Is Ireland a good place for retirement?

Midnight Munchies

I'm growing tired of the rat race and planning to retire in 2 to 5 years. I am looking to move to a place where I can afford to live in retirement.

Do you think Ireland is an elderly-friendly place to live for a non-EU self-funded migrant retiree?

looksee

It depends a bit on where you are coming from, whether it would be financially viable. It is not a cheap place to live and while Irish people over 70 get a free medical card, you would have to fund your own insurance.

If you were here with a good income you would be ok, it is safe, quiet and relaxed. I would add though that living here is not the same as being a tourist here, you would be a 'blow-in' - someone who does not really belong, and that can be a very difficult hurdle to get over. I would strongly suggest you rent a house for 6 months and do a trial run before you commit yourself.

Jellybaby1

Depends where you are coming from. I had a couple of visitors from the UK recently asking the same question. I warned them against it due to the high prices and expensive health system. I often wonder how so much money can be thrown at Health in this country and still I have to pay €100 to go to the Emergency Department of a hospital. My visitors pay NOTHING for their health treatment in the UK. What was the health contribution taken from my salary all those years for, then? (Badly put, but you get my gist).

Rubecula

Ireland is a lovely place IMO but it is not cheap. I have visited Ireland a few times and love it, but to retire there, that is a whole different kettle of fish. Check it out as best you can before you go down that route, it may not suit you at all, especially if you find you can not afford it. Being retired and in a strange land can be very very lonely.

(I am moving in with Jellybaby myself but keep it quiet as she doesn't know yet LOL LOL )

Seriously I would just holiday there and continue to live here I think. Here is not great, but I know it, and knowing a place is very important.

Jellybaby1

I thought I noticed some shuffling coming from the attic tonight! :eek: Rube, you've got your marching orders! Gerrout!

P.S. I didn't know you LOLLED. Tsk, such a girl!

bernardo mac

Nature loving retirees are sure to enjoy Ireland:much and more to see and do.I'm still learning and that's enjoyable too.But one must watch the prices.

bernardo mac

Oh and Wales is lovely and green too!:)

Jellybaby1

Midnight Munchies wrote: »

Do you think Ireland is an elderly-friendly place to live for a non-EU self-funded migrant retiree?

I went back to re-read the OP. The only other thing I have to add is, even Bono doesn't live here anymore, and he could afford to, or maybe he believes he can't!

Midnight Munchies

Thank you all for the good advice!

WARNING - L...o...n...g rant follows:

I would be moving to Ireland from Australia. The idea began with me contemplating entering into various collapsed property markets around the world, including Mallorca and the USA. Dublin came up as there was some news about collapsed property prices on Merrion Square. I thought, if I lived on Merrion Square, I wouldn't need to maintain my own garden! Continue reading below to find out some of the problems I have to face when trying to maintain my own garden...

Coming from Australia, it seemed to me that daily food and grocery prices seemed OK. This may have been due to the low Euro and the relatively high Australian dollar.

I was hoping that labor costs for household staff, eg a housekeeper/cook and a chauffeur/handyman/gardener, and also for various tradespeople, might be significantly lower in Ireland, and that they might be much more willing to work. As an example, I wanted 5 x miniature reproduction "Supertrees" (3.0m tall each) for my front garden - you know, like miniature versions of the original gigantic "Supertrees" in the new Singapore bayside gardens, and I got quoted the equivalent of 200000 Euros for 5 of them! Absolutely ludicrous! Another example is a 2.2m grand piano by an excellent Australian piano maker whose pianos are very innovative in their use of agraffes and having 102 keys instead of the usual 88, as well as a fourth pedal that reduces the striking distance between the hammers and the strings in addition to the usual una corda soft pedal. He had one for sale at the equivalent of 150000 Euros but when I decided to purchase it after a few months, he had already sold it, and he didn't want to build another one. A third example is that I needed a big aviary built ever since February, for a few pet parrots to play in during the daytime (they sleep indoors at night), but I haven't been able to find a single person willing to build it. I found one person willing to build it for me, but he won't do it until after November, "when the weather is warmer". A fourth example would be a tropical fish pond that I wanted built that I got a ludicrously high quote for, but I said go ahead, anyway, only to have the pond builder pull out because it was too much work. I have asked 5 different pond builders to build this pond so far, and only one of them got back to me to give me a quote, and no one actually wanted to start work.

