Timing Your Exit

What about Denver?

I bit my tongue at my husband's suggestion, hating to bring up yet again my main argument against many of his moving suggestions - snow.

Every few years, one or both of us will pull up a map and start talking about where we might want to try living next. We're both former Cincinnati, Ohio natives, but work drew us up to Madison, Wisconsin (where I developed a deep hatred of snow) and then to South Florida.

A lack of kids and the nature of our occupations allow us to easily pick up and move to a new location, take on a new adventure, and reach for that higher quality of life we hope to maintain straight into retirement.

As I get ready to jump on a plane for Uruguay in a few weeks for Banyan's upcoming conference, I'm convinced that my husband isn't thinking globally enough when it comes to our next move, and I'm not the only one who's looking to broaden their search when it comes to finding that bit of paradise to call home.

Looking for Quality

You need only to spend a few minutes skimming the news headlines on any given day to see that the world is in turmoil. Our privacy is continually under attack by hackers or even our own government. The future of affordable health care rests in the hands of our elected officials. America's infrastructure of roads, bridges, dams and power grids is crumbling around us. It's a grim world we face.

It's really not too much of a surprise that not one American city made the top 25 list of best places to live as measured by quality of life. Mercer - a New York-based consulting firm - examines 450 cities every year using a set of criteria such as political and social environment, medical and health considerations, housing, natural environment, schools, and public services and transportation.

And for the seventh year in a row, Vienna, Austria, has claimed the No. 1 spot. The capital of Austria, Vienna has more than 850 parks and green spaces while being rich in culture and history.

Filling out the top five spots are Zurich, Switzerland; Auckland, New Zealand; Munich, Germany; and Vancouver, Canada.

In fact, the highest ranked U.S. city is San Francisco, which came in at No. 29, while Boston followed at No. 35 and Honolulu at No. 36.

While Vienna definitely sounds tempting, immigrating to Austria isn't incredibly easy. The country doesn't accept many new resident aliens each year.

However, you may qualify for permanent residence if you have a pension or proof of sufficient means to support yourself without working. Austria also has a special citizenship program for investors of at least $2 million in approved projects.

Get the Tools

Sure, maybe Austria is not for you.

But the world is an adventure waiting for you to uncover. Your next move shouldn't be limited to the next state over or across the country. What's driving your decisions can't be fear of the unknown, but what is the best fit for your family and your needs.

The first step is getting the information you need to make smart decisions.

Plan today to achieve a higher quality of life and happiness.

As the Senior Managing Editor for The Sovereign Investor Daily, Jocelynn handles the day-to-day operations for bringing you the Banyan Hill team's daily insight. She has spent over a decade working as an editor for financial publications. A former trader, Jocelynn has spent 15 years in the financial industry.


 By Jocelynn Smith


Article Source: Timing Your Exit