Newbie here. Age question.
 

If you have or had the chance to move to TV at 55 would you?
The wife and I are looking for active living, warm weather and all the benefits I have read about TV. Our friends love it there and we are going to visit this winter.
The wife is 8 years younger than I.
I am not retired, I work from home and its part time at best at this phase in my life. Semi retirement in TV at 55 is an option.
Knowing what you know now would you have moved there sooner vs when you did?
If you have a spouse in a similar situation is it a challenge for her being in her mid 40s?
Thanks in advance. This site has got me excited for our visit!

My wife is in her mid 40s and loves it here!

I am 53, work full time from home, and live here full time now. You would not be alone, there are plenty of others. I call it "pre-tirement". The most common answer I get when I ask people if they would do anything differently with respect to coming to TV's - "I wish I had done it sooner".

CJmesk,

I'm only 52 (my wife is 49) and we came on our lifestyle visit in September with an older couple who are friends of ours. We had the best time and really didn't have time to do a lot of things. When we first got there I asked my wife, "do you think there will be enough to do here".....boy, was I wrong, we went non-stop for the next 4 days and I never even had a chance to golf. This place is fantastic and I never felt too young or even noticed that it's an older population because everyone is so active. My only question is how it works if you're coming down before you're 55. Can you still participate in the softball, clubs, and pickleball leagues, etc. if you aren't 55 yet?

I have met so many people in your age group lately! Some have retired from occupations that give them a pension they can live on. Others work from home, part time or full time. They all profess to love it here! As more and more people are able to work remotely, I think we will see younger and younger people coming here. There is a very active "South of 60" club in The Villages, and you will likely find many compadres there. Good luck!

I have seen a pickleball group who plays later in the day because they work.

Yes to all of the above. There is even 1 club (at least) that is exclusive to people under 60. There are several different softball leagues and a few are age restricted - 55 and up, 68+, etc. But the recreational and neighborhood leagues are at least 50 and up or maybe even 40 and up.

My husband is almost 80 and still works from home as a consultant who is considered a full employee of a national company. He does it on his own terms.

We would not have left the area where both are grandchildren were living with their parents when we were 55. We enjoyed being with them so much, that we waited until the youngest went off to college. Our kids felt like EVERYONE left them when we left.... sniff.

Everyone's life is different. I enjoy so many things about The Villages, the climate, the chance to develop a desire to paint and draw more, a new and different golf life, exposure to others who have had slightly different lives and tastes that are geographic and cultural. The opportunity to be in a completely new environment, with less stress.

I used to rail against people who moved here and said that they wanted to live closer to and among only "the younger old". I was hurt by the aspersion that we older ones were not fun or interesting, but now as I have gotten older I can see that may be wise. Illness and age does slow us down physically and being "up to things" depends a lot on how we feel physically on certain days.

Please do be kind younger ones. It appears that all these surprises lay in wait for all of us.

I am glad we live in The Villages. We have found so many folks to love and who love us. (Still room for more, and for us, age is NOT a factor)

Thanks everyone, this message board is not only helpful but if the culture at TV is like this board I cant wait to get out there.

We retired “early” at ages 58 and 55. When we were younger, age made little difference in developing relationships and now that we are a bit older age makes little difference. It makes sense that you will generally find younger age Villagers in the new Villages where the new houses are being built. One of the many pluses of The Villages is the interesting people you meet from different backgrounds and experiences. You can continue to learn and develop new interests and skills here in The Villages. Finally, you can be as busy as you want to be or not...

I would have moved here in my 30s if I could have,

My wife and I moved here when we were both 53 after realizing there was little advantage to staying in our previous location and could continue our working lives here just as well as our previous address with just a little longer commute. Moving here at the time may have been a little on impulse and a little on dissatisfaction with our previous community (what little of a "community" it was) and what it offered for social activities, what it wasn't was a mistake.

From the social aspect, our most important consideration in moving, The Villages has far exceeded any expectations we had. There is a different mindset here, people just don't come home, stay in their houses, and watch TV or browse social media, people here are more interactive with each other, there is a very strong (self)motivation to be active and meet other people which has such positive affects on both the individual and the community.

In a very short time after moving to The Villages our opinions of what retirement was, is, and can be changed dramatically. The old notions of retirement being sitting on the front porch and watching the world go by, or camped out in front of the TV watching game shows and talk shows, or playing cards or chess all afternoon were very quickly dispelled. They has been quickly replaced with physically and mentally active lifestyle that a linked and up-to-date calendar between out phones is beyond a nicety for my wife and I, it is essential if we want to do anything together or some days even see each other. Even while were were working we were actively involved (to the extent work allowed) with our new friends, no, a better word is family, here in The Villages. It made retirement not the end goal of working our entire adult lives, but the goal and adventure of what the future has to offer.

We were fortunate and my wife was able to retire 2 years after moving here and I was able to retire 2 years later. Today marks 6 months since I retired, I've only looked back a few times on the decision, mainly to ask myself why I didn't do this sooner. Do we miss the people we used to work with, sure we do, you can't help it being human; live moves on.

If you're able to move yourself away from your family, old friends, and old neighborhood without regrets or longing for constant and everyday contact with your "old" life, The Villages can be and is a great place to be.

Is The Villages perfect? Far from it, just read some of the many threads on this and other web sites and you'll see it has its issues. But, it is what you make of it and most of us here have made quite happy and fulfilling retirement lives being here.

People don't come to The Villages to retire and die, they come here to LIVE AND ENJOY LIFE.

So beautifully stated!

Goldwingnut thank you. Great post and exactly what we want in life, live and stay active. As you know sometimes family and friends will squash your plans because they either are afraid to do it or they simply don't want put themselves out there. I have always been the outcast of the family because I am willing to take risks, and that has allowed me to have a great life.
Our big move was to leave CA after 53 years. We started this plan last year when we bought a small condo in TN (Nashville area). That is where we live now. But after traveling between CA and TN last winter and now this winter it is too cold for us. So we bought a Class A Coach and plan on traveling 6 months out of the year if we like it.
We also are looking for a place to call home, warm air and active living (TV). So we are headed your way in our coach in a few weeks. We have friends who live there and they are the main reason we found TV.
I have always said" I want to go into the grave sliding headfirst with scares and dirt all over me."
I can't wait to hang there for a few weeks and get a feel of the culture, it sounds amazing!
Big unknown plans for wife and I and some say we are crazy, but at least that keeps me from going insane.

Well put GWN! The key to the "Villages Lifestyle" is activity. Virtually everyone is "out and about" on a regular basis, whether in organized activities, dancing at the squares, going to the pools, going to open houses, playing golf, pickleball, bocce ball, etc. etc. or just walking the neighborhood or cruising in the golf cart. Being out in the community literally forces one to socialize and communicate with other like minded people, which keeps you engaged and energized. We live about half the year in the Kansas City area, where we are within ten minutes of our three grown children and their spouses and six of our grandchildren, as well as my wife's 92 yr. old mother and her sister. That keeps us here through the holidays, which we thoroughly enjoy, but also begins to feel confining. As the weather turns cold it becomes more challenging to get out and stay active and we find ourselves longing for the nice weather and activities we enjoy in TV. We love the time we have here with family, but we are anxious for January and getting back to our Villages home. Whether you are in TV full or part time, I believe you will find it exhilarating and the younger you start the more time you will have to enjoy it. I have no doubt that we would have felt at home and excited to have settled here in our early fifties - in fact when in TV we feel like we're in our fifties, instead of our 70s.