Thinking about just renting a unit instead of owning- anyone else doing this ?

[pmccarthy]

My town has a primary school, post office, pub and fire station, that’s all. We are only twenty minutes from a proper town with shops and a railway station and an hour's drive from Melbourne airport. It seems to work well, except for the rabbits and kangaroos eating our garden.

[randomx]

Yeah right , your closer to much more stuff and Melb so l can see that'd be fine. And so your married or something to eh? That'd make all the difference here and really help if you both liked it. l'm 3hrs Melb here and l'm single now though to so yeah she's pretty out there alone , for me anyway but some would love it that way though.

Don't worry, been wondering myself if l should just make the most of it and maybe in time l make some sort of life here. That'd be easiest and def' best financially that's for sure. Pretty well why l've been staying here now, testing it out but so far it's just been bloody depressing for me, which is just not healthy and no way to live.

As l say though to , realizing as well the trip up to the main town which is the only one worth going to, it's ok for now but yeah, few yrs time or as you got older ? Your not gonna wanna go all that way every 5mins and l'd just like to be closer to towns like that. Not only the driving but just nicer living having stuff around you and handy but with some life going on about to and things to do. Totally different life to out here.

Edited Saturday at 09:37 PM by randomx

[Jerry_Atrick]

OK... 3 Hurs from Melbourne.. Where is "out here"?

 

Roughly?

 

 

[facthunter]

LOTS of good Places. That's why I have stayed in Victoria. I was  Born and raised In NEWCASTLE. The Coaly City.. Nev

[randomx]

Yeah l like vic too Nev, and have lived interstate. Don't wanna be too specific here Jerry but in from the coast sth west vic, out here enough for me that's all that matters.

Jesus you can probably hardly remember anywhere anyway could you , uk and all how long ? How long since you've spent any time back here anyway btw ?

Edited yesterday at 05:53 AM by randomx

[facthunter]

ALL of that Coast is rather nice. Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

I have spent a bot of time on the Great Ocean road and Shipwreck Coast. 

 

3 hours from Mleb could be anywhere depending on which roads you take, but I am guessng the more direct route and a bit inland from Warrnambool. When I last lived in Melbourne (2003 - 2005), there was a lass in the office from Warrnambool - and I have to admit if I wasn't already spoken for, I could have had her speaking for me. 

 

Nicve part of the country - one of the regions I am looking to retire.

 

 

[randomx]

Bloody dear now Nev , all through from Geelong up , madness.

So your  comin back Jerry eh ? Couldn't even imagine being in another country so long and thinking about home like that , total brain fk. Can l ask , what are you doing in the UK anyway ? Not that there's anything wrong with it just wondering.

Had a mate in Barcelona wants to come home, was really surprised would've been one of my picks if l was moving os. 

Edited yesterday at 09:08 AM by randomx

[randomx]

ps, can l change user name here ?

[Jerry_Atrick]

How I came to the UK is a looong story. To cut it short, my then fiancee and I split up, but for a year, she was still hanging around wanting best of both worlds. Muggins here allowed it for a bit, but to try and put some distance between us I took a 12 month contract in Traralgon. She was still hanging on, which is a bit rich since she initiated the split. Anyway, I decided buuggah it, I am going to move to the UK and use it as a base to see the world. The sofeare company that was putting in Software at Morwell power station had just started up a London office and when their people at Morwell learned of my plan, they offered me a job. 

 

So out here I came, and met parnter Atrick (never been married) and had two offspring. We moved to Melbourne in 2003, but both of us throught that at that time in our lives, London was probably the better option for us, financially and for the kids. And, it largely was. However, while I still do OK financially, 13 years of conservative rule and the kids growing up, Aus looks the better place now (just wish I had kids younger). 