I'm thinking this is all so hard now while I'm still making good income and able to afford the ludicrously high amounts of money needed to pay for getting anything done, but after I've retired, when my income is much reduced, how am I going to find anyone to come and mow the lawn? Even now, when I can afford to let the gardener charge me whatever he wants, I had to chase him around for 4 months throughout the entire winter, before he finally came over to mow the lawn last week. The grass was taller than the corgi by then. There's lots of spring jobs that need to be done now, but of course, he won't have time until the end of this month.

The comments about not knowing anyone in Ireland gave me something to consider. However, it's not like I'm that keen to know any of the people that I do know in Australia right now, either. My own daughter asked me for money because house prices are unaffordable over here (this is perhaps true to some extent), but after I "lent" the money to her, she went and bought a place with 6.0m high ceilings and a 6 car garage and the son-in-law bought a flashy new sports car and a 4WD, and of course, they have got to have the biggest and best entertainment systems and TV's. Would you believe, they condescended to give their old entertainment system and TV to me?!? Certainly, moving myself to somewhere that they'd have to make a special effort to get to, would be a plus. I am also considering moving to Savannah in the USA, because instead of simply getting international flights to find me there, they'd have to negotiate domestic flights as well!

The 6 month trial residency sounds like a really fine idea, though.

Thanks for reading this very long rant!

Jellybaby1

I work very hard not to swear, because it wastes precious breath that I need. But if the above is true, then Sweet Jesus!! I have to go away now and lie down before I answer you Midnight Munchies.

P.S. You have a CORGI?!

looksee

Yeah. Right. You would probably fit very well into Merrion Square (though I'm not sure where you would put the trees).

Beruthiel

Don't think you can just import trees. They might bring tarantulas with them... or summit...

For a small monthly fee, you can use my address as a contact for your daughter.
Also, if you're looking for a good place she cannot find, I'm hearing good things about Outer Mongolia.

martomcg

Hope your used to dirty air, constant police/ambulance sirens and junkies - plenty of junkies.

If your looking to have servants of any shape or form Dublin City centre is not for you. Why not look at posh areas south of the city centre?

Also if you plan a 'trial run' for 6 months make sure it includes a full winter here. I know people who did like you and they left after their 2nd Christmas here as they couldnt deal with the cold and went for warmer climates.

I've just re-read the OP's last post and this reaks of absolute bull****. Even rich people dont speak about their wealth in such a contrived way.

Midnight Munchies

I'm sorry if my long rant came across as boastful about wealth. I was actually trying to convey the opposite, that the cost for a high-quality lifestyle in Australia is rapidly escalating beyond my means, at a time in my life when I should be cutting back on work and thinking of retirement. The examples were not of things that I had successfully accomplished, but of things that I had failed to do, or had great difficulty in getting done.

To address some of the specific comments, misunderstandings and enquiries:

My corgi's name is Chipper. He is 12 years old. I'm not sure yet what to do with all my pets.

The miniature replica "Supertrees" I was after aren't "real" trees. I wanted miniature versions of the artificial "Supertrees" that were constructed for Singapore's new bayside gardens. These are immense, skyscraper-tall concrete / steel structures, illuminated at night, which people can climb - one even has a coffee shop on top, planted with "vertical" gardens up the length of their "tree-trunks". I wanted miniature versions, with trunks just 3.0m tall, planted with "vertical" gardens, the tree-trunks and the branches illuminated at night, with hidden steps leading to sunken viewing platforms on top of each tree-trunk.

I would definitely be looking at using false addresses where all my mail would go, which would then be forwarded onto my real address.

I would definitely have to experience a few months of a very cold winter in Ireland, before I make any decisions about moving to Ireland for good.

I have thought about moving to 3rd world countries where there are no unemployment benefits, so that people can't just choose to settle for slightly less income as long as they prefer not to have to get sweaty and/or exhausted. But, these places often don't use English as their main language, and the quality of life is generally not very good.

At least, during the Celtic Tiger era, Ireland enjoyed a very high quality of life, so that even nowadays, when I say golden Ossetra, I suspect that most of the Irish population will know what I mean.

Many of the 3rd world countries are also not very politically stable. I'm hoping that Ireland stays politically stable, but someone told me about the Occupy Dame St movement last year, which worries me somewhat as to how much anger there is actually simmering underneath the surface and, whether, in fact, people will soon be ready to riot.

I'm hoping that, before I move to Ireland in 2 to 5 years' time, that the IMF will have been successful in their persuasion of the Irish government to cut back unemployment benefits drastically, so that the young people in Ireland aren't given the choice to become comfortably unemployed like large portions of the youth in Australia.

