Living in a new place may not be a problem. They don’t have extended family anywhere in Canada or US. They lost almost all contact from their earlier BC new immigrant life. Their social life network in GTA is mainly derived from people from work or from parents of kids’ schoolmates; these contacts will reduce/diminish when stop working and when kids are out. It’s too early to tell where their kids will eventually settle down, so being close to kids isn’t a factor.
- 1. Keep their GTA home as their spring/summer/fall home, buy a condo in Florida for the winter months, and stay there as non-resident.
- a. They probably won’t be able to afford to stay down there longer, considering the medical/insurance cost.
b. There will eventually be cold winters that they will be grounded in Canada due to medical reason or unaffordable insurance premium.
c. Real estate in Florida and other US sun destinations are more affordable now, they are tempted to buy a condo, rent it out until they retire
- a. No headache from managing a property in US
b. No commitment to any particular spot in Florida/Arizona/…; in fact, delay commitment to any retirement lifestyle until future
c. No tax returns for IRS
d. A rented apartment will not feel like home, but then again, it’s only for a few months at a time
e. “Rent is money down the drain”
f. There will eventually be cold winters that they will be grounded in Canada due to medical reason or unaffordable insurance premium.
- a. They will have some DB and DC pension from Ontario employers. Is there any pension consequence of moving to another province?
b. Which province has better at medical care for seniors?
c. Winters in Greater Vancouver or Vancouver Island are fine. They don’t have to have Florida temperature. They won’t have the fund for an Arizona home, consider a house in BC will cost their GTA house plus a Florida condo.
d. They think they can figure out which part of BC they might want to move to, and think they can establish a new social network. Is it realistic?
e. BC gives them fond memory because their life was much better than that in their old country. But after decades in Canada, moving back BC will not provide the magical effect it had when they first immigrated to Canada.
- a. They probably won’t be able to afford to stay down there longer, considering the medical/insurance cost.