Jingthing

Tiny place but a bigger city in the vicinity is Victoria TX and that's well within D list boundaries.

Tucson seems like a great place to retire to me as well but it's above D list.

There is something else to consider as far as long term strategic planning. The topic here is for potential lower income returning retired expats. A possibly great option for such people is Senior HUD subsidized housing. This is not Section 8. These are specific buildings often affiliated with religious groups and some of them are quite decent. If approved your rent is 1/3 of your income. Assets are irrelevant to the rent. So a fantastic option for low income retired people. But as you might expect the supply of these units is much less than the demand. There are multi year waiting lists and specific rigid application processes. For example if you've ever been evicted, you are disqualified. So long term returning expats would not be in a position to realistically apply for such housing before building a local profile to support their application. I have no idea how HUD would view long term expats where they really can't track your record over those years. It might be a big problem, or not. I don't know. What I'm getting at is that for people that would benefit from HUD senior housing, it's worth researching whether a location has any or not and if it has any, is it any good? I assume rural areas and small towns probably wouldn't have any. So that's an argument for higher population places which generally will have some senior HUD housing. Of course no guarantees even if it exists, but worth adding to criteria. Realistically when you add building a local record and waiting lists, I guess this is not something that could happen before four or five years back in the U.S.

I've become Louisiana curious. Why? Well I've been there of course to New Orleans but it's much more than that. Most of the state if very poor. So if you move there poor, heck, join the crowd, maybe less depressing. Also the culture is so different. It could be like moving to a foreign country moving there. As expats we're used to that kind of culture shock. On the other hand moving to a fictional Middle American place like "Normal" Ohio wouldn't have that going on. For example, how about Lafayette, LA? Home of the Rajun' Cajuns!

Ideally the goal would actually be well under 1000 like 800 or even less because rents always go up and social security COLAS never make up for price rises. So yeah this topic is really only about D list places. Some D list places do offer more than others as far as possible activities. Like Huntington WV. As people are always getting older, there is a morbid consideration in choosing price levels that is kind of similar to choices made for when to take Social Security. If based on your current age and your current educated guess about life expectancy, one might choose to take a higher risk on a higher cost area which would mean spending down nest eggs faster. Of course for people with only a low social security check and no nest egg, choices like that are much more limited.

Then you don't know many Jews. Jews usually say visible Jews vs. assimilated ones. Also when there are spikes in Jew hatred as we have now many otherwise visible Jews take measures to avoid being targets of violence by stopping wearing kippahs in public, etc. Some Jews are so Jewy that there is nothing they could possibly do to avoid being visible as Jews.

Not true.

Yeah and that's but one example of the price shocks awaiting repatriating long term expats.

That's a good point about D list options. Crappy job markets and bad schools but if retired who cares. But there are also downsides like high crime and crumbling infrastructure, etc.

Yes that genocidal chant is pathetic and despicable.

They won't vote trump but they won't vote at all.

Yeah "the Thais" are one thing.

Keep it to one day in small designated roped off areas and all will be sabai sabai.

Here are some more possibly D list towns and cities with maybe one bedrooms under 1000 to consider: Johnson City TN Brownsville TX South Bend IN (I've been interested in Fort Wayne but it's over D list) Huntington, WV Ames IA Toledo OH

I would like to know if the new bosses will have the same or a different policy on tolerating racist hate speech including Jew hatred which is a form of racism. In the wake of the current Middle East conflict, Jew hatred has spiked globally, including on this forum, sometimes voiced by obvious Nazi types with obvious classic Nazi type rhetoric. People are saying the new thing will be very free speech. So will that be all encompassing or have limits regarding racist speech (whether politically neutral, from the "progressive" left or from the extremist right)?

Of course he does! What I've learned about the extraordinary cult of Trump, as a US-based journalist (inews.co.uk) What I’ve learned about the extraordinary cult of Trump, as a US-based journalist ANALYSIS One of Trump’s greatest assets is feeling no obligation to tell the truth

He doesn't.

Not in the slightest. Biden doesn't have a cult. He's a normal president.

I was talking about Truth Social so your reply is disingenuous. It's impossible to have sincere discussions with Trump cult members (similar to Putin Z bots).

Not thrilled with Florida especially in a trailer -- hurricanes. Mobile parks are captive rental audiences so many horror stories. Phoenix -- so incredibly hot. Tucson -- seems more my style but also very hot and above D list. I like the idea of an unpopular cool real estate market smaller city or big town. Less traffic. A person on low social security plus savings generally isn't going to have a chance with a rental application for a 1000 a month unit through a corporate apartment building. But in an area with soft demand, I assume deals can be made with private owners where you can make your case, negotiate long prepayment, large deposit, etc. Also I think you'd get a better quality place for the same money in D list town vs. a popular city like Tucson. I'd like this topic to try to focus on D LIST TOWNS AND CITIES. I just checked Odessa TX. It doesn't seem cheap enough. Neither does Idaho Falls ID previously mentioned! OK, a downside of D list towns and cities is that there won't be a big supply of rentals. That could be a major problem compared to big cities.

I don't believe it's that low.

I'm aware of Odessa. Yeah that kind of place. It sounds appropriately awful. Alexandria LA interested me because at least they have good Louisiana food that I couldn't afford. Moving there would probably feel like moving to a foreign country anyway.

Not sure what you mean about Thailand but I'm obviously not a hippie now.

As many people know, I'm always interested in learning about backup retirement destination options to living in Thailand if for any reason Thailand isn't viable anymore (such as visa changes, etc.). My current list includes Mexico, Portugal, Panama, Cambodia, Philippines, and maybe Albania. Probably if there was a rush to leave, Cambodia would be the first place to go, probably Siem Reap. But I've noticed some changes over the years both in the costs of some of these expat options and also my own financial situation. To live in a desirable central place in Mexico, Portugal, and Panama the rents could easily be higher even much higher than an American "s"-hole town or city. Housing of course is the biggest expense but health care can be even bigger. Getting older being able to use Medicare back in the US is looking more and more attractive. So "just for fun" I'm having an online look at U.S. D list towns and cities where you could rent a livable place for 1000 dollars a month or less for a basic OK one bedroom apartment. Obviously almost always a car would be needed but junkers are cheap in the US so maybe OK. Talking about people living on lower social security checks plus hopefully savings that would add up to poverty living, but still with a roof. D list towns and cities would not have very good dining and entertainment scenes but that would be OK because at poverty level you're eating at home anyway. So it's basically trading that being able to eat out every day expat lifestyle for a depressing poverty level American cook and eat at home deal but trading for using Medicare and security of not worrying about visas anymore. Oh boy! So let's get started. What are your favorite American D list "s" holes? If you say places like Cincinatti or Pittsburgh you're going above D list. I'm thinking more like Alexandria, Louisiana or Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Sad.