S2E12-Passports, Pills & Pinot Noir (Relocating Outside The US)

0:02 Hello, Hello, speak up, speak up? Huh, my mic is on you. I can hear you. I can barely hear you. Let me turn my let's see my volume. My volume's up. Say something, yeah, something, I'm not really hearing you. Really, pardon my reach. Well, I'm plugged in and the mic is on, so you can hear me? Okay? I can? Oh, now I hear you better? Okay? Is that okay? Now? I can hear you better? What'd you do? I touched it? I can hear myself. Can you hear me? Okay? I can hear you? Well, here, let me turn you up. I'm going to turn you up.

0:44 Turn it out and see like right now, you're coming in very fuzzy. That's well, don't worry about that. That's okay, that's that's just the thing. The buffer it says actual recording is higher quality. Well that sounds about right. Listen. We can only hope. But can you hear me? Okay? Now, honey, that's all I do is so can you hear me? Okay? Yes? Okay? Is there a delay? No? Why did you take so long to answer? Then? Oh my god? Why do you Censor's a delay? No? I sense there's a delay in your tone. Do you have a problem with me right now?

1:25 To No, you do, I'm good. Well, okay, here's the thing this. Guess what this is? See this right here? Why I know what you're pointing out the big black thing. Yes, that's a microphone. Guess what? I wasn't using it? Correct what? In previous episodes, caution to the wind on a Wednesday? On a Wednesday, how are you? Oh good? It's been a crazy stressful week. Stressful okay, work related because of what's going on out there with a certain thing called tariffs. Yeah. Yeah, so it's wreaking havoc. I can check one thing off my list real quick. Is that I talked about this before today. I went to the lawyer's office to sign my updated a living trust.

2:14 Oh, good for you, Good for you. I'm just finishing that. I've signed everything and they notarize it and they'll just send me copies. Good and check that off the list. I was a project that I wanted to get done this year. Does it feel good to have that finished? Yeah? It does finally, because I just waited way too long to update it. I originally did my living trust in twenty eleven, so it only took me fourteen years. Well, I don't think you waited too long. I think it's good to actually finish it. I'm just doing the same thing, changing financial institutions for my portfolio and getting the last signature. It's done. So we're kind of running. You won you. Beat me well this time, but not keeping score, are we?

2:55 I am? So we missed out on leading up coming out of April, then sing song It's gonna be May, and then had we record on Sunday. We could have said May the fourth be with you, but we didn't do that right. I knew you were way and did you celebrate singodamaya? No? I was working. I had things to do. But this week one was really fun because we went to the Beach Life Festival, which is basically a huge music celebration. I haven't done that before. It's very interesting. It's a very interesting group of people. I have to say. The ladies who rock were on force. We saw Lenny Kravitz, we saw an Alanis Morris set, we saw Susannah Hoffs.

3:38 But you know who the superstar was. The superstar was Chrissy Hine from The Pretenders. She is seventy four years old and she had the most amazing set of music. She was like pumping that music out. She's a hard rock girl lady, sorry, hardler woman, and she just did Yeah she's but they have some hits for sure. But just the musicianship and the way she did it and how professional she was, it was amazing. And seventy four years old and she was cranking it out. It was amazing. And where was this hell? Over in Redondo Beach. It's a huge area over in Rodondo Beach called Beach Live Festival basically hosted by Sketchers, who were sold recently by four billion dollars just you know, because they're a local company here in Manhattan Beach.

4:23 So yes, I know, but it was great fun. I do have some footage the ladies like to rock, and what I mean by that is all the ladies. I've got some posts of some ladies that are just going crazies dancing. It was it was fun. I mean it was fun. I don't know if I would do it again, but it was great to go. It's great to see live bands because I don't often see that. So what about you? How was your weekend? I know you had stressful work week, but what about the rest. Yeah, but I had a nice day. Sunday was a beautiful day out weatherwhy so I went to Golden Bay Park. I re Sunday to have free concerts in the band show, so listen to music. There were Polish dancer in groups there, so it was fun, and I went.