 

I knew we were better in Australia when we moved out of London about 12 years ago now, and we almost did move. SWMBO needs a place to call home and we were having no luck finding a suitable place here, at any price. But just as we were about to start planning the move, a place same up and we bought it. That, IMHO, was a mistake as it really wasn't what we both wanted - one wanted it more than the other. Then this place came up, so we went for it, which was a mistake for the same reason - except the other wanted it more than the last one. The other mistake was this is a massive peice of work and we will lose money on this one (at least with the other, we broke even). Thankfully, house prices have just picked up a bit here. If we had moved to Aus 12 years ago, we would be sitting pretty with respect to a property and probably one or two rentals. 

 

So, we are close to finishing this place. I have to spend more time on the house than the keyboard. My son wants to study marine biology in Townsville or Hobart (but, Geelong (Deakin) will do as far as I am concerned). My daughter is wedded to finishing law in the UK, but her univeristy, which is something like 200th in the world ranking of law schools is affiliated with Melbourne, which is 10th.. so I am encouraging her to see if she can transfer to Melbourne, get her degree from Melbourne and if she wants to come back to the UK, she can do a masters at one of the better universities, which will cost her a lot less and she will be far more attractive to potential employers. 

 

I want to work a bit more in Aus, and truth is I will probably never retire until I am physically and/or metnally incapable of continuing. But, I don't want the pressure I have now, especially in the corproate environment as I am thoroughly sick of the politics (never been good at it) and where I work has really changed from being a great place where you can just get on with it and people are mutually supportive to back to the a dog eat dog world and executivemanagement than bend with the wind. I guess I am more cyncial these days.

 

But, I wouldn't have changed moving out of Aus for the world. Just would have comeback sooner. I have learned a lot and it has taken me to place and allowed me to experience life in many countries as a peer and not a tourist. .I have many great firendships. Believe it or not, it has made me less uptight and a lot more tolerant. And opened my eyes to many things I would have shunned. So I consider it has made my life experience far richer than it would have been.

[Jerry_Atrick]

6 minutes ago, randomx said:

ps, can l change user name here ?

Ask @red750 or @old man emu - they should know.

[red750]

You can change your display name, not that I've heard of it being done, or what impact it will have on your previous posts.

 

Click on your avatar at the top of the left margin.

From the dropdown menu, select Account Settings.

The first item is Display Name.

Click on the Change button.

Enter and save your new Display Name.

[randomx]

Thanks for that red , won't explain it'd just be best.

 

But eh Jerry , yep, that is a complicated one , should've known it'd involve women ha ha. Nottttt, that l regret being married but it did change so many things and huge decisions, especially financially whichhh, has put me in this position now, not going into it tis what it tis doesn't matter now. Does still hurt though that we would've been multi millinaires buttt, spilt milk.  Funny, ex wifey said to me the other day no regrets and l thought well darlin, that's a really good attitude l guess, so her, she's a glass half full. Soooo, l'm trying to take a leaf out of that one atm myself for the situation now. lt wasn;t only that anyway it was stupid me that did a really bad deal on my new house later and got stuffed up in that all by myself. But eh, that involved a woman to.

 

l didn't think l'd retire for yrs yet either was still enjoying work but l took off caravanning 12mths got really lazy and now l don't wanna go back ha ha. My brothers 50s and hasn't worked 2yrs now either and having trouble going back too reckons he ain't doing it now if he can find a way out of it. He does own his place though and has some savings, his gf's got plenty of money too.

Funny, we were having some beers just today and chuckling about how lazy we both are now.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 12:06 PM by randomx

[randomx]

ps, that's all what makes the decision with this place so damn tricky now. Bc lf l just kept this now instead despite everything else l'd still manage to be in the same position he's in, which would be bloody nice. 

Edited yesterday at 12:19 PM by randomx

[onetrack]

if you don't want to keep working when you get to 50, you'll need a lot of money behind you to see you into an average length of old age. The problem with not working is you're not accumulating super - and super is usually necessary in old age, unless you own a sizeable amount of property which you can convert into cash in retirement. The only other way you can stop working early, is if you receive a large inheritance.

