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Courtesy of Tumbleweed Tiny House Co.
Tumbleweed Tiny House Company sells modest accommodations, from a cosy 99 square feet to a comfortable 874 square feet.
Here are five trends that are making retirement more fun — and accessible — for retirees of all kinds.
Senior co-housing: A Danish trend takes hold
The concept is that individuals and couples live in private homes but share ownership a central common house. Construction is well underway for Valverde Commons in Taos, N.M., which is in easy walking distance to the Taos Historic District. There will be 28 home sites on 10 acres, with a 4–acre grassy commons, a common house and a barn. Building lots sell for as little as $150,000, and each custom home will follow guidelines for sustainability and energy efficiency.
Related: See the world’s coolest rental homes
Belize: Cheap — and they speak English
Despite its Central American setting, Belize uses English as its national language, so visitors and retirees don't have to worry about understanding the lingo. The country is also popular with Americans because it’s possible to live here comfortably for less than $25,000 a year. A complete meal in a mid-price restaurant, for instance, will cost under $40 for two — and if you like fresh seafood, this is your culinary paradise. Belize also has big appeal as a retirement destination for active couples who love snorkeling, scuba diving and jungle trekking.
Retiring at sea — on a cruise ship
While there are condominium cruise ships, the entry price to purchase an apartment is usually more than $1 million. But there are alternatives that can provide an extended break without requiring an entire year aboard a ship. For instance, retirees can take advantage of their flexible schedules by booking whichever ship happens to be offering the best deal to destinations with the best weather. Or consider a round-the-world cruise, which generally lasts around 100 days. Fred. Olsen Cruises, a long-time British line that is very traditional in its service and style, offers one that calls on ports in Spain, India, Indonesia, among others; prices start at under $14,000 per person for the 106-day cruise.
Build a tiny home — in your adult children's backyard
Itsy-bitsy houses — some just 400-square-feet — are the newest trend in residential construction. With a tiny kitchenette, a very intimate sitting room and a loft bedroom, these houses are low-cost, low-maintenance and perfect for the retiring couple seriously looking to "down-size." A Virginia company aptly named Tumbleweed Tiny House Company sells a 400-sq.-ft. log cabin with a covered porch for $36,900. If you have grown children who want to look after you, but you still want your independence, this might be a perfect solution — because some retirees choose to build these mini-homes in their children's backyards.
Workamping: Semi-retirement in an R.V.
Imagine driving around the country in your camper van or R.V., picking a nice campsite, and then taking a temporary job to earn some extra cash. When the travel bug hits you, just unhook your RV from the camp facilities and head to someplace new. A growing band of people is embracing this trend, and there are even a number of devoted websites that offer advice to workampers and help them find jobs. The cost? It's true that gas prices are high right now, but that's not necessarily a permanent condition. Plus, your other costs are minimal (mainly food and campsite fees). Some people even work for three or four months as campground hosts, get their campsite for free, and earn a salary besides. Other job opportunities for workampers include amusement parks, hotels in national parks, the Army Corps of Engineers.
Financial expert Sharon Epperson and Mark Orwoll of Travel + Leisure magazine talk about new and different places to retire, such as a cruise ship, a recreational vehicle and co-housing on the Thursday TODAY show.
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Leave a Comment:
Not sure these are all swell ideas.
Belize - nice country for a married couple. But very anti-Gay. Google it. If you a right-wing fundy Christian, you might think it is heaven.
Living in an RV - I've seen seniors go broke doing this. The cheapest ones cost nearly $100,000 new and depreciate rapidly. Fuel costs, repair costs, and lot rental (or park fees) add up to more than the cost of a modest apartment. Working camping might be one way to reduce this, but it is still WORK - not just goofing off, as some friends of mine found out. Cheaper to rent an apartment and get a part-time job.
Mini-House: Just buy a Park Model home (a small RV that is meant to be lived in, but far cheaper than a motorhome - about $30,000) and park it in an inexpensive park in Florida for about $500 a month. This "small house movement" is nonsense - they have just reinvented the park model is all.
