Retire in Minnesota

[Senator]

I never would have thought I would see his, but Market Watch has finally picked Minnesota as a Retirement destination.

And they published the article in January. And on the eve of the coldest day of the winter so far, with wind chills below -40.

So all your Floridians (and Texans) that are tired of the low taxes and high humidity, migrate north!

 

[Which Roger]

To me, long hot summers (especially the humid kind!) are much worse than long cold winters. The first city they mention is Duluth. It sits on Lake Superior, so summers are quite comfortable. And if you don't like the cold weather, they have a skywalk connecting most buildings downtown. And it's hard to think of another place where you have such easy access to so many awesome outdoor activities while still having all of the comforts of a decent-sized metropolitan area.

 

[Senator]

To me, long hot summers (especially the humid kind!) are much worse than long cold winters.

Agree! I ruled out FL as a full time "move to" state last September because it was that bad.

 

[braumeister]

It seems to me that all those destination lists just pick a random assortment of cities each year and then write up some plausible reasons for picking them.

One of these days, I fully expect to see Fairbanks on somebody's list.

 

[Which Roger]

Agree! I ruled out FL as a full time "move to" state last September because it was that bad.

I'm with you, but Florida is a prime retirement destination. I'd be interested in hearing from others where the appeal lies, and whether the positives offset the excess humidity.

 

[Senator]

I'm with you, but Florida is a prime retirement destination. I'd be interested in hearing from others where the appeal lies, and whether the positives offset the excess humidity.

I could see myself spending 181 days a year there, maybe a bit more. There is no place better to be than SW FL in the winter. Tomorrow here it will not even be above 0.

 

[sengsational]

One summer we were heading up to Duluth. It was 85 degrees until we dropped down next to the lake, and I'm not sure what the temerature was, but it was brisk; a long sleeved shirt and long pants were not enough, with the windchill.

 

[Marita40]

I'll be retiring in St. Paul. I like it here. As they say the cold winters keep the riff-raff out.

Watching the Crashed Ice course going up at the Cathedral as we speak, even if it is freezing out!

 

[sengsational]

Had to google it.

 

[Walt34]

Agree! I ruled out FL as a full time "move to" state last September because it was that bad.

It depends so much on the individual. I don't come out of long sleeves until the temperature goes above 80 and I'd suffer horribly and die in MN, except perhaps in July and August. A good friend is the opposite - he suffers from the heat at 75 and doesn't put on long sleeve shirts until the temperature is below 30.

 

[38Chevy454]

My blood is too thin for those long cold MN winters. Maybe I am mixed up, but I thought MN was not really a great tax and COL state for retirees?

Don't like the high humidity of FL much either. So looks like neither is on my retirement list!

If I was given choice to live in the desert, swamp, or live in snow, I would take desert for sure.

 

[Marita40]

What you don't see in that photo sengsational is the huge Cathedral to which the start of the course is attached. It really is a sight. Here's a photo that captures it:

 

[Marita40]

Well, bah, there was a photo there. Don't know where it went.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

MN is a beautiful state and I can see the appeal of living there, retired or not. I spent many happy weeks in MN during long ago summers as my Dad was a fisherman. The state is used to snow and cold weather and undoubtedly does a good job with road maintenance/indoor amenities. If I ever move from PA, though, it will be to a state with no estate tax. I am mulling over the possibility of VA (maybe VA Beach) for a little over half the year and staking a claim to residency there eventually. I lived in Tidewater VA in the late 70's and early 80's and loved the area although it is likely much changed (as am I for that matter).

 

[jjquantz]

DW and I spent 20 years in Iowa and enjoyed visiting the Twin Cities. I also have fond vacation memories of vacationing in the northern part of the state when I was a child. There are a lot of wonderful things to do throughout the state.

However, DW gave me a clear warning that we would never move to "the M state", as she called it. She firmly believes that snow should be restricted to mountaintops and any temperature below 50 degrees Fahrenheit is intolerable. When we first drove to the Twin Cities in the winter I had to explain ice fishing to her when she asked, "What are all of those cars doing out on that lake?" She really can't understand why people would choose that for entertainment.

I agree that Minnesota could be a wonderful retirement location for those who enjoy the occasional touch of frostbite for entertainment.

I could entertain living there between May 1 and October 1.

 

[robertf57]

Lived in Minnesota as a high school kid. That's why I now live in AZ!

 

[jfn111]

I have lived in MN all my life. My wife can't tolerate heat or high humidity so it looks like were going to stay here.
Plus the new Grandbaby motivates us to stay put.

 

[Chuckanut]

Great state.

 

[427Vette]

When we first drove to the Twin Cities in the winter I had to explain ice fishing to her when she asked, "What are all of those cars doing out on that lake?" She really can't understand why people would choose that for entertainment.


I got a chuckle out of this statement. I love sharing my ice fishing story. A couple friends and I were going Ice fishing on Lake Of The Woods. This is a huge lake/river system that borders Canada and Minnesota. One of my friends brought with a buddy of his from some where down south. This guy was dead set on not driving on the lake. He was adamant the whole way that when we got to the lake that we would let him out of the truck and that he would walk to the fishing spot. He was mortified when we stopped the truck, jumped out and set up the fish house and drilled holes to start fishing.... He had no idea that we had driven across 7 miles of ice! I think all of the plowed roads, fish houses, other trucks and the islands we crossed confused him.... Maybe you have to be from Minnesota to appreciate this kind of humor!

 

[FUEGO]

Summers up there are wonderful. Both weeks of it! (didn't read the whole thread, so apologies if anyone already used that one)

 

[Rick_Head]

I'd consider retiring there. Especially if my oncologist gave me less than a week to live.

 

[DallasGuy]

I grew up in MN and lived there for about 30 years before heading south to TX. The summers were very nice. But I would never go back there to live full time. The winters were miserable for me. I couldn't wait to leave. I would rather suffer through 2-3 months of heat in TX than 4-5 months of cold winter in MN. To me heat is uncomfortable but cold is painful.

 

[Aiming_4_55]

What, I don't see Eagan, MN on the list? ;-) Eagan is a nice town, lived there almost 10 years, might move back in time, have not completely ruled that out.

For me, if I moved back, it would be for proximity to family in MN and Midwest. I don't feel the taxes are super friendly, but the State programs are good for low income wage earners, so I've heard or been told by tenants. Yes, the winters do get cold! We moved after a 90+ inch snow winter, but I was itching for a change for awhile.

 

[Fishingmn]

Lived in MN all my life and with all of our family & friends here I can't see us leaving.

That said, I'd love to plan on at least renting someplace warmer for the month of January in the not too distant future. Retirement is planned for 2017.

 

[ERD50]

It seems to me that all those destination lists just pick a random assortment of cities each year and then write up some plausible reasons for picking them.

One of these days, I fully expect to see Fairbanks on somebody's list.

Agreed, I think they just figure they'll make points and sell some magazines to people in that area, so rotate around every year?

A few years back, one of the big magazines featured a town near us as one of the top places to live (forget which ranking, but way up there). Hey, the town's nice enough and all, but I never in a million years would I think of bragging to anyone and say something like 'you should come live in that town, it's great!'. And it really doesn't have a real 'downtown' area with any 'feeling/connection/vibe' to it, everything is spread out - pretty typical suburban sprawl type. There are some other nearby towns that are much better in that regard, they have an old style downtown area with a quaint 'look', vibrant higher-end shops and restaurants - much more appealing IMO. So I do think it is pretty random.

-ERD50