# It's Official:  Best Country for Retirement Announced



## dbeyat45

[h=1]Feeling down? Try a move Down Under: Australia tops happiness league (with UK at No 10)[/h]

*Britain behind the US, Canada and the Scandinavian countries*

*Countries were graded on income, jobs, housing and health*

With its idyllic beaches and seemingly limitless sunshine, most of us have long known that it is the lucky country. 

And according to an international league table of happiness, Australia truly does take some beating on its quality of life.

It  has ranked number one on the OECD’s first such chart – and, somewhat  unsurprisingly,  well ahead of Britain, which  came tenth. 










http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2332085/Australia-tops-happiness-league-UK-No-10.html


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## Diwundrin

How do you spell smug?


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## Casper

_*No surprise here....*_


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## Warrigal

Shhhh. Don't tell the whole world.
We'll have to start turning back the jumbo jets.


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## Diwundrin

Nah, they're okay Warri, those illegals are at least smart enough to spend the 10 to 20 grand on bribes and plane fares instead of paying it to some back alley scum offering a ride on a leaky boat.  We don't really need anybody that thick to bolster our numbers, thanks anyway.


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## SifuPhil

"Happiness League"?

Weren't they a big-hair band from the '80's?

*Don't You Bonk Me
*
You were working as a bouncer in a Sydney bar
When I met you
I kicked you out, I shook you up
And turned you around
Through the two front doors you flew

Now five years later on you've got some warts on your feet
Success has not been easy for you
But don't forget it's me who put you where you are now
And I can put you back down too.

Don't, don't you bonk me
You know I can't believe it when I hear that you can't see me
Don't, don't you bonk me
You know I don't believe you when you say that you will knee me ...


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## SeaBreeze

Thanks for the earworm Sifu!


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## d0ug

It seems a little lop sided it seems it is mostly English speaking countries. After the last ice storms in Canada and US. Most of these countries are freezing cold and that is a good place to retire not for me. Although Australia is more suitable for life some of the other countries would be my last choice


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## grannyjo

I think retirement in a place where you have friends,  know the local culture, know the local weather - as far as it can be determined is the best place to retire.  I love wher I am,  I wouldn't feel comfortable learning a new language to move anywhere else.


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## SifuPhil

I agree, GrannyJo - those are all important points to me as well.

Years ago when I was still involved heavily in martial arts I dreamed of moving to China. I figured they would accept a practitioner of Chinese martial arts with open arms, but upon reflection I knew that the language would be my first barrier (I can't learn languages very well). 

The government there would probably drive me even crazier than ours, China's pollution rates are through the roof and I doubt I could get used to Chinese Google.


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## CeeCee

For me, it's where my family is and that is the US, although we are a little spread out!


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## Anne

Guess I'd stay in the US also; if not there, then Canada.  But here is where we've lived our lives, and where our famly is, so that's the biggest priority.


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## SeaBreeze




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## Diwundrin

How come Spain missed out?  Judging by the never ending TV reality shows half the population of the UK seems to be moving there to retire.  Not so great after all eh?

Funnily enough there was an item the other night about how many Australians are packing up and moving to Thailand to live in retirement.
I'd suspect that would be a 99% male decision.  Can't think of any retirement age women who'd find it enticing.

Wherever we feel most comfortable is the best place to retire.  I won't be leaving, I let my passport lapse decades ago. Nuthin' comes close to making me consider living anywhere else.  Especially since those other little havens of happiness are all colder!


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## Ozarkgal

I don't put a lot of credence on these "best places for" articles.  There are pros and cons to every place and some are definite turn offs to some and pluses to others.  Beaches and sunshine don't mean a flip if you can't afford to live there.  On the other hand if you have a wad of money and want to live on or near the beach it might be just the right place.


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## Diwundrin

Right about that OG, I wonder how many they asked living in leaky caravans behind the in-laws' houses, or in old shacks in dying towns?


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## dbeyat45

grannyjo said:


> I think retirement in a place where you have friends,  know the local culture, know the local weather - as far as it can be determined is the best place to retire.  I love wher I am,  I wouldn't feel comfortable learning a new language to move anywhere else.



We speak English too GJ.


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## SifuPhil

dbeyat45 said:


> We speak English too GJ.



