Why...

I was married for 21 years, and like many women, thought that I would be married forever, supporting each other both emotionally and financially.  Unfortunately, my husband had other ideas and left me without a dime.  For most of those 21 years, I didn't work as my husband made enough so that I could be a stay at home wife.  I thought that I was lucky to be in such a situation.  Little did I know that when my marriage ended, that I would have to start all over again with nothing to my name.  The details of the end of my marriage make most people cringe, but I won't go into them here.

So here I am, nearing retirement and I don't have much to show for my life, other than my self respect and the knowledge that I can deal with anything.  I have a very modest 401k and pension, based on the short 11 years that I have spent with the company that I work for.  It will not be enough to support me when I retire, to say the least.  My current husband did nothing to prepare for his retirement at all, having spent all his married life supporting a wife and 6 kids.

Which brings us to the reason why we are leaving the country.  There is just no way that we can afford to stay here in the U.S.

We bought a house almost 3 years ago and qualified for the $8,000 incentive that the government offered.  It still sits in the bank where it was deposited in case something came up within the 3 years and we had to leave the house and give the money back.  We plan to put the house up for sale, fully furnished, including TVs, pots & pans, dishes - EVERYTHING will be left here.  We will only take our clothes and precious items (photos, letters, etc.).  Whatever we need, we will buy when we get there.

I need to go to the bank soon to find out how we can manage our finances after we leave.  I plan on doing that during the next couple of weeks and will post what I am advised once I do.