Retiring in Wisconsin

[unclemick]

Sunny - 90 F, 57% humidity, light breeze on the lake.

Not a waverider in sight.

[MRGALT2U]

Originally Posted by OldAgePensioner

JG, the place is pretty nice, huh?* I don't think I could live with 20 ft of snow per year though.

As a military brat growing up and as an adult ex-pat, I've seen about every kind of weather, but 20 ft. of snow is outta the question.

Southern Florida (94 deg/95% humidity/tons of rain storms)
Desert Australia (120 deg/0% humidity/no rain most years)
Northern England (20 deg/60% humidity/8-10 inches snow)
SE Asia (95 deg/100% humidity/rain never stopped)

But 20 ft. of snow. Can't go there.

Me neither. It's awfully pretty in the summer though.

JG

[yakers]

You certainly can retire to Wisconsin. My mother grew up there and moved to Chicago in her teens. When my father died she moved back to the Wausau area If you look at everything it is manageable financially. There are income taxes, sales taxes and real estate taxes but they are not collectively more than she had in Chicago or I have in Los Angeles. And a lot of services and living costs are reasonable. There are some nice things about Wisconsin, including nice summers, grand autumns and a long, cold winter that supports ice fishing (done any of that Cut Throat?).
There is something about having four seasons that clicks with me and I expect to subject my Southern California wife to that some day.
Back to kayaks, one of the best paddles I ever had was the Apostle Islands at the very north of Wisconsin. Big caves and water as clear as Hawaii, just a little colder. On Memorial day we paddled into a cave and there was still some ice left.

[kz]

Hubby and I have lived in Wisconsin all our lives. (and we are retired at 50 & 53) Our home is valued at $240,000 and our property taxes are $3400 a yr.

Home prices are high for waterfront property but not so bad if you want to be out of town. The Door County area is gorgeous...we just visited Fish Creek last week for some shopping and sightseeing. (we're in central Wisconsin)

Our favorite seasons are fall and winter. Neither one of us like warm/hot weather so this suits us quite well. We love to snowshoe although most people we know opt to snowmobile.

I've heard that the Door County area is getting to be quite a mecca for early retirees but I can't confirm this. (Bayfield on Lake Superior is also)

The winters have been quite calm for years and years. We haven't seen the amounts of snow that we used to get when we were growing up here. Of course that could change with this coming year. Our county snowmobile trail was open for all of about 2 weeks last winter due to the lack of snow.

Good luck with whatever decision you make.

[MRGALT2U]

Originally Posted by kz

Hubby and I have lived in Wisconsin all our lives. (and we are retired at 50 & 53) Our home is valued at $240,000 and our property taxes are $3400 a yr.

Home prices are high for waterfront property but not so bad if you want to be out of town. The Door County area is gorgeous...we just visited Fish Creek last week for some shopping and sightseeing. (we're in central Wisconsin)

Our favorite seasons are fall and winter. Neither one of us like warm/hot weather so this suits us quite well. We love to snowshoe although most people we know opt to snowmobile.

I've heard that the Door County area is getting to be quite a mecca for early retirees but I can't confirm this. (Bayfield on Lake Superior is also)

The winters have been quite calm for years and years. We haven't seen the amounts of snow that we used to get when we were growing up here. Of course that could change with this coming year. Our county snowmobile trail was open for all of about 2 weeks last winter due to the lack of snow.

Good luck with whatever decision you make.

Fish Creek, Door County, Lake Superior, etc............great memories.
I know the area well. It will always be part of my life.

JG