Don’t confuse retirement and holidays
You can use vacations to check out possible retirement locales. Keep in mind, though, that vacationing in a spot is different from actually living there. Loretta and Bruce Parker, now 71 and 75, had long thought they would retire to a lake house they owned an hour or so from their home in Rochester, N.Y. But when they finally moved there, they lasted just a few months. What had been a peaceful retreat during their working years turned into too much solitude.
“When we tried to do it 24/7, it was deadly quiet for us,” Loretta says. So they instead moved to Bradenton, Fla., where they enjoy an active lifestyle that includes tennis, visits to the gym, and socializing with friends.