Showing posts with label early retirement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label early retirement. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

One Year Ago - What's Next?

It's hard to imagine it's been a year since we sold our house and began this odyssey of  "What's Next?".

Bittersweet...we miss the old place!
We are still very happy that we sold and moved. Still, it's hard for me not to think of all the things I would be preparing in the old gardens, what would be sprouting, getting excited for the upcoming season. Spring is the hardest because you're anxious to start moving and start warming-up. It's the season of renewal and growth.

Glory days in the old veggie garden
So, what's next? We are pretty sure that we do not want to stay in the D.C. area. No one moves to D.C. to kick back and relax or to retire. It's too hectic and expensive. And the traffic...don't get me started!

Retirement priorities!
We have our eyes set on Ohio - preferably the Columbus area. The area has a job market that will support us into retirement and it's pretty cheap to live there compared to here. Taxes are decent...not the best, but better than many. Retirement is decent there as well. We knew that we did NOT want to go back south (too hot) or even much further north where we would experience much of the same lifestyle - hectic and expensive.

The Buckeye State is lookin' pretty good to us!
Plus, when we went there last August, we really liked the "small town community" feel that many towns/neighborhoods had. We like the thought that our next house will be "our forever home" and we'll get to retire eventually...but more importantly, we'll be able to afford to do what we WANT to do versus what we HAVE to do as far as work. I want to make my soap company a legitimate business that would support us, and we couldn't do that if we stayed in the D.C. area.

We're going out to Ohio in May to do some scouting...if everything goes according to plans, we'll be looking into buying a home there later this year!

Friday, May 25, 2018

Goodbye Country Home

Some amazing memories were made here!

Today we settle on our beautiful country home. We’ve absolutely loved living there, and it’s been truly heartbreaking to let it go, but our decision to sell has been for the right reasons. We are looking forward to having more time to focus on the next chapter in our lives, which is to put us in a position to work and do what we want to do versus what we HAVE to do to make a living. Also, we want to start focusing on where we want to eventually retire, and it might not be here in the NOVA/D.C. area.

Secondly, selling was a smart business decision being executed at the right time. The market is up, we got a great comp for a sale, and we seized the moment.

But we will truly miss our country beauty. We are thrilled with the young family that is buying the place and we know they will love living there as much as we have.

Goodbye country beauty; we will always love you.

 

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