Retiring on £40K, where in the UK would you want to live?

[Wherrypuzzled]

Now I really cant disagree with that !

I would have one tomorrow but I fear that the first time I made it to Skipton (Yorkshire for our OP) that would be the end of the journey. Just love the Pub scene there esp. The Beer Engine - what a set up that is

Anyway came back because I forgot to add the Link - The World - Luxury Residences at Sea

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Post deleted can we keep the government bashing in the bridge forum that was the reason it was set up, thanks.

 

[stevebowtie]

Post deleted can we keep the government bashing in the bridge forum that was the reason it was set up, thanks.

Sorry. Didn't know about that.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Sorry. Didn't know about that.

No worries.

 

[dad_of_jon]

The South of Wales is traditionally more welcoming to non-Welsh and if you fancied opening as a little B&B, there will only be more trade in years to come as the £ devalues and foreign travel gets dearer and dearer.

some parts of wales are less welsh speaking than others - North west wales - The most I'd say , Pembroke and where I live the least. I can speak a bit but both my parents are english - so my learned welsh was from school and the teacher I had turned me off it completely.

 

[An Ankoù]

Or buy a narrow boat and chug your way round the waterways of the UK, stopping off at every other pub.

Wish I could give 10 likes to that one. :hat:
(Why every OTHER pub? I didn't get that bit)

 

[MmmBeer]

some parts of wales are less welsh speaking than others - North west wales - The most I'd say , Pembroke and where I live the least. I can speak a bit but both my parents are english - so my learned welsh was from school and the teacher I had turned me off it completely.

Both my parents are welsh, but all I could master was 'Dau cwrw os gwelwch yn dda'. It's served me in good stead, I'm sure someone could translate.

 

[Falco]

Northumberland....midges!!!

Been holidaying in Northumberland on and off at various times of the year for over 20 years now and I’ve never encountered midges, perhaps you take them with you from North Wales

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Just like the title says, what would be your first choice? Why?

I hope this is not an offensive question, so I apologize if it is.

We're eyeing retirement in the next decade, and all of the places in the US that have lower costs of living have miserable weather (exceedingly hot, humid, or both) whereas where we live now, the Pacific Northwest, has similar weather to most of the UK.

£40K is a good pension and you should be able to live a pretty comfortable life anywhere is the UK if you have a separate pot to buy a house. Either way the price of house (or rent) varies greatly between region.

As I live in Kent (South East corner of the UK) it may not be surprising that Kent would be my suggestion. Great weather, beaches all round, historic attractions, good travel links, London just up the road.

We have many great locations to be honest, they all have something to offer so it may be a case of matching the area to whatever makes you happy - scenic, bustling, quiet, rugged, sea, lakes, mountains, ....

 

[MrRook]

Gosh why would you want to leave, I don't know Tacoma but I thought the Pacific Northwest was absolutely stunning. Apart from Bend, Bend was rubbish.

Stunning and expensive, and smokey as hell with all the wildfires.
The only way my wife and I can afford to live in the pnw is by staying with family. Right now we are paying $500 a month for the use of an old school bus that we've converted into a mini-house. There are places in the mid-west, south, and back east where we could buy a nice house for less than $400 a month which includes property tax and insurance.

 

[BlackIsland]

What is it about the UK you both like? That's might help us guide to you to the right sort of place. It's quite a diverse place for a small island.

Good question! We made a whirlwind three week vacay back in 2018, starting in Bath, heading to Cornwall, then Wales, Cumbria, York and London. And you're right, very diverse, and we didn't even make it to Scotland or the southeast. We've always lived in urban areas, though not walkable like London or New York, but where most needs were a short drive away. My favorite thing there was the neighborhood pubs, and I'd love to live within walking distance of one. We also live in an area with great natural beauty, the forested mountains and sandy ocean beaches both within an hour or two drive. Mobile phone service and internet would be essential, but television is not. So, we're not looking to up-end our lifestyle - we don't need to become farmers or live in the middle of nowhere. At the same time, a 30 minute drive to get to the stores we frequent is no big deal to us.

So given all of that, we're obviously looking for an area with a lower cost of living index, given that 40K/year is not a great sum of money.

Hope this helps, and thanks for all the comments!

