When is the best time of my life to buy a property in Spain?
One of the sad realities of life is that we grow old. Some of us quicker than others. Another sad reality of life is that we delude our selves into thinking that it is not going to happen to me. Another sad reality of life is that we do nor appear to have the time or the money to establish a permanent or part time home in Spain until we are almost too old to do it and enjoy it. Another reality is that breakfast seems to come quicker with each passing year, suddenly it seems like they come round every 5 minutes and you haven´t done anything about planning your retirement.
We hear every day that the average age is going up. We are now expected to live until our late 70's almost as a matter of course. However, it doesn´t mean that just because our bodies are alive that we can leap around like spring chickens wielding the Black and Decker or apply detioriating grey matter to complex new tax laws in strange languages. We want these extra years to be the best of our lives not the worst. None of us like house hunting or relocating even when we are young. So why start when you retire at 65. Plan for it from when the kids are off your hands and the mortgage is practically non existant. i.e. when you are in your 50's. Do not wait. Do it now.
One of the beauties of retiring to Spain is that the climate promotes a more outdoor healthier life style. Design your life change in your fifties in preparation for making the most of those golden years. You cannot take it with you, the kids will only fritter it away so use what you have spent your lifetime earning to have a fantastic life finale. Here in Spain, especially on the Costa del Sol where the weather is great all year round there is so much to do even doing nothing. But you are only 2 hours away from loved ones should they need your support.
Regretfully because the mind doesn´t degenerate as fast as the body we still think at over 73 like we did at 50. There is simply nothing we cannot do. Wrong! At over 73 you are too old to begin the process of coming to live in Spain. Come for a holiday by all means. Rent a property for the winter why not. But if you come to live in Spain at 73 you will probably end up killing yourself. Why?
Here is why.
At 73+ here are the things that you think that you can do that you cannot.
- Learn another language (Only the odd genius is the exception)
- Learn another tax and legal system. Which you will if you want to maximise your income or minimise your inheritance tax exposure.
- Renew your driving licence.
- Get satisfactory medical advice or treatment for more serious matters in your own language
- Be accepted for Spanish private medical insurance.
- Climb hills and stairs (Spain is a mountainous land there are steps everywhere, it is very difficult to find somewhere wheelchair friendly, or with a lift).
- Tolerate the noise.
- Adapt to the traffic going the other way.
- Avoid being a crime target.
- Change a heavy gas bottle for your cooking and winter heating
- Find new friends
- Housework
- Find good trustworthy care services.
- Get good home care after operations
- Queue up for hours at the bank, supermarket, greengrocers and butchers
- Keep the house how you used to like it
- Keep the garden and pool how you used to do it.
- Understand the telly
- Buy good books and videos