Thank you for pointing out the inner city problems in Dublin. I may ask for recommendations for pleasant residential neighbourhoods within Dublin 2 in the future, when I actually start looking for a residential property. I suspect property prices still have at least 1 year to drop.

Once again, thank you, everyone. All your responses have been very helpful!

mrbango

going off topic here but was in scotland for a weekend and was chatting to this guy. he was telling me how he had a few tough time ahead of him as his parents in their 80's were both on a downward turn. i asked would he not put them in a home as they would have professional help. He said he wouldnt degrade them in such a way. They wiped his arse when he needed it done, he'll do the same for them. He maintained that most scots felt the same way. I was very impressed. Do we irish take a lazy attitude when it comes to looking after our old folks?

looksee

mrbango wrote: »

going off topic here but was in scotland for a weekend and was chatting to this guy. he was telling me how he had a few tough time ahead of him as his parents in their 80's were both on a downward turn. i asked would he not put them in a home as they would have professional help. He said he wouldnt degrade them in such a way. They wiped his arse when he needed it done, he'll do the same for them. He maintained that most scots felt the same way. I was very impressed. Do we irish take a lazy attitude when it comes to looking after our old folks?

I think that is a bit of very broad generalisation, there are good and bad parents/children/carers etc in every society.

bernardo mac

Is this a forum for fantasists? For me it has become one for the bewildered......phew...

Midnight Munchies

My grand-daughter is 2 years old. Her parents are leaving her at my house at all hours (mornings, afternoons, evenings, even until 11pm sometimes while they go out to events) for my housekeeper to look after. They have already got my grand-daughter accepted into the school which my daughter attended (one of the most expensive private girls' schools in the country). I just know that they are going to ask me to pay for it when my grand-daughter reaches school age. They will try to make me feel guilty, saying things like, "Don't you want the best opportunities for your grand-daughter?"

poppyvally

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I thought I noticed some shuffling coming from the attic !

That's the rats! It's the frosty nights driving them indoors so apologise to Rube

Jellybaby1

Rube the rat, has a nice ring to it!

Midnight Munchies, (if what you say is true) then just tell your kids to sod off and pay their own bills. End of!

ArtSmart

well i do doubt the authenticity of the OP, but anyway...

No. Ireland is not a good place to retire UNLESS you are very wealthy and can live outside Ireland for 5/6 months of the year.

The weather in Ireland is cruel to the nth degree in ways to numerous to explain, from unwalkable footpaths strewn with wet leaves or hidden ice, to endless days of rain and cloud cover.

so, unless you see yourself living in the local pub, paying for private health care, and jetting off when the darkness takes hold, forget about it. Try Sri Lanka, or Argentina or almost anywhere else.

ArtSmart

Midnight Munchies wrote: »

Thank you all for the good advice!

WARNING - L...o...n...g rant follows:

I would be moving to Ireland from Australia. The idea began with me contemplating entering into various collapsed property markets around the world, including Mallorca and the USA. Dublin came up as there was some news about collapsed property prices on Merrion Square. I thought, if I lived on Merrion Square, I wouldn't need to maintain my own garden! Continue reading below to find out some of the problems I have to face when trying to maintain my own garden...

Coming from Australia, it seemed to me that daily food and grocery prices seemed OK. This may have been due to the low Euro and the relatively high Australian dollar.

I was hoping that labor costs for household staff, eg a housekeeper/cook and a chauffeur/handyman/gardener, and also for various tradespeople, might be significantly lower in Ireland, and that they might be much more willing to work. As an example, I wanted 5 x miniature reproduction "Supertrees" (3.0m tall each) for my front garden - you know, like miniature versions of the original gigantic "Supertrees" in the new Singapore bayside gardens, and I got quoted the equivalent of 200000 Euros for 5 of them! Absolutely ludicrous! Another example is a 2.2m grand piano by an excellent Australian piano maker whose pianos are very innovative in their use of agraffes and having 102 keys instead of the usual 88, as well as a fourth pedal that reduces the striking distance between the hammers and the strings in addition to the usual una corda soft pedal. He had one for sale at the equivalent of 150000 Euros but when I decided to purchase it after a few months, he had already sold it, and he didn't want to build another one. A third example is that I needed a big aviary built ever since February, for a few pet parrots to play in during the daytime (they sleep indoors at night), but I haven't been able to find a single person willing to build it. I found one person willing to build it for me, but he won't do it until after November, "when the weather is warmer". A fourth example would be a tropical fish pond that I wanted built that I got a ludicrously high quote for, but I said go ahead, anyway, only to have the pond builder pull out because it was too much work. I have asked 5 different pond builders to build this pond so far, and only one of them got back to me to give me a quote, and no one actually wanted to start work.

