Where to retire

[Mango1956]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort In an urban hipster part of Georgia near a lot of high paying IT jobs and also near the beach with sunny 80 degree weather? Otherwise the rent comparison is apples to oranges. There are cheap rents parts of California, too, further away from the jobs, beaches, major colleges and cultural attractions but a lot of nice natural scenery and outdoorsy stuff to do.

+1

[Mango1956]

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoguy We also lived in the Bay Area for all of my working career (and most of my wife's). We sold our house in San Jose when we fired last year due to cost of housing. Our problem now is that we have too much choice, didn't have a chance to visit all of the places on our short list, and we seem to keep adding to the list instead of cutting it down. Maybe this means we should be perpetual renters/travelers. So far the list includes: Norcal (perhaps around Santa Rosa) Santa Cruz Long Beach / Orange County San Diego Area Boulder/Denver Santa Fe Oregon (Portland/Bend) Washington DC area Fortunately for us, all we want/need is a small condo so even though some of these places are expensive, they are still affordable for us.

+1 on Norcal Santa Rosa or north, and Santa Fe is someplace Cali folks might really feel at home. Great city for outdoor pursuits. For Oregon, how about Ashland, in So Oregon. We were tempted....

[Time2re]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Hitter Boise - DW and I will die here Most beautiful place on the planet - if you're into doing stuff outdoors, not many places can touch it

+1

[msrhoda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accidental Retiree I PM'd you about our new area in SoCal. Housing is relatively affordable, and there are a couple of 55+ communities nearby. Not any hotter here than Davis, and much closer to the ocean. We were very pleasantly surprised by our new area and are very happy here.

Hello - Please let me know the name of the 55 plus community you are referring to....I'm very interested. Many thanks!!!

msrhoda

[Ronstar]

I haven't completed our research yet, but I'm leaning toward:

1: Scottsdale/ Fountain Hills, az
2: some place in the mountains of Colorado, near Colorado Springs
3: Santa Fe, nm
4: Jackson, wy



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[Fermion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort In an urban hipster part of Georgia near a lot of high paying IT jobs and also near the beach with sunny 80 degree weather? Otherwise the rent comparison is apples to oranges. There are cheap rents parts of California, too, further away from the jobs, beaches, major colleges and cultural attractions but a lot of nice natural scenery and outdoorsy stuff to do.

Wasn't the OP about retirement? Why do you need high paying IT jobs if you are retired?

I hate hipsters (and I live in Seattle, so it is like hating water)

Georgia is cheap. I mean dirt cheap. I grew up there and don't plan to retire there, but it would definitely be a fall back plan if our portfolio suffered a extended market collapse.

[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion Wasn't the OP about retirement? Why do you need high paying IT jobs if you are retired? I hate hipsters (and I live in Seattle, so it is like hating water) Georgia is cheap. I mean dirt cheap. I grew up there and don't plan to retire there, but it would definitely be a fall back plan if our portfolio suffered a extended market collapse.

I wasn't replying to the original post - just a later post you didn't include when you quoted my reply.

My point was it is not logical to compare rent in a hipster part of southern Cal to anyplace, GA. There are cheaper rent places in California, too, if you don't need or want to live in the urban coastal area.

[hnzw_rui]

Curious, when is a good time to seriously think of where to live after retirement? 10 years before? 5 years? 1?

I'm still more than 20 years away from retirement and have toyed with the following ideas:
1. SoCal/Los Angeles area (basically just stay put) - high cost of living
2. Florida - no state tax on retirement income
3. Philippines (where I grew up) - low cost of living (my grandmother lives on just $1,500/mo in a nice condo and that's inclusive of salary for 2 caregivers)

It's really just vague musings at this point, however.

[Fermion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort I wasn't replying to the original post - just a later post you didn't include when you quoted my reply. My point was it is not logical to compare rent in a hipster part of southern Cal to anyplace, GA. There are cheaper rent places in California, too, if you don't need or want to live in the urban coastal area.

Ah ok, sorry about that.

There may be cheaper places in CA compared to urban coastal CA, but in general I would bet the cheapest places in CA don't come close to the lowest cost places in GA.

Can you rent a 3bd room home on several acres anywhere in CA for $600 to $700 per month? I mean not a former meth lab, but a nice home?

[big-papa]

What we think about are the following, in no particular order.

