10 affordable places to retire

[CuppaJoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha You guys must work for the Chamber of Commerce. ha

And they don’t even need to bring out the “C” word (chiggers). That suburb of Mishawaka is very well located near the dunes as I recall. Fun place, lots of sand. Did they film Lawrence of Arabia there?

[Orchidflower]

Some of these cities are in high-high tax States. Who makes these lists anyway?

[F4mandolin]

I'm voting for the Spokane area....just bought a house there so I can't hardly vote against it. Wish the winters were just a hair shorter but it does keep the "soft" folks away. Too bad I can't golf during the winter. No state tax and but I should be in a real low tax bracket anyway. Winter is what they make beer and mandolins for.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by F4mandolin I'm voting for the Spokane area....just bought a house there so I can't hardly vote against it. Wish the winters were just a hair shorter but it does keep the "soft" folks away. Too bad I can't golf during the winter. No state tax and but I should be in a real low tax bracket anyway. Winter is what they make beer and mandolins for.

I lived near Spokane in one of the coldest winters of the 20th century. It was great. So many nice outdoor things, basically dry air even when cold. Overall I think you should enjoy it.

Ha

[F4mandolin]

That wasn't about 1979-80 was it? I remember graduating from Central in Eburg the summer of 79 and having some temps down around -40 or so that next winter.

[Dean]

The town of Mishawaka, which is adjacent to South Bend, is a little better - my husband grew up there and his sister and family still live there, but it isn't really close to the Indiana Dunes -- it is a good 45 minutes or so-- in any case, there are worse places, but I'd still never choose to retire around there.....

[dex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Omaha? Montgomery? San Antonio? Roswell? Obvious the folks who write these articles focused on the stats and haven't lived in these places...

I passed through Roswell not too long ago. It looked as if the town was dying. Even the Alien museum wasn't doing too well.

[Gumby]

It seems that the people who make these lists don't do any field work. If you want a fine place to live, I humbly suggest my fair state of Connecticut. I live in a picturesque old New England town (you know, with the big white church on the maple-lined village green), on Long Island Sound and a relatively short train ride to the big city (NYC) for excitement. It is, however, far from cheap.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby It is, however, far from cheap.

Which immediately eliminates it from 95% of the "best places to retire" lists, because cost of living almost always carries a very high weighting.

Especially since many of us want to retire *early*, and we'd have to w*rk an extra 10-15 years in order to have a chance of living our last few years there...

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby It seems that the people who make these lists don't do any field work. If you want a fine place to live, I humbly suggest my fair state of Connecticut. I live in a picturesque old New England town (you know, with the big white church on the maple-lined village green), on Long Island Sound and a relatively short train ride to the big city (NYC) for excitement. It is, however, far from cheap.

I spent 4 years in Southern Conn, loved it, and it's one of the few places that I've lived that I would happily return to. The other 2 are San Francisco and Venice Beach.

I think it would be better to go somewhere you were happy and run out of money if need be, than isolate yourself in South Bend Indiana for example. If you get poor enough you can usually get senior subsidized housing.

I met an old gal who lives in Bellingham on almost no money. She is in a high rise subsidized senior housing project overlooking Bellingham Bay. All the rest is covered by her SS, and a little savings. So she has a very nice life walking around going to coffee houses in Fairhaven, entertaining the old hippies with her stories of jazz musicians that she slept with when she was young back in New York (according to her anyway) and generally enjoying life mostly on someone else’s dime.

Connecticut isn’t that expensive anyway, outside of Greenwich and the billionaires’ haunts. At least when compared to Seattle.

Ha

[Notmuchlonger]

I was in Conn over the winter Salem to be exact. Nice place to visit. Ive lived out of the winter so long. Not sure I want to move back into it. I found Connecticut to be just as expensive as Northern California.

[W2R]

Frank worked in Connecticut for years. Although I have never been to Connecticut, it looks beautiful online and has many advantages, so I brought up the idea of living there.

Cost of living aside, in that general area he preferred rural western Pennsylvania to Connecticut. I think this is a case of "different strokes for different folks".

He likes southwestern Missouri better than either of these, and Springfield seems like a good fit for both of us. Hopefully the number of retirees that find southwestern Missouri to be appealing to them will be few, so that it will not be flooded with them.

[DougViages]

My DW and I will take you on the adventure tour of Detroit. We'll point out $1 houses for you to buy. Since they were crack houses, you'll have a solid post-retirement business opportunity. Taxes are high in the city, but this is offset by the utter lack of government services. Oh, and you'll need to be a 'person of color' not to be hunted down like an animal by the neighborhood gangs.

Retirement paradise by any measure!

