Originally Posted by
MissyH
Where do you prefer to live in retirement, if the only choices are:
Hawaii(Kaui)
Florida(FLL)
Spain(somewhere between Marbella and Girbraltar)
Tahiti(Papara)
Finland(on the coast, across the ocean from Stockholm)
I've traveled to those places frequently and have friends and family in all of
those places. It doesn't make sense to move to places where you don't know
anybody, right?
If there are chronic health problems then FLL is, by far, the best place to be. If you need a neuro-ophthalmologist or a burn surgeon, South Florida has it, including Fort Lauderdale (won't have to even go to Miami). Papara, Tahiti is not going to have those types of specialists nor small town Finland or Kauai, Hawaii. Even Malaga may barely have some of these specialists, though it's not that close to Marbella.
If one is somewhat healthy but has arthritis, a warmer climate is better, ruling out Finland.
If one can live 6 months in one place, summers in Finland and winters in Kauai would be fine.
Out of curiosity, I look up Papeete, Tahiti. There are 7 ophthalmologists. But I don't think any of the 7 are vitreoretinal surgeons. Maybe Nochez Yannick might do some retina surgery. So if you have a retinal detachment, you might have to go to France, Los Angeles or see if Dr. Yannick can handle your particular retinal problem. Retinal detachments are not that uncommon. (Cursory searching online makes me suspect that Dr. Yannick received training in corneal diseases but, due to the isolated nature of Tahiti and lack of retinal specialists, has become the "go to" guy for retinal problems in Tahiti and is the person of last resort, though not really trained in the sub-specialty -- could be wrong because just a cursory online search).
What if you break your hip? Is there a hip specialist? Maybe not but there is probably an orthopedic surgeon in Tahiti.
The bottom line is any of the 5 places may be ok until you're about 70-75 years old. If 80, it becomes riskier as health problems increase. If you have a stroke, time is critical so medium sized cities offer an advantage.