Retiring and relocating? Take a holistic approach

Key Points

• Debra Taylor is relocating to Portugal from Southern California, motivated by her daughter's desire to leave the U.S. and to navigate different tax burdens and climates.
• Relocation for retirement often depends on factors like politics, home affordability, and cost-of-living; with over 3 million people age 65+ relocating in the five years prior to the pandemic.
• Aging experts suggest performing a 'lifestyle audit' to prioritize what matters most in retirement, such as climate, social networks, and healthcare needs.
• Many retirees are advised to rent short-term in their desired locations before committing, as this can help avoid the pitfalls of moving based on vacation experiences rather than daily realities.

NEW YORK (AP) — Debra Taylor has had a busy year or so: She's going through a divorce while in the process of retiring — and she's moving to Portugal from Southern California with one of her daughters.

After deciding her next home would be outside the U.S., she narrowed down her choices based on tax burdens (Spain was out with its wealth taxes), climate (no Costa Rica, too hot) and ease of travel within Europe, one of her favorite parts of the world. She then toured Portugal with a relocation company, Expatsi, and found her new home, Aveiro. It's a striking city on the country's west coast with lovely canals that earned it the nickname the Venice of Portugal.

It's all logistics from there. Taylor signed a year lease on an apartment (a requirement for moving forward), hired the company Viv Europe to navigate bureaucracies and paperwork, signed up for the necessary FBI background check and has an appointment in late September to move ahead with visas.

Her youngest child gave her the idea to leave the country.

“After our current president was elected, my 18-year-old transgender daughter came to me and said, ‘I want to get out of this country ASAP,’” Taylor recalled. “That was just fine with me.”

Her oldest daughter, who's 20, will stay in the U.S. to complete college.

“None of this means I have to live there forever,” Taylor said. “I’ll use this as my jumping-off point to do more deeper dives, explore the rest of the region. I want to buy a place, but I’m not going to do that until I’m living there and spend more time in different communities.”

According to aging and relocation experts, Taylor has made the right decisions.

Relocating for retirement

The number of people who relocate upon retirement fluctuates, based on such factors as politics, home affordability and cost-of-living rates. While older adults are less likely to move than younger populations, more than 3 million people age 65 and older relocated within the U.S. in the five years before the coronavirus pandemic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

As for moving abroad, U.S. politics is now the No. 1 reason cited by people who use Expatsi, the company's co-founder Jen Barnett said.

“The one downside is that a lot of countries retirees are interested in don’t want retirees, and that is to say wealthy, English-speaking countries, because they want laborers,” Barnett said.

While most U.S. retirees stay put in existing homes and locales, those who want to age in place face mounting challenges, said AARP Vice President Rodney Harrell, who focuses on housing and livable communities.

Challenges include rising rents or mortgages, costs for home modifications, and a lack of community support services like adequate health care, reliable utilities and safe environments.

“One of the biggest challenges that we have is making sure that we take the future us into account, and not just look at our needs today," Harrell said. “Are we driving today? Is our income where it is? Is our spouse and myself healthy right now? How able are we to walk around and use steps, etc.? Things can change.”

All of the above is crucial as the U.S. heads into a gray bubble.

“We’re going to have more people over 65 than under 18 by 2034. For the first time in U.S. history, we have more older adults than children,” Harrell said.

It's not just about weather or grandkids

Do you want mountains, an ocean, to be closer to grandkids? Would you like a university town or city, a particular religious institution? Harrell suggests setting clear priorities when planning a relocation. And they should go well beyond those specifications.

Taking housing costs into consideration is generally universal, he said, but he urged a more subtle consideration.

“What are the neighbors like? Is it an active community, if that’s what you want. Do people keep to themselves more? That social connection is really important, too,” Harrell said.

The AARP's livability index scores neighborhoods and communities across the U.S. for the services and amenities that impact older people. It's easily searchable by address, city, state or ZIP code.

“Think about all of the things that you might want collectively, and know that there’s no perfect place,” Harrell said. “Once you have those things in mind, you’ll get to the best possible outcome. Every place has trade-offs."

If being close to children and grandchildren is high on the list, set clear expectations about how involved you want to be in such things as child care, said retirement transition planner Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons. Also, chat with adult children before making a move to determine how settled they are themselves.

Casey Bowers and her husband, Dave Bowers, recently relocated to Ericeira, northwest of Lisbon on Portugal's beachy Silver Coast. They love it, but it's not all ocean and sun.

“We have three adult children and their partners, and one grandbaby with another on the way,” Casey said. “We're very close to our children. Learning the grocery store, getting new cellphones, those are just procedural things, but being away from family — that’s the hardest part.”

Sarah Friedell O’Connell, a retirement coach in Boston, looks at relocation this way: “You’re going to get a lot of hours back when you stop your full-time job. What are you going to do with that time?"

Take a good look at your lifestyle

As a wealth manager, Chad Harmer has helped dozens of retirees relocate, from Ontario, Canada, to Arizona’s High Desert, from the Boston suburbs to the Carolinas. And he's dealt with some “boomerang” moves back home after grandchildren arrived.

“Start with a 'lifestyle audit,' not a tax table," he said. “I ask clients to write a perfect Thursday five years from now. Where are they walking? Who are they meeting for coffee? How long is the drive to the grandkids? That exercise surfaces climate preferences, social networks, volunteer hobbies and healthcare priorities long before we argue over property tax millage rates.”

He also recommended budgeting for hidden inflators — such as higher insurance premiums in disaster-prone areas and frequent flights to see family — and considering less obvious weather complications, like pollen levels.

Parsons, who wrote “Encore: A High Achiever's Guide to Thriving in Retirement,” is a staunch supporter of taking a short-term rental before deciding on a permanent move.

“It's tempting to retire where you vacation, but that may not be the greatest idea,” she said.

Harmer's rule of thumb: When 80 % of your desired daily routine is achievable in a new location for at least 80 % of the year, you’re in the right ZIP code.

“Anything less and you’re probably chasing an Instagram fantasy rather than a retirement reality,” he said.