Cruise Ship: Obviously this is not a cost-effective proposition at $14,000 for 100 days - that would be over $50,000 a year. Plus, cruises suck, really. It is not travel, it is just staying in a big crowded hotel with a bad shopping mall. Cruise ships and jails are the two places that spread the Norovirus. That tells you something.
How about.....Just retiring? Why do yuppies feel they have to "reinvent" everything?
How about... retiring at 50? Works for me!
Actually, the mini-house, also called a doll house, have been touted as both good for seniors willing to down-scale AND college students seeking prvacy and quiet. The biggest obstacle is local zoning laws. While some may complain that the wealthy can have gatehouse and guest cottages, the truth is that they also have square footage to support them. A 5000sf. lot (50*100) may not be able to support the additional sewage, parking and utility demands of a secondary home; or provide adequate separation of living spaces. Doll house projects take this into account by redeveloping multistory areas into microhouse single level areas. No stairs or elevators. Clustered, energy-efficient buildings with a minimalest feel that blend well into previously developed areas. Backyard homes bespeak the mobile homes prominent in many rural areas, semi-permanent replacements of the old decaying home, or of the kids or parents that the homeowners are now stuck with. It isn't even uncommon to see two to four of these in the country. Remember that 400sf. leaves little room for a laundry, or even much of a kitchen. And a bedroom loft may be practical for a college student, but not for the elderly. And they still require all the upkeep of a larger house, vacuuming, mopping, cleaning, painting, caulking, etc, plus utilities (unless the host is willing to absorb the cost of gas, electricity, water, sewage and garbage). Some, mostly eastern locales, have grandfathered individual lots for these mini-houses. But other locales are not welcoming of what they see as a way around existing zoning ordinances for SINGLE family residences. They have no problem with three generations living in one house, but a big problem of a landlord and a tenant living in two houses on a single family lot.
Ha. I've thought of all five and had some of the same concerns. I love small and tiny houses, but try and have one anywhere with any kind of zoning!
I also get so tired of "active couples" or "couples couples couples." So many of us aren't in said coupling, aren't going to be, and many people will be and then won't be. I'm sick of the assumption that "couples retire" when actually I think the stats are more and more that it's not "couples."
how about finding a nice trailer park or buy a small lot and part a trailer in a cheap part of the country...... roughly 100 feet from the nearest barand diner so you can hang with the locals. Sounds like a plan to me.
Aside from the snide comment about conservatives (I must be the only conservative that supports gay rights? Actually there are a LOT of us out there), I think you make some valid points about unconventional retirement.
RVing is great but it's nowhere as cheap as non-RVers think it is. If you have a motorhome, you'll need another car to get around town. If you pull a travel trailer, you are doing it with a large pickup truck. Have you noticed the cost of diesel fuel nowadays? Setting up and tearing down a camper is no picnic either. Camping is great but it's not as "easy and cheap" and people would have you believe.
Belize sounds lovely. BTW, I don't know many people who move somewhere based on their pro-gay or anti-gay stance so that's a non-starter for me. The thing with moving to another country is that it's not an option for most retirees! It might be cheaper, it might be American-friendly, it might be paradise on earth, but how many retirees really want to move to a foreign country? 5%. 10% tops? Don't really see the point in the suggestion.
Cruise ship? Kind of the same as Belize. I've been on one cruise and loved it. But spending a year on a boat isn't that appealing. Plus the weather isn't always sunny and calm. It's one of those nice ideas when you first hear it......... not so sure after you've had time to think about it.
Tiny house in kid's backyard? Was that an April Fool's suggestion? No thanks.
I think RobertPlattBell is on to something....................... why do people over-think their retirement? If you want to downsize to a smaller house (not a glorified closet), then do it. Pay off your debts and you'll have so much flexibility to do whatever you want........... RV, cruise, trip to Belize........ why settle for one when you can do it all on your own time.