5:04 Into the museum. So I just kind of made an afternoon of just being out and about in the park. So it's nice. And then coming up on Mother's Day this weekend, so we're getting together with my mom and some other folks for a Saturday dim Sum brunch the day before Mother's Day. Oh yeah, I miss dim sum. Good dim sum? Yeah, I need some. Yeah, So that's what's been going. On, So give me some dim thumb. Yes. So do we want to talk about what we're going to talk about? Sure, this was your idea. That was a great one. So what we're going to talk about this week is retiring overseas and what that means. We're also going to talk very briefly about our new website and the relaunch of our Facebook page first, but eventually we're going to circle back retiring overseas and all the benefits why it's so popular right now, white people are really I guess would you say, they're really gravitating towards doing this?

5:57 Gary, is there a lot of it happened? There is a lean towards that, but there's also some challenges that get brought up. So we'll talk about the pros and cons. Yes, the pros and cons. And yeah, where you're able to do it? Okay, So yeah, we're going to talk about that. It seems I know actually a few people that I've worked with in the past who have actually gone and done this, And there are a few websites I want to mention that are actually really helpful and good resources for that. If you're interested in doing so. So you'll be back in a minute. All right then, okay, then anyways, sorry, we're We're welcome to don and Gary Doing sixty. We're here to unwrap, unpack, and navigate the world at.

6:42 This age. Listen. We want to talk very briefly about our new website. We're very excited. It's hosted by pod Page. The website is basically your all in one shopping point for Donn and Gary Doing sixty. You can leave feedback that will go directly to Spotify and Apple pod Podcasts you can actually leave reviews. We have a blog on there. And also what's really exciting is we have voicemail, so I'm really looking forward to having people leave us some voicemails. Also, our new Facebook page has been relaunched at a new basically addressed and I'll post that here and also in the credits later. But on with the show, Gary, Let's do it. Let's do it?

7:22 So, yes, well, before we talk about living abroad or retiring abroad. Yes, I may have mentioned this in a previous episode. But when I was pulling all this different information, one of the articles that came up was what are the there's always top ten lists of everything, right, so this was the top ten list of happiest countries. So have you like thinking, if I don't want to continue living in this country. Where do I want to live? And there's different resources out there, And this I thought was interesting was they do this. It's called the World Happiness Report and for twenty twenty five. So these numbers are based on studies or data they collected in twenty twenty two through twenty twenty four, and they list, you know, on a scale one to ten, rate these things in your life, and they look at such things as GDP, the gross domestic product per capita, a healthy life expectancy, social support, or having someone to count on so you're not getting isolated, freedom to make key life decisions, perceptions of corruption in government and business. So they look at, you know, what makes you happy and what is your life like? And so here the top ten, and two of them are on the top ten list for the first time, Mexico and Costa Rica. Mexico came in number ten, number nine, Luxembourg, Israel, Norway number seven, Costa Rica number six, first time on this top ten list. Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and the number one country happiest country for the

8:53 eighth year in a row Finland. Finns are currently living in Finland Denmark areas. That's where you're going to be the happiest. The least happiest number one forty seven. The bottom of the list Afghanistan for the sixth consecutive year. Yeah, and there's you know, several other countries above that. But I said, well, where does the US rank. Well, they started this collecting of data in twenty twelve, so that's the first year they did it. At that time, the US. Was number eleven, So like, all right, we're at the top ten, but we were number eleven. Now we're number twenty four, so we've dropped a few pegs. So I thought that was interesting. But what prompted this reason for having this conversation was I saw a short interview on CBS Sunday morning. It's about a retired American couple. They are from Medicino County in California, Northern California.

9:47 And they're both retired. I think a lot of folks like based on what I have now in terms of money, you know, the people in my life, my support system, whatever, do I continue living here or is there's something more better out there somewhere. And of course some people have traveled. In their years, and I really love Italy, I really love, you know, somewhere in South America. They might have a destination that is their go to they like to visit, but would they consider living there. And there's a lot of resources out there that give you the pros and cons. So this particular couple, I guess they travel. They ended up moving to Gozo, an island of Malta in the Mediterranean.

10:29 So it's not allowed, you know, it's not the London's, it's not the Paris, it's not the whatever. But they found this and the reasons why they liked it was a low cost of living. They said, if they only relied on the income they get from solid Security, they wouldn't be able to live in the US to sustain their lives. I'm in California, expensive state. But they did keep their house in Mendocino, so they rented out. So the money they get from the rental plus solid security allows them a fairly comfortable life in this island called Goozo. They do have to, you know, get their own healthcare as private insurance, but it's less than Medicare. In the US. Right.