I'm thinking this is all so hard now while I'm still making good income and able to afford the ludicrously high amounts of money needed to pay for getting anything done, but after I've retired, when my income is much reduced, how am I going to find anyone to come and mow the lawn? Even now, when I can afford to let the gardener charge me whatever he wants, I had to chase him around for 4 months throughout the entire winter, before he finally came over to mow the lawn last week. The grass was taller than the corgi by then. There's lots of spring jobs that need to be done now, but of course, he won't have time until the end of this month.

The comments about not knowing anyone in Ireland gave me something to consider. However, it's not like I'm that keen to know any of the people that I do know in Australia right now, either. My own daughter asked me for money because house prices are unaffordable over here (this is perhaps true to some extent), but after I "lent" the money to her, she went and bought a place with 6.0m high ceilings and a 6 car garage and the son-in-law bought a flashy new sports car and a 4WD, and of course, they have got to have the biggest and best entertainment systems and TV's. Would you believe, they condescended to give their old entertainment system and TV to me?!? Certainly, moving myself to somewhere that they'd have to make a special effort to get to, would be a plus. I am also considering moving to Savannah in the USA, because instead of simply getting international flights to find me there, they'd have to negotiate domestic flights as well!

The 6 month trial residency sounds like a really fine idea, though.

Thanks for reading this very long rant!

ok. read this.


lol x 10000000,00000000.

nuff said.

poppyvally

Midnight Munchies wrote: »

My grand-daughter is 2 years old. Her parents are leaving her at my house at all hours (mornings, afternoons, evenings, even until 11pm sometimes while they go out to events) for my housekeeper to look after. They have already got my grand-daughter accepted into the school which my daughter attended (one of the most expensive private girls' schools in the country). I just know that they are going to ask me to pay for it when my grand-daughter reaches school age. They will try to make me feel guilty, saying things like, "Don't you want the best opportunities for your grand-daughter?"

Just tell them you've been there, done that. Now it's their turn to do it with their daughter. They can surely afford it if they can afford all these "events". YOU got to stand your ground or they will make a right patsy of you, especially if they think you've a bit of money. Be strong!

Jellybaby1

ArtSmart wrote: »

well i do doubt the authenticity of the OP, but anyway...

No. Ireland is not a good place to retire UNLESS you are very wealthy and can live outside Ireland for 5/6 months of the year.

The weather in Ireland is cruel to the nth degree in ways to numerous to explain, from unwalkable footpaths strewn with wet leaves or hidden ice, to endless days of rain and cloud cover.

so, unless you see yourself living in the local pub, paying for private health care, and jetting off when the darkness takes hold, forget about it. Try Sri Lanka, or Argentina or almost anywhere else.

Dunno how long to twiddle with this story, maybe until mod intervention? Anyhoo, yes ArtSmart winter is miserable in Ireland but that is mainly because the Govt doesn't look after us properly. The services are pretty lousy. Look at Canada, heckova lotta snow there, but everybody still manages to get to work, shops, church, school, etc, because all the roads and paths are cleared. Flip all chance of that here.

ArtSmart

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Dunno how long to twiddle with this story, maybe until mod intervention? Anyhoo, yes ArtSmart winter is miserable in Ireland but that is mainly because the Govt doesn't look after us properly. The services are pretty lousy. Look at Canada, heckova lotta snow there, but everybody still manages to get to work, shops, church, school, etc, because all the roads and paths are cleared. Flip all chance of that here.

agree completely.

the prob with ireland is the weather is not clear enough. we cant be sure of a severe winter with snow etc, so we...do nothing - and hope for the best.

but in canada and similar countries, not only od they know what the winter entails and so prepare for it, but they also have a pay-off, called spring, summer and autumn.

we dont. we have weather. lots of it. all year round. put a stranger in ireland with a blindfold on, take it off and ask them what season it is. answer will range from summer to winter, no matter what time of year you do it.

ireland is a place one retires from, not to.

Fenian Army

The weather isnt that bad, dont like what you see just wait twenty mins

OP is clearly a spoofer

Jellybaby1

Ah yes, a politician!

