Ultimate retirement location

OK so this is 12 years off for me if all goes to plan, but I don't actually know where we're going to retire to and am asking for suggestions. Why now? Because we're going to invest into the area earlier and turn an IP into a PPOR when we're ready to relocate.

So the requirements are:
1. must be on the east coast in NSW or QLD for the warmer weather
2. needs to be somewhere that has warm weather but NOT too much humidity
3. seaside location
4. needs to have a decent sized airport of it's own or be within an hour's drive from Brisbane or Sydney airport

Any ideas?
 
OK so this is 12 years off for me if all goes to plan, but I don't actually know where we're going to retire to and am asking for suggestions. Why now? Because we're going to invest into the area earlier and turn an IP into a PPOR when we're ready to relocate.

What about Hervey Bay Qld

So the requirements are:
1. must be on the east coast in NSW or QLD for the warmer weather tick
2. needs to be somewhere that has warm weather but NOT too much humidity tick
3. seaside location tick
4. needs to have a decent sized airport of it's own or be within an hour's drive from Brisbane or Sydney airport tick

Market is down now so can buy an oldish house on big block 300m from water for $350k, in 12 years town is likely to be much more lively than now as when next boom hits lots of the development that is approved will go ahead and that will add a premium to big blocks close to beach, when u move you can renovate house up to your standards, airport has direct flights to syd and probably melb soonish,

disclaimer- i own property in Hbay, (didn't time it correctly though as it was hit by GFC as lifestyle location but think it will also have growth which is nice even though that is not your main objective with the purchase)
Any ideas?

.................................
 
Port Stephens

Port Stephens (Nelson Bay, Fingal Bay, Shoal Bay, Salamander Bay).

PROS
50 mins from Newcastle
15 mins from Newcastle Airport
Similar weather to Sydney
2 ish hours to Sydney
1 hr to Hunter Valley vinyards (if your into that)
Prices have taken a battering since the GFC but now recovering slightly so you can still get a bargain
Lots of retirees

CONS
Lots of retirees
Tourist area, in summer especially Christmas its hard to get a car park anywhere
Nearest Hospital is in Newcastle
 
Alstonville.
Up on the plateau behind Ballina. Several airports in the area (Ballina, Gold Coast, Lismore etc), close to the beach (and often fantastic views) but being up high not nearly as humid and gets some nice breezes.
If you want a veggie patch or a nice garden everything grows easily due to the climatic conditions as well as the soil (volcanic red). Plenty of rainforest in the area.
Small enough that still has a village type feel but also large enough that there's plenty going on. Need bigger shops (David Jones, Myers etc) you can go down to Ballina or up the Gold Coast.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll look into all of those. I'm in no hurry obviously, but there's no harm in thinking about it.
 
Then there was the politician some years ago who declared Hervey Bay was for "the newly wed and the nearly dead".

He got shot down in flames, but was pretty much on the mark.

Maybe it has changed a bit by now.
Marg
 
I was going to suggest Port Macquarie, too.

(Trouble is, it does get crowded with tourists during all the holidays.)

Lots of oldies. Man, it used to get crowded at the buffet restuarant (where I once worked) at the bowling club. And the RSL was THE place to go. That was a few years ago though. It looks to have grown a fair bit.

Great beaches.
 
OK so this is 12 years off for me if all goes to plan, but I don't actually know where we're going to retire to and am asking for suggestions. Why now? Because we're going to invest into the area earlier and turn an IP into a PPOR when we're ready to relocate.

So the requirements are:
1. must be on the east coast in NSW or QLD for the warmer weather
2. needs to be somewhere that has warm weather but NOT too much humidity
3. seaside location
4. needs to have a decent sized airport of it's own or be within an hour's drive from Brisbane or Sydney airport

Any ideas?

Old Bar, NSW. Taree airport is just 15-20 min drive. Taree also has a hospital and all the necessary services. $350k will buy something very decent in that town.
 
I think the most important criteria for retirement location, is not location. It is where your loved ones live. As a health pro, I've seen so many people retire to a nice location, only to end up lonely and depressed, and then when they break a hip or wrist, or their eyesight fails significantly, there's no family to help out, and their equally aged partner is in little condition to care for them well. Suddenly they are faced with having to be placed in a retirement village or nursing home.

As you get older, the most important thing is to have love and support around you. If you don't have a loving family, then no worries....head off to whatever beach you want.

But also keep in mind as your body ages, you will feel less inclined to play golf and head down the beach for a swim. The sun and sea will knock you around.

Personally, I intend to retire in a quiet mid/outer ring suburb of Brissie, with a bit of land around me. not too much maintenance, but enough space to do some permaculture. and listen to nature rather than neighbour's circular saw or doof doof music. And I'll be close to superior medical services. The quality goes down hill dramatically out of town. Traumatic orthopaedic surgery outside capital cities is a very 2nd best.

