So I'm finally at the point where I think all my numbers work, but I am having trouble deciding where I should retire to. My wife and I currently live in the Midwest. Almost every vacation we take, we go out west - California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado etc. we are looking forward to moving out there permanently but are suffering a bit from analysis paralysis.
Our main requirements for a retirement place:
- four seasons but no excessive heat/humidity in the summer and not really long winters. A drier climate is a plus.
- excellent hiking nearby is a must. Close by cross country skiing would be a strong positive
- not too far from a major international airport since we are from the U.K. originally and still travel back there annually to visit family
- preferably a big enough town to have a decent health club, decent shops etc. close by. i.e. Not way out in the sticks
- reasonably affordable. Which I think rules out most of California. Ideally we would find a nice 3 bedroom house for $400k or less but we could stretch that a bit if necessary.
So currently the front running state is Colorado. Originally we were looking at Fort Collins or some of the other Northern front range cities. But then we realized these places are still a bit of a drive to decent hiking, so we are now contemplating more west of Denver so we would be right in the mountains, but still pretty close to a major city.
Feedback from others who live somewhere like where we are looking for would be very much appreciated!
Our main requirements for a retirement place:
- four seasons but no excessive heat/humidity in the summer and not really long winters. A drier climate is a plus.
- excellent hiking nearby is a must. Close by cross country skiing would be a strong positive
- not too far from a major international airport since we are from the U.K. originally and still travel back there annually to visit family
- preferably a big enough town to have a decent health club, decent shops etc. close by. i.e. Not way out in the sticks
- reasonably affordable. Which I think rules out most of California. Ideally we would find a nice 3 bedroom house for $400k or less but we could stretch that a bit if necessary.
So currently the front running state is Colorado. Originally we were looking at Fort Collins or some of the other Northern front range cities. But then we realized these places are still a bit of a drive to decent hiking, so we are now contemplating more west of Denver so we would be right in the mountains, but still pretty close to a major city.
Feedback from others who live somewhere like where we are looking for would be very much appreciated!