It is time to settle the “gustibus” argument with some numbers 
What below table is saying that Italian cuisine is loved by all countries. Second and third are Chinese and Japanese cuisines (rows).
Italians themselves seem to find fault with over half of the world’s cuisines. Japanese people are pickiest when it comes to other cuisines (columns).
As with many questions in life, the answers can be found in either Friends, Simpsons, or The Godfather: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSFgDZJVYbo
Did we mention retirement on a cruise ship? For you and your 25yrs old gf.
yearly cost of living onboard permanently would range from $25,550 to $74,825
the annual cost of retiring on a cruise ship would be $71,798
Does that include barf bags?
So I would have to move to a blue zone? Goddamnit, that’s a negative withdrawal rate with how old I’m going to get living there.
The merit of those blue zones is being challenged I think. Your retirement involving waking up every morning on the Costa Smeralda could be hardship enough of course 
Funny and interesting, since they have doctors on those ships.
Pity that they can refuse you if the see that you keep booking in order to live on the ship. I suppose the only way is to book a longer trip and switching between companies.
I didn’t find a cheap >100days cruise though.
Interesting… but maybe that’s an indication of a lax government with laws being more akin to opinions or recommendations, which would indeed increase longevity… of my portfolio
I thought the were fully aware of it and promoting it. But probably would need to find the perfect one…
7 posts were merged into an existing topic: 2nd and 3rd pillar after leaving Switzerland
I will share a family anecdote.
Cousins of mine have lived for 40 years+ in Switzerland, originally from Portugal. Kids are here as well as grandkids.
They tried to go back to Portugal to test if they would be able to do it and they absolutely hated being away from family, friends and all the structure and relationships they developed over 40 years.
They sold their big house in Portugal, bought a small apartment in front of the sea for when they go to relax and enjoy the nice weather and now they are back in Switzerland.
It is easy to look at dividend tax, income tax, cost of living and all the nice metrics we, finance nerds, love to analyze but if in the end we are in a new country, far away from friends & family, is it worth it?
Just wanted to add a new perspective to the discussion!
Damn onions 
that’s what lies ahead for me, a Ghost of Christmas Future sight.
No worries, bro. I am already away from my family and I don’t have friends 
. What I mean to say is, it depends on the person. If you’ve invested a lot in having friends & family here, leaving will be a pain.
I think every time you switch places you feel homesick and lonely. It takes work to find your favorite places to hang out and make it feel like home, and to meet people. But I think it’s doable.
I left my hometown to study at the university and 10 years later I left my country for Switzerland. Both decisions were beneficial for my career and life overall.
I do not feel the pain of changing countries after 6 months. I have done it 4 times already.
However it is true that it is harder to make friend as you get older.
And my wife despite these moves and took 2-5 years to settle missing friends and family.
I am not to convince to sell her this idea.
Also changed countries many times (6), but I’m the opposite, the first 6-12 months is the honeymoon and after that I start missing things.
Agree on it being harder to make real friends as one gets older.
I get what you are saying.
I had a similar discussion with a work colleague and she said “I don’t understand what’s the problem? You can always get on a plane to visit your family if you want to”.
So it depends a lot on what you value.
I used to be a pure numbers guy only looking at that number and trying to optimize all my costs. I got a bit looser with spending (5-10% increase) and started doing things like flying for birthdays of important family & friends back home in Portugal. It’s the best use of 1200 CHF/year that I have in terms of increasing my overall happiness
I have a feeling like with certain people only seeing them a few times a year actually makes you love them more. Ever feel like coming back to your parents’ house and you can do it for one week but eventually you’re glad you “have to” go back? Otherwise they start treating you like a kid again.
To me money is one concern, but time is another. Since I have a full time work and little time to relax, I value my free time. If that time is spent going to the airport, doing the security check, sitting on the plane, switching to a train, taking the taxi, and then the whole thing back, to me that’s a lot of stress and exhaustion which I don’t need in my life. I have already rejected like 4 wedding invitations from Poland just because I can’t be bothered to get on a plane if it’s only for a weekend.
I like Switzerland. The main downsides are that it is extremely expensive to live here and culturally, people seem to be more distant. However, things work well and there is a low level of bureaucracy.
I would consider the UK too, but that is also expensive esp. with taxes. But is socially more open.
I wouldn’t consider living in countries such as France due to the bureaucracy.
Is there a unicorn country which is not too expensive, has friendly open culture where things generally work well with little bureaucracy?
Not to my knowledge but my knowledge is limited to “the west”, something’s got to give, somewhere.
I’d agree (not that my opinion counts for much, it’s just an affirmation).
Would agree to that as well, I too find the whole airport travel - any travel to be honest, even in my car - extremely stressful and exhausting.
I’ve lost a friend or two this way, either because I didn’t go to their wedding or because they didn’t come to mine. One guy said to me “I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you”, to which I had to respond “When, how? When I get married again!?”. Ultimately it comes off as pretty selfish and calls into question how reliable, how much of a true friend is this person after all. You get to compare in your head, if one person goes to the trouble to get a visa to make it to your wedding because they consider being invited a particular honour and intimacy to involve them in a pivotal moment in your life, and another person can’t be effed to drive 45 minutes or get on a plane for 90 minutes. This is still an opinion (and hence, not particularly valuable) and not a criticism.
