Coastal Retirement? Have You Considered These Costs?

I guess it’s one of those dreams, when retirement finally comes, buying a coastal property and living by the sea. It’s an appealing scenario, and a lot of people make the leap to live their best life at the coast. But if you’re thinking about it, have you considered the extra weather and environmental risks of living near the sea?

Although I don’t permanently live at the coast, I do have a vacation property within a few hundred feet of the sea. When I arrived a few days ago, I was met with a slightly storm-damaged roof and an imploded furniture storage box, the contents scattered to goodness knows where. This, alongside other damage over the years, has given me some hard-won experience with the issues worth thinking about.

With changing world weather patterns and the trend toward more extreme weather events, particularly damaging winter storms, insurers are increasingly raising premiums, sometimes dramatically, or withdrawing coverage entirely. In my case, insurance for my coastal property has more than doubled over the last five years compared to a 30% increase for my permanent home. That’s real money, an extra $2,000 annually in my case. Although I’m confident that coverage will always be available in my instance, withdrawal of coverage should be a consideration, particularly in high-risk flood zones.

My insurance deductible has also increased from a flat $1,500 to 2% of property value. On a $400,000 coastal home, that’s $8,000 out of pocket before insurance kicks in. That’s a substantial increase in my potential out-of-pocket costs for even minor storm damage. Risk mitigation is difficult and basically boils down to keeping the outside structure in good repair and paying particular attention to the roof and entry points to the house.

Beyond the elevated storm and flooding risks, another overlooked point is the environmental impact of having a coastal property. The naturally salty conditions can quickly do a number on the exterior finish of your property. Repainting sidings and other external surfaces is an ongoing battle that’s expensive to maintain. I’m repainting exterior trim every 2-3 years versus 5-6 years at my permanent home. Simple things like BBQs and outdoor furniture really don’t last as long. I’ve replaced my coastal BBQ twice in the time my home BBQ is still going strong.

Take the decking around my property. I originally thought of using outdoor-grade lumber, but every contractor recommended composite decking because of the environment and high maintenance costs of wood in the salty sea air. The result was more than double the installation costs, about $35,000 versus $15,000 for comparable wood decking.

Living in Ireland, I don’t need A/C, but I would guess salt air corrosion would be a consideration that could reduce the working life and increase maintenance costs of outside compressor units for those who do. Basically, in all areas, coastal living brings unique financial challenges.

When I add it all up, the extra insurance, more frequent maintenance, shorter lifespan for everything exposed to salt air, my coastal property costs me roughly 40% more annually to maintain than a comparable inland property. That’s a significant chunk to factor into your retirement budget. I’m not saying don’t chase the dream, but do run the numbers first. As the old saying goes: forewarned is forearmed.