Where to relocate ???

[1242Vintage]

We are very frequent travelers to Hawaii ... and our trips have gotten longer and longer as we approached retirement. Currently actively looking at homes on Oahu and Mauii. North shore of Oahu is my wife’s preference and Mauii is mine ... probably end up on north shore.

Four items at the top of our “checklist” when considering where to retire were (1) easy access to health care (2) tax friendly to retirees (3) outdoor and active lifestyle and (4) easy access to air travel.

The health care system we have now also has 20 offices scattered across the islands so we won’t need to change AND Hawaii doesn’t tax our public pensions and in a few years won’t tax our social security either. We currently live in a very high cost/tax state so will actually be better off financially when we relocate.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We are very frequent travelers to Hawaii ... and our trips have gotten longer and longer as we approached retirement. Currently actively looking at homes on Oahu and Mauii. North shore of Oahu is my wife’s preference and Mauii is mine ... probably end up on north shore.

We would move there in a heartbeat if home prices were more realistic. ~$800k for under 1000 sqft on the North Shore, just seems ridiculous. We would consider spending up to $1m but I cannot find anything that is not old and in need of a lot of TLC. We do like being near the beach too, I suppose that explains the prices.

Like you I prefer Oahu for the healthcare. One would need to fly there from the The other islands in case of a serious emergency.

 

[JP.mpls]

Kelor,
I've vacationed in Tuscon in the winter multiple times, and I really like the area, and the size of that community.
Lots of hiking and biking areas.
I still want a warmer winter climate (I'm from MN too.)
I also think the ocean is wonderful. I'm going to deal with the crowds of people in SWFL, and see how it goes.
You might want to checkout Palm Springs, CA too. A nice area, and warmer than Tucson. Not sure about hockey.
Take care, JP

Though not yet retired, our goal is to winter somewhere, so we built criteria that looked like this:

Warm - This rules out almost everywhere since we are only concerned about Jan-March temperatures. We also, for the moment, only want to look in the states.
College or University nearby - A great way to take in a play, see a good bar band, or watch a game.
Water - We disagree on this one. I think a great golf course pool suffices. My wife would like to see a big body of water.
Hockey - Yes. We're from Minnesota
Seasonal Golf Memberships OR excellent social golf program - I'm already a member of a course up here. I don't want to be a member of two courses, but I do want the socialization that membership provides.
Hiking and Biking (The hiking one really hurts southern Florida's intrigue for me)
Not super crowded - I have friends in Ft Myers that never venture from their communities because of the insane traffic.
Price - Though not a huge concern, it's still on the list.

I'm missing a bunch, as it's not in front of me, but with WARM and not crowded being really important to the list, we narrowed it down to about 10 cities. This year, we have an extended trip to Tucson. It matched every criteria except water. Though it's a hair colder than Phoenix, it bordered on acceptable. They even have hockey (going to 4 games in March)!

The point of my post is that Tucson is barely listed in any of those "where to retire" articles. The only reason why I even looked at the city was because it popped up on my hockey criteria.

 

[Born2BRetd]

No, because we do not want to live in a state that has poor healthcare, infrastructure and services. These are usually directly related to their "Extreme" political leanings. If you spend little on these, you get little in return.

Saying that, we currently live in a state that does not completely align with our political preferences, however, we like living there, as they are sensible when it comes to those items mentioned above, all the other stuff is noise and posturing and we do not give a crap about that.

Some folks think that lowest taxes means the ideal, however like everything else you get what you pay for. Just look at the poorest states, we do not want to live in any of those. In order to provide residents with a decent standard of living the state/county/parish has to spend money. The less they spend (receive in taxes) the less services etc. their residents get. Some counties/parishes are better than others, again we do not want to live a poor county either, we are fortunate though, like others in this forum we do not have to. Money buys you choices, when planning for ER we considered that.

We had someone from Alaska introduce themselves on NextDoor. Someone welcomed him to the state of too many taxes. He replied that he welcomed them as he came from a state without any infrastructure ie. sidewalks, libraries, etc. and that was worse in his opinion than taxes.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We had someone from Alaska introduce themselves on NextDoor. Someone welcomed him to the state of too many taxes. He replied that he welcomed them as he came from a state without any infrastructure ie. sidewalks, libraries, etc. and that was worse in his opinion than taxes.

I must admit, I full agree. You get what you pay for.

 

[Finance Dave]

We are slowly getting our list narrowed down. We cannot move yet, as we have one parent still alive and needing help. She is 87.

But, annually we visit at least two prospective retirement places. Our key attributes (in order) are:

• Warmer weather (warmer than Indiana), but hopefully still "seasons"
• Nearness to good health care/hospitals
• Low crime
• Reasonable cost of living (compared to Indiana...but we can handle maybe 10-15% higher)
• Not so close to ocean that hurricanes are a worry
• Medium sized city (no megacities, and no tiny towns)
• Sufficient "amenities"...loosely defined as supporting our hobbies and social life
• Fairly close to a larger city with airports/sports/etc.

A few areas in the running are:
1) Colorado Springs
2) Suburbs of Raleigh NC (many cities around there, such as Apex, Durham, etc.)
3) Greenville SC

We are open to more suggestions!

 

[harllee]

We are slowly getting our list narrowed down. We cannot move yet, as we have one parent still alive and needing help. She is 87.

But, annually we visit at least two prospective retirement places. Our key attributes (in order) are:

• Warmer weather (warmer than Indiana), but hopefully still "seasons"
• Nearness to good health care/hospitals
• Low crime
• Reasonable cost of living (compared to Indiana...but we can handle maybe 10-15% higher)
• Not so close to ocean that hurricanes are a worry
• Medium sized city (no megacities, and no tiny towns)
• Sufficient "amenities"...loosely defined as supporting our hobbies and social life
• Fairly close to a larger city with airports/sports/etc.

A few areas in the running are:
1) Colorado Springs
2) Suburbs of Raleigh NC (many cities around there, such as Apex, Durham, etc.)
3) Greenville SC

We are open to more suggestions!

When you are checking out the Raleigh area be sure to look where I live--Chapel Hill. It is the town where the University of North Carolina is and in non pandemic times has great sports and arts. It ticks most all of your list--it is not a large city but it is close to larger cities and because of the University has amenities of larger cites and is close to the airport and has a great medical center. It is very popular with retirees. There are several great Continuing Care Communities in the area for when you need that--we have our names on the waiting list at Galloway Ridge. PM me with any Qs.

 

[2177V]

Santa Cruz? Expensive, crowded, growing homeless population, poorly run city and did I mention expensive? Beautiful beaches and wonderful scenery- - everybody wants to live here, rich and the homeless. We're trying to move out.

True. However, I am a surfer even though I am in my late 60's since I am in great physical shape. A surfer dude tend to overlook the negatives because hanging 10 on a good wave makes all your trouble disappear. It is either Hawaii or Santa Cruz, CA. There are some places outside Santa Cruz city limits that appeals to me.