11:10 But depending on where you live. They talk about some things that could be a con and one could be like a language barrier if they found that challenging. So depending on where you choose to live, if you don't speak another language or the language of that country, that. Could be couldn't that be part of them that was processed though, to learn the language. I mean that's part of assimilating into a new country. I mean, you can't just assume everything's going to speak English, right exactly? Right? Yeah, for sure, No, I mean, and we'll get into the different things they talk about how they decide whether or not this is the right place. Well, and obviously you have to have gone there at least a visit and maybe multiple times, because just because you went there one time and had one fabulous two education doesn't mean you're going.

11:51 To automatically move there, right, So that was their story. There was another woman who from the US moved to Italy in her twenties and it didn't say what it was for a work or study, but she was there in her twenties, liked it, but at some point she said the slower pace of life in Italy didn't agree with her. She wanted to, you know, be doing things, and it was you know, the culture is different. Obviously the language she says. They said, in the specific case of Italy, the houses are very small, so they're not meant for people to hang out their house and have parties. So they're always going out. They're out about at the bar, at the restaurant, at the beach, at the park, whatever. And she's like, what come on, does this hang out at the house and so certain things just don't agree with her.

12:35 But how old was she? Again, Gary well, she moved Italy in her twenties. It doesn't say how old she is now, but I guess she reached a compromise. She's able to live there for maybe six months of the year and in the US for six months of the year, so she can kind of have a balance where when she's feeling a little tightly wound in one country, she'll just go back to another home. I mean not everyone can do that, right, I mean, for some of us, if we're going to up and move, we're going to like sell our home because that's going to help in our retirement to live our new life. So Edwin's got a different story. Before I go on, did. You have Well, yeah, because I just wanted to comment on this person, because you know, it's interesting as Americans traveling to other countries, we are very much accustomed to certain ways of living, and I would say that traveling to anywhere in Europe, you're not going to have anywhere close to the same. And I don't mean this in any way disparaging, but the size of homes in the States is much larger always for the most part, to city living in any major European city, for example France, if you're in Paris, and you've been to Paris a number of times. Apartments there are very small, and the idea is that you're not supposed to spend a ton of time locked up in your apartment. And you know, there's so much to see in Europe, in Paris, in Spain, there's no in Italy too. I mean, there are definitely nice villas to live in, but if you're living city life, you should be getting out and doing stuff.

14:05 It can't be just. That you're sitting in your palatial McDonald's mansion that are being built everywhere in the States. So I mean, I can see how it's not good for everybody. But you know, being realistic when you go to Europe is that there's going to be a very different way and I don't mean standard, just a different way of living. If you're not open to that, I think it's a challenge to go over there. If you're not open to change or challenge, like ready to make that accommodation, it's important that you're ready for it. Side note, I did see the same sixty minute special of the couple. It was very interesting to watch because I think they looked like a very nice couple. And they seemed like they had found their vibe in Yeah, what was the place called? Again, I forgot where.

14:49 They moved to, said, Gozo is an isle of Malta in the Mediterranean. Yes, which looked amazing. Actually, yeah, I think you know. For the it was like they want to enjoy life, you know, yeah, go you know, sit in a plaza and have a glass of wine, or go for a walk or do whatever. When we talk about pros and cons, here's a list of things that had come up that'll come up when you're trying to decide can I do this or do I want to do this? And things to consider, and in no particular order, but your financial status, like obviously if you're going to live somewhere else, well whether you live, you know, retire in the States or live somewhere else. How much savings do you have, do you have a retirement account?

15:30 How much debt do you have? If you have like a home, are you going to keep it and rent it out or are you going to sell it and use that towards your retirement? Depending on what country you're going to our visas required, is there a language barrier? Also? For example, you like going to Palm springs because you like the heat. So depending on where you're going, if it's too tropical or too you know, the dry heat, or it snows, whatever it is, you have to be agreeable to that or know that you're going to have to flex your you know, schedule if the climate comes in issue cost of living, if we have to compare, like how far is our money going to go there versus here? A couple we talked about they had to get private insurance for them. What they found was it was less expensive than if you were to.

