What Will Your Retirement Lifestyle Be?

Day-to-day, many of us make choices that define our lives and our lifestyles without even realizing it.

One of the surprising things that define our lifestyle is transportation. Are you a car person? Do you ride public transit? Do you get everywere by foot or by bike? There are a lot of options, and each impacts the time we have on a daily basis, our health, and our stress levels.

In turn, our transportation choices are often defined by where we choose to live. Do you live in a neighborhood where you can access local resources by walking? Are you on a public transit route? For some of us, the dream of retirement consists of a small place in the countryside. However, while we think with pleasant anticipation to the sense of privacy, we rarely consider the costs in time.

Lets look at a simple comparison. Bob retired to a place in the country. He's a good hour outside of the nearest town, so he needs to go drive 2 hours round trip to go shopping. Mark meanwhile retired to a small condo in town. He lives a five minute walk from the grocery store. Both shop once every week. This means that Bob spends 104 hours a year shopping. Mark spends less than 10 hours.

A difference of 90 hours might not seem earth shattering when you look at it, but it's more than 2 weeks of full-time work. Mark's choice gives him more time. Bob's choice gives him privacy, but then he pays for that privacy in time. As well, Mark's choice is cheaper, since he doesn't pay for vehicle maintenance, gas, insurance and so on. The specific numbers may differ, but the underlying truth is that you pay for your secluded house in the country with both time and money. In turn however, that house is probably cheaper to buy for those exact same reasons.

There is a case to be made for either form of living. Personally, I'd prefer the city. I value my time, and being in the city gives me access to more things to do. It's decisions like these that you should make prior to your retirement. If you don't know where you want to live, how can you ever be sure you'll be saving enough money?

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What Will Your Retirement Lifestyle Be?

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