Linda Correll had traveled around the world, but when it came to selecting a place to retire she narrowed it down to two countries: Spain and Portugal. Its more liberal visa and resident requirements gave Portugal the edge. Of the many wonderful cities available, Linda chose Porto for its cool weather and myriad of activities. Check out the more-popular-than-ever city of Porto, Portugal on Episode 93 of Retire There with Gil & Gene . For more of Linda’s story, read She Left The Country She K...
Jul 16, 2022•49 min•Ep. 93
Mel and Patricia Schlesinger love Mexico but they wanted an inexpensive home in the States to come back to annually, so as to not lose their Medicare benefits. They ended up purchasing a casita in one of the many 55 plus communities in Green Valley, Arizona, 30 miles south of Tucson and 60 miles north of the Mexican border. Residents of the city love Green Valley Recreation, an entity which consists of 13 busy hubs, seven golf courses and miles of hiking and biking trails. Mel Schlesinger’s webs...
Jul 09, 2022•46 min•Ep. 92
What would you do if your other half dreams of living in Europe but the thought hadn’t even occurred to you? This happened to Nancy Hampton! Instead of dismissing the idea, she broadened her mind and ended up loving life in Europe. First in Germany, where her husband Luther found a job, and thereafter in Italy where the couple retired. They stumbled upon the 16,000 resident city of Umbertide in Umbria. Umbria was chosen for its beauty, reasonable cost of living and great location close to transp...
Jul 02, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 91
Some retirees long for the luxurious amenities and numerous clubs of a 55+ active adult community, but also want both the culture of cities and the natural beauty of rural areas. Marsha and James Cuddington seem to have found it all at On Top of the World in Ocala, Florida. Marsha especially loves its fully-equipped wood shop. Outside the community are great parks, hiking/biking trails and hundreds of thoroughbred horse farms. Ocala is also home to a museum of art, a theater, a ballet company an...
Jun 25, 2022•55 min•Ep. 90
Ever fantasize about living on an Island in the middle of an ocean? At some point you probably talked yourself out of it, believing that it would be too isolated, too expensive and too hot. According to Bill Strickland and Sam Palmer, the Portuguese island of Madeira, off the African coast, is none of those. Bill and Sam retired to the city of Funchal on Madeira in 2021 without ever having stepped foot on the island. The couple described Funchal as having the feel of an old European city, even t...
Jun 17, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 89
Bob Wheeler and Kurt Kleespies lived and worked in San Francisco for years. When they retired, they desired a warmer climate and great outdoor activities without compromising excellent medical care and longtime social connections. Naturally, they were drawn to the quintessential Southern California city of Santa Barbara. They purchased a home and are loving everything about their new city. Find out more about living in Santa Barbara, California, on Episode 88 of Retire There with Gil & Gene ...
Jun 11, 2022•50 min•Ep. 88
When Mark L. Hinshaw and Savina "Sunny" Bertollini were seeking a vacation in Italy, they desired the beauty of Tuscany but without all the tourists and high costs. They stumbled upon the small ancient hilltown of Santa Vittoria in Matenano in the le Marche region and purchased a beautiful home with stunning views at a very, very affordable price tag. In the few years they have lived there, the couple has fallen in love with Santa Vittoria and the town has equally embraced them. Learn more about...
Jun 04, 2022•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 87
Peppy Castro, one of the founding members of the legendary rock band Blues Magoos and a lifelong New Yorker, dreamed of living on the water but he couldn’t afford most waterfront price tags. A few years ago he happened upon a one-bedroom waterfront condo in Lake Worth Beach, Florida and his life changed immeasurably. The beach calms the musician and there he met his partner, Jeanne McNaney. Peppy is now selling his one-bedroom condo, as he purchased a larger unit in the same building. On Episode...
May 28, 2022•56 min•Ep. 86
Have you always assumed Hong Kong would be prohibitively expensive to live in? When Brits Ben Zabulis and Hilary Garland spent nine hectic years living and working in Hong Kong, they didn’t consider retiring there. The worklife in the city grew tiresome and the couple returned to England. Unbeknownst to them, that move would mark the beginning of their retirement while still in their 40s. Eventually, they returned to Hong Kong and found ways to make living there pleasantly affordable. Find out m...
May 21, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 85
Have you ever seriously considered getting rid of almost all of your stuff and moving to a tiny home. Brandy Beverly had been intrigued with tiny homes for over 30 years, ever since she met a client who made flat-packed living quarters for oil field ‘man camps.’ When Beverly unexpectedly retired in 2020, she sold her 1,700 square foot home in Houston, the land of McMansions, and purchased a home in the Village Farm Tiny Home Community in Austin, Texas. Learn more about Beverly’s route to a minim...
