Saving money by moving to a "HCOL" area?

[Willers]

A couple of years after we retired, we decide to move to a western ski town. Although it had a reputation as an expensive place to live, we wanted the outdoor lifestyle it offered. What we found:

Finding an affordable home was a bit of a challenge, but we got lucky and found a somewhat unloved rental home that turned into a great buy for us.

Beyond that, we found that our expenses actually dropped:
- Real estate taxes are 1/3 what we were paying.
- We love to hike, mountain bike, ski, etc. and after initial investments in equipment they are very low cost. We no longer need to travel long distances for do those things.
- We are in a resort town so there are constantly free concerts and events aimed at attracting tourists.
- There are also lots of "locals" deals that really help with managing our budget.

We found that moving to an area that provided a playground for our hobbies turned out to save us a ton of money. Did anyone else target a retirement location toward their activities, even if HCOL? Did it save you money or cost more?

 

[brett]

Our first priority would always be to live in, or move to an area where we wanted to be. Our second priority would be to find a home that suited our needs and our budget.

We would never consider moving to a low cost of living city simply because it has a lower or the lowest cost of living. There are other, more important priorities for us.

 

[steady saver]

Wow, that's good news!

You did the right thing...you considered what you valued most and you made it work. It's also a good reminder that when we focus on those things that bring us joy, the rest of it just falls in place.

I think of the time period that my parents lived in Honolulu. Yes, it is expensive to live there on paper, but they rented a condo on the beach that needed a little updating so they got a reasonable deal. Got senior bus passes, took in lots of free shows, etc, aimed at tourists. That was one of the happiest times of their lives. My dad is turning 88 next month and unable to travel and I am SO very glad they heard that call and took action.

Thank you for that reminder. Best of luck to you.

 

[Teacher Terry]

It sounds like you made a great choice. We live in the West in a MCOL. We love it here and wouldn’t move to lower our COL. Many LCOL have high property taxes and ours are dirt cheap. Because we are a tourist destination events are going on every weekend. Plus lots of free outside recreation too.

 

[Willers]

Yeah, we seriously underestimated the value of the "free" entertainment options, be it a mountain to hike or a free concert at the base area. We actually expected that our overall expenses would increase, but that hasn't been the case.

I also think it would have been much harder to do this in a pre-internet world. We can manage many costs because location is no longer relevant since Amazon, etc. are available. I lived in a remote mountain town 30 years ago and it was definitely harder to manage that side of life.

 

[Dtail]

It sounds like you made a great choice. We live in the West in a MCOL. We love it here and wouldn’t move to lower our COL. Many LCOL have high property taxes and ours are dirt cheap. Because we are a tourist destination events are going on every weekend. Plus lots of free outside recreation too.

Plus many LCOL areas have a much different culture than folks might be used to if from HCOL areas.
Our MCOL has some aspects of both and it works for us.

 

[W2R]

We found that moving to an area that provided a playground for our hobbies turned out to save us a ton of money.

That's wonderful!!!

In our case, years ago we had planned to move to a lower COL area (Springfield, Missouri) once we retired back in 2009. Instead, after we retired we decided to just stay put here in New Orleans which I guess is [-]somewhere between a LCOL and[/-] a MCOL area.

If we had moved, the real estate costs would have been much lower. We still would have had to pay the cost of moving, and closing costs, and so on.

By staying, we eliminated the cost of moving. Also, we know the New Orleans area and what is expensive and what isn't, around here, and we already knew what neighborhood would work best for us. Because of our familiarity with the area, it has been pretty easy for us to live a nice lifestyle here without spending an arm and a leg for it. We like living here and overall it was a good decision for us.

We never think longingly about Springfield, or talk about how we should have moved there, and since we cancelled the moving idea we haven't even visited Springfield. In fact, we sometimes talk about how glad we are that we decided to stay put since for some reason we still love New Orleans (despite the crime, hurricanes, corruption, deterioration, etc). There is so much to see and do here that we are never bored. But I admit, sometimes I do look on realtor dot com at the low real estate prices in Springfield and wonder what life would have been like, had we moved.

We do appreciate Springfield a lot and regard it as the second best place for us to live. We are not "preppers" but we live in a part of the country where hurricanes do occur, and we appreciate the attitude that one should always be prepared for the unexpected. To us that includes having a backup location, in the back of one's mind.

 

[Souschef]

I stayed in California, but moved out of LA County with its politics, crime, etc to Ventura County.
We were able to use DW's homeowners tax exemption, which reduced our property tax from $3000 to $400. We are much closer to Santa Barbara, the ocean, my little airport and tourist train. It is a tremendous saving in car expenses.
It is also a healthier climate out of the LA smog.