16:14 Get medicare here. They found an apartment it was seven hundred and fifty dollars per month. Where's that going to happen here in the States? And I saw that apartment. I saw a shot at the apartment where they live. It's a I'm sure it's a very different standard than what they're used to in Mendocino because it was a very European apartment. I saw a shot of it, so it's a little more simple. It probably is a laundry in the kitchen, all those things that most of European homes have. So I mean, I think they did make an adjustment, but they seemed happy. Yeah, they did so, and you know, they also talk about are you the type of person that is going to like if you move into the place, just kind of like settle in as they appear to have done. They settle into that community and they're happy. So their expenses aren't really high. Are are you the type that, oh, I want to travel? Once you're in Europe, for example, there's so easy to go by train to all the different country Are you going to spend your time traveling? Well, then you're going to have to plan for higher retirement money in order to keep up that lifestyle, right, So you have to plan ahead of how much money do have?

17:17 How much do I plan to spend? So how much do I need? And we talked about the political climate and safety for something for some people? Are are you going to buy or rent when you get there? Right? And because can't always be easy? I remember you fantasize the movie that I mentioned to you before, Under the Tuscan Sun with Diane Lane. Right. She was just traveling on a tour group through Tuscany and the bus stopped in front of a house that's set for sale, and it's something spoke to her, so she got off the bus ended up buying the house and it need a lot of work, so and you know, it's just it was unexpected things that came up that if you're in a foreign country, it's not you can just call your contractor and have them come right away and fix it.

17:58 Right. So there's all kinds of there be able to go through. So definitely a lot of pros and cons to think about, but a lot of it has I think has The main thing has to be on your financing of it. Can you afford to do it? Absolutely, We've talked about. Like I, when I retire, do I keep my place? Do I sell it and move somewhere else where? Am I going to move? I don't really want to move out of the area because my family and friends are here. So there's a lot that goes into it, and that's kind of something I'm kind of struggling with. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do. Mm hmm. There's I think another time we'll talk about retirement facilities or senior communities. I think we'll talk about that separately, but that's another consideration. But depending on where that facility is.

18:39 I've looked just to hear it in California, and they are super expensive. Let's tie into that a little bit too, because I was looking at all the pros and cons myself, and I think one of the biggest factors is healthcare. Yeah, so just so you know, the United States has the most expensive healthcare in the world. It's the most expensive anywhere you can go. So that in itself is a huge determining factor for many people. But there's other things to remember that. For example, when you're going there like this this couple that you mentioned, they had to go and get their own independent health care locally, but because the costs are so prohibitive in the States, it's still less expensive than having your health care in the United States, which is always not always that great to begin with.

19:27 It's also very expensive, and if there's anything catastrophic happening, you have this huge cost that you in debt you can go into just to treat. Many of the countries that people are moving to are basically socially run, so there's a social program where the healthcare is basically free if you're paying into it. So that's I think that's a major factor. The other thing is taxes as a citizen of the States and going to get a citizenship in another country. You're still expected to pay taxes when you get your Social Security, so you'll be getting taxed on whatever you bring in monetarily to the country. You could also be taxed.

20:08 You're being taxed in the States to begin with, then you're being taxed in the country. That you go to. So there's a couple because you also have to contribute some money to the country that you're living in. So that's another factor that people need to take a look at. And then social Security itself. Yes, you can absolutely take your Social Security. You never lose it if you leave the States, but it has to be mailed to you, so you have to make sure that you're accessible to getting Social Security. So I mean those says. You can have it electronically deposited, you know, tract deposit into an account that has that an overseas connection or whatever country you're in. And when we keep timing with Europe, and it could be you know, Central South. America absolutely, And I just haven't made me anywhere, right, And I have a list of the top high quality medical services in each country so that this is just not in a specific order, but Columbia in South America France, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Spain, and Thailand. Believe it or not, how one of the most yes, some of the best healthcare programs. Okay, yes, so I mean I didn't think Thailand, but I assumed.

21:14 Spain, Portugal, those kinds of places. I didn't think about Colombia, and I definitely didn't think about, like I said, Thailand, So you know, there is a lot of places. Just real quick note. I was listening to a podcast this morning. Isaac Mssrahi used to have a podcast. He was speaking to Belinda Carlisle of the Go Gos. Did you know that she has actually not lived in the States for many, many years. She has lived a very a very long time in Indonesia and in France, and now she's currently living in Mexico City and she only comes back to the States to do performances with the Go Gos or if she has some kind of commitment socially. But she hasn't lived here for one hundred years and she really loves it actually, So I just thought that's an interesting person to call out.