ArtSmart

Midnight Munchies wrote: »

I'm sorry if my long rant came across as boastful about wealth. I was actually trying to convey the opposite, that the cost for a high-quality lifestyle in Australia is rapidly escalating beyond my means, at a time in my life when I should be cutting back on work and thinking of retirement. The examples were not of things that I had successfully accomplished, but of things that I had failed to do, or had great difficulty in getting done.

To address some of the specific comments, misunderstandings and enquiries:

My corgi's name is Chipper. He is 12 years old. I'm not sure yet what to do with all my pets.

The miniature replica "Supertrees" I was after aren't "real" trees. I wanted miniature versions of the artificial "Supertrees" that were constructed for Singapore's new bayside gardens. These are immense, skyscraper-tall concrete / steel structures, illuminated at night, which people can climb - one even has a coffee shop on top, planted with "vertical" gardens up the length of their "tree-trunks". I wanted miniature versions, with trunks just 3.0m tall, planted with "vertical" gardens, the tree-trunks and the branches illuminated at night, with hidden steps leading to sunken viewing platforms on top of each tree-trunk.

I would definitely be looking at using false addresses where all my mail would go, which would then be forwarded onto my real address.

I would definitely have to experience a few months of a very cold winter in Ireland, before I make any decisions about moving to Ireland for good.

I have thought about moving to 3rd world countries where there are no unemployment benefits, so that people can't just choose to settle for slightly less income as long as they prefer not to have to get sweaty and/or exhausted. But, these places often don't use English as their main language, and the quality of life is generally not very good.

At least, during the Celtic Tiger era, Ireland enjoyed a very high quality of life, so that even nowadays, when I say golden Ossetra, I suspect that most of the Irish population will know what I mean.

Many of the 3rd world countries are also not very politically stable. I'm hoping that Ireland stays politically stable, but someone told me about the Occupy Dame St movement last year, which worries me somewhat as to how much anger there is actually simmering underneath the surface and, whether, in fact, people will soon be ready to riot.

I'm hoping that, before I move to Ireland in 2 to 5 years' time, that the IMF will have been successful in their persuasion of the Irish government to cut back unemployment benefits drastically, so that the young people in Ireland aren't given the choice to become comfortably unemployed like large portions of the youth in Australia.

Thank you for pointing out the inner city problems in Dublin. I may ask for recommendations for pleasant residential neighbourhoods within Dublin 2 in the future, when I actually start looking for a residential property. I suspect property prices still have at least 1 year to drop.

Once again, thank you, everyone. All your responses have been very helpful!

ha ha. ye got me. that's some nice trolling!


now sign off and re-reg like a good man.

looksee

Mod: Yes, mod is keeping an eye on this, no laws broken yet, but it is borderline.

Jellybaby1

I was wondering should the story be true, who on earth could it be? Could make for a game guys? Politician, celebrity, royalty? But I'd rather watch Harry (Wales) antics! His nudie episode was hilarious. It was a week before I learned there was a nude lady also in the photos. First time the media didn't focus on a nekked woman! :D

syklops

mrbango wrote: »

going off topic here but was in scotland for a weekend and was chatting to this guy. he was telling me how he had a few tough time ahead of him as his parents in their 80's were both on a downward turn. i asked would he not put them in a home as they would have professional help. He said he wouldnt degrade them in such a way. They wiped his arse when he needed it done, he'll do the same for them. He maintained that most scots felt the same way. I was very impressed. Do we irish take a lazy attitude when it comes to looking after our old folks?

I say this being half scottish myself. Maybe he was just too tight to pay for the home?

Jellybaby1

That's possible too! Though I don't think we should generalise about 'old folks'. The oldest people I know are still doing very well thank you, I know two 90 yr olds, and three 86 year olds. None of them is ready to be 'put' anywhere except the golf course for one, the active retirement groups for a couple of others, another plays musical instruments and another won't stop tinkering with 'oul cars. Yay for them! Lots of life still in them yet. Sadly not everyone is like that but whatever they have I hope I catch it!

looksee

Mod I will leave this thread open as there is potential for interesting and relevant discussion. Midnight Munchies has been warned about posting flights of fancy - take them to Creative Writing - please keep the thread on topic, which does not include OP's family or financial situations.

bernardo mac

During this spell of brilliant weather Ireland is a good place for retirement.Am going to head off birdwatching down the coast.