Retire There with Gil & Gene

Karen Blue (Blue) worked a stressful job and lived in a very expensive city. At 52, she was ready to retire, but her accountant advised that she’d be unable to do so if she wished to stay in California's Silicon Valley. Blue then has a premonition about living in an enclave. A few days later she read an article about expats living in an “enclave,” known as the Lake Chapala area of Mexico. She visi...

You live in a pricey northeast city which you find is becoming more expensive to live in, what should you do? Barbara Winard and Martin Kozlowski felt that way about Jersey City, New Jersey but they had to figure out where to go. They landed in New Castle, Delaware which checked off many boxes on their list of wants but also gave them, what Martin described as, a tingle. New Castle, a place which...

You desire to retire in France, but it’s prohibitively expensive, where do you go? Rosemary Bointon and Ian Cole opted for the cosmopolitan, cultural, yet charming, city of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. It is the largest city in Portugal and one of the oldest cities in the world. It is home to majestic cathedrals, colorful city landscapes, mild climate and friendly neighborhoods. Rosemary and I...

Would you retire to a rural mining ghost town? Pearce, Arizona doesn’t have a supermarket or a movie theater, but it has musicians Donna and Gary Brown for entertainment. The couple grew up in Chicago; formed a band when they were young; got married and had long non-musical careers while living in Colorado; had their band rediscovered, put out an album, and toured while they were in their sixties;...

When Americans think about places to retire, few would consider Krakow, Poland. They might visit there for historic reasons, but not as a place to live full-time. Grace Nagiecka and Greg Spring would beg to differ! They fell in love with the place and moved to Krakow to retire. What is not to love about Krakow? It is a big, fun and cheerful city with a small city vibe, contains history around ever...

You retire with limited income and savings and don’t wish to live overseas, what do you do? Consider “senior housing?” Joan and Steven Reid moved from a small apartment in the affluent community of Pearl River, New York, to a senior housing complex in Vero Beach, Florida. In this community, the Reids pay under $900 a month for a very nice 2 bedroom apartment with a pool in the complex. The catch -...

Sometimes, retirees don't spend long in what they believed would be their “forever home.” After retirement, Al Salas and Carlos Torres moved to, what was, their vacation home in the small seaside town of Lewes, Delaware. They soon realized the place they loved going to on weekends was not where they wanted to settle. Additionally, as young retirees, the couple had to pay for their own health insur...

What images come to mind when you hear the terms trailer park or mobile home park? You may think of run-down communities with stray dogs and men walking sporting wife-beater tops. That stereotype is what led to the birth of the name “manufactured” homes and their communities. Many manufactured home communities in Florida have beautiful dwellings with fabulous amenities such as pools, gyms and pick...

Brits frequently complain about gloomy weather, but how many of them leave the country because of it? Fiona Mackenzie-Spence did. I was spiritually guided to Gozo, Malta , says Fiona, a place she had never been. Gozo is a beautiful Mediterranean island where nearly all of the natives speak English. Listen to our conversation with Fiona, about moving to Gozo, on Episode 67 of Retire There with Gil...

How would you like to retire to a diverse, vibrant city, one that is much, much more affordable than New York or San Francisco? Sarah Vogel opted for Philadelphia, a city which offers all the amenities of other major hubs at, what can be, a fraction of the price. Among other things, Philly is brimming with cultural and historic institutions, delicious eateries, pro-sports teams, many parks and woo...

Happy 2022! In Episode 65, Gil & Gene discuss how the Retire There podcast has evolved in 2021. Specifically, they chat about what they have learned from their guests, themselves, and where they think they’ve agreed to retire.  Gil & Gene are proud of their 2021 achievements: Retire There with Gil & Gene won a 2021 Golden Crane Award for Best Society & Culture podcast by the Asian American Podcast...

If you were retiring on a U.S. military pension and wanted to live a comfortable life, where would you go? Donny Chamberland recently retired from the military, and his wife, Victoria, recently did the same from a civilian position. They decided to leave Madison, Wisconsin and retire to San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. Each year throngs of people come to relax at the many resorts the Dominican R...

If you were in the red zone of retirement and you love outdoor activities such as fishing and hiking, where would you retire? Julie Sosinski selected a lake home near Hayward, Wisconsin for most of the year and a condo in Bonita Springs, Florida for the winter months. Find out more about Julie’s adventurous life, on Episode 63 of Retire There with Gil & Gene . Support the Show. Hosted by Simplecas...

