Talking Retirement

The Travel Bug

"I think we could live here.” At some point in every vacation my wife and I take together, one of us declares that this is the place we should move when we finally leave NYC. Will we ever leave NYC? Will we ever have enough money to retire? Who knows. In the meantime, we love to go on vacation, and one of the ways we find new places to go is by using CyberRentals. It’s a pretty useful site that lists over 15,000 vacation rentals (mostly houses and condos). Check it out.

Retiring Abroad: Part 3

Panama offers affordable real estate, a warm climate and great beaches. The Panamanian government has put together an impressive list of benefits, including 20-year tax-free status and discounts on everything from public transportation to restaurants to doctor’s visits.

As we find more articles about retiring abroad, we’ll keep posting links to them here. If you find one, please drop me or Bruce a line. You can click either of our names at the end of any post to reach us. (You might also want to see the previous Talking Retirement posts Retiring Abroad, Retiring Abroad: Part 2 and this post on, presto, Panama.)

Retiring in a Different Country

I haven’t really thought of leaving the US during my retirement, but the place that sounds most interesting to me from this piece is Romania for its “long stretches of seacoast, mountains, forests, medieval villages and gothic castles galore, [that give] it all the makings of a fairy-tale setting.” According to the article, it also has some of the lowest real estate prices in Europe. (Being 36, though, I have some time to decide about that kind of a decision though.)

The article also points to http://www.thegloballife.net where the author sells some ebooks on various places to live and retire in.

US National Parks

In honor of Independence Day and the long weekend, here’s a link to the US National Park Service site. This is a wonderful resource, offering a richly-detailed overview of hundreds of National Parks. And you can search for a park in a variety of ways: by state, topic and more. Visit the National Park Service site.

Go Now or Go Later

The USDA Forest Service has a nice site that information about 193 million acres of forests and public lands. And you don’t have to wait until you’re retired to start exploring them. The “Find a Forest or Grassland” feature is of particular interest. Take a look.

Discover America’s Byways

One of the best ways to see the United States is by taking a road trip. The National Scenic Byways Program can help you discover beautiful places to go. The program is a grass-roots collaborative effort established to help recognize, preserve and enhance selected roads throughout the United States. Visit the site.

US Coastal Water Temperatures

Test Drive a New Career

If you’ve been reading Talking Retirement for a while, you know that most people don’t actually stop working when they “retire.” They just move on to another line of work. Hopefully, it’s one they have a passion for. Vocation Vacations has an interesting idea for your next vacation. They claim your next vacation can be “a risk-free opportunity to test out the job of your dreams under the guidance of an expert who shares your passion.” Do you picture yourself as an Innkeeper, a Tour Operator, or a Brew Master? Check out their site and you might find out if that’s what your next career should be by actually living it for a few days.

Panama Is Paradise For Retirees

Money saving tools for travel

Orbitz DealDetector is my favorite because you can enter the places you want to go and how much you want to spend. It will notify you if and when it finds the right combination.

There are other’s to check out too. Travelocity’s Last Minute Deals page has complete package trips that begin in as little as 3 hours from when you start the process. You also find some bargains Expedia’s Expedia’s Last Minute Deals.