Do you guys at MSNBC have Google, or do they make you use BING or something (Ask.com no doubt). Because if you Google Belize, not many folks are singing its praises:
From:
http://huntinghumantraffickers.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/belize-macho-culture-have-dangerous-laws-against-gay-tourists-warning/
"State-sponsored homophobia in Belize supports the cultural view that those who engage in same sex sexual activity do so at their peril. Belize distinguishes itself in many ways, not least of which is its status as the Murder Capital of the World. Now add its homophobia-driven laws to the mix and see what it tells you. With this mix, sightseeing in Belize can become a swim with sharks if you are gay."
From the U.S. State Department website:
"Belize recorded 125 homicides in 2011, a decrease of five percent from 2010. Prior to 2011, homicide rates in Belize rose at least five percent every year since 2000, with the exception of 2009 when homicide rates again decreased slightly. With a population of only 312,698 according to the 2010 country census, Belize’s per capita homicide rate of 39 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2011 ranks it as the sixth highest in the world. While the country’s per capita homicide rate is still lower than that of other Central American countries, such as Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, its year-on-year increase is of concern."
Robert: Belize is the Murder Capitol of the World? The City of Baltimore has a population around 600,000 and around 300 murders per year. That's about 50 homicides per 100,000 population compared to Belize's 39. And Baltimore isn't even the Murder Capitol of America!
The libelous lines you quoted are from an apparently justifiably angry gay site, but that doesn't excuse them for lying about "Murder Capitol".
Maybe they don't work for you, but Belize or a cruise works for me just fine. That $14,000 cruise includes food and entertainment, as well as housekeeping. Someone gives you new towels and makes up your bed every day and leaves chockies on the pillow at night, you unpack one and you wake up in a new place every day. What's not to like? Belize - I could scuba dive there very day of the year and not get bored. The people I've met there hardly seem right-wingnuts, but I wouldn't be living there to mix in the local politics anyhow.
Suze the Muze,
So you're comfortable with letting the world know, for the sake of a chocolate treat, wheteter you got lucky last night, pulled one off for yourself, or just gave up and went to sleep?
As for Belize, the unofficial US colony. I would ultimately be nervous about the unofficial colony part. This is one of the original gun-boat banana republics, only they figured out it was better at oranges, Check who owns the private land in Belize (the government holds about hall). Two industries, MinuteMaid or tourism, is likely to breed unrest and hatred.
Correction -- 'whether you got lucky'
"[Belize]...The country is also popular with Americans because it’s possible to live here comfortably for less than $25,000 a year. A complete meal in a mid-price restaurant, for instance, will cost under $40 for two..." +++++ So what do you think Americans pay in America for what they consider a "mid-price restaurant"? A complete meal for two is less than $40 at Olive Garden, etc. Even a crab cake platter at a mid-price restaurant in Baltimore is only around $25. This is the kind of article that makes me wonder where in Richistan today's reporters come from - like the ABC article on "Copycat Fashions for Skinny Wallets" that averaged $595!
Hopefully by the time I retire I will have a beautiful (decent-sized, but not huge) home, a relatively new Audi in the garage like I enjoy now, and enough money to buy cheap wine at Trader Joe's. I don't require expensive cable or satellite packages to be happy, just a nice patio chair and a full wine glass!
Build a wind turbine for my town so everyone gets free electricity, give the school a credit card to buy clothing etc for the poor fix up the cars of the poor that do have a job but cant get to it coz the car craps out on them surprise the elderly with a monthly stipend for groceries pay random utilities for those in need pay the season ticket for those who cant afford a swimming ticket a new furnace for my church special nice xmas presents for those in need buy a taxi for my town I dont need much Id live off the interest I have a small family and a few really good friends all would be spoiled, and most important I would make the lives of a couple of people who have wronged me a living hell.Look out Jezebel, that broke up my fiance and I. Lol
Just noticed Im not in the right place, sorry guys.