- Reasonably low cost of living, including taxes
- Access to restaurants and culture, which could mean living within an hour or so of a larger city, but not necessarily living in the larger city.
- Airport nearby - again could mean living within an hour or so of a larger city.
- Good healthcare nearby
- These days we're thinking condo for maintenance reasons. We currently live on an acre outside of Austin.
- One thing to possibly consider is good long term care facility nearby in case one or both of us end up needing that.

Plenty of time for us to think about it. By most measures we're close, if not already there. But I'll attempt to OMY it at least until our daughter starts college in 4 years.

[photoguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky A friend of mine lives in Orange County and loves the weather and health care. The traffic is not great but manageable. Just avoid the commute hours. My brother lives in the Boulder area and likes it there except for the weather.

I did grad school in Irvine and while Irvine itself was somewhat sterile (planned community) it was close to everything nice.

We have also visited Boulder and the weather is surprisingly good even by california standards. There is some snow but it tends to melt quickly and you could be wearing shorts the next week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mango1956 +1 on Norcal Santa Rosa or north, and Santa Fe is someplace Cali folks might really feel at home. Great city for outdoor pursuits. For Oregon, how about Ashland, in So Oregon. We were tempted....

We're planning on visiting Santa Fe this summer. Many of my friends have said the city is awesome so expectations are high.

I've also heard good things about Ashland and Medford but they seem a little too far away from an international airport for us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hnzw_rui Curious, when is a good time to seriously think of where to live after retirement? 10 years before? 5 years? 1?

I think you can't start too early. In hindsight, we should have started visiting places maybe 5-10 years before FIRE and then during the recession picked up a condo at ultra-low prices.

Heck if we had planned this better, we could have bought a condo in San Jose during the recession and not needed to move for cost of housing considerations.

[imoldernu]

An article provided by people who want to protect their privacy:

The 10 Worst States For Retirement In 2015

[Accidental Retiree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by msrhoda Hello - Please let me know the name of the 55 plus community you are referring to....I'm very interested. Many thanks!!! msrhoda

I PM'd you with some places.

[LRDave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort I wasn't replying to the original post - just a later post you didn't include when you quoted my reply. My point was it is not logical to compare rent in a hipster part of southern Cal to anyplace, GA. There are cheaper rent places in California, too, if you don't need or want to live in the urban coastal area.

A bit parochial, eh? Seem to be painting with a pretty broad hipster brush there......

[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion Ah ok, sorry about that. There may be cheaper places in CA compared to urban coastal CA, but in general I would bet the cheapest places in CA don't come close to the lowest cost places in GA. Can you rent a 3bd room home on several acres anywhere in CA for $600 to $700 per month? I mean not a former meth lab, but a nice home?

I am not an expert on renting 3 bedroom homes in cheap parts of either CA or GA. Wasn't my point. My point was it was apples to oranges to compare rent in a hipster part of S Cal near jobs, beaches, colleges, all sorts of international tourist attractions and with almost perfect weather to anyplace GA and not expect anyplace GA to be cheaper. You get what you pay for. Rent is a lot cheaper in Sacramento than most areas along the coast and cheaper yet in many smaller towns away from the coast.

[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LRDave A bit parochial, eh? Seem to be painting with a pretty broad hipster brush there......

I don't know what that even means except that name calling (parochial) doesn't seem to add to having a logic based discussion. It just feels rude.

[LRDave]

Parochial is this case meaning "myopically regionally biased". It is not "logical" to assume that SoCal would be everyone's cup of tea to the point of dwarfing all other economic factors affecting rent/housing prices anywhere in Georgia - is it?


It's "apples to oranges" to compare just about any place to just about anyplace else - isn't it? Why so more the "hipster part of SoCal" to anyplace, GA? Are you not suggesting that the "hipster part of SoCal" is a gold standard of desirability as a living location that can only be offset by the economics of the cost of the living location?

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort I am not an expert on renting 3 bedroom homes in cheap parts of either CA or GA. Wasn't my point. My point was it was apples to oranges to compare rent in a hipster part of S Cal near jobs, beaches, colleges, all sorts of international tourist attractions and with almost perfect weather to anyplace GA and not expect anyplace GA to be cheaper. You get what you pay for. Rent is a lot cheaper in Sacramento than most areas along the coast and cheaper yet in many smaller towns away from the coast.

I think you (and others) are getting too deep into the wants and possibly needs of a retired couple when trying to answer the question as to a future retirement location. It's a matter of finances and taste/desires/needs of the couple when selecting a location. And no one location may have all the "features" one desires.

