We Almost Locked in The Villages…Then We Ran the Numbers

Описание: We were this close to spending $5,500 a month just to bridge the gap to 59½. With retirement less than 90 days away, we have been stuck in the same debate for months.

Buy in The Villages? Rent in Florida? Or wait?
On paper, renting for 18 months seemed logical until we ran the real numbers.

Snowbird pricing. Seasonal spikes. $25,000 for 10 months. Potentially $70,000 or more just to wait and that does not include groceries, insurance, utilities, and everything else.

So we had to ask ourselves a hard question: Are we about to drain cash just to stay comfortable?

This video documents how we realized Florida might not be the smartest bridge to retirement. Instead of bleeding money for a year and a half, what if we did something completely different?

We are not abandoning The Villages. Florida is still the long term plan, but the path to get there just changed.

We started watching edeltatly on TikTok and @perfecthomeschiangmai in addition to others to research this next step.

In this episode:
Buying vs renting in The Villages
Why the 59½ timeline complicates everything
The financial risk of short term ownership
How snowbird season changes the math
The unexpected option that could save us $50,000 or more

We are still in Illinois. Still downsizing. Still untethering.

This is happening in real time, before the outcome is known.
If you are navigating downsizing in your 50s, retirement relocation decisions, leaving the Midwest for Florida, or trying to survive the in between, you are not alone here.

This is not hindsight. This is the messy middle.
Subscribe if you want to follow what happens next.

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