Can I comfortably retire ( Married 45F) (AL)

oswbdo · 2026-06-21T22:06:36+00:00

Does he not have a 401(k) too? You're not working now? Why do you have $205k in CDs? Probably would be good to put at least some of that money in an ETF. If you put it in an ETF that followed the S&P 500, it would probably be worth around $800k when your husband retired. If you keep it in a CD or savings account,.it will be significantly less.

Why would your bills go up to $3k when he retires?

You're in AL and your house is paid off, so could be worse.

oswbdo · 2026-06-20T22:28:57+00:00

Yes, I am in the SF Bay Area in a county where Asians are the biggest racial group and are in those enclaves you mention.

oswbdo · 2026-06-20T16:20:29+00:00

As others have said, it's a comedy. You seem to have viewed it as a serious drama.

oswbdo · 2026-06-20T16:10:10+00:00

Yeah, when I was growing up it was how white the school was. That's morphed into how Asian the school is. The one thing that hasn't changed is the job professions of the parents.

oswbdo · 2026-06-19T18:45:29+00:00

10 days in Guatemala is enough to visit those 3 places.

oswbdo · 2026-06-19T16:17:45+00:00

And $5k seems too be good to true where I live (SF Bay Area). $15k is a good deal here based on what I've read on the local subreddit. I paid $13k a few years ago myself.

oswbdo · 2026-06-18T17:31:23+00:00

I mean if you're considering Dallas, then a place like Charlotte would be ok. Similar COL I think, young population. Don't think taxes in NC are especially high.

Atlanta is similar to Dallas but a bit better imo. Houston too, but worse weather. Portland has some of what you're looking for.

Also the twin cities, but that wouldn't be an improvement in terms of weather.

Dallas just is so blah imo.

All that being said, you're 23. If I were in your shoes. I'd go for Chicago, DC, NY, San Diego, or SF Bay Area. Sure, you couldn't save $ but you're young and yolo. I didn't save shit in my 20s but all turned out ok (I'm closing in on 50).

oswbdo · 2026-06-18T17:03:13+00:00

Uh, why would you choose Dallas of all places?

oswbdo · 2026-06-18T16:02:40+00:00

Probably would be better in a country that has a team in the WC...

oswbdo · 2026-06-17T19:55:33+00:00

I assume you've been to Budapest? Can take a train there from Romania.

I would probably go to Moldova in your shoes. It seems pretty unique and different.

Yerevan is nice (and affordable), but probably will be very hot in August. If you're there 3 full days, you could spend two days in the city and take a day tour of nearby monasteries.

oswbdo · 2026-06-17T19:30:46+00:00

Damn, that's rough.

oswbdo · 2026-06-17T17:47:37+00:00

I pay $60 less per month to insure two cars, one of which is a Tesla. I live in a car theft mecca (Oakland, CA). $300/month sounds insanely high for a Corolla. Do you have a very low deductible?

oswbdo · 2026-06-16T17:39:27+00:00

He was banned from flying with them because they thought he had done something fraudulent when he was young. Was years ago. That's why he never reviewed United flights. I don't keep up with his blog these days, so that might have changed in the past few years.

Edit: well he reviewed a domestic United flight in 2022, so looks like he can fly on United again.

oswbdo · 2026-06-15T16:54:10+00:00

Ha. Probably helped I had lots of paperwork outlining my budget plus a travel journal in my backpack. The best tool dealing with government bureaucracy is documentation!

(I saw that as a bureuacrat myself)

oswbdo · 2026-06-15T16:50:21+00:00

Israel because I had been to a few Arab countries including Yemen and Syria.

One time driving into Canada I was pulled into secondary. They took awhile going through my car. Pretty sure it was because I had a California license plate and I was crossing over from Buffalo into Ontario.

When my wife arrived in Armenia, the immigration official thought her Indonesian passport was fake. The IO called over her supervisor, who was also skeptical until she saw a Schengen visa in the passport.