[facthunter]

Marry a wealthy Person. IF Love dies the money is still around. Marriage is a Lottery so, Perhaps Buy  a lottery ticket now and then. Without a Job to Motivate you to Get out of bed you might Just stay in Bed and that is No good at all.

    You need to be physically and Mentally active. Have a good Veggie Garden, a few fruit trees and some chooks.  Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

They say the first time you marry is for love; the second for money. 

 

Having never been married, I doubt I will ever find out.

[facthunter]

 IF you cohabit with someone you Might as well be Married as far as the LAW is concerned. They say IF you marry an Italian Man and you love him you will have that much in common.. You marry when you have a short circuit between your balls and your Brain. Nev

[onetrack]

While it is the Channel 7 news site, this article does give you some good ideas on how to plan for a successful retirement.

 

https://7news.com.au/business/retirement-expert-reveals-how-australians-can-retire-early-and-live-their-dream-life-c-21650614

 

I came across a bloke the other day who retired at age 38. He didn't say how he did it, but I would expect an element of luck as well as good planning and good earnings went into it. 

He was retired, on 600 acres (242Ha) in the North Eastern wheatbelt, about 300kms NE of Perth. He was in his late 60's, and he told me he'd actually gone back to work in his 50's because he wanted to put more into his super.

He wasn't short of money, and he'd just bought an 80's Unimog, and put a caravan on the back of it, and his pet retirement occupation was exploring the woodlands and goldfields areas further to the NE from his block.

It's not something I'd choose to do - living out there is costly, fuel and food are much higher cost than the city, and small country towns offer little by way of retirement company, simply due to the small numbers of population.

 

If you like sports, most small country towns have clubs and golf and football, which some people seem to get right into. I can't be bothered with sport, never have had any interest in it. I like fixing things.

A mate (aged 77) has retired to a shed his brother built in the deep South of W.A., on an 8 acre patch of land that is rented on a long term basis from friends.

Their lease extends for quite a few years yet - but if/when he moves out, the shed goes to the landowners, as part of the deal. He's about 10kms from a reasonable-size country town.

 

The problem is, my mates brother has recently been diagnosed with dementia at age 78 - so instead of my mate sharing his retirement years with his brother, he's spending it alone in his shed, while his brother is in aged care in a country town nearby. I don't think it's good to live alone, and especially when you become aged. But my mate split with his useless Indian wife (she started shagging one of his partners) over 25 years ago, and he has no time for women now.

 

She left him virtually penniless, and he's never recovered from it, mostly because he's not a good money manager. So he survives on a single aged pension, plus a few side jobs he gets, doing machining work.

He owns nothing, apart from an old (2005) 4WD Rodeo and a 2003 BF XR6 Falcon ute, which is high kms, so he's pretty dependent on Govt largesse to survive.

There's a lot of people like him - I'm amazed at the number of people living in small caravan parks in small country towns, on a permanent basis, because they can afford nothing else. It's just existing, that's all.

 

Edited 14 hours ago by onetrack

[randomx]

That was my brother 50s not me l'm a lot older than him.He's no idiot though he'll do whatever he does and eh the misses is is loaded to so they'll be right.

Me. l have plenty to do , nice to have the time for once to, retirement won't be a hassle not financially or other , just gotta sort the housing and stick to the old budget and all will be well. Been checking more out it's doable.

No regrets taking off vanning, was one of the nicest 12mths of my life and something l always wanted to do, loved it. Might even take another one doesn't cost much once you get use to getting your shopping sorted in all the different places but that's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

But yeah , there is a housing crisis on and it's bloody bad to so you do come across a lot of people actually living from their van rather than just travelling. Some love it l've met others not so much.

 

Haaa, marry for money ya reckon, well, if you can or want to that's a whatever from me. Met one chick had 5houses, she was nice to, wouldn't marry her though probably needed my head read and should've though ha ha.