Moving after retirement?

[Montecfo]

I retired on Dec 31 and Jan 1 we moved from Carlsbad CA (we also lived in SF) to SC. That was 10 years ago. We said we’d give it five and decide. No looking back. We left CA because of COL, crowding, fires. CA the COL was +30% and SC it was -30%. That’s a 60% diff! We came to SC for two reasons. First a better year round climate than FL and lower COL which more than makes up for state taxes in our case. The cost of property is much lower than FL. A lot of our neighbors call themselves 1/2 backs. Half way back from FL. Check it out.

Have visited there including this past summer. Really nice spot.

 

[Montecfo]

We moved from northern Wisconsin(brrr!) to the east side of Phoenix 4 days after we retired in the latter part of 2019. Our daughter and 3 grandkids live here. We bought a trailer in a 55+ park. While there we had a new house built in a new subdivision near our daughter. We just moved in the end of November. Housing prices are going up here. So far we like it, but doubt it’ll be our last move. My parents also snowbirded here for many years, so we were familiar with the area. We do not miss the northern Wisconsin weather, which played a big factor in our move. It’s hot in Phoenix in the summers, but the pool is great!

We lived in Scottsdale 3 years and loved it. The heat was manageable especially with a nice pool. We would consider moving back.

 

[Koolau]

We lived in Scottsdale 3 years and loved it. The heat was manageable especially with a nice pool. We would consider moving back.

Little Sis lived there for a while. She loved it. During visits, I had to admit that the "dry heat" didn't feel like 112, but I noticed I couldn't touch the steering wheel on a car without losing finger prints until the AC had run for 15 minutes. Little Sis did have a pool, but no grass or plants. It would take some getting used to. I know some folks who have adapted and love it. As long as I can afford more moderate weather, I'll stay put. YMMV as always.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I definitely don’t live my life through my kids. This stage of life is mine.

 

[Souschef]

I definitely don’t live my life through my kids. This stage of life is mine.

+1
One of our four kids gave us a great signpost with arrows and distances to our kids.
The distance range from 24 miles to 500 miles
We had to change the top sign when one moved 500 miles away

 

[FreeBear]

Little Sis lived there for a while. She loved it. During visits, I had to admit that the "dry heat" didn't feel like 112, but I noticed I couldn't touch the steering wheel on a car without losing finger prints until the AC had run for 15 minutes. Little Sis did have a pool, but no grass or plants. It would take some getting used to. I know some folks who have adapted and love it. As long as I can afford more moderate weather, I'll stay put. YMMV as always.

We're also in SE Arizona. We've been here only a year, but we love it. It's sunny and 65-75F almost all year, for a few hours, but you have to be out around 6-9 am in the summer (May-Oct) and just past noon in the "winter" (later Dec through Feb). So we adjust our schedule to be outside for the several hours when it's most comfortable when we are walking, hiking, or biking.

We actually don't mind errands during the hotter part of the day. We remote start the car with the AC blasting for 5 minutes ahead of time or while loading up our groceries. It's enough to take the edge off.

One trick we learned from the "locals" (almost everyone is from someplace else like CA or the midwest), is to move here in the winter. The first winter feels downright balmy, and the heat starts slowly, beginning in late Apr or May. By June it's hot as hell, but by then you are somewhat ready.

Honestly, July and Aug are the toughest since it can be 80F at sunrise and rise over 110F for weeks, even hotter in Phoenix. We still manage to do a little hiking and walking before (preferred) or after sunrise (still hot, but the sun is down).

I can appreciate why some coming to SE AZ in the summer, without months of gradual acclimatization, would never want to return. I do wonder if we'll grow tired of the long hot season, just like we grew tired of the long cold, dark, and wet/snowy winters in Frozen Flyover that seemed to last from nearly Oct through April. Time will tell.

 

[statsman]

I definitely don’t live my life through my kids. This stage of life is mine.

Given what you unfortunately have gone through recently, I can't say I blame you. We have one child, and while we never intended to follow (we also never expected a 1,700 mile move away), that's what we did.

We don't live our lives needing to see our kid every day (and vice versa), but it is always nice to see each other when we have the time (job keeps our kid busy). We don't have much family still living (just my BIL, his wife and our nephew). That's really it. Which is why the move made sense for us. We also have a kid who wanted us to be closer than 1,700 miles apart. To each his own, I guess.

 

[SunnyD]

Anyone find that you and your spouse are not quite on the same page regarding this?

I've been researching for years trying to find a preferred location for us - away from the gloomy cold midwest winters. I really would like to find a warmer, sunnier climate but my spouse does not like heat and humidity. We would like to stay on the mid to eastern side of the US as our son is in New York, but anything much further south is too hot and humid.

Has anyone here been in a similar position and found an acceptable compromise? Would love some suggestions.

 

[Koolau]

Anyone find that you and your spouse are not quite on the same page regarding this?

I've been researching for years trying to find a preferred location for us - away from the gloomy cold midwest winters. I really would like to find a warmer, sunnier climate but my spouse does not like heat and humidity. We would like to stay on the mid to eastern side of the US as our son is in New York, but anything much further south is too hot and humid.

Has anyone here been in a similar position and found an acceptable compromise? Would love some suggestions.

We've been blessed with one mind regarding the weather we like. We hate cold and snow and don't like heat and humidity. So the Islands are about as close as God supplies - and they are not perfect (just went through a 24-hour down-pour with local flooding and now a brown-water alert at the beaches.) For us, distance to kids wasn't a major priority. We raised our kids to be independent and they all have decent incomes. The planes fly both directions, so we can visit as often as we feel the need.