May 14, 2022•52 min•Ep. 84
Bill Mauro and Marcus Laurence retired early while living in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. They soon realized that the high cost of health insurance would make it difficult to maintain their lifestyle in America. A vacation to Spain convinced them that retiring there was the answer! However, due to Spain’s residency rules they surprisingly learned that health insurance would be costly there as well. They researched and found they could move to Portugal and immediately use that country’s ...
May 07, 2022•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 83
Lorrie Cox moved to Woodburn, Oregon because her husband found a house in a 55+ community and promised to renovate it to her liking. Her husband made the home beautiful. Sadly, he passed. Lorrie stayed on in Woodburn, as she loved the warmth and generosity of her community, beauty of the region, and many things to do. Lorrie became a real estate broker and she stands out when showing properties to house hunters in her 4-person, heated, purple and yellow golf cart. Find out more about Woodburn, O...
Apr 30, 2022•50 min•Ep. 82
Sally Carrocino started traveling later in life, but she made up for it. She traveled extensively in Europe and even married in Italy. When her husband passed away, she was devastated but it did not stop her from pursuing her retirement dreams. California’s high cost of living motivated her to look at other states, but none seemed to meet most of her needs. Then she had an epiphany. While she couldn’t figure out where to move in the U.S., she knew precisely the neighborhood in Florence, Italy. S...
Apr 23, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 81
You are fortunate to be part of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement and retire in your 40’s, but the American health insurance available is either inadequate or prohibitively expensive. What do you do? Tim and Amy Rutherford decided to sell their home and the vast majority of their belongings to live as global nomads in the U.S. and around the world. They accomplish this by travel-hacking and spending part of their time living rent-free as house-sitters and part-time renting...
Apr 16, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 80
Craig and Melanie Briggs were what some may describe as early adopters of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement years before they knew what it was. Twenty years ago, while they were both around 40, the couple gave up their jobs and moved from the industrial town of Huddersfield, England to the beautiful rural countryside of the Northwest corner of Spain, known as Galicia. Craig and Melanie love the slow pace, luscious green landscape, warm people and scrumptious wines of Galic...
Apr 09, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 79
You love to travel, but you also love spending time with your children and grandchildren who are spread out mostly in the Western United States. How do you split your time? Carol and Bill Colborn decided to spend 6 months per year in a permanent home, 3 in a timeshare in Mexico and 3 visiting family. Due to its location, weather and cost of living, the well-educated, well-traveled and well-budgeted organized couple decided to purchase a modest home with great amenities in Mesa, Arizona. Find out...
Apr 02, 2022•59 min•Ep. 78
We all expect to be respected at every age, especially when we retire, perhaps even revered. We also wish to spend less, but not compromise on healthcare, culture, traveling, our accommodations and safety. If you’re a single woman/man/person, safety may be on or near the top of your checklist. Deborah Tobin, teacher and travel journalist, found all of the above and more. She even bought a condo, gutted and renovated it, all for under $70,000 USD! Oh, and that pool … and over 100 temples …yummy s...
Mar 26, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 77
Peggy Cleveland grew up a military brat, served in the Army for 12 years, and was a military spouse until her husband retired from the service. It’s no surprise, Peggy has literally been around the world and has moved 33 times. Being exposed to so many locations, where would such a person choose to retire? Not long after she and her husband Richard saw the place, they knew the quaint town of Steilacoom, Washington was for them. Find out more about this gem of a town in the Tacoma, Washington are...
Mar 19, 2022•47 min•Ep. 76
Karen Blue (Blue) worked a stressful job and lived in a very expensive city. At 52, she was ready to retire, but her accountant advised that she’d be unable to do so if she wished to stay in California's Silicon Valley. Blue then has a premonition about living in an enclave. A few days later she read an article about expats living in an “enclave,” known as the Lake Chapala area of Mexico. She visited the town of Ajijic on the Lake. The rest is history. It has been 26 years since Blue sold her Ca...
Mar 12, 2022•53 min•Ep. 75
You live in a pricey northeast city which you find is becoming more expensive to live in, what should you do? Barbara Winard and Martin Kozlowski felt that way about Jersey City, New Jersey but they had to figure out where to go. They landed in New Castle, Delaware which checked off many boxes on their list of wants but also gave them, what Martin described as, a tingle. New Castle, a place which made HGTV’s list of 2021 Most Charming Towns in America, has lower real estate taxes and less expens...
