Another quiet Saturday and thoughts turn to retirement (again). Today I thought about retirement income streams and how life would look once I stopped working. We need to find someplace affordable.
In California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts, retirees often need between $1.5 million and $2.2 million to maintain their lifestyles, according to a 2026 study by GoBankingRates. By contrast, Oklahoma is the most affordable state, with $735,284 the baseline for a comfortable retirement. Mississippi and Arkansas follow closely, with targets remaining under $810,000. What Is the Magic Number to Retire Comfortably? – https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/magic-number-to-retire-comfortably
OK. Check that box off the list. My thoughts then turned towards what age would be a good age to retire. My former manager wanted me to stick around for five years. The last time I saw my current manager he told me a story of his grandfather working until he was 80. You hear stories of more people working into their later years and I wondered, at what age do people really retire?
What’s the real retirement age in America? Here are 4 guesses – https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personal-finance/2026/08/29/retirement-age-in-america-social-security-medicare/91406670007/
Well, that wasn’t helpful at all. Then I entertained the thought of selling our house and downsizing.
Source: https://www.reventureconsulting.com/
Hmmm…
Guess I’ll keep working. May not be going anywhere, anytime soon.
lifeunderwriter.net 
Good!
What about some help and advice for my dear friend. She and her husband would like to move to another country to retire. Partly for cultural and travel reasons but mainly for cost of living and cash flow where the dollars will go further. Someplace stable and safe. Do you have recommendations?
My friend is fluent in French and Spanish and knows some Italian and German. And she is Jewish. The daughter is a freshman in high school and planning on attending college. My friend and her husband are in their Late 40s. Actually, the husband is in his 50s. My friend is almost 50. It took her a long time to get pregnant.
They don’t have a lot of savings. Mainly because of medical expenses. And the Covid shut down, greatly adversely affected both of their incomes.
https://due.com/stretching-a-dollar-retiree-friendly-countries-with-lower-cost-of-living/
https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/baby-boomers/articles/the-cheapest-places-to-retire-abroad-on-1-000-per-month
https://smartasset.com/retirement/cheapest-countries-to-retire
Oklahoma is pretty much a foreign country…
Thank you!!