Buy or rent?

 Hello!

We are retired in Canada having come here ten years ago from 'up north' in England.

We now would like to return to England or Spain in a year or two for the rest of our retirement....(we are both in our late 60's).

We have been looking long and hard at property in both southern England and northern Spain but really can't decide what to do...buy in England (the Plymouth sound looks just right to us), and go to Spain for long breaks, or to buy in Spain and have holidays in England?

By the way, I say northern Spain because of the heat...can't bear it too much, even here in BC where it gets up to 30degrees in summertime.

We do still have close family and friends in England.

Any thoughts?

Hello Limey:

I understand perfectly what you say about the heat.  I don't like it either, despite having lived in southern Spain nearly all my life.  I always swing it so that I am not here in the very hot months.

There are beautiful places in the U.K.  I have friends in Dorset, and that whole area and coast is so lovely.  It is a place I would not mind living in.

I think, IMO, and this is just me, I would go for buying in the U.K. and go to Spain for long spells at a time.  You say you have close family and friends in England.  That is an important factor too.

Hope everything works out very well for you.

Patricia

 sOMETHING YOU MIGHT LIKE TO THINK ABOUT IS THE FOOD IN SPAIN IS BETTER AND SINCE LIVING I FEEL SO MUCH FITTER

I ALSO EXERCISE AS I CAN ACTUALLY GET OUT OF THE HOUSE AS IT IS NORMALLY NOT RAINING WINDY SNOWING NOR ICY

YOU WILL ALSO FIND KIDS RESPECT THEIR  ELDERS HERE, NOT THROUGH FEAR IT IS JUST THE SPANISH WAY.

AND IF YOU HAVE FAMILY IN UK YOU WILL SEE MORE OF THEM WE CANT KEEP OUR MOB AWAY :)

Hello Limey,

I thought it might help you to have a prospective from living in the UK.  My husband and I are taking early retirement and plan to move to Spain.  We have just had our fourth poor summer.  The nights are drawing in but we have been waiting for the good weather yet again.  We live in Cornwall.  Everyone says we are lucky.  Yes we have the wonderful coast line, when we can see it.  It is more often overcast, raining and high winds.  Everything is so expensive and going up monthly.  Oh and Cornwall closes in the winter!

The news is depressing, we avoid it now.  We can’t wait to leave this country and as Smythie says, you will see your family. My son has just come from Manchester to see me.  Train for him and his five years old, £245. 7.0 hours.  Flights, £240 1.5 hours.  Coach, (During the out of season one can pick up £9 seats).  One way £100 12.45 hours.  Moreover the weather was awful and cold.

Flights to Spain; well we all know that there are bargains to be had.  My son could have flown from Manchester and been with us in 2.0 hours.  Moreover we would have had sunshine.  We have families and Grandchildren and they can’t wait to be able to visit us in Span.

Do I sound pessimistic? 

Finally, I met a retired couple out

Walking, (In their late 70s at a guess).  They told me that they worked and saved all their lives and thought they had made a secure retirement.  Their biggest regret is not leaving this country when they were younger as now they live day to day.  I rest my case.

Whichever you opt for, I suggest initially renting for minimum 6 - 12 months to make sure !

For me it would be Spain - but I am not you !!

Cheers,

Jon

Limey  do learn at least a little spanish if yo do decide on Spain especially the names of food as its handy when shopping :)

and yes airfares can be cheaper than uk trains they go as low as £50 return if you choose wisely

its your choice but I for one have no desire to live in the UK but as jon said rent for 6 months and see what you think

nothing ventured nothing gained

 Thank you so much guys! Views fom both sides of the coin....it does help to get different perspectives...Who knows where we will eventually end up, but at least this has given me some food for thought.

I honestly think that Spain may come out as a winner after renting and doing a recce for a spell.

I will keep you posted if and when we leave here...all depends on a lot of things. OK...the exchange rate here is losing us C$1800  a month (around 1200 UK pounds) since we came nine years ago, but medical expenses can be prohibitive if you don't have private cover...oh and the dentures my OH will need soon will be $40,000!!!   I only assume that cover would be better in Spain?

Have you considered Panama, Limely? I know you've stated that you don't like hot locations, but this beautiful Central american country can offer a variety of climates. Coming from a tropical country I know that the best climate to livi in is where coffe grows and you may find in some parts of Panama, such as the province of Chiriqui, what you need.

Panama has been ranked one of the top best countries to retire and its "pensionado" program is second to none. I'm in the process of buying a condo there, which I plan to rent out for a two or three years until my retirement.

 Panama, now that would be handy for visiting freinds and relatives.

Not very different from Canda, though, and well worth it if you're looking to improve your quality of life withouht having to mortgage your house.

 Well I do have lots of friends and a son in England, so Europe would be the choice. Interesting though, I've never heard of anyone retiring there.

If someone wanted to retire to Canada, they would not be able to unless they were sponsored by a daughter or son (as we were). Does Panama just take retirees? Is there a waiting list? It took us two years back then to gain Permanent Residency in BC, but now the Canadian  government have really put the blocks up and it takes around four years...and that is after going through a myriad of hoops! The elderly population is growing so much everywhere and they see it as a future cost....don't know why because they give us nothing here. Prescriptions, public transport and the highest taxes in Canada  cost us a bundle.

Also, we do not get annual increases on our pensions. The same rule applies for any commonweath country. I know it isn't a deciding factor when emigrating but it does add up over the years and it really burns me that you  DO get the increases if you retire to the USA or Israel!

Go figure!