Well Aren't You Special, Darling!

This below is the sort of troll/hate mail I get frequently.  Instead of deleting it I thought I'd share it.....I know, these kind of people just want this sort of attention, but it was too "good" not to post.

On my "What's Happening Here Lately" Post she wrote.....

Didn't you check out your new neighborhood BEFORE you moved there? Nowadays, retiree locations include health accommodations, taxes, cost of living, safety & crime rates, drivability etc. etc. Leaving PA and retiring to a hick town with low class amenities and poor health care seems like such a huge mistake. And you're going to let them do a knew replacement? How come no pics yet of your single wide retirement home? Enjoy your upcoming cruise. If there ever was an example of what NOT to do for retirement, you'd win.  Rita Marie Jones

Thanks for your hate filled comment Rita Marie Jones(if that is your real name).

Where to begin in my rebuttal, not that I feel I really need to address your comment, but here goes.

If you've read my blog for any amount of time you know I am not an idiot, especially when it comes to being frugal and to our finances.  Because of our money skills and income Hubs was able to retire at age 59.  

A lot of moving pieces got into deciding on where to relocate as you age.  Hubs wanted out of the "snow belt" and I wanted a one story home because of my bum knee.  We also wanted to be near at least one of our children so there was some sort of support system where we relocated to.  Oldest child lives in New Jersey.  We have lived in NJ before and I swore I'd never live there again, plus the cost of housing and property taxes and all those people and traffic plus the outrageously high auto insurance?  That wasn't ever going to happen.  Middle child lived in Louisiana, has a house and is married and settled here.  Though even as a young child growing up in Southern Virginia I have never been able to stand the heat and humidity in Summer in the South, yes we did move here.  Our youngest child is not settled down yet, nor is his job something he wants to stay with long term, but for now he is living in Pennsylvania near where we use to live.

We are NOT rich but by being careful with our money we are "comfortable".  Staying in the Northeast was not feasible unless we wanted to use a large percentage of our income for housing and all it's associated costs.  You must not know anything about PA-it's referred to as Philly and Pittsburgh with Kentucky in the middle, meaning we LIVED in a "hick town" up there.  ''

We actually live in lA a nice quiet area outside of a metropolitan area with any amenity you could want(well except an Aldi and a Costco).  This area is between a twin cities type area and a small town plus it's 7 miles from my daughter and son in-law. And it's much safer and full of Southern hospitality(something I've missed since moving North when I went off to college).  

Fresh produce is cheaper down here too so not having Aldi and Costco aren't a big deal as there are other options.  

The healthcare situation was unfortunately and we were driven by our private health insurance to go to the clinic we first attended plus it was the closest one to us and not knowing our way around down here, we tried it.  I believe God put us into that situation so that 1-I could get to know a truly caring medical professional and make her believe in herself enough that she is now not afraid to leave her situation and find one worthy of her talents and 2-I could do some good in this world by calling out the CEO and other people running that place and get regulatory boards in this state involved in changing how they were running the clinic. (Since sending out a letter to said CEO plus cc'ing it to 4 Board Members and 3 regulatory agencies its seems I've stirred up a hornet's nest in this organization.  Hopefully things will change for the betterment of the patients there.)

 I received good care from my NP there but some things didn't get addressed in as timely a manner as I needed/wished but then again, my medical providers up in PA in many ways were just as bad!  We are now hooked into one or more of the three major healthcare facilities in this area(does LSU ring a bell?)  I have TWO options for a "Knee" replacement-one through my insurance which is a special program of elite joint replacement surgeons around the country or two-a local "KNEE" replacement surgeon, who graduated med school at the top of his class and is Board Certified by the Royal College of Surgeons in Canada.  Before moving here he had a thriving practice outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

There was no way the initial clinic we attended was going to perform knee surgery on me.....this was NOT a surgeon's office.  It's clear you have little understanding of the way medical care works(or doesn't)in this country.

We are located outside of two medium sized cities(if you consider Dallas a large city)but are drivable to get  ourselves to any amenity you could think of, in a very safe area with little to no crime out here beyond the city limits and I'd put my tax bill up against yours any day!

As for the "single wide retirement home" comment......no, we didn't purchase a single wide mobile home.  But what if we had?  It's economical housing and manufactured homes are very prevalent in this state(as they are in the middle of PA/hick town PA).  I am not a "house proud" type person as are many Americans(and they wonder why they are going broke?)  I want my home to be of a certain standard and comfortable.  We still had money tied up in the PA house but needed to jump on a new abode down here.  We found one we could slowly cash flow improvements on which also gave us enough land so we weren't crowded by neighbors and we could afford it with the cash on hand.  The sale of the PA house gave us extra cash for anything we needed to fix/replace and otherwise increased our nest egg in retirement.  Does the fact that we were able to purchase our home down here for cash tell you enough about how capable we are in managing our money?

Now don't tell me how bad manufactured homes are versus a site built home.  Have you seen the sheer destruction in Vermont and the Hudson Valley in upstate New York lately?  Or the million+ $$ homes in California sliding down cliffs?  If Mother Nature wants to take your home, it doesn't matter where it is or what it cost.  Most(if not all) of this state is below sea level so even if we bought a site built home there are no basements to flee to during natural disasters here.

So go ahead and slander the choices I've made in retirement.  Let's hear what stellar choices you've made in yours, how many countries you've been to and had experiences in and what your net worth is Rita Marie Jones.  Then you can crawl back under your bridge and go away.

Sluggy