Boomers: Do you want to retire in your present location?

[RoccoR5955]

42. Personally, I do not plan to stay in the US

I am planning to retire to the Netherlands.
I have a girlfriend who lives in the Netherlands. She is in the college town of Wageningen, about a 1.5 hour bus/train ride from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
I got back from my vacation there, and am quite impressed with the country, its people, the history there, the infrastructure, and a lot of other things.
I have been researching how to get a residency permit to live there, get my pension there, get a house there, and other stuff. There may be a few stumbling blocks, but I have between 2.5 and 5 years to work that out.
Hopefully, if I do my homework, I will be able to retire there.
They are so far ahead of the US in many ways that it makes the US look like a second rate place.
Prices for goods are on par with the US, with the exception of taxes and gasoline. Taxes are higher, but they take care of their people much better than we do here. Gasoline is roughly twice what it is here, but the small cars get great gas mileage, and I don't drive a big car any way.
Public transportation is great, not expensive, and on time. Trains, trams and buses are all modern and comfortable.
The attitude of the people is much more tolerant and progressive than they are here.
Yes, there some things that are a bit different, but not really. The more I think about it, it may be different, but it's the same.
One of my big hurdles will be learning Dutch. In the 2.5 weeks that I was there, I picked up simple phrases, and could go to a shop and buy something and conduct the exchange in Dutch, so I think that it will not be too much of a problem.
Another thing that will be a hurdle, will be getting my pension direct deposited there. It seems that the US has put some road blocks in the way of Americans getting accounts overseas, but I am sure that I can overcome them.
All in all, at 59, I have met someone who I want to spend the rest of my life with, in a place that is much more progressive than the place that I live, so I will do what I can to get my butt there and finish out my life in a better place than I can here.