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha I spent 4 years in Southern Conn, loved it, and it's one of the few places that I've lived that I would happily return to. The other 2 are San Francisco and Venice Beach. I think it would be better to go somewhere you were happy and run out of money if need be, than isolate yourself in South Bend Indiana for example. If you get poor enough you can usually get senior subsidized housing. I met an old gal who lives in Bellingham on almost no money. She is in a high rise subsidized senior housing project overlooking Bellingham Bay. All the rest is covered by her SS, and a little savings. So she has a very nice life walking around going to coffee houses in Fairhaven, entertaining the old hippies with her stories of jazz musicians that she slept with when she was young back in New York (according to her anyway) and generally enjoying life mostly on someone else’s dime. Connecticut isn’t that expensive anyway, outside of Greenwich and the billionaires’ haunts. At least when compared to Seattle. Ha

Back in 1984, when I was a young naval officer, I was stationed in Bremerton, WA for 8 months. My new young wife got a job in Seattle and commuted on the ferry every day. We both found the area to be perfect in virtually all respects. All the conveniences of a big city, with outdoor activities just a quick drive out of town, in the midst of great natural beauty. And the people were very nice too. The only downside was that it was 3000 miles away from my wife's family in NJ. (My own family is in MO, which is plenty close enough, thank you.) If I did not live here in CT, I would choose Seattle.

[piano88]

Hi,

Binghamton, NY is actually a very nice place and community---despite the violence of a few days ago. The community is a good college town, with excellent and low cost restaurants, community theatres, etc. It's near the Susquehanna River, with ample trails, skiing, etc. Yes, we just love our NY taxes, but...the rest of life there is actually pretty decent.

Piano

[Dean]

This retirement thing is really interesting......we presently live in western CT but will leave as soon as the house sells (never??:-)) due to the ridiculous cost of living, mostly taxes. Granted, we have lakefront property, but having compared nicer lakefront properties in places like western Virginia where the taxes are 1/10 of what we pay, it is hard to justify staying here, especially since we have no family ties. All in all, retirement is a time when most people have to consider total cost as the major factor, and there are so many nice, inexpensive places that it is truly a matter of taste, IMHO.

[Notmuchlonger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dean This retirement thing is really interesting......we presently live in western CT but will leave as soon as the house sells (never??:-)) due to the ridiculous cost of living, mostly taxes. Granted, we have lakefront property, but having compared nicer lakefront properties in places like western Virginia where the taxes are 1/10 of what we pay, it is hard to justify staying here, especially since we have no family ties. All in all, retirement is a time when most people have to consider total cost as the major factor, and there are so many nice, inexpensive places that it is truly a matter of taste, IMHO.

That is precisely why we will leave California.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notmuchlonger That is precisely why we will leave California.

One thing I rarely see mentioned about moving to cheaper place vs. staying put is easy interaction with you kids/grandkids. When I was young and living in LA a had an uncle there who was going all out to create a situation where he could stay in SoCal, where all his kids would grow up there, go to UCLA or Berkeley, and ideally marry and make job connections locally. He thought about this as carefully as many of us think about retirement. He never wanted to leave LA because it had everything, and great opportunities for young people.

I was pretty impressed, as it always seemed to me nuts to send your kids off somewhere to university, since so often their life connections will be made near to their school.

He eventually retired, and of his 5 children 4 stayed in the western part of LA, and one daughter married and settled in the Bay Area, so his plan worked.

I feel very fortunate that both my sons live within 4 miles or less of me, and within 5 miles of one another.

Ha

[Notmuchlonger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha One thing I rarely see mentioned about moving to cheaper place vs. staying put is easy interaction with you kids/grandkids. When I was young and living in LA a had an uncle there who was going all out to create a situation where he could stay in SoCal, where all his kids would grow up there, go to UCLA or Berkeley, and ideally marry and make job connections locally. He thought about this as carefully as many of us think about retirement. He never wanted to leave LA because it had everything, and great opportunities for young people. I was pretty impressed, as it always seemed to me nuts to send your kids off somewhere to university, since so often their life connections will be made near to their school. He eventually retired, and of his 5 children 4 stayed in the western part of LA, and one daughter married and settled in the Bay Area, so his plan worked. I feel very fortunate that both my sons live within 4 miles or less of me, and within 5 miles of one another. Ha

Oh I agree. My DW and I have no children. Our relatives live in Conn,Ohio and Texas. Without a doubt If I had children or grandchildren I might think differently. I happen to enjoy Texas even with the Ebola and fire ants We enjoy travelling so it makes sense for us to conserve some money by moving from California to a cheaper COL area. To each his own whatever may work for you.

[Moemg]

It's great if your children & grandchildren live in a place you like . My daughter & son in law moved from Boston ( I love Boston & could happily live there ) to Lakewood , Ny ( talk about the boonies I'd go into retail withdrawal quickly , plus it snows and snows ). So for now I just have to make lots of trips until the day comes when I'll have to move closer to my daughter .