21:58 Well, you know, since you're on that conversation, I was thinking about why people choose to leave the US to move somewhere else. You mentioned a couple of ideas, is you know, they just maybe they really enjoyed spending time vacationing in X country and you know if they went multiple times, like you know what, when we retire, let's consider moving here. So there's that, right, So there's something drawing them to another country for like an easier life, a quieter life, you know, not so frenetic as it is here, as it has been here. And some are politically motivated. When a certain person was possibly going to be, you know, winning the presidency, someone said, if this person wins, I'm leaving the US. Some did, right, ye Generous moved to Ireland.

22:46 I believe Rosie O'Donnell moved to Ireland. I believe. I'm not sure where Ellen went. Where did she? Did she go to Ireland too? Well? There there were photos of her in Ireland. Maybe she doesn't live there, but anyway, but that's just you know, one example. But we'll say that George Clooney has a home in Italy La Cuomo, that he's lived there for years and it wasn't politically motivate. I think this's like they just didn't want to be stuck in the rat race of Hollywood and you know, California, and they just wanted to He had the money and they had, you know, a nicer lifestyle to raise their family there. So they did it for different reasons. And that's his main home. We may, you know, obviously they could have multiple homes, but that's the one he lives in most of the time.

23:27 And I think you've been invited. Well, no, he and I don't speak anymore because we broke up and I've got a restraining order on it. It's a long story. We can't go We'll do that on another podcast. But to your point, to your point like change of pace and new experiences, I think that's a really big thing because you know, if you're living who knows where you're living in the States, but change of pace, I mean adjusting to a European life or a South American life or a life in Mexico, very different things. So I think your mindset has to be prepared. And of course you said you've had to visit first, but I think sometimes it's a little more difficult for older people to make that adjustment. So you've really got to be prepared in your mind to be open to these changes. The other thing that comes up with a change of pace and new experiences is your family. Does your family will they be able to come and visit you.

24:18 I think this couple in the sixty minutes piece, they said they couldn't get rid of their family. They kept visiting them, right, So it's a double edged sit No. In that same story, there was another woman who they interviewed in the same story that she also lived on the same island, and she's the one that said, don't you get lonely because she moved there by a Sasha like, no, why people are visiting like every week? So and I was very impressed with that woman too because she did this on her own. But again back to the other point, she's open to new experiences. She was ready for a change. And as you mentioned with George Clooney, my you know George Clooney and I, well we can't talk about that on sure, but it's a change of it's a brand new experience. So in many ways it's something that's really eye open. It can definitely be revitalize you if you're, as you said, get out of the rat race of living in the city or the mundane life of living in the middle of the country somewhere on a farm.

25:09 I mean, there's a lot that you can and you can choose your experiences to which I'm it's very enticing. It's a great idea. Yeah. So yeah, there's a lot to be said for how you go. And how you go about figuring out what that destination is. That if you're someone who's traveled a lot, that could be one way. This one couple that were from Houston, he and his wife ended up moving to Barcelona, Spain, and they've written a book called Silver Nomads, and they give the same a lot of the same reasons why they move there. You know, the money go goes further there than in the US. Healthcare is of higher quality and less expensive. You will get to experience the joys of cultural exploration just by walking. Out the door.

25:49 Mm hm. The best part is you can have this life while spending significantly less money than you would by living in the politically unhinged land of a man. But so he has a blog and I read a lot of the comments and they seem pretty well versed. They've done a lot of research in this book, and if you go to the website, they give a lot of tips because what about Portugal? What about this? And he seems to have done a lot of homework. So this is like their thing now is to be like a mentor to anyone who's considering in their retiring ages to consider, you know, living in. Another country, what is that like? And they give them the pros and cons and questions and you know, things to steady.

26:29 So I thought that was pretty interesting. In their retirement, they've made a new life of coaching other people, and so. That's another they're reinvented, basically a career out of that. And I think, you know, it's interesting to talk to why do we think people are doing this? Why is it? I mean, obviously we talked about the pros and cons of it and you said it, Yeah, we both think it's pretty popular. I know a couple of people have actually done it, gone off and done it. The thing is, I can't imagine it's just the political climate, but I think it has a lot to do with quality of life. And as you said, and we've spoken before, finances, the reality is it's very difficult to retire in the United States unless you have X number of dollars in the bank, and it's very the healthcare can sap your savings away.