Mar 05, 2022•59 min•Ep. 74
You desire to retire in France, but it’s prohibitively expensive, where do you go? Rosemary Bointon and Ian Cole opted for the cosmopolitan, cultural, yet charming, city of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. It is the largest city in Portugal and one of the oldest cities in the world. It is home to majestic cathedrals, colorful city landscapes, mild climate and friendly neighborhoods. Rosemary and Ian purchased a home on the outskirts of Lisbon, where it is less pricey and less congested than the ...
Feb 26, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 73
Would you retire to a rural mining ghost town? Pearce, Arizona doesn’t have a supermarket or a movie theater, but it has musicians Donna and Gary Brown for entertainment. The couple grew up in Chicago; formed a band when they were young; got married and had long non-musical careers while living in Colorado; had their band rediscovered, put out an album, and toured while they were in their sixties; retired and traveled the country in an RV; and finally settled down by purchasing a home in Pearce,...
Feb 19, 2022•52 min•Ep. 72
When Americans think about places to retire, few would consider Krakow, Poland. They might visit there for historic reasons, but not as a place to live full-time. Grace Nagiecka and Greg Spring would beg to differ! They fell in love with the place and moved to Krakow to retire. What is not to love about Krakow? It is a big, fun and cheerful city with a small city vibe, contains history around every corner, is full of greenery with great places to walk, an easy place to make friends, somewhere yo...
Feb 12, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 71
You retire with limited income and savings and don’t wish to live overseas, what do you do? Consider “senior housing?” Joan and Steven Reid moved from a small apartment in the affluent community of Pearl River, New York, to a senior housing complex in Vero Beach, Florida. In this community, the Reids pay under $900 a month for a very nice 2 bedroom apartment with a pool in the complex. The catch - to qualify for their unit - is that they have to be 62 years or older, have limited assets but enou...
Feb 05, 2022•43 min•Ep. 70
Sometimes, retirees don't spend long in what they believed would be their “forever home.” After retirement, Al Salas and Carlos Torres moved to, what was, their vacation home in the small seaside town of Lewes, Delaware. They soon realized the place they loved going to on weekends was not where they wanted to settle. Additionally, as young retirees, the couple had to pay for their own health insurance, a hefty price in the United States. Al and Carlos soon discovered that Alicante, Spain, a smal...
Jan 29, 2022•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 69
What images come to mind when you hear the terms trailer park or mobile home park? You may think of run-down communities with stray dogs and men walking sporting wife-beater tops. That stereotype is what led to the birth of the name “manufactured” homes and their communities. Many manufactured home communities in Florida have beautiful dwellings with fabulous amenities such as pools, gyms and pickle ball courts. Design a mid-century style manufactured home in your dream venue and you’ll be set. ...
Jan 22, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 68
Brits frequently complain about gloomy weather, but how many of them leave the country because of it? Fiona Mackenzie-Spence did. I was spiritually guided to Gozo, Malta , says Fiona, a place she had never been. Gozo is a beautiful Mediterranean island where nearly all of the natives speak English. Listen to our conversation with Fiona, about moving to Gozo, on Episode 67 of Retire There with Gil & Gene . Fiona Mackenzie-Spence’s book on relocating to, and living in, Gozo, Malta is Rock Hopp...
Jan 15, 2022•59 min•Ep. 67
How would you like to retire to a diverse, vibrant city, one that is much, much more affordable than New York or San Francisco? Sarah Vogel opted for Philadelphia, a city which offers all the amenities of other major hubs at, what can be, a fraction of the price. Among other things, Philly is brimming with cultural and historic institutions, delicious eateries, pro-sports teams, many parks and wooded trails. Join us as we chat with Sarah Vogel about the City of Brotherly Love on Episode 66 of Re...
Jan 08, 2022•56 min•Ep. 66
Happy 2022! In Episode 65, Gil & Gene discuss how the Retire There podcast has evolved in 2021. Specifically, they chat about what they have learned from their guests, themselves, and where they think they’ve agreed to retire. Gil & Gene are proud of their 2021 achievements: Retire There with Gil & Gene won a 2021 Golden Crane Award for Best Society & Culture podcast by the Asian American Podcast Association. They were invited to and appeared on Wes Moss’ podcast Retire Sooner. I...
Jan 02, 2022•40 min•Ep. 65
If you were retiring on a U.S. military pension and wanted to live a comfortable life, where would you go? Donny Chamberland recently retired from the military, and his wife, Victoria, recently did the same from a civilian position. They decided to leave Madison, Wisconsin and retire to San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. Each year throngs of people come to relax at the many resorts the Dominican Republic has to offer. But what is it like to reside there full-time? Find out on Episode 64 of Retir...
Dec 25, 2021•35 min•Ep. 64
