock up when I'm here. Again, I'm fortunate that I can do that. The island is a simple place and my shorts and plain t-shirts and summer dresses will suit me just fine.

I'll admit we're cheating. A lot of North American expats who move to Belize move off the grid -- solar, cistern water, septic, and even growing their own food. We will be living in the village with a shop on the corner, public electric and water, and, while we are going to try to use Belizean air conditioning (open windows and doors on all 4 sides to create a breeze), I'm sure that we will be turning on our AC units from time-to-time.

We will also do what many expats do and continue our streaming services. We don't even have regular TV here so I don't see any decrease in availability of entertainment. I'm not sure why you don't realize that my AT&T iPhone works just the same there as it does here. Not even an extra fee. The government upgraded internet services and it's quite good. A little more expensive than here, but since just about everything else is significantly cheaper, it's a wash.

We know what we're giving up. What we're turning away from. We're ready and excited and believe in what we're doing. I don't expect other people to embrace this type of move, but it seems silly to disparage what others are doing without actually knowing the reality of what they're doing. I actually wouldn't have the nerves to move to neighboring countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, or Honduras specifically because of the concerns about government, law, and corruption, plus crime and I don't speak Spanish. So that would be a huge step too far for me. But I understand why others do it and applaud them for being able to take that step. I've also lived abroad before, way before internet or easy phone calls, etc. so I know what it feels like, but this practically feels like cheating that I can Facetime my kids in the US for free!

That kind of lifestyle is definitely not for me but I checked out your island and I approve your move. Also, I like you, PP, so my DH and I decided to visit you next year. We have no food allergies.

I, too, shall be visiting PP next year. I like May, does that work for your schedule Belize poster?