I have lost interest in retiring to the Sunshine Coast. It isn't the Nirvana it was when I was a teenaged surfer. It has lost its close to nature ambience and is spoilt by hoons and agro drivers, narcissists, superficial egoists, people running away from the cities, only to take their city attitudes with them.

I had also intended to retire to Woombye or Palmwoods, but when the developers came in there, it became Eudlo and Mooloolah....but then the developers and idiots found those spots too. Maleny, Montville, Connodale, Kennilworth have also got dysfunctional fragmented communities. Welfare, bikies, Queen St farmers who neglect their farms, a high rate of unemployment......nah....don't want anything of it. Would rather age where people are gainfully employed and brought up well.

I had also like Cabarita, Hastings Point, Ballina, Alstonville years ago, but the way I remember those places has evaporated. Cabarita and Kingscliff just don't have the same vibe anymore. Alstonville is closed off with insular southerners. I spent a few months with an avocado farming family friend there in the 70s....it truly was bliss and everyone was friendly cos they were farmers doing ok. Now it is just crotchety ageing creaky bodies who complain about their knees and backs when maintaining their small acreages.

Nah....am afraid my Nirvana will have to come in the afterlife.
 
Retirement

Hi

Thanks to WinstonWolfe for that timely reminder of retiring near your love ones....

I come from a part of the world where truly it means "it takes a village to raise a child". When i was young, there were always neighbours dropping around to help cook or take care of smaller ones.

Mum came over for a visit recently, opened my front door and wonder where everybody is :). It was that quiet...

I have 2 elderly neighbours on each side of me now and i can tell you they are the loneliest people ever. Their eyes lit up whenever i drop by for a cup of tea or a chat. Their loved ones live far away as they can't afford to live near them.

And that's what drives my investing; when i retire i want to have CHOICE and hopefully, my kids would still "want" me to be part of their lives:p Beaches can wait...
 
Hi

<<I have 2 elderly neighbours on each side of me now and i can tell you they are the loneliest people ever. Their eyes lit up whenever i drop by for a cup of tea or a chat. Their loved ones live far away as they can't afford to live near them.>>

Folks, If you have an old family friend, aunt, uncle or whatever who lives alone please give them some time, it doesn't take much to ring and say hello or invite them to your place if you are having a BBQ.

So many are SO lonely but don't want to impose that you may well be stunned by their reaction.

We invited the last living person from my Mums generation that I know, one of her old friends to a simple get together. The reaction was tears of happiness.

If we are really, really lucky we get to be old one day, they have so much to talk about, remember they were young once, just think of what the changes they have seen in the world in their lifetime :eek:
 
Any ideas?

Redcat

We thought of buying in coastal areas but it's more trouble than it's worth so when we want to holiday somewhere we'll be staying in a hotel or will rent a flat for a couple of weeks.

No vacancies, no maintenance issues & no tenants to worry about.
We also don't want to be too far away from our kids.

We're thinking of staying put until retirement, then to convert our house to a dual occ or to downsize to a 3bed villa close to a shopping centre.

cheers
 
Winston you have hit the nail on the head so to speak. I see many retire to a great spot or near a long lost mate only to realise there really is no place like home. Home being where they have spent the last 30 + years. Family Friends and the Doctor.

Virgo and Macca good on you for having those oldies in your life. They are treasures.
cheers

Most retirees l know go on lots of holidays and cruises but they really like comming home to all that is familiar.
yadreamin
 
Some great replies here (thanks all)

I'm a city girl at heart so maybe the answer then is Brisbane. I adore Melbourne like nothing else, but I hate the cold. Last time I tried living in outer Melbourne I was miserable and didn't 'find myself' until I returned to the inner city.

What's the humidity like in Brisbane? It's always nice when I go there, but I'm never there long enough to notice.
 
Redcat

We also don't want to be too far away from our kids.

We're thinking of staying put until retirement, then to convert our house to a dual occ or to downsize to a 3bed villa close to a shopping centre.

cheers

Hi Bill

Why wait till retirement to build a dual occ? Capitalise on the NSW state govt's present initiative of side stepping council to build a granny flat behind your place now (and get that extra income)....that's what i am doing now!:p

AND if the present Labor govt gets thrown out, things may reverse again (as they are prone to in this yo-yo govt of ours.............
 
Some great replies here (thanks all)

I'm a city girl at heart so maybe the answer then is Brisbane. I adore Melbourne like nothing else, but I hate the cold. Last time I tried living in outer Melbourne I was miserable and didn't 'find myself' until I returned to the inner city.

What's the humidity like in Brisbane? It's always nice when I go there, but I'm never there long enough to notice.

Humidity in Brisbane is not as bad as FNQ or Darwin but IMO it's still disgusting in late spring/summer and I lived there for most of my life and grew up in CQ. I can't stand needing to take a cold shower after walking from the front door to the car.

If you want warm weather and low humidity you have to come over to the west coast - pretty much perfect weather all year round between Geraldton and Exmouth, but not a lot else :eek:
 
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