Imagine this, you are living in Abu Dhabi but desire more of a rural life. You have never been to Spain and you don’t know Spanish, would you purchase an old house, without a roof, in a rural spot in Andalusia, Spain? That’s exactly what Sabina Ostrowska and Robert Ryan did. It took a year and half to renovate the house, which included the addition of two guest suites that they rent out under the...

Find a home within a two-hour driving radius of Hoboken, New Jersey, where your new grandchild resides. Where do you go? Nancy and Joel Collamer decided to check out Bucks County, Pennsylvania by renting a home in an active 55+ community in Langhorne. After a year, they ended up loving it and purchasing a home in the same community. Bucks County has the best of both worlds--quaint towns and beauti...

In 1992, Mark Greenside was a 47 year old New Yorker living in Northern California. His most valuable possession was a 20 year old car and he considered himself downwardly mobile and a lifelong sceptic. Nevertheless, he purchased a beautiful home in Brittany, a quaint area in France. Mark is now retired. He and his wife, Donna Umeki, enjoy a tri-coastal life - they live part-time in Alameda Island...

Many immigrants come to America for better opportunities for their future generations, then yearn to return to their homeland in their golden years, only to find that what they left behind has dramatically changed and their American born offspring innately have no desire to join their parents in their ancestral lands … what do you do? That precise conundrum is what gave Iggy Ignatius the idea of c...

You retire to Costa Rica and love it but you desire to live somewhere with more historic culture, where do you go? Paul and Gloria Yeatman felt a pull ... After living in Costa Rica for 12 years, the couple moved to Oaxaca City, Mexico. The city is in the mountainous region in the southern center of Mexico and is part of the state of Oaxaca. Living in Oaxaca has afforded them the opportunity to en...

After sailing around the world together for eight years, where should a couple retire? Those years would be a mix of living together in tight quarters of a boat and stopping in exotic places around the globe. What if your option was between a small town mountain cottage and a seaside condo? Julie and Glen Bradley chose both. Their springs, summers and falls are spent in the high country Arizona to...

Would you like to retire to a place with a great combination of food and history? How about Valencia, a comfortable city on Spain’s Mediterranean Coast? Valencia is, after all, the birthplace of paella. While it was politics, in part, which caused Janet Christian and Eric Marsh to leave the United States, it was food and opera which drew them to Valencia. Find out more about what led this Texas co...

Savannah, Georgia is known as “The Forest City” for good reason. Arching live oaks, swathed with picturesquely gothic drapes of Spanish moss add charm to a city which is already beaming with historic architecture. Along with being a beautiful city, there is always something to do in Savannah. The city’s many annual events include the film festival, the music festival, the book festival, the house...

Imagine living in a truly cosmopolitan, top-tier city where having a full-time housekeeper/cook is affordable. Suzanne Nam, and her family, found all that and more in Bangkok, Thailand. She has lived in Bangkok for over 15 years and still enjoys the city’s popular attractions. But she is really keen on exploring the nooks and crannies that make Thailand’s capital city so alluring. Learn more about...

Have you ever dreamt about chucking everything and escaping to a far-away island? Cynthia and Winston Hovey made it happen! They left their ocean-view apartment and corporate lifestyle in San Diego to live in a grass hut and manage a pirate bar on a tiny island (population 5) in the British Virgin Islands. After hurricanes devastated the island, they captained and ran luxury sailing and motor yach...

Have you considered retiring early? What is early though? Is it under 65, your early 50s, late 50s? Meet our youngest guests on the show to date! Traci Stinson-Smiley, 48, and Rolanda Stinson-Smiley, 38, a couple who went from living a hectic work-life in Seattle, Washington to retiring to an affordable, comfortable lifestyle in Manta, Ecuador! On Episode 52 of Retire There with Gil & Gene , hear...

Have you ever considered dropping and selling everything so you could travel the world without stopping? That is exactly what Debbie and Michael Campbell, The Senior Nomads , did in July 2013. Since then, the couple has roamed the world living almost exclusively in Airbnbs. Their goal is to live in other people’s homes around the world just as they would have stayed in their Seattle home. Episode...