SEA CHANGE RETIREMENT NOT ALL SUNSHINE

Many city people choose to retire to small coastal towns or country areas - often places where they have enjoyed family summer holidays. It seems like a logical progression of ideas. Instead of settling for three weeks at Christmas, retirees can enjoy sun-filled summer holidays round the clock seven days a week.
But is the dream holiday location always the ideal place for people to spend their latter years?
Most city-dwelling holiday makers have never experienced their favourite getaway in the off-season. A sunny, pleasantly bustling holiday town where cafes and shops are constantly open can look quite different on a rainy winter’s day. (Or in hot climates, the opposite may be true. A town that enjoys temperatures in the 20’s in winter may turn humid and unbearable in summer). And while long-term residents may look forward to the end of the tourist season, many city-conditioned newcomers find the dullness of the off-season hard to get used to.
Some retirees report that it didn’t occur to them to check out whether the clubs, sports and hobbies they’d always enjoyed in the city were available in the small town. It is easy to take the activities and events available in the city for granted when you are too busy working to enjoy them. Activities such as china-painting and other art or craft classes, gyms with comprehensive timetables, seniors’ exercise classes, chess clubs, bridge, gardening clubs, theatre and so on may not exist in a smaller marketplace.
Furthermore, while most retirees enjoy excellent health, they need to take into account the availability of hospitals and medical facilities; many people who have lived close to a range of specialist health-care facilities all their lives without needing them move away just as they move into an age group where the statistical likelihood of problems increases.

For some the decision to move away from the city is a financial one – the money they get from selling the family home often finances a home and income. But in many cases it is possible to scale down and still stay closer to friends and facilities. Of course, moving away from the environment where people have spent their working life is not always the wrong decision, but many people would do well to rent before they buy. That way they can keep their options open until they feel confident they have made the right decision.

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