Not to see it on here - I'm still shook-up over "chooks" - I thought it was a derogatory name for some group of immigrants, and I was wondering why they were kept in kitchen cabinets ... layful:


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## Warrigal

Well, we think it strange to call full grown chooks 'chickens'. 
Chickens are small, fluffy and yellow and much too small to bother eating.


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## Jillaroo

_And then we have Spatchcocks, i couldn't eat them though too small _


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## Warrigal

And we have emus but they're too big and too feisty.


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## Diwundrin

I've eaten Spatchcocks, ( chook 'children' here, less than half grown, not game birds)  Every now and then the local IGA imagines itself above it's average customer's station in life and orders them in, but the locals either can't afford them or there's not enough meat on them and on the day before 'use-by' they have to slap a half price special on them... tooo goooooood.

They're luverly.  



They sell whopping great Turkey legs too.. people (me anyway) wait for them to come on special and chop them up for dog food.  Those things are massive!  The bones look like lamb legs!  I wouldn't eat them, they look tough as old boots and are hard enough to cut up let alone chew.  Doggums luvs 'em though.

(Gasp!  Maybe they're baby Emus??  

)


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## Vivjen

I have eaten spatchcock; and ostrich is lovely. I have never heard of cooks before....goes to show that it really is countries divided by a common language.
take the turnip/swede debate for example.


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## Vivjen

As for retiring to Spain; healthcare is a problem for us Brits, and since the collapse of the Spanish economy it is very difficult to sell a property, and some buyers have been left with half-built houses.
the state pension is available there though; I believe OAPs even get the British heating allowance.


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## Diwundrin

Healthcare is the problem everywhere it seems, it's something we must consider that's for sure.  No matter how healthy we may be, things can go titzup exceedingly fast as we age and the support had better be there when they do.

btw Viv, we don't eat cooks, just chooks.  (kidding, can't resist a funny typo.)


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## Vivjen

Sorry; I had such a problem with spatchcock! 
My parents had a house in NZ, where they made many friends, and transferred Dad's cancer treatment over. They went for about 4 months a year, to escape the winter. but it is soooooo far, they had to sell it, as Dad couldn't My brother lives there; and you can get a visa for 6 months at a time, so having two houses isn't a problem; but I have known people retire to the US, and had to come back; no permit, no healthcare.


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## Diwundrin

A widowed lady we knew in Sydney had no one left in Australia, only a daughter who'd married and moved to Montana.  She decided she'd spend a few months there to 'test the waters' as it were.  She was so glad she hadn't sold her house as she simply couldn't stand it there.

They lived on a grain farm with nothing to look at but crops in the summer and snow in the winter, and sky all year round.
 Mae was a city and beaches 'girl'.  She also said she couldn't find any company being so isolated and not able to drive,  and that the paperwork involved in her moving there was gobsmacking.  She also would have qualified for no benefits, fair enough, but couldn't possibly have afforded medical care in the US on an Australian pension.

She was back in her house in Sydney and making the most of the friends she had around her there when we left the district.  Felt sorry for her though.


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## Vivjen

I guess it is quite easy to develop 'the grass is greener' approach, but try before you buy sounds very sensible.
we tend to yearn for better weather; then people say they hate being without the seasons!


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## Diwundrin

A Canadian friend said she wouldn't consider living in OZ, that she'd miss the changing seasons too much.  We have seasons, just not as intensely as she was used to.  It's what you're used to I guess, I know I wouldn't last a week in a Canadian winter. Horses for courses.


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## Davey Jones

Ozarkgal said:


> I don't put a lot of credence on these "best places for" articles. There are pros and cons to every place and some are definite turn offs to some and pluses to others. Beaches and sunshine don't mean a flip if you can't afford to live there. On the other hand if you have a wad of money and want to live on or near the beach it might be just the right place.



*Agree...

Born and raised in the U.S.,there is no other country that can match living here in the good old USA.IMO
*


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## TICA

Diwundrin said:


> A Canadian friend said she wouldn't consider living in OZ, that she'd miss the changing seasons too much.  We have seasons, just not as intensely as she was used to.  It's what you're used to I guess, I know I wouldn't last a week in a Canadian winter. Horses for courses.



