Retiring in the US....impossible?

We are a couple in our 60's...who for a while have been looking for somewhere to retire. But in perusing the boards here it seems we run up against the 6 month limit on living and not working in the U-S. Seeing as we would buy a home in upstate New York, it would seem impractical to only stay there 6 months of the year. Have I missed something in reading the dozens of messages here ?

Thanks

Very true. As a visitor, you can only stay for a maximum of 6 months and spend just as much time away from the U.S before you come back even if you are a retiree. Now here in Florida, many of my retired neighbours come from Quebec and stay for 6 months during the winter. They then lock their homes and have someone look after it until they come back the following year.

Extention of stay non-immigrants are for those in another visa category.

Well if that's the case, and it appears it is, then upstate NY comes in second to a place like Florida...or Arizona. Seems like a strange rule to me although I'm sure there are reasons for it. Probably to do with ensuring people don't try to work without proper documentation..or something like that.

Thanks for the confirmation.

Its not a strange rule. People seem to forget that this is another country. The USA is not part of Canada, and you simply can't just move here without authorization. I can't just one day decide to move to Canada and live out my days there without an immigrant Visa.

Our laws are not that different than Canadian Laws.

I've never had problems confusing the two countries

But you've got a point - a Google search shows it's tougher for Americans to move to Canada to retire...unless you've got a cool million in the bank.

Thanks

Have you considered some of the expat communities in Mexico? From what I've been reading there are more favourable conditions in terms of moving and maintaining a tropical home. There are threads on the Mexico forum you can take a read-through. I'm thinking about it myself, actually, lol.

I may be wrong--but say one can go live in mexico for longer than 6 months, then wouldn't that person run the risk of LOSING their cdn health coverage?? As one could be deemed a non-resident of canada.

Yes, I would think that's the case - if you're out of Canada for more than 5 months in the case of Quebec...poof it's gone and it's tough to get it back. Maybe we'd better just stay where we are

or do like most other snow birds and only spend the winter months in warmer climates (can't imagine upstate New York is any better in winter!) and the return to Canada for Spring, Summer and Autumn. That way you don't lose your Canadian health benefits, and you don't risk immigration problems by staying somewhere longer than you're welcome.

It looks like that is our only option at this point - the upstate NY "plan" was more about lifestyle and housing style (we love Victorians and upstate NY is full of them ) than about staying warm through the winter. But now that I think about it maybe staying warm in Winter isn't such a bad idea

Thanks to all