BikerBear

Yes, I was born in San Diego and moved to the UK when I was 46. I'm now 56, and 5 years away from retiring.

My spouse has been to America many, many times; always on holiday. However, living and working in America is totally different; and has the potential of being a HUGE culture shock and possibly a mistake. Don't know.

ChocolateBabz

Hmmm there is a big difference between a vacation here and living here esp. depending on where you live and what you are leaving behind.

For example if you have plenty of money and good health and retire down in Florida near like minded retiree folk it might be good and dandy. But moving to downtown Houston, not knowing anyone, unable to walk or take public transport anywhere and scrimping and saving to afford healthcare could be awful.

My parents in law had best friends in the UK who were getting on and decided to move to a retirement complex and hated it - said it made them feel old, so they moved even further away to be beside relatives thinking that would be support in their old age and found that they had nothing in common anymore (visits were lovely but they didn't want to live next to them). They are now desperate to move back to their 'home' town but are stuck with a house they can't sell. i guess I am saying the grass isn't always greener

durham_lad

Is there any chance of a trial move? We moved to the USA in 1987 and have had great experiences here but it has never been 'home' like Yorkshire was. When we retired we rented a house back in the town where we used to live for 7 months to see how much the place had changed. We loved it and are now planning to move back permanently in a couple of years.

If you have the finances to try something similar when you retire then you will see how your home town has changed since you left and give your wife a good feel of what living there would be like, as opposed to just visiting.

Nutmegger

You initially said you were interested in the New England states -- is that an area you have spent much time in? Although a lovely area in which to live, the winters (although not a patch on what some of the mid-western states experience) are still pretty tough in comparison to CA and the UK. We have had incredibly low temperatures this winter and still have a foot of snow on the ground that fell weeks ago and isn't going anywhere. Will you be looking for work "cold" or do you have contacts? That could be a problem at your age -- younger is generally considered better in these parts, I'm afraid! It sounds as if you have enough time in with US social security to be able to draw a pension eventually and be eligible for Medicare. That's an important factor for you both. But don't forget that, in order to obtain a full government pension here, the retirement age is 66, and will be going to 67 for people born 1960 and up.

It might be good to spend enough time here for your spouse to obtain US citizenship, so that you both always have the ability to move freely between the two countries -- but only you can decide if it is worthwhile going through the visa process for her to move here if you are unsure about whether it is an appropriate move. Is there something specific that you think might be better for you both in the US than in the UK?

Sally Redux

Your response seemed something of an overreaction. OP's spouse may not be fully aware.

Hotscot

10 years isn't that much time. There's no appreciable difference in the country since then...

Bob

ACA wasn't in place then....and health insurance costs have ballooned massively in that time.

AmerLisa

Actually it's a lot of time! I was only gone for 5 years, ok Bush came into power while I was gone and turned things upside down, but things still would have changed in that amount of time.

Uncle_Bob

Can't stand the heat then get out of the kitchen

Hotscot

Of course events happen. And there are always swings back and forth.

However the country, and people's lives, are generally not much different than they were 10 years ago.

Sally Redux

Change the record.

economy_1

If you are low income and don't mind going to public US Hospitals then Medicaid etc. are still available Health Insurance options from government.

AmerLisa

What is a public US hospital?

Pulaski

Have you ever heard about boiling a frog? The year on year changes might not appear to be much when you live in one place, but if you're gone ten years you'll notice all the changes there have been.

Bob

Not every place has a county hospital. None in my area.