 

[BlackIsland]

Might be wrong, but I don't think US folk are used to having, let alone being a burden on, an NHS so some of that 40k is probably earmarked for health insurance.
The UK doesn't seem to be too "comfortable" a place to live in at the mo, to put it mildly, and I guess the US isn't any better. You'd (the OP) be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. That may have changed for the better or the worse in 10 years' time. Aren't there any other parts of Europe that would welcome your annual spend at no cost to themselves? With £40k disposable income, you certainly wouldn't be considered "a burden on the state" in France, you'd need only about a half of that.

So here's the rub: here, when we talk about disposable income, we're talking about what's left when the taxman and bills are paid. We're talking about 40K gross. Does that paint a different picture?

 

[BlackIsland]

Gosh why would you want to leave, I don't know Tacoma but I thought the Pacific Northwest was absolutely stunning. Apart from Bend, Bend was rubbish.

That beauty comes at a pretty big cost - the taxes in this state are quite regressive (we're below median household income for the state, so we have a much higher percentage of the tax burden). Plus in retirement we want to travel more, especially to the continent, so travel costs would be much lower too.

 

[BlackIsland]

Thanks all for the helpful comments, sorry I didn't reply sooner, I was occupied with getting an old '50s fridge to convert into a kegerator. I've added a bit more detail into the thread, and again, thanks for all your thoughts. We're years away, but I so appreciated the vacay advice I got from here back in 2018, I suspected y'all might help out again.

 

[BlackIsland]

So my message to @BlackIsland is I can't advise you on where to go, I have no idea of what you and your wife want out of life. But I do advise, if you only have a limited knowledge of the UK, that you pay a visit to find out what it offers and perhaps spend some extended time in several different areas. But certainly don't sell up early in the US if you do decide to come over here, just rent out your US place and rent over here in case you find you don't like the UK to your liking long term, and then you can return to where you are used to.

THIS is our idea too. We're thinking of renting out our house, and renting there for a while to get a better lay of the land. My wife's cousin in Bournemouth would love us to live somewhere near her, so we'll likely start near there. The wife is in love with Georgian architecture, so that could come into play as well.

Thanks for all the thoughtful feedback!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Stunning and expensive, and smokey as hell with all the wildfires.
The only way my wife and I can afford to live in the pnw is by staying with family. Right now we are paying $500 a month for the use of an old school bus that we've converted into a mini-house. There are places in the mid-west, south, and back east where we could buy a nice house for less than $400 a month which includes property tax and insurance.

Strangely enough my wife and I just an hour ago were talking about where we camped on our trip up the pacific coast, I thought i recognised the name crescent city, we camped at Jedediah Smith State Park, not far, are the fires around there?

 

[pilgrimhudd]

That beauty comes at a pretty big cost - the taxes in this state are quite regressive (we're below median household income for the state, so we have a much higher percentage of the tax burden). Plus in retirement we want to travel more, especially to the continent, so travel costs would be much lower too.

Yeah that's fair enough.

 

[MmmBeer]

THIS is our idea too. We're thinking of renting out our house, and renting there for a while to get a better lay of the land. My wife's cousin in Bournemouth would love us to live somewhere near her, so we'll likely start near there. The wife is in love with Georgian architecture, so that could come into play as well.

Thanks for all the thoughtful feedback!

Bournemouth and surrounding Dorset are very nice, although not the cheapest. Cheltenham is the first place that springs to mind for Georgian architecture, Leamington and Malvern are other possibilities.

 

[BlackIsland]

As a half-serious reply, South Wales has some beautiful places and with global warming and the Gulf Stream, I can’t see them having terrible winters, not compared to PNW USA...

Our stay in Porthcawl felt like home, wind, rain and all.

 

[MrRook]

Strangely enough my wife and I just an hour ago were talking about where we camped on our trip up the pacific coast, I thought i recognised the name crescent city, we camped at Jedediah Smith State Park, not far, are the fires around there?

Even though out mailing address is Crescent City we're actually closer to Fort **** which is not very far from J S state park. There is a fire about 35-40 miles from us. We had a smoke free sky this afternoon for the first time in a week.
On a side note the main drag in Fort **** is Moorehead rd.