Worst retirement stories

[topretirementseditor]

Topretirements is researching an article for the site about retirement horror stories. Focusing on folks who ...
- chose the wrong place to retire
- visited places that would have been SO wrong
- chose a retirement lifestyle that wasnt so great
- any other mayhem that happened in retirement that would make a good story.

Feel free to tell your good stories too ("Accentuate the Positive..."). Post your story here or if you want to remain discreet, use the "Contact Us" link at bottom of page.

thanks

[papajuan]

The worst story i can think about is my friends who are really city people, quite sophisticated, who decided to live in St. George, Utah. The scenery was grand, the town was nice, and there were plenty of 55+ communities to choose from. The only problem was, it wasnt them. Way too tame, too dull, surrounded by people they didnt have much in common with. So here comes the smart thing' they folded their tent and moved. Picked Charleston, SC, and they are very happy with the lifestyle there.

[Drumlin]

I'm not retired, but I'm looking at 55 plus communities. My worst nightmare would be to live with younger, inconsiderate people whose lifestyle is loud, obnoxious, and drunken. I want to live somewhere where the people care about the world around them and don't make noise at 1:00 in the morning. I don't want to be too far from my family. It would be horrible to try to take care of a yard by myself, to be out with the snowblower by myself at night to try to keep up with a snowstorm, to have neighbors with 5 cars in their yard. That's my nightmare right now, I want to live amoung old fogies like myself!!

[geaudy]

Drumlin - You are looking in the right places. And, the good news is that you don't have to worry about the yard work. I have looked at many different communities and the outdoors is handled by maintenance workers in every one of these communities. I hear you on the not going too far from the family. I only have a couple of people that I feel I can't leave so even though I want the milder winter I'm not sure if I can move too far from the east coast where I currently live.

[classof70]

Maybe this isnt the worst thing that you can do in retirement, but it is one that is easily prevented. My friends got all excited about moving to Celebration, FL, the new urban community. Once they lived there a while they came to realize it wasnt for them. Their friends and family were elsewhere and the town wasnt right. Their mistake: not moving to Celebration. Sometimes you have to live somewhere to find out the lay of the land. But the real mistake was buying property and not renting. Renting is the smart way to go.

[Drumlin]

Classof70, I think we have to get over the aversion to renting that some have. I know I prefer to own, but if things don't work out it's an extreme hassle to have to put the property on the market and hope you get a good return on investment. I'm biting the bullet, although it's a little difficult, and once I sell my house I'm going to rent here and there to make sure I can be comfortable in a new town. It's a lot easier to correct mistakes, and really you can save money too.