Quasi-New Retiree From Morrison, CO

[blade3colorado]

Hello . . . I'm in the process of retiring early (age 51), i.e., I'm a Federal Civil Service "whistleblower" and my last day of work was January 8th, 2007, albeit, I am still making my full salary . . . long story. Ironically, I've wanted to retire early ever since my divorce in 2000 -the divorce caused much reflection about what has "value" in life . . . my occupation which was number 1, fell out of the top 10 (grin) - but financially the numbers did not work until this year.

My retirement plan is to settle this work situation; retire early; sell my house in Morrison, Colorado (too cold); park the money, while determining where I want to eventually live/retire (must have acreage, warm weather, and small town feel, e.g., New Mexico, Arizona, etc. Also seriously considering being a snow bird in Mexico/Caribbean, where I can pursue my SCUBA diving); and continuing my avocation of doing volunteer work.

Anywho, I am new to this forum and I am so happy I discovered this site, i.e., I've only perused these threads since yesterday and am quite impressed with the information provided. Thank you for letting me introduce myself . . . Steve

[crazy connie]

Welcome aboard Steve! Jump on in the water is fine.

[blade3colorado]

Thank you . . . I plan on it!

[Coach]

Steve, welcome from down south in Colorado Springs. It sounds like you've got a great plan. We'll all be interested in hearing where you decide to settle down.

Coach

[spncity]

Ah - would love to live in Morrison ! I look at real estate sites for that area regularly.

spncity

[blade3colorado]

Thank you Coach. Spncity - Leaving Morrison will be a difficult decision. I live just off of the U.S. 285 corridor and the infrastructure that has occurred since I moved here in 1997 has been significant, e.g., expansion of freeway, new Safeway and King Supper stores, along with satellite stores. In short, real estate values have risen steadily, but a real estate explosion (not only my opinion) is going to occur in the next couple of years, similar to what occurred along the U.S. 70 corridor which serves Evergreen. Conversely, the most recent winter here was brutal and my California "genes" miss the extended springs and summers (LOL . . . I had a mountain home in California near Redding, but the altitude was much lower). Additionally, this house is approx. 3000 sq. feet . . . way too much space for a single guy, although in 2003, I finally decided to get a housekeeper who comes by once every two weeks. What I do like about my home is that it is fairly new (see my home page . . .http://blade3colorado.spaces.live.com/ ), thus cutting down on the maintenance, which must be done in lieu of the severe winters here; and, the surrounding acreage (I grew up in the SF bay area and hated sitting down to dinner with a view of my neighbor's doing the same . . . grin). Where do you live spncity? Why do you want to move? Take care . . . Steve

[spncity]

Nice house! Do you have a south-facing driveway?

If my other half decides, we'll live way out in the middle of nowhere. Not sure yet "when", of "where". It kind of depends on whether we go there after FIRE or whether we need to be able to commute down the mountain to j*bs. Conifer is nice, and we have some dear friends there, but with gas prices going up, it seems too far.

We'd heard this past winter had "lots" of snow - so I guess that helps all the reservoirs.

spncity

[blade3colorado]

No . . . and big mistake too. I've had roof problems due to ice damming in the past, however, I've addressed those, e.g., installed vents in soffit; ice and water shield down to flash near gutter; heat tape; and, cut down over a dozen trees which have blocked sun exposure to roof. House is actually nearer to Conifer and Aspen Park then Morrison. I think the politicians did a bit of gerrymandering to extend their influence, i.e., I am ten miles from the town of Morrison and 25-30 miles from Denver downtown and under 20 from Lakewood. Although this winter was the toughest, March 2003, we had the snowstorm of the century . . . 7 feet of snow in my driveway which required a frontloader and kept me away from work for over a week. Ha . . . I recall when we (married at the time) closed escrow on this house in 1997 - two weeks after moving in, we had a blizzard that dumped four feet of snow over a three day period. Anyway, our neighbors had a housewarming for us and my first question was, "Does it snow like this all the time? If so, I'm outta here and back in California." Response was that this particular snow storm was a "once in ten year storm." Other funny note is that I shoveled my driveway for over 8 years, but this year, I finally brought a snow blower. If you saw my long driveway, you'll probably understand why my neighbors thought I was nuts shoveling it all those years . . . grin. Take care friend.