The Surprising Science Behind Retiring to the Coast

It’s a popular dream: spending your days with the sea air in your hair, the sound of waves lulling you to sleep and a healthy year-round tan.

With the right wealth management strategy, a coastal retirement doesn’t have to be just a dream. And the good news is, some scientists believe it’s beneficial for your health.

Scientists from the European Centre for Environment and Human Health found through an analysis of census data that the closer people live to the ocean, the more likely they are to report good health. They factored in a variety of characteristics: age, social and economic status, sex, income, and education. Notwithstanding all of these differences, people on average are healthier when they live on the coast.

 

Better Health? To the Beach!

Improving your health during your retirement can mean the difference between being active and being sedentary. It can help you to be able to spend more time with family, to travel, and to take up the hobbies you haven’t had time for in the past.

Survey data for the study was self-reported, and researchers aren’t sure why people residing on the coast reported better health. But for those seeking a high quality of life, these findings are enough to pack the bags.

 

 

Affording the Relocation

After years of planning and saving, retirement is a time to savour and enjoy. For many people, a change in residence helps them to do just that. Often, however, properties near the beach are quite expensive. What can you do to overcome this potential obstacle?

 

Plan Now

If you want to have the means and flexibility to spend more on housing during your retirement years, plan for it now. It’s wise to avoid mortgage debt during retirement, so plan to live in a property that you can own free and clear of any loans. This may mean shopping for a property on the coast now, even though you won’t personally be living in it until later. It might mean paying off your current property and saving additional funds, which can be used for buying your future coastal home when you retire.

 

Look At All Your Options

You may also want to explore suburban and rural coastal properties, which can be significantly less expensive than coastal properties in the city. If living on the coast is a priority, look at all of the options available to you. You may have to sacrifice some city amenities to fit a move to the coast into your retirement plan, but you may also find the change of pace you were looking for.

Retirement planning is the key to being able to take advantage of opportunities like retiring to the coast. For more information about retirement planning, consult with an adviser from Altus Financial. We’re here to help.