27:14 And if you didn't plan, and we talked about you know, doing our financial planning on a previous episode, if you haven't done that, you have maybe a redemption by able to by making this choice to move to Europe. I have to say, on a side note, the person that I know that went there to Portugal, it was very daunting because if you think about it, they had to sell their home, They had to sell all their belongings basically unless what they could carry with them. They had to do all of the you know trips over there to find a place to live, because you can't just move over there with your bags and hope you can find. Afs to live. Plus you have to do a little research. Because I didn't know where I lived in the South Bay before I moved here. I didn't know the neighborhoods.

27:55 You have to go and do some real pounding the pavement to see where you would find is a good place to live and what's recommended. So it's a very daunting experience too, it can be very scary. One of suggestions was, well, then we talk about moving there, is that don't buy something right away. What you might want to want to rent in an area that you think you're like, work with a realtor to get a feel for what's available and is this the right neighborhood or the right city that I want to be living in that want to retire in. So don't commit to because once you buy, it's like you know, that's a big chunk that you're taking on. So ren first live there for a period of time, work with locals, get more information. There's one another top ten list, the World's Top ten Retirement Havens for twenty twenty five. So if you don't know where you want to go, maybe you haven't traveled the much, but what where should I consider living?

28:50 This is what they're saying. Are the top ten of where a lot of people retire. Number ten is Thailand, since you mentioned that earlier, Italy, Greece, Malaysia, Spain, France, Mexico, Costa Rica. I've heard a lot of people mentioned Portugal, and that's number two. But number one is Panama, which I've never seen any lists. And what they say about Panama is it's more developed and far more developed and modern than most people anticipate. It offers first world convenience at Central American prices. It's not like the way that they worded that. So you can still take a taxi cross for a few dollars see the latest blockbuster film for about six dollars. You know, blah blah, you can do this.

29:30 You can have a main course and glass of wine at one of the cities in numeraal restaurants for twenty dollars, so against one of those where your money goes a lot further there. So yeah, cost of living is it's not the cheapest country in the region, but your dollar will still stretch further than it does. Up north, meaning US. So they said a couple can live well here Panama for twenty five hundred dollars a month or less including rent. But you know, again everyone's going to have a different experience. Well, let me ask you, Gary, what do you think what do you think the reason is for all this new found I mean, if you were decided, like if you could choose the top two reasons, what. Do you think they would be. So I always thought that one of them would be I call it a fantasy to like live out your remaining years in a place that you have to have visited because you have to be familiar with it, Like, you know, I have an affinity to Spain and Italy and France, right, So not that I would retire there, but had I thought about it, like oh gosh, what I consider buying a place, but then you think you're so far away and to do it on your own, that's that that would be I would not consider that on my own. So I think part of it is the fantasy of living that la dolce vita, you know, with the plazas and the you know, just people hanging out, and especially if you live in a small town, there's that sense of community. Then maybe you don't get here where you live because everyone's you know, behind.

30:55 Their door or you know, at the computer. Maybe it's it's an easy, your eighter life. So that's the fantasy part of it. The other one they could just be for financial reasons, right thinking about you know, since try my finances again. More tables to look at Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances. This is from twenty twenty two. Is what the average retirement savings should be. They say from ages fifty five to sixty four, you should have over five hundred thousand dollars in savings sixty five to seventy four over six hundred thousand. So talk about you know, when you're planning ahead, why like I have.

31:37 Four to one case. They talk about some you know companies may not offer that. So are you saving money on your own towards the future? I think when you're younger, you don't think about it as you get older. Like they said. Another recommendation is at age sixty you should have eight times your annual salary set aside in retirement savings. This is that to jell and maintain current lifestyle in retirement, by age sixty seven, you should have ten times your annual salary. Right, That's it's very daunting. The things to consider is like. You know, planning ahead at what age drive on retire right? And how much you have to map out how much am I spending now? And thinking to the future because I've already I did this exercise with my financial planner.

32:20 Was okay, so we're looking at age. Sixty seven, okay, so how much are you spending now? And we did ald spreadsheet of everything your monthly expenses and then factoring in some things going up obviously, and then looking at what do we have right now in my two accounts. But still it's just scary because you know, it's the un known, it's the unexpected hospital stay. It's like, oh, I need to buy a new car because mine has died. There's unexpected expenses that throw a wrench into what you thought was, Oh, I'm good with this every month. So it's difficult to plan ahead. But there should be a lot of planning that you should we should.

