[babs1199]

I was reading on a web-site that the average person/couple living in TV have a income of around $97,000 a year. That seems to be a little on the high side. I wonder if I can afford to live in TV as my retirement is not that much.The average retirement income is around $ 55,000 in Florida. Is this correct ? Thanks for your input..... I really want to retire in TV....

[herbaru]

Originally Posted by babspadget

I was reading on a web-site that the average person/couple living in TV have a income of around $97,000 a year. That seems to be a little on the high side. I wonder if I can afford to live in TV as my retirement is not that much.The average retirement income is around $ 55,000 in Florida. Is this correct ? Thanks for your input..... I really want to retire in TV....

You might want to read this thread, be sure to look at the pole results
Income poll - Yearly Income?

[golfnut]

i believe you could very easily retire in TV for half that (if you own your home)...imo...gn

[babs1199]

Originally Posted by herbaru

You might want to read this thread, be sure to look at the pole results
Income poll - Yearly Income?

Thanks, I did look at the poll. It did help.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by herbaru

You might want to read this thread, be sure to look at the pole results
Income poll - Yearly Income?

Thank God that I didn't see that poll. I would not be here now.

Yoda

[Pturner]

I don't know what the average is, but I bet many retired TVers live comfortably on less than $97k annual retirement income.

[RichieLion]

I wouldn't worry what people earn as a barometer of the affordability of living in The Villages. There are homes in many ranges here. You can go as cheaply as 60 to 80K if you buy one of the old homes for sale in the "historic district" or maybe 140 to 160K for a new small "villa" or "cottage home" or 190 up for a designer and so on. You don't have to eat out every day like many of our residents do and there's plenty of ways to cut corners. But no matter what home you live in you live in The Villages where there is something to do for everyone who has any imagination. The people you meet are normally the nicest and friendliest you'll meet anywhere. You can golf for "almost free" almost any time of the year. You can swim at your neighborhood pool where'll you'll meet all your neighbors or experiment with any other pool and meet new people every day who will usually regale you with their stories of life in or out of The Villages. It costs nothing to go to one of the Town Squares any night for free quality entertainment and reasonably priced refreshments and dance under the stars with the person you love. I have the best neighbors of my life here and am having a blast with my wife here and I can't imagine not being here now. It doesn't cost that much. Just do your homework; figure out you assets and your budget and buy and live accordingly. You won't regret it. I know I haven't and I'm far from rich.

[Whalen]

Originally Posted by RichieLion

I wouldn't worry what people earn as a barometer of the affordability of living in The Villages. There are homes in many ranges here. You can go as cheaply as 60 to 80K if you buy one of the old homes for sale in the "historic district" or maybe 140 to 160K for a new small "villa" or "cottage home" or 190 up for a designer and so on. You don't have to eat out every day like many of our residents do and there's plenty of ways to cut corners. But no matter what home you live in you live in The Villages where there is something to do for everyone who has any imagination. The people you meet are normally the nicest and friendliest you'll meet anywhere. You can golf for "almost free" almost any time of the year. You can swim at your neighborhood pool where'll you'll meet all your neighbors or experiment with any other pool and meet new people every day who will usually regale you with their stories of life in or out of The Villages. It costs nothing to go to one of the Town Squares any night for free quality entertainment and reasonably priced refreshments and dance under the stars with the person you love. I have the best neighbors of my life here and am having a blast with my wife here and I can't imagine not being here now. It doesn't cost that much. Just do your homework; figure out you assets and your budget and buy and live accordingly. You won't regret it. I know I haven't and I'm far from rich.

You said it all!

[redwitch]

Actually, I wouldn't be in the least surprised to find that figure is pretty accurate. However, I doubt it is accurate for those who are truly retired and living here full time. Many buy before they are ready to retire with both spouses working. So, if you include these; those who are still working and living here; those who managed to invest well (and keep most of their investments); those who are living strictly on Social Security (and, yes, there are some who have no other income and manage to live here and be quite happy); and everyone in between, a $97K average doesn't sound that unreasonable.