We looked at San Diego and it was close to our weather paradise but had too many other "issues" for us. We'd thought about Tennessee but it was too much like the upper midwest - only milder. So, as with all things, YMMV.

 

[Huston55]

Anyone find that you and your spouse are not quite on the same page regarding this?

I've been researching for years trying to find a preferred location for us - away from the gloomy cold midwest winters. I really would like to find a warmer, sunnier climate but my spouse does not like heat and humidity. We would like to stay on the mid to eastern side of the US as our son is in New York, but anything much further south is too hot and humid.

Has anyone here been in a similar position and found an acceptable compromise? Would love some suggestions.

Mistress?

 

[RetireeRobert]

We moved within the same metro area. We designed and had built our dream home on a small acreage about 15 miles from where we had lived. Youngest daughter was finishing up high school, so we staged our actual move over two years to give her a chance to finish school where she had grown up. We also needed the two years to ever so slowly move our stuff. For awhile, we spent weekends at the new place, we called our country home, and the week at the old place we called our city home. Also gave us a chance to get the old place fixed up for selling. And gave us time to get used to and settle in to our new environs. Eventually, the youngest rug rat was graduated, and we started living fulltime at the new place. it all worked out, and we were happy!

 

[RetireeRobert]

PS---Our move actually occurred about ten years after I retired. We bought the land about five years after I retired, then spend four years designing it and wife and I inching toward agreement on the design! Then finally had it built ten years into retirement.

 

[anothercog]

Mistress?

That’s an expensive line item in retirement.

 

[Djwil296]

We are two weeks out from me retiring. I’ve been commuting 60+ miles each way in heavy Northern VA traffic for the past 16 years. I’m burnt out from that. My wife has always wanted to live in Florida and has a few friends down there. We decided we would make the move when I retired. We are scheduled to close on our retirement home a week later and will fully transition down to living in Sun City Center next month. With our oldest son in the USCG and other with one year left of college we had no idea where they will settle so we chose Florida.

 

[Huston55]

We are two weeks out from me retiring. I’ve been commuting 60+ miles each way in heavy Northern VA traffic for the past 16 years. I’m burnt out from that. My wife has always wanted to live in Florida and has a few friends down there. We decided we would make the move when I retired. We are scheduled to close on our retirement home a week later and will fully transition down to living in Sun City Center next month. With our oldest son in the USCG and other with one year left of college we had no idea where they will settle so we chose Florida.

Congrats! I know what a miserable commute that can be. I've lived in Warrenton, Manassas, Gainesville, Leesburg & Reston. Best of luck in your new (non-commute) digs!

 

[G8tr]

Congrats! I know what a miserable commute that can be. I've lived in Warrenton, Manassas, Gainesville, Leesburg & Reston. Best of luck in your new (non-commute) digs!

+1. I still live that commute after 25 years. Covid has been a respite, but it will begin again in another 6 months. Coincidentally, I'm from Florida and found it to be a poor social experience for a young, single professional. Now that I'm 50, the more sedate pace, lower cost of living and warm weather of Florida are tempting.

 

[Paulz]

We are two weeks out from me retiring. I’ve been commuting 60+ miles each way in heavy Northern VA traffic for the past 16 years. We are scheduled to close on our retirement home a week later and will fully transition down to living in Sun City Center next month.

Congrats! I'm doing the Leesburg to DC commute and is painful at best. Most of my family lives in SSC, so will be moving there myself in a few years. I don't know how to explain how much I really hate living in this area and am amazed I've lasted 30+ years. I'm counting down!

 

[INTJ10]

We moved out of the city to a small town about an hour away. We lived in the city because it made the job commute easy. Small town life suits us. I don't miss the traffic jams. We were able to get much more house for the money in the new location.

 

[Gumby]

We picked our post-retirement location 30 years before we retired.

The year was 1989. I had been working at a nuclear power plant in Ohio since 1986, following a stint in the Navy. The young wife had just finished grad school at Kent State and had a brand new teaching certificate. I had been accepted to a dozen law schools all over the country, so I asked her where she wanted to live. She said "let's go back to Connecticut". I had been stationed there for 3 of my 5 years on active duty, and she really liked it. So I said yes to Yale and she started applying to school districts in CT.

We picked our current town off the map because it was halfway between New Haven and Fairfield, where she got a teaching position. I shaped my own subsequent legal job search with the intent of staying in CT. We rented here while I was in school, but as soon as I graduated in 1992, we bought the house in which we still live. I don't envision leaving this house unless and until we move to a CCRC, and I don't ever envision leaving Connecticut.

 

[Mauser]

Anyone find that you and your spouse are not quite on the same page regarding this?

I've been researching for years trying to find a preferred location for us - away from the gloomy cold midwest winters. I really would like to find a warmer, sunnier climate but my spouse does not like heat and humidity. We would like to stay on the mid to eastern side of the US as our son is in New York, but anything much further south is too hot and humid.

Has anyone here been in a similar position and found an acceptable compromise? Would love some suggestions.

YES, this can be a big problem, no matter how you try to deal with it.

We lived in Big City, Texas, and spent over four years trying to find the right retirement property in the Hill Country - I personally have zero use for Texas at all, but that is DW home state and she wanted to be close to family. I knew life would not be good if I tried to push her into going somewhere else. BUT, on a vacation trip through New Mexico we just happened to see property prices that looked REALLY good and found some places that actually fit our desires.

To make a long story shorter - I ignored the possibility of leaving Texas (even though that is what I really wanted), but a few weeks later DW told me she really wanted to buy one of the places in NM. We did. It has been 10 years, and she has done nothing but complain how she hates not being closer to her family or having lots of friends living close.

So no suggestions for you, just a warning to be prepared that sometimes there is NO correct answer!