I couldn't get to the article on-line without becoming a subscriber - or so it appeared, but an edited version finally hit the Seattle Times. It was pretty interesting. It seems the American perception of retirement is pretty off base given our high expectations and low savings rate. I was interested in the part that talks about the first year of retirement when people go off and do things they have been fantasizing about and discover they don't necessarily like them at all. We are planning a move to Arizona just because I feel so much better in the dry heat. In the meantime I am still seeking other solutions because we really like life here. I am so afraid that if we give up this house that works so well for us, we won't be able to afford to come back. The depressing part of the article was the mention of diabetes as a slow, expensive killer. I hate to put that burden on my husband, but the the only thing I know to do is to keep my blood sugar in check as best I can. I am not particularly worried about our financial future. My husband's pension will be from the government and if the state fails we will all be in a world of hurt so we won't be alone. Our house is paid for. We have no consumer debt. We have a half interest in a home in Tucson that is rented out pending our taking up residence there. So far the rent is pretty much taking care of it. Our daughter is the half owner and manager and she has a magic touch with money.

I agree with everything said here. I think that we have all, as individuals been collectively sold down the river to get to the point where we have to consider whether we should or should not retire, if we have enough money to do so. We were not ever meant to work most of our days away, most of our lives, simply to continue existing doing the same working in order to keep existing. I am 50 and have never married... I'm not too good socially. But I have saved enough money now to retire, I believe. And I will enjoy the rest of my life... I hope at least another 25 or 30. Even though I live without any love in my life, I have plenty of activites to keep my mind engaged and curious. Over the past year, I have read a lot of books on retirement and what can do in that phase of one's life. This site also gave me some ideas: Here is a link that might be useful: Retirement Joy - retirement advice etc

Well yesterday I finally got a call from the Holiday Inn that charged me for 4 rooms and the manager said he would get it all taken care of. I told him that I should get 2 free rooms for my inconvenience. He said he could do one and I said that since I have overpaid for 6 rooms between the two hotels and am going to be paying late fees on bills I can not pay since they have $1600 of my money that 2 rooms is the least they can do. He said he would speak to the general manager. Today I looked at my bank statement online and only one room was refunded. So I called the general manager directly this morning and told him of only one room being refunded. He apologized and said he thought everything had been taken care of yesterday and he would get to the bottom of it today. I also asked him about the 2 rooms and he said no problem! That Holiday Inn has an indoor waterpark so that will be a lot of fun for our kids and we are going to bring another couple and their kids with as well when we go. As for the Holiday Inn I did stay at that overcharged me for two rooms. Well they said right away that they would take care of it, but they still have not. I left a message for their general manager and I am going to insist on free rooms there too for the inconvenience. This has all been such a hassle! Free rooms at each is the least they can do. Lesson learned--I will never book with a debit card instead of a regular credit card again!

I'm glad I finally found the GW folks! I've been a member for many years but haven't posted much. Msmagoo, here is my experience in moving around without knowing anyone. I apologize in advance for the long post. After many years of the rat race in a large city, my husband was able to work remotely so we moved to Wyoming where we had vacationed for years. I was your age at the time. I had wanted to move to New Mexico but my husband convinced me that Wyoming would be the better place. So, I quit my job of many years and we moved. We lived in a small town with a great art community. Our neighbors were very friendly and I met a dear friend in pottery class and through her met other people. I was a little bored not working but we had a good time living there. After about 7 years, we (especially me) grew weary of the food situation. We were at the end of the line for produce and the restaurants were dreadful. Organic food was nowhere to be found. So, I got a wild notion that we should move. Thought we would have time to really look and make a wise decision as to where to go but our house sold in a few days! We, again, considered NM but ended up in the Pacific Northwest. I wanted to rent by DH insisted that we purchase. So - we bought a house and never really got settled there. There was organic food and wonderful fresh fish but.... it just didn't work out. We met only a few people and the gloomy wet weather was very depressing. So, back to the drawing board -- we, again, considered NM, then moved back to the Southeast to be near family and rented to figure out where we wanted to be. Our rental house went up for sale but we had not decided where to go - so we just panicked and bought a house in the neighborhood - a gated golf community with mostly retired people. Wrong decision - and I'm still looking at NM houses on the internet, LOL. If someone told me I would be living on a golf course in the South 10 years ago I would have thought they were crazy. DH is now retired and I've not worked in quite a while. We have no children or pets =:-0. We are both bored and are totally out of our element. I've not made one close friend in three years and I rarely see my sibling who lives nearby. I know - Bloom where you're planted and all that. But, for me, being in the right place with like-minded people who have similar interests is very important. I also have a hard time with the high humidity -- what was I thinking?