I have no idea where to retire!

[truenorth418]

Yes I had this same question when I retired 10 years ago. In my case, I love traveling, so I use some of my trips to explore potential new home bases. I have a checklist of attributes, but I have not found any one place that has all the feature I am looking for. I guess I am fighting the age old “don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough”.

 

[statsman]

We love Pismo! Hotel on the beach, world class fish houses, pelicans, whales, and sand between your toes.

But not moving, just visit regularly -

Sadly, that ended up being our conclusion. I think the lack of a robust and stable services environment was more of a deal-breaker than the tourism traffic, which itself was bad enough.

What I do miss is being near the ocean. I sleep far better there than anywhere else. I am a light sleeper, but that location is a cure for it. DW doesn't quite get it because she can sleep anywhere, anytime. I am worse trying to sleep where it's hot, so I was so delighted when DW wanted to move to Central Texas. No amount of AC can combat that.

 

[finnski1]

We have friends that have their forever home less than a mile from Squalm Lake, the setting of On Golden Pond. Close enough?

Squam Lake is a beautiful lake(2nd largest in NH I believe) and it is a nice area to live in. Just south of the White Mountains and just above the Lakes region of the Lake Winnipesaukee area.

 

[finnski1]

Frank is a New Orleans native and it seems to me that the older he gets, the more he realizes how much it means to him to be living here where his entire extended family has lived for over six generations. During my life I have moved frequently and lived in many locations, but I have lived here for a quarter century and that is longer than anyplace else. So at last I have a real home, which I have always wanted. Hopefully we can stay here for the duration.

My grandfathers family had 7 or 8 generations in the same central Massachusetts town as well. He was not moving out of that area.
But what I really want to now is how you can be alert to post at 1:50 AM

 

[W2R]

My grandfathers family had 7 or 8 generations in the same central Massachusetts town as well. He was not moving out of that area.
But what I really want to now is how you can be alert to post at 1:50 AM

Good question! I have a good answer for it, too.... I accidently took a 3-4 hour nap in my recliner yesterday afternoon. See what happens when you have a really comfortable recliner?

So anyway, as a result I was up almost all night, couldn't get to sleep until 6 AM. When I opened one eye at 8 AM, I made myself get up and start chugging coffee, so here I am and hopefully I will get back to a more normal sleep schedule soon.

 

[finnski1]

Good question! I have a good answer for it, too.... I accidently took a 3-4 hour nap in my recliner yesterday afternoon. See what happens when you have a really comfortable recliner?

So anyway, as a result I was up almost all night, couldn't get to sleep until 6 AM. When I opened one eye at 8 AM, I made myself get up and start chugging coffee, so here I am and hopefully I will get back to a more normal sleep schedule soon.

I'm on my third cup.

 

[38Chevy454]

Curious--what about Albuquerque?
I've never visited but the weather looks great, its affordable & we are looking for a city.

There have been previous replies. I used to live there for about 8 years until I retired and moved to OH. ABQ is nice weather. That's not an offset for all the bad stuff, like crime and poverty. Crime is bad in ABQ, no hiding that. Poverty is mostly the rest of the state outside the ABQ metro area. If not for the gov't spending on national labs and military bases, NM would be way worse. Approx 2/3 of the entire state population lives in ABQ metro, second is Las Cruces and third is Santa Fe. Rest of the state is small towns and most are struggling. The Native American reservations have a lot of problems, notwithstanding all the casinos. Water is only becoming a worse issue in NM, it is all ground water for domestic water supply systems. Let me just say I don't miss NM since leaving. I was only there for work, no family roots or other reasons to stay. The weather is very dry except for northern NM. Typical relative humidity in single digits, dewpoints below freezing. Evaporative coolers work very well to cool your house. Or you can use "refrigerated air" as the locals call it for conventional style A/C.



If anyone is serious about ABQ or NM, feel free to PM me and I can discuss further. It may be something to consider, but wasn't a long term place for me.

 

[Huston55]

That just happened (partially) with the passage of Prop 19. So, the chipping away of Prop 13 benefits continues.

https://www.boe.ca.gov/prop19/Proposition-19-Fact-Sheet-February-1-2021.pdf

Various props extended prop 13 to allow generational transfers and inter county transfers (props 60, 90, 193, etc.)

You could argue prop 19 extended prop 13... Now you can transfer to a more expensive property (new rates will be blended of old value (transfer) and new value (the delta.)).

Not sure it's being 'chipped away'. Although as someone who bought from my father while he was still alive, and got the rate - that has been curtailed. But now we can transfer 3 times... which is an extension from a one-and-done previous rule.

