Start Looking Now to Find a New Retirement Area

You say the countdown has started for your retirement? Maybe it's not this year, but in a few more years you can finally quit working and start your long-awaited life after work?

With retirement comes a host of other decisions you will probably be making if you choose to move from your present area. Maybe you're content to stay put---right where you are. The kids and the grandkids are close by and you have no desire to relocate.

However, if you plan to move to a new state, or just a new community, now is the time start your search.

Sounds scary? You'll have to leave long-time friends, and maybe some family behind? But if that's what you want to do, go for it.

That's what we did. We began our search for a place to retire as early as 2003, almost four years before we moved and retired to our new community. A friend sent us a link to the website for "The Villages". A sprawling community that's a city in itself for adults 55 and older, The Villages, located in Lake Lady, Florida, is the largest retirement community you'll ever see.

We even flew down to central Florida to take advantage of their welcome package where we were given Village dollars to spend down on fun for three days. Of course, we had to pay to stay there, but we came out ahead, spending our Village money. We had a blast, but had to be honest, asking ourselves, whether we wanted to live in a retirement community.

At first it seemed like paradise----hundreds of clubs of every variety and interest you can imagine where you not only can enjoy your favorite hobbies, but meet new friends. There were live bands, complete with nightly dancing in the streets. This place was truly a Disney Land for seniors, as they scooted around in their golf carts, going from country club to country club. It also offered free golf for life. If you lived here, you didn't have to go outside of the community for anything as everything was there---shopping, entertainment, banks, churches, restaurants, etc. We were tempted to sign on the dotted line, securing property before it was sure to go up a lot in money by the time we were ready to move, the beginning of 2007.