Retired

Yesterday we had a conversation about retirement. And yes, we're getting old enough to start thinking about it. Mind you, I might be a bit ahead, but if you ask me, it's never too early to think about the golden years. Carpe diem, smell the roses, be like Ferdinand, that type of thing.

But friend is not realistic. One second, it's buying a flat in Alicante ("it's an investment") without having done the research. The next is a house in the Caribbean. Without ever having been there.

I think two of us rolling our eyes, may have given her a hint that it's not sound to do. However, it is perfectly ok to dream, and have ideas, but before you spend your life savings, do some research!

When I came to Switzerland almost 10 years ago, I planned to stay here maybe 2-3 years, then move on to somewhere else, and finally retire in Spain.

After a holiday trip to the Valencia area, and a job assignment in Barcelona, I realized that the dream was to stay a dream and never ever to be realized.

I mean, Spain is fab and has the best food in the world if you ask me, but the idealized picture I had was from Spain more than 20 years ago. Nowadays it's clogged with all other nationalities than Spanish, it's touristic, not genuine anymore, it has an economy looking more and more like Greece, and I don't even want to think what happens if you get old or sick in Spain.

Seriously, we're not all gonna be 100 years old, being healthy and in need of no help. These things are important. You wanna be in a country where the social security net exists.

And guess what? I found my piece of heaven...right here in Zürich!