DaveInSaoMiguel wrote:

We looked into Belize, but the hitch for us was health care. The wife is still in treatment for breast cancer and drugs to treat that can be hard to come by down there.

 Steely_D wrote:

Another nice thing about living here is that you can fly to the UK and most any place in Europe for less than 200 euro RT. Its only a 2 hour flight to Lisbon from here and cost 50-80 RT. Makes for a nice inexpensive  way to see the contentment. I'm in the process of building a nice 80 sm apartment in my cellar here so friends will have a nice place to stay. I may airBnB it later.  In the tourist season its really hard to find an airBnB or hotel that is not booked.   One tip - If you do come in tourist season book your car rental 6 months in advance or you may not be able to get one or have to pay 150 plus a day if you do find one. 

 DaveInSaoMiguel wrote:

We’re enjoying Lisbon ATM and definitely looking to return and add the Azores to our “move till we can’t” list. Thanks for the pointer, since it really wasn’t on our radar.

But I love my job?

I'm a little over a year in and couldn't be happier that I pulled the trigger. So far everything is going according to plan. Pulling up stakes in New Jersey this spring and heading north to New Hampshire. NH is retirement friendly, no state income tax, no sales tax, no death taxes. And I like winter, which we really haven't had much of in NJ the last few years. 

I couldn't afford to retire if I stayed in the US unless I was willing to spend the rest of my life if a depressing place like Damnville which is still in a downward slide to oblivion. So I started doing research and travel and found the Azores. Its not perfect to be sure but for my financial means it would be hard to do better. My expenses have been less than half what I was spending in Damnville which was considered to be a cheap place to live for the US. And they have top notch health care here that is inexpensive. And great food. And natural beauty and wonderful people. 

 Steely_D wrote: Well. After 51+ years... I think it is most of my life.

 kurtster wrote:
Score!

 geoff_morphini wrote:
Before I left, my already retired mentor took me aside and very earnestly said “you are not your job. Don’t forget that“

Still nope.

But on a happy note, we scored a huge reduction in the monthly nut.

Got the car insurance policy renewal yesterday.  From $220 mo. to $255  

Read it close this time looking at the discounts applied after reading the sorry about your higher premium cover.

Found that the anti lock discount for my 04 Civic was missing. It was only $20 but it is still $20.

P called them up and asked why the rate increased and got the predictable yada ...

She then got the agent to check why no discount on the one car and she said because we dropped the collision on it.

Which led her to press the agent are we missing any ?  I used to get one for a honor society school thing.

Finally the agent said there is one available in our state based upon our credit rating, but that they needed an ok to run it.

Score !  We passed and the new premium is going down to $165.  But why weren't we getting this already ?  Thought that was already part of the process.

Used to be but now they need permission to look.  This is the stuff that happens when you're with a company for 30 years and you're just happy to see the same rate at renewal time and look no deeper.  Especially if you've totaled a car a little over a year ago.

If the rate hadn't jumped, we never would have asked.  And leaving money on the table.  And for how long ?

So we dropped the nut $55 from the old normal and saved $90 from the new normal.

The rate is back to where it was before I took out that car.

If yer credit isn't great it could work in reverse.

Yep, it was a great day on the old ranch.

The next step is to get a gig as a bud tender in a dispensary.  No more heavy lifting ...

started in May. Why do I feel guilty?

 JrzyTmata wrote:

Same here. 10 years ago I was nervous. Today life is good.

 JrzyTmata wrote:

so far, so good.

I don't want to.

Do you know how many people I know who retired... then..............................

Besides. what else would I do.

And do you know how many guys I do work for wouldn't know what to do without me.

I had one the other day ask me... "Your not going to retire on me are you?

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
March 20, 2025? You’ll be twenty days behind me! 

 Red_Dragon wrote:

Congratulations. It's pretty hard to starve to death in America.

I'm about to find out. Planning on going in exactly one year.

NOPE!

 islander wrote:

Due to the amount of rainfall here they have more fresh water than they know what to do with. It's very lush here and most everything grows like crazy even if you don't want it to. Most of the fresh water comes from crater lakes. It's safe to drink tap water.  Groundwater here can have salt water contamination. The public infrastructure is very good and always very high water pressure. My water bill is around 4 to 5 euros a month. Electricity and internet are cheap and reliable also. 
It is very nice here. No perfect just like any other 'paradise' but at least for me the positives far outweigh the negatives.