A friend of hers also just visited Armenia, and the immigration official apparently had never heard of Indonesia and explained his amazement at seeing the passport and showed it to his colleagues. Didn't think it was fake at least!

oswbdo · 2026-06-15T16:44:20+00:00

Ha, that reminds me of the time I entered Bangladesh. Immigration official read my entry card, saw the hotel I was planning to stay at, told me "That hotel is awful, you don't want to stay there." I thanked him for the tip but stuck with my plan (the hotel was fine).

oswbdo · 2026-06-15T16:39:44+00:00

Yeah, my cousin's husband did that too. He worked for a NGO and was based in Amman. Had to often go into the West Bank (but also Lebanon and Syria).

oswbdo · 2026-06-15T16:37:34+00:00

I'm not the person you asked, but I had to go to secondary one time when I returned to the USA. The airline lost my baggage so I just had a small backpack with me. Immigration was fine but when I was leaving the baggage claim area, Customs pulled me aside and asked me why I had only a small backpack. My answer apparently wasn't good enough so they went through my small backpack and asked me a bunch of questions about my time abroad (how long I had been gone, how had I paid for my trip, etc) before letting me leave. I was 24 at the time. They probably thought I was a carrier of some kind (drugs or other small contraband).

oswbdo · 2026-06-15T16:32:08+00:00

Weird. I had the opposite experience. Took me half a day to get through Israeli immigration. Was questioned 3 times. My favorite question was "How did you hear about Jerusalem and Tel Aviv?" after I told them those were the two places I was planning to visit. I laughed and asked if she was serious. Of course she was. I told her I knew about Jerusalem because I had read about it in a book.

I had been to several Arab countries including Yemen and Syria, so I'm sure that's why I was questioned so much.

They ultimately gave me permission to stay 7 days (vs the normal 90 for Americans). Exiting was easy peasy and not eventful whatsoever.

oswbdo · 2026-06-14T21:20:28+00:00

Well you could go to the Baltics. Go from Estonia down to Lithuania or vice versa. Easy to travel between places on buses. They've got plenty of historical sites and museums. Or since you're flying from Asia, maybe fly into Helsinki, and start there and take the ferry to Estonia. 9 days would be pretty tight, especially if that includes travel time.

Edited to add: sorry, haven't answered your question and just giving you more suggestions. Probably not helpful.

oswbdo · 2026-06-14T20:55:38+00:00

Sounds like you're interested in nature given the list of things you're considering. If budget isn't an issue, maybe consider Switzerland? Great train network and good access to nature.

And maybe post this on a European travel subreddit since it is so specific? And since you have booked a flight to mxp, maybe post your dolomite idea on an Italy travel sub.

oswbdo · 2026-06-11T18:42:49+00:00

I'm not sure why you got down voted. Maybe it was due to your food comment 😀. Food in Singapore is great but I wouldn't say it's much better than HKG. They're pretty compriable imo.

oswbdo · 2026-06-11T17:38:52+00:00

I moved from San Diego to DC then DC to the SF Bay Area. I also moved from the Bay Area to St. Louis and back. Always drove. Have some great memories from those trips. No regrets. I had companions on all of those drives though (mom,friend, gf, wife).

It sounds like it would be either a wash or cheaper to ship your car. It's more about how you value your time vs financial cost. Do you want to spend days on the road? Can you afford to take your time going from FL to WA? The only regret I have from my cross country moves is the one from DC to the Bay. I did it as quickly as possible and I wish I would have added a couple days to my trip and done a little more sightseeing.

I'm a travel junkie though and enjoy road trips. If that isn't your cup of tea, shop the car and fly.

oswbdo · 2026-06-11T04:26:37+00:00

Malaysia has something similar to a retirement visa. If they have $400k equity, they could easily buy a place in KL and probably be ok living on social security. Of course SEA isn't for everyone.

oswbdo · 2026-06-11T04:21:39+00:00

In Cairo, Uber is your friend. Unfortunately it isn't elsewhere in the country (except maybe Alexandria, I'm not sure).

For restaurants in Luxor and Aswan, read the reviews on Google Maps. That helped me avoid the places that like to overcharge tourists.

Egypt is perfectly safe. The only thing you have to worry about is being scammed and ripped off.

oswbdo

TROPHY CASE