33:00 Be working on. Yeah, and I would. I would say I don't have a desire to go and move to Europe myself, although it be as a fantasy as you said, it would be great. I love to pull my own under the Tuscan sun. I would love to do that. And I actually have another friend whose name is Tim, who actually went to France, bought a small, really old building in Bordeaux and has been renovating it. But he also travels. He and he takes advantage of all of it. I don't know that I would take advantage of traveling, but I would say, in my opinion, the number one reason for people moving is financial and healthcare. As a subnote, financially, because as you said, the statistics you gave us requires so much money to be scrolled away in retirement in the States, where if you have not done the planning, and we mentioned this briefly before, but if you have not done the planning, or you haven't had the time, or something stopped you from reaching those milestones in your savings career or your savings journey, you're not screwed, but you can have a much better chance of having a quality of life in Europe. So I would say it's financial first. Political definitely as a subnote, but financial and healthcare.

34:10 It's daunting living here in the States. It's so crazy. It's so expensive to live here, not just we're conditioned in California, but because we're desensitized from costs because it's just always so expensive. I mean, I think it's a very I think it's a very good idea for people to consider it. What we're going to say, I'm sorry, yeah, no, I can't find it right now. But one of the things that I had written down and I can't find it on my notes was that currently, at least Americans are not saving as much as they used to for higher costs of living or all the. Unexpected things that come up. So when I see all these articles that pop up, like how far will a million dollars go and save me? It's like, I'm when am I going to reach a million dollars? In says, right, can I retire in a million dollars?

34:53 Like? Well, if I get there, i'll let you know. But I think it's just. Very overwhelming to think about how much you need to have because we don't know how long we're going to live, right, you know, half jokingly with my financial planner. He says, well, I go, my mom is going to be ninety eight this year. My dad lived to be ninety two. My two grandmothers lived in ninety two. Because oh, well, then you're gonna you got a plan for other thirty years, like thirty years? Well, Gary, I'm only planning to work for or five more years. Yes, but I was told I was just editing. I'm finishing editing our podcast about financial planning. Basically, we've told each other that we have to live to at least ninety five, so that's what our financial and I think you actually you took ninety five. I said ninety three, and that's a long shot. But I mean, you're absolutely right.

35:44 It's very scary. It is scary, and the fact that you can have a possible better quality of life outside of the country is a very real dream for people right now. I think that they're there. As you say that people are not saving the way you used to. We're boomers, so we were kind of taught to do that because our parents. Were also probably very frugal. They didn't spend a lot of money, you know, outlandishly. We're a little we're much better at it. But I would say the generations that are coming up are not saving money at all. So it's well, I'll be honest with me, Like you know, the goal is to contribute to your foe can a monthly basis, Like I live alone and I have my mortgage and like all the expense everyone else does and I do not. I have not contributed in quiet some time to one of my accounts. The other one actually the company started. So all the one is that there they put in there.

36:38 I haven't. That's great, but they're matching. I just yeah. So but with the two accounts, it's you know, it's it's it's a nice amount, but it's still daunting to think about thirty more years. What oh. But here's the thing that like we're kind of going this path. But some things that I've noticed and we're kind of doing the same thing. People who are saving money are not bragging about saving money. Also, are not buying a new car every two years like a lot of people do. They're not moving all the time. They're not ordering door dash for every meal. So you and I, we don't do that. Our people don't do that. Something. Here's the weirdest thing I found. And I didn't realize this until I started looking at my statements a little more closely. Do you know I'm spending I was spending close to three hundred dollars a month on Starbucks. Go off on the weekend, you buy your friend, I want to buy you a coffee.

37:27 Let's do this. And so I was literally. Spending about three hundred maybe more a month. So you know what I did. I went to Nordstrom Cafe. I bought two pounds of their espresso coffee, and I'm bringing my coffee to work now and I'm using that coffee and what costs twenty five dollars as opposed to. Three hundred dollars. These are these things that you can do if you make those adjustments. You like to walk, You're not driving. You were driving to work, and we've talked about this before. You're saving so much money on your commute. Now, right, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, so. There's another way to channel. I'm in my car to day to run some errands. I'm like, wow, I still have like almost a full tanke a gas because I haven't used my. Car, right, And I think that's a pretty good thing.