However, RichieLion said it best.

[ceejay]

We came down from New Jersey...Somerset, to be exact...highest property taxes in the state!

After doing all the math, we found that we are actually saving between $300-$400 a month just by living here!!

Wish we would have done this four years ago!

[rshoffer]

Originally Posted by herbaru

You might want to read this thread, be sure to look at the pole results
Income poll - Yearly Income?

Caution: this poll cannot be used to determine median or ave income in TV. It reflects only the SAMPLE who responded. Many factors can effect that.

The post above is right on. There is so much to do here that is essentially "free" (golf, pools, nightly entertainment, p-ball, clubs, and more) that when you are, in fact, dancing away on the square under the stars, nobody knows (or cares) if you live in a million dollar premier or a cozy 90 K home in the Historic Area. The TV ad... "live like a millionaire for the rest of your life" is right on.

Here's another factor that helped my decision. Property and local taxes were completely out of control in Pa before we moved. I saw the handwriting on the wall and I was right. Bankruptcy looms everywhere from local school districts to the entire State. Taxes will be exploding. I felt the growing population base of this area, the stable income, etc would ensure much more reasonable taxes and so far that's been correct.

So if you "really want to retire in TV"... start packing!

[memason]

Originally Posted by babspadget

I was reading on a web-site that the average person/couple living in TV have a income of around $97,000 a year. That seems to be a little on the high side. I wonder if I can afford to live in TV as my retirement is not that much.The average retirement income is around $ 55,000 in Florida. Is this correct ? Thanks for your input..... I really want to retire in TV....

I had the same question as couple months ago.... Got great advise from everyone one on TOTV. To help with my decision, I started with the standard living expenses, as published on TV's website. This gave me a good starting point. I felt that worse case, I could handle those expenses, with my retirement income. From there, I used a spreadsheet to develop my "most likely" scenario of spending, during retirement. I inflated the TV expenses to allow for a more expensive home (> $250K) and I was rather generous with expenses that were completely discretionary like eating out, golf, travel, etc. I then bounced those expenses against my projected monthly retirement income to see where I stacked up. When you create your retirement budget, don't forget to remove all expenses you have that are related to working, like commuting, parking, increase fuel usage, etc.

Good luck with your research... My research shows I can live on much less that $97K annually. In the end, I think you'll find it's all about the home you choose the buy...that decision will drive your monthly expenses higher or lower.

[downeaster]

Originally Posted by babspadget

I was reading on a web-site that the average person/couple living in TV have a income of around $97,000 a year. That seems to be a little on the high side. I wonder if I can afford to live in TV as my retirement is not that much.The average retirement income is around $ 55,000 in Florida. Is this correct ? Thanks for your input..... I really want to retire in TV....

The Villages started as a mobile home community. As it grew its desirability also grew attracting people who wanted something more than a mobile home. So, they started building two bedroom site built houses. Desirability continued to grow and people were asking for three bedroom site built so they added three bedroom homes to their inventory. Desirability continued to grow attracting people with higher incomes and wanting bigger and more expensive homes and so it has grown to the point where very expensive homes are being built for very wealthy people.
Now, back to the mobile homes. There are still people buying older mobile homes and replacing them with newer ones. There are one and two bedroom patio homes, two and three bedroom ranch homes that have been built and are still being built. They have even come out with a more affordable ranch home line to add to the existing line (which I consider affordable).
It is fairly simple to compute the cost of living here based on the type of home you desire. If you can afford it don't concern yourself with the average income of residents. When you make golf tee times, swim in a neighborhood pool, play shuffleboard, play softball, etc. you are not asked to divulge you annual income. Who cares?!
So, come on down!!!

As to averages, a guy drowned while attempting to wade across a stream whose average depth was two feet.