 

[ERD50]

.... We found that moving to an area that provided a playground for our hobbies turned out to save us a ton of money. ....

Thank you so much for this post!

It stands in stark contrast to the many posts where people want to know about 'averages', or what someone else's expenses were, or which States/areas are 'retiree friendly'. It is an individual thing, and we need to evaluate this for ourselves and our own circumstances. It's not one-size-fits all.

People need to think for themselves. Great post.

-ERD50

 

[kcowan]

Many of the strategies noted work in every destination. We live in Vancouver which has many of the advantages mentioned, mainly due to cruise ship and regular tourism.

Also PV is high in cost by Mexico standards and many of the same techniques apply. Half prices in April for example.

 

[Fedup]

I stayed in California, but moved out of LA County with its politics, crime, etc to Ventura County.
We were able to use DW's homeowners tax exemption, which reduced our property tax from $3000 to $400. We are much closer to Santa Barbara, the ocean, my little airport and tourist train. It is a tremendous saving in car expenses.
It is also a healthier climate out of the LA smog.

Closer to Santa Barbara is much nicer, I would move out of Ventura County if I was living there. All I could think of is heat. My sister still has a house there, but she might sell them when and if the tenant moves out.

 

[Chuckanut]

Yes, the OP has a great post.

Like when to take SS each of us have our own requirements for where we live. Some of my COL is high due to high housing costs and high property taxes. But other factors make is a lot cheaper than living out in so called LCOL areas. It's a quality of life factor that can't be judged by others.

Like my old grand pappy used to say, "I would rather smoke a single $1 cigar I like, than four 25¢ cigars I don't like.'"

 

[W2R]

Like my old grand pappy used to say, "I would rather smoke a single $1 cigar I like, than four 25¢ cigars I don't like.'"

I have lived in many states and countries, and of those locations I must admit that one was my least favorite, not for COL reasons but because I just didn't like anything about it other than the natural beauty (which was rapidly being replaced by concrete). Also, coincidently, it was a very HCOL location. Honestly I cannot even imagine why a retiree would stay there, but many do, including some completely sane retirees with good judgment. That amazes me no end. I suppose they probably see things differently. I guess that's a case in which I don't like the $1 cigar and like the 25¢ cigar a whole lot better.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

A couple of years after we retired, we decide to move to a western ski town. Although it had a reputation as an expensive place to live, we wanted the outdoor lifestyle it offered. What we found:

Finding an affordable home was a bit of a challenge, but we got lucky and found a somewhat unloved rental home that turned into a great buy for us.

Beyond that, we found that our expenses actually dropped:
- Real estate taxes are 1/3 what we were paying.
- We love to hike, mountain bike, ski, etc. and after initial investments in equipment they are very low cost. We no longer need to travel long distances for do those things.
- We are in a resort town so there are constantly free concerts and events aimed at attracting tourists.
- There are also lots of "locals" deals that really help with managing our budget.

We found that moving to an area that provided a playground for our hobbies turned out to save us a ton of money. Did anyone else target a retirement location toward their activities, even if HCOL? Did it save you money or cost more?

We didn't move to a HCOL area but ended up staying in one. We realized the main difference was housing and that wasn't an issue for us since we already had a house. We also live in a tourist area and take advantage of local deals and free events. Plus the weather here is pretty nice most of the year and an amazing amount of parks and free / cheap things to do. We shop online at Amazon and locally at Costco, thrift shops and local outlet and ethnic markets so most of our consumer goods are pretty reasonably priced.

We can be in a Redwood forest, whale watching on the coast, play in San Francisco or wine tasting in Napa in an hour or so hour and places like Yosemite, Mendocino or Lake Tahoe on an overnight or long day trip. I buy discount annual passes and subscriptions for $500 - $1K each year for many of the park systems, garden, wineries, museums, theater groups; a Netflix for live events subscription and half off dining so often we just have to pay for incidentals like gas, bridge tolls drinks and half of meals out. Most gardens and museums here are in reciprocal programs so one membership provides free entry for a year to most others in the state and throughout the U.S. We can go out every day or as much as we have time for and it is pretty inexpensive for us.

 

[Fedup]

You have to know where to shop. Yesterday I bought 5 oranges for a $1, from Cal Poly farmers market, made two fresh squeezed orange juice for less than a dollar. 4 corns for $1. Large onions for 50c a pound. I paid $5 for a bunch of stuff. Unbelievable. HCOL area here.

