‘Test-Drive’ Your Retirement Spot
THE PROS AND CONS OF LONG-TERM STAYS
Have you heard? There’s a new trend for pre-retirees: test-driving retirement destinations, just like new cars! Thanks to remote work, many folks in their 50s and 60s can spend weeks or months immersing themselves in
the coffee actually good? Is the humidity annoying or just downright unbearable? You’ll only know if you make the trip yourself. • You’ll see past the “vacation bubble.” As one wealth manager told AARP, “When you’re living there full time, it’s a different lifestyle than when you’re on vacation.” • You’ll build confidence. You’ll find out for sure if your retirement spot is right for you. THE CONS • Test-driving is expensive. Airline tickets and gas can be pricey and so can testing all of the “experiences” of a new place like restaurants and excursions. If travel isn’t in your budget, this strategy may not be for you — yet. • Not everyone has work flexibility. If you or your spouse has a career where remote work isn’t an option, test driving may not be feasible. Instead, consider waiting for retirement, then using an RV to visit multiple locations before buying a home. If you think test-driving your retirement is for you, schedule several extended stays in different seasons (Airbnb and Vrbo are your best friends). Consider your spouse’s reaction, the weather, cost of living, tax situation, health care options, and distance from family. Ultimately, getting ready for retirement should be fun, not stressful!
potential retirement destinations. With a long-term rental or RV (and good Wi-Fi), you can soak up a place’s culture, weather, and way of life. This strategy worked perfectly for Rutgers professor Barbara O’Neill. According to AARP, O’Neill left her home in New Jersey to test-drive the community of Ocala, Florida, several times over three years. She spent nine months there on sabbatical and working remotely before falling in love with Florida and buying a home. Of course, that doesn’t mean test- driving retirement is right for you. THE PROS • You’ll experience the perks and pitfalls of your retirement spot. A Google search of “Palm Beach, Florida” can give you a bulleted list of the city’s pros and cons, but it can’t let you experience them. Is
HOW TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS IN TODAY’S MARKET
If you read business books or articles as I do on how to grow one’s business, they will all tell you the same thing. The most economical and quickest way to grow one’s business is by buying an ongoing business and then improving it. Because when you buy an ongoing business, the day you take over, you have cashflow. It may not be the cashflow you want, but you have a cashflow to build on and grow, like building a business from scratch and hoping you made all of the right decisions in picking the best site for your business and judging the marketplace where you built the business. Most people know that buying a business is a better option than building one, but sometimes their ego gets in the way. They still only want to build a business from scratch, which is an okay business plan if you are not in a hurry to grow your business. If one is content with building a few stores a year and they have a long timeline, then building may be the best route to go. But if you want to be aggressive and grow quickly, then buying a business is a better option. Case in point, which is what transpired with a recent client of mine: My client was a successful convenience store operator with about 25 stores when I approached him with the opportunity to purchase a 20-plus store chain of convenience stores in his trade area. The combination of
the two chains of stores was a perfect fit. However, my client had never really bought stores before. They had always been builders and would invest a considerable amount of time to find the real estate that was appropriate for a convenience store. They would even do a site study of the location and the traffic flow and market area demographics, design the store, and spend the time and money to get the store built. Again, a good philosophy if you want to grow slowly.
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