38:07 And those those even though they're not massive amounts of money, they are money that you spent every month that you can now sock away or take that money and literally just say okay, whatever that number was, you say, okay'm gonna take that money now. And put it away. So I know we went off a little side note on this, but I think, you know it's important as we are aging with this option. If I had, if I had the wherewithal to do it, yeah, I would love to try and move to Spain and get a place the travel to and from. I mean, I'd want to spend like I'd like to spend the season in Spain and come back whatever the season is, you know, maybe this the winters. You know, there's a woman I think of who she's from Canada, and every year and I don't know how long, but it's probably a few months, like maybe a whole summer or something. That she goes down to Maslan and she rents a place at a little hotel there that is run by my family. So what they have on site storage for her so that they have her personal furniture that's in storage, and what she tells them, I'm coming on the twelve and they will get her unit ready.

39:11 They take out the stuff that's normally there and they rent out and they put in her furniture for the season X number of months as she's there. And she's been doing that consistently for years. That's her way of doing. So she still has her place in Canada and has your life there. And I don't know if she comes by herself or friends and family come to visit, but this is her thing. So you don't. Necessarily have to bite off the whole thing and completely move and sell everything and sell all your belongings to move somewhere else if you're able to, if your house is paid off, and whether you want to rent it while you're gone or not, you have that to come home to and either travel or have a second home somewhere else. Yes, you have the finances to do that.

39:51 Yep. So it's a very enticing idea. It is. I don't know if I can do it. I mean I would like to do it, but I don't know if I. Would you would you like to do it? If you are if you had the funds, would you do it? Well, here's the thing. You know, being single, If I were in a relationship and the other and my partner wanted to do it, that would give me more you know, I would want to do that, right, But it's just by myself. I don't think. It's not for everybody. And as we said, it's a daunting task preparing for it mentally and also just financially and also physically, so there's a lot of things it can be scary. But I would say I agree with you.

40:36 It's definitely a growing trend. It is definitely getting a lot of popularity and a lot of press. Yeah. I think that the takeaway is do your homework, talk to anyone who's done it or thinking about doing it. Talk to experts, because there's so many things that could go wrong. If you don't know. Oh I never thought about that. So there's so many resources out there and so many people to do it, to talk to you about it, because that's a that's a big life change. Yep, to do. That, one can. One can dream. I might call George back and see if we want to get tack together and maybe let me come to Lake Guomo again. I'm sure he's got the space for you, yeah, in his heart.

41:20 So did we Did we cover this one? Well? Do you think? I think so? No, Hopefully it's opened up some curiosity in folks who maybe considered it and. Maybe we want to yes, you know, do your research. Check out Silver Nomads. One of the websites is called International Living I believe, okay, and they have a lot. Of information there. So there's definitely a lot of information out there too. And you know what's good, Gary, all all the sources that we're using today on this podcast, I'm going to put on our blog on the blog page for this episode. Silver No Mads. Okay. Yeah, So there's a lot of things out there. There's also another podcast that I listen to call Where Gays Retire, which is this gentleman. His name is Mark Goldstein. So Mark, if you're listening, and we hope to get you on the podcast sometime. He actually does this really cool podcast called Where to Gaze Retire. He actually goes to different couples or individuals who have retired outside of the country and he talks about that experience, including the country. And again, I think eventually we're going to go on to talking about communal living soon because that's actually another trends developing.

42:30 But for now, do you think we covered the topic? Well, I think so because you got someone behind you who's probably needing a little walkie. Oh yes, he does. So if you're ready to shut this one down, already shut you down, because you know I'm done talking to you. Anyway, shut it down. Okay, thank you for joining us at Don and Gary doing sixty. We hope you enjoyed spending quality of time with us. Join us next time, as we discover we are a few Santa, which is short of. A full picnic. Don't now I'm hungry. Don't forget our new website hosted by pod page, and I'll be posting that in our links so you can see where all that is. I'm were available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube at five for pod on Instagram. But again, we really want to push to that website so you can leave us voicemails and leave us comments. I'll be posting all of that in the bio below, on our notes inside the pages, on YouTube and on Instagram and on the website.

43:33 So Gary, I'll see you next time. Sounds good. Okay, Well, talk to you later, Gator. Alrighty bye. Keep your passport current, yes, don't forget to spend new to your pets.