 

[braumeister]

I don't like the $1 cigar and like the 25¢ cigar a whole lot better.

I had no idea. Talk about inflationary!


Thomas R Marshall was Woodrow Wilson's Vice President.

Marshall was known for his wit and sense of humor; one of his most enduring jokes, which provoked widespread laughter from his colleagues, came during a Senate debate in which, in response to Senator Joseph Bristow's catalog of the nation's needs, Marshall quipped the often-repeated phrase, "What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar."

 

[Teacher Terry]

When I lived in Wisconsin the area was fairly liberal. In Kansas not so much. Where I live now is also like Wisconsin in that matter. I can’t live somewhere to conservative.

 

[JoeWras]

Well, you gotta want to live where you live! First priority. For some people, LCOL may be perfect if they keep to themselves and prioritize a lot of land with a workshop or some other individual activity.

For us, the MCOL, in between, works fine.

For those in tourist areas, congrats to you to embrace it. Seriously. If you live there, you have to embrace the idea and I applaud you. I lived in a tourist area and the activities for tourists were out of sync for me (mostly due to a 40 year age difference of activities). I ultimately had to move because of that. The tourist activities drained me and didn't refresh me.

 

[Music Lover]

It makes sense to live somewhere or close to somewhere that fits your lifestyle or is convenient for your hobbies. Playing music is my hobby, so any small-medium size city or larger will provide enough of a music scene and enough local musicians for me to find bands to play with.

 

[Willers]

Like my old grand pappy used to say, "I would rather smoke a single $1 cigar I like, than four 25¢ cigars I don't like.'"

I am definitely going to steal this one. It can apply to so many things in life!

 

[Willers]

For those in tourist areas, congrats to you to embrace it. Seriously. If you live there, you have to embrace the idea and I applaud you. I lived in a tourist area and the activities for tourists were out of sync for me (mostly due to a 40 year age difference of activities). I ultimately had to move because of that. The tourist activities drained me and didn't refresh me.

Yes, a tourist area can have its challenges. We've learned to manage the chaos during the peak seasons when the population doubles and really take advantage of shoulder seasons and weekdays. I totally understand why it isn't for everyone.

 

[zinger1457]

Just came back from a two week vacation at a CO ski town (Breckenridge). Wasn't looking to buy but did look into the window of one of the real estate stores on Main St, ~$500K for a basic 1-BR condo. Not sure where all the local workers live, probably very few jobs in town pay a wage close to what it would cost to rent one of those condos. Seems like the real estate market is driven mostly by outsiders buying their vacation getaways, according to the local paper ~75% of homes sold are purchased from someone outside the local area.

 

[Willers]

Thank you so much for this post!

It stands in stark contrast to the many posts where people want to know about 'averages', or what someone else's expenses were, or which States/areas are 'retiree friendly'. It is an individual thing, and we need to evaluate this for ourselves and our own circumstances. It's not one-size-fits all.

People need to think for themselves. Great post.

-ERD50

Thanks. I appreciate the kind words. I agree that decisions like this are very individual and we ended up each making a priority list and comparing notes. Our current town checks all of the major ones on each list.

This is the same reason that many of my responses on this board are "here is what we did and why". That way someone can read the post and, if they have a similar circumstance, consider the experience. If not, they can disregard and move on.

There are no right answers for everyone...except of course for when to file for SS!

 

[Willers]

Just came back from a two week vacation at a CO ski town (Breckenridge). Wasn't looking to buy but did look into the window of one of the real estate stores on Main St, ~$500K for a basic 1-BR condo. Not sure where all the local workers live, probably very few jobs in town pay a wage close to what it would cost to rent one of those condos. Seems like the real estate market is driven mostly by outsiders buying their vacation getaways, according to the local paper ~75% of homes sold are purchased from someone outside the local area.

Yes, Breck's prices have really skyrocketed. I've heard from a friend who lives there that the explosion of population/wealth in Denver has really affected them. More and more front rangers buying property there because of the relative proximity.

 

[braumeister]

A couple of years after we retired, we decide to move to a western ski town. Although it had a reputation as an expensive place to live, we wanted the outdoor lifestyle it offered.

For those who might consider this, I was recently looking at a list of the least crowded ski areas. Here's the top ten:

10. Moonlight Basin - Montana

9. Crested Butte, Colorado

8. 49 Degrees North Mountain Resort - Washington

7. Sugarloaf - Maine

6. Revelstoke - British Columbia, Canada

5. Sun Valley - Idaho

4. Steamboat - Colorado

3. Grand Targhee - Wyoming

2. Big Sky - Montana

1. Telluride - Colorado