Sure you would!  Nothing quite as nice as sitting by the fire with a mug of hot apple cider - or better still - hot chocolate with a shot of baileys.  Canada is a big country and the weather varies from coast to coast.  I've lived on both the Pacific Coast and the Atlantic - it's the middle of Canada (Winterpeg, Sask etc) that gets the REALLY cold weather.  I don't think I could live in the Prairies, but love it here on the East Coast.


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## dbeyat45

Davey Jones said:


> *Agree...
> Born and raised in the U.S.,there is no other country that can match living here in the good old USA.IMO
> *



You lot are SO biased .........
 :wink:


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## Diwundrin

TICA said:


> Sure you would!  Nothing quite as nice as sitting by the fire with a mug of hot apple cider - or better still - hot chocolate with a shot of baileys.  Canada is a big country and the weather varies from coast to coast.  I've lived on both the Pacific Coast and the Atlantic - it's the middle of Canada (Winterpeg, Sask etc) that gets the REALLY cold weather.  I don't think I could live in the Prairies, but love it here on the East Coast.



TICA, you have no idea what a wuss I am in cold weather. 

  But even more than the seasons, it's the day lengths that throw me for a loop.  We got no sleep in Canada and Alaska as it was still daylight until around 11pm and we were night owls so would get to sleep about an hour before the bus was due to leave, which equated to none.  We'd sack out in the back of the bus...  It was kind of jet lag I guess, but it didn't go away. We're used to more even days than that.  To live  where you only get very short days in winter would freak me out.  Cabin fever writ large.
Couldn't handle it, I get the blues here in Autumn when the days shorten up so you could imagine the wreck I'd be there. Even though I'm a night owl I still need daylight to balance me out.
In the depths of winter here I can still go outside and sit in the sun or at least see daylight for around 10 hours a day if I want. .  Wouldn't give that up for anything.


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## SifuPhil

I'd rather sit on a beach by the sun with a warm shot of Southern Comfort - or better still, a frozen daiquiri. 

_Especially_ after this last deep freeze.


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## dbeyat45

Lots of nice beaches near us Phil .... and a few mud flats but no crocodiles or alligators, except for the occasional prank.  You'd be very welcome to retire here and I could show you some of my self-defence moves.


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## SifuPhil

Yeah, sure ... you've probably got man-eating sea-shells! :hororr:


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## dbeyat45

SifuPhil said:


> Yeah, sure ... you've probably got man-eating sea-shells! :hororr:



How did you find out?


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## Happyflowerlady

I am pretty happy here in the South, even though the humidity in the summer is a lot worse than what I grew up with in northern Idaho. The summers were hot, but the air was always fresh up there. However, the winters jut got too hard for me as i got older, and I have shoveled all the snow that i ever want to shovel. 
I like it that Pansies are a winter flower down here, and we can usually see something blooming year around. 
Even when we had this last cold Arctic blast, it only lasted for a few days, and not most of the winter, and we hardly ever have that severe cold down here. It might not be perfect, but it works for me. 

I still miss seeing Mt. Rainier in the clouds, from when I lived on the West Coast, and if I were going to move somewhere else, it would be one of the colorful little towns along the Washington coast, I think . The climate is moderate, the air is fresh, the mountains are awesome, and I would love to be able to walk on the seashore there again.


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## gar

I see Canada is # 3 not bad eh LOL
actually i never say eh but I'll fall in to be typical.


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## Diwundrin

gar said:


> I see Canada is # 3 not bad eh LOL
> actually i never say eh but I'll fall in to be typical.



"Eh?" is a habit I picked up from the Queensland relatives.  It's not  just Canadian, it's been a 'tell' that people come from Queensland for  generations here.  Don't know why they used it and rest of the Country  didn't.   I've noticed a lot of Kiwis use it too.

If Canada was better located it would be #2 on my list, loved it and felt right at home there.  But it's too damned cold!


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## SifuPhil

dbeyat45 said:


> How did you find out?



A mate of mine came home from holiday with little indents all over his face, and when I put him up to my ear I heard the sea. layful:


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## Diwundrin

:lofl:


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## CPA-Kim

Depends on what you prefer.  I could NOT live in cold weather.  I moved from NY to FL in 1978 and would go farther South if it were financially possible.  I can see why OZ won.


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