It's true that Prop 19 benefits some and hurts some financially. So, it's effect is somewhat "in the eye of the [-]beholder[/-] taxpayer." But, what is certainly true is that Prop 19 raises more revenue (Read: increases taxes) overall. That's why I call it "chipping away." BTW, I no longer own real estate in Cali so, it doesn't affect me. I think your situation in San Diego is different so, you may benefit from Prop 19. But, I am close to several in the Estate Planning field, and I can tell you its impact in that sphere is massive. See Ballotpedia excerpt below.

Fiscal impact statement
The fiscal impact statement was as follows:[2]

“Local governments could gain tens of millions of dollars of property tax revenue per year. These gains could grow over time to a few hundred million dollars per year.
Schools could gain tens of millions of dollars of property tax revenue per year. These gains could grow over time to a few hundred million dollars per year.
Revenue from other taxes could increase by tens of millions of dollars per year for both the state and local governments. Most of this new state revenue would be spent on fire protection.[3]”

https://ballotpedia.org/California_...ildfire_Agencies_and_Counties_Amendment_(2020)

 

[Alex The Great]

I can see there are plenty of advocates for CA. I lived here for last two decades, and it is indeed a beautiful place. Though there are two issues which may eventually drive me out of SF Bay Area:
- smoke from wild fires, almost every fall
- property tax is $14K and will grow up 2% per year even with Prop 13

 

[statsman]

IThough there are two issues which may eventually drive me out of SF Bay Area:
- smoke from wild fires, almost every fall
- property tax is $14K and will grow up 2% per year even with Prop 13

Try Texas. Property taxes for a modest $400K home are in the $10-11K range, and recent real estate spikes are hitting the 10% per year limit for many. I feel real bad for long-time Texans dealing with this.

 

[W2R]

Water

When considering climate as a criterion for potential retirement locations, water is so important. Humidity (too high or too low) is a problem for some.

Also some locations are prone to severe droughts, where in the heat of summer everything is brown and water usage is limited. Wildfires may threaten now and then. Other areas have abundant water, but it seems to rain all the time. Floods may threaten now and then.

Here's an article that prompted me to come back to this thread and mention water.

https://news.yahoo.com/vegas-ban-non-functional-grass-210254788.html

One of my favorite aspects of living in New Orleans is that we have abundant water. OK, it rains a lot; for example we had 72" of rain in 2020. It's humid here too, but I love the lush green trees, shrubs and grass, rain doesn't bother me, I never have to water the lawn, and my skin loves high humidity. My water bill is about $3/month and I used as much as I want. I would never be happy in an area with water rationing and everything brown, dry, and ugly like I experienced in some locations earlier in life.

But that's just me, and YMMV. I think we are water creatures here; they say you are truly adapted to south Louisiana when you start getting webbed feet. But many, perhaps most retirees prefer drier climates. Something to think about.

 

[RetireeRobert]

they say you are truly adapted to south Louisiana when you start getting webbed feet.

You could be an Oregonian! Some say Oregonians must have webbed feet too.

 

[W2R]

You could be an Oregonian! Some say Oregonians must have webbed feet too.

So true!

 

[patela6]

This thread makes me wonder if there are places on earth where elderly are well looked after, affordably. Likely Asia, Thailand etc. I wonder if it's worth buying a place in a top retirement community now, preparing for 10 to 15 years in advance? Anyone done this? Cheers

 

[Koolau]

This thread makes me wonder if there are places on earth where elderly are well looked after, affordably. Likely Asia, Thailand etc. I wonder if it's worth buying a place in a top retirement community now, preparing for 10 to 15 years in advance? Anyone done this? Cheers

Culturally, asian FAMILIES seem to look after their own. I see that in Hawaii. Multigenerational symbiosis is typical here (Young look after old and old look after young - all within one household.) Hawaii State in general honors our older folks as well. Now, having said that, care facilities are very expensive so those needing actual nursing care may be financially stressed. And simply moving here without benefit of local family wouldn't be very effective. YMMV

 

[RetireeRobert]

Help me out here.

What are the main options for retiring locations. I can think of:

a) Island living i.e. Hawaii
b) Big City living i.e. DC
c) Off-the-grid i.e. a shack in Montana
d) Europe
e) Beach-side i.e. Florida

Or maybe I'm thinking about it all wrong! Help me out!

I don't have family in the US so am not tied to any one area.

You are having such a hard time picking out a place to retire to, maybe subconsciously, you don't really want to retire and leave where you are!

 

[38Chevy454]

You could be an Oregonian! Some say Oregonians must have webbed feet too.

I've heard the term "moss back" for Oregonians as well.