I’m a firm believer in a plan. Plans are those things that are necessary to get you going, and to keep up your momentum. A plan for retirement is detrimental to those of us working on our personal finance. What may help is actually deciding on where we plan to start retirement.
The husband and I were lucky enough to take a vacation with our friends to Rincon, Puerto Rico back in March. I’ve written about it a few times, highlighting how relaxing it was, and how we got a wonderful deal on a rental house. While we were there, we found ourselves falling in love with the area. It was peaceful, laid back, and a great spot for vacationing. The kicker was that although it welcomed tourists, it wasn’t a tourist trap. All of the locals were friendly and helpful, and you could tell that they enjoyed the area in which they lived. We also noticed that there were a few “locals’ that originated from the continental US. As we talked with them, they regaled on and on about this part of the island. “It’s a perfect place to retire, early or not” said one bar owner who couldn’t be more than 30. That’s when it hit us: this is where we need to be in 20 years. This is where we would retire.
Since then, our retirement plan has become concrete. I’ve been researching property taxes in Rincon and Aquadilla (a neighboring town), and have been making note of the local businesses, while thinking of business ideas that would thrive. No skating rink for the local kids? That might be a great business for us to run during retirement. Starting a burger joint in a coastal city? That sounds like a gold mine, as well.
We’ve discussed motivation quite a bit here, and this is yet another example of how important it can be. We can’t wait to be residents of Rincon in a decade or two, maybe even earlier. Will we see you there?
Have you decided where you would like to retire? Have you been doing research on the area to know how much you should be saving?
Retirement Inspiration
A boat right by the ocean in Rincon, ready for fishing
We fell in love with Puerto Rico when we went as well! We are wanting to retire to Kauai.
We were just talking last night about how much money we’d need to save for retirement, and it seems like an unreachable goal! So I guess it’s good that we’re pretty happy where we are right now. 🙂