For instance, we are in a nice area north of Houston (The Woodlands - Google it). It's got everything we want (for now):

Moderately priced housing, reasonable rentals in nice, newer apartments, senior activity center, two senior assisted living facilities nearby, hospitals all within 10 miles (3 of them), good access to major freeways, "relatively" safe environment, more cultural and outdoor activities than you can do in two lifetimes, many fine restaurants, hotels, colleges, etc. - And all this is what we find as "desired".

If I want to take a college course at the college, I can walk to it in 5 minutes.

If DW wants to do volunteer work at the church, it's 1 mile away.

If I want to walk my dog in the forest, I can walk there (with him) in 5 minutes.

But we have traffic (everyone wants to live here).

Property taxes are high (same as above).

We are not near a beach (and really don't care to be) but we have a big lake.

But we do have lots of high paying jobs, if one wants to work (we don't).

It's really tough to come up with a place to retire that has all the stuff everyone wants because not all people want the same things. So bantering and going back and forth as to what is comparable between locations gets hard to conceptualize in a public forum like this. Just my two cents!

[38Chevy454]

Arguing about CA is pointless with anyone living there that has not lived somewhere else. I grew up (SF bay area) and went to college (central coast) and first career job (LA area) in CA. Also moved back there (SF bay area) for work later in career. I have also lived around the country so have personal experience with areas different than CA.

Several things I identified, especially after moving back to CA:
1. People that have never left CA do not realize how bad some of CA is. You can use your definition of what bad is - water, taxes, crime, COL, traffic, immigration, education, environmental issues, etc.
2. There is more to life than living by the beach. BTW the ocean water off anywhere north of LA is way too cold unless you have wetsuit. Even LA water is too cold most of the year for any extended time.
3. Most people in CA accept the downsides of traffic, high cost for things and high taxes as just part of living there. Many do not know any different so it is their normal.
4. CA was the land of opportunity back in 70's and prior, now it has lost that.
5. Politically CA is dominated by liberal democrat party and there is insufficient opposition. So you have to like/accept/tolerate this. It will stay this way for a long time.
6. The high populated coast and big city areas dominate the state, although land-wise it is a fraction of the state. Deep blue along the coast and big cities, much more red inland.
7. CA has beautiful outdoors and mountains to enjoy, a lot of the state is beyond 10 miles from the ocean.

Whether your list of positives outweighs the negatives is different for each person. I am glad to be out of there, too many negatives for me. Also retiree living vs working has different priorities.

If anyone wants a NM perspective, PM me. Santa Fe is just one of many areas in NM that are popular with retirees. Santa Fe is not a large city, it is relatively small although it does have a bigger feel.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 38Chevy454 Arguing about CA is pointless with anyone living there that has not lived somewhere else. I grew up (SF bay area) and went to college (central coast) and first career job (LA area) in CA. Also moved back there (SF bay area) for work later in career. I have also lived around the country so have personal experience with areas different than CA. Several things I identified, especially after moving back to CA: 1. People that have never left CA do not realize how bad some of CA is. You can use your definition of what bad is - water, taxes, crime, COL, traffic, immigration, education, environmental issues, etc. 2. There is more to life than living by the beach. BTW the ocean water off anywhere north of LA is way too cold unless you have wetsuit. Even LA water is too cold most of the year for any extended time. 3. Most people in CA accept the downsides of traffic, high cost for things and high taxes as just part of living there. Many do not know any different so it is their normal. 4. CA was the land of opportunity back in 70's and prior, now it has lost that. 5. Politically CA is dominated by liberal democrat party and there is insufficient opposition. So you have to like/accept/tolerate this. It will stay this way for a long time. 6. The high populated coast and big city areas dominate the state, although land-wise it is a fraction of the state. Deep blue along the coast and big cities, much more red inland. 7. CA has beautiful outdoors and mountains to enjoy, a lot of the state is beyond 10 miles from the ocean. Whether your list of positives outweighs the negatives is different for each person. I am glad to be out of there, too many negatives for me. Also retiree living vs working has different priorities. If anyone wants a NM perspective, PM me. Santa Fe is just one of many areas in NM that are popular with retirees. Santa Fe is not a large city, it is relatively small although it does have a bigger feel.

Good summary on Ca. I lived there for 12 years north of L.A. in fashionable Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village.

Other states have a lot of desirable features for retirees, especially NM.

Please take Texas off the desirable list, we are full!