Where to relocate ???

[RunningBum]

And I think retirees who principally focus on moving somewhere "cheaper" may be setting themselves for disappointment. There's a lot more to life than just dollars in your pocket. I'm sure we've all had the experience of buying something cheap that turns out to disappoint us. Then we quickly forget how cheap it was.

I'm certain I never said that retirees should focus on moving somewhere cheaper.

I'm also sure we've all had the experience of overpaying for something because others like it so much, and it turns out to disappoint us.

 

[HadEnuff]

We on this forum are probably as qualified as anyone to come up with a good survey. I'll start:
- What kind of weather do you like (warm year-round, experience all 4 seasons, hate heat and humidity, hate cold weather, etc)
- Are you healthy? How important is access to medical care?
- How much does cost of living matter?
- Do you like urban living? Rural living? Something in between? How important is access a wide variety of restaurants, shopping, etc?
- What about access to the great outdoors? What forms of recreation are important to you?
- What about diversity? Do you prefer to live with other retired types, or be surrounded by kids, working people, etc.
- Where are your friends and family located, and how important is it for you to be near them (or escape them)?
etc etc

Great post! You saved me the time, and did it better than I would have.

 

[Gumby]

I'm certain I never said that retirees should focus on moving somewhere cheaper.

I'm also sure we've all had the experience of overpaying for something because others like it so much, and it turns out to disappoint us.

No, you didn't say that. But I have seen many threads on here where "cheaper" appears to be the principal focus of the relocation discussion. I've heard it in my day to day life as well, and I always think to myself "Well, yeah, you could move to _______ and live cheaper, but that means you'd have to live in ________. No, thank you very much."


True enough. It is hard not to follow the crowd, although I hold out hope that most here would be better at avoiding that trap than other people.

 

[RunningBum]

No, you didn't say that. But I have seen many threads on here where "cheaper" appears to be the principal focus of the relocation discussion. I've heard it in my day to day life as well, and I always think to myself "Well, yeah, you could move to _______ and live cheaper, but that means you'd have to live in ________. No, thank you very much."

You are very right about that.

 

[socca]

But I have seen many threads on here where "cheaper" appears to be the principal focus of the relocation discussion.

"Thin-FIRE" dreamers may be willing to sacrifice a great deal in terms of the "amenities" associated with high-COL areas in order to get off the corporate hamster wheel. It's a complex mental calculation that will vary from one person to the next. So, I do think that there is a place for such threads on this website.

Exceptionally high-COL areas like NYC or SF don't have anything to offer me, so whether "thin-FIRE" or "fat-FIRE" I wouldn't be considering them. I consider myself fortunate in that I don't have to live in the boonies to support my semi-R lifestyle (not that there's anything wrong with the boonies for folks who are wired that way ).

 

[Brat]

I see these discussions now and again. The OP hasn't told us what is important to him/so. In my opinion, living near (not next to) people one generation younger who care about him/her is primary. We have no clue where that might be.

Then, I think access to health care is important. May not be for him/her but there are details such as access to VA clinics MIGHT be of value. Again, we have no clue.

All these suggestion, in my opinion, is just smoke in the air until we know what the OP is seeking.

Maybe someone will build a database chooser to address this issue.

 

[Which Roger]

Most desirable to whom, though? I have no interest at all in living in pricey places like NYC/SW CT, or LA. A big reason they are so pricey is for the job market there, which is of no importance to a retiree. I just don't think one should use taxes and COL at all as a criteria for desirability.

+1. There are a few exceptions, but most HCOL living areas are high-cost because they're great places to get a good job and raise children. Retirees couldn't give a rip about those 2 things, and in fact they are negatives in some cases.

 

[karen1972]

Once you choose a region, this web site can help you evaluate how walkable a specific address is, if walkability is an important criteria.

https://www.walkscore.com/

Just to note though this score is based on area code and doesn't account for any new development so can be quickly outdated and skewed. Our score is a 13, even though we are less than 3/4 of a mile via sidewalks to everything you could possibly want including a complete medical complex and 3 large shopping complexes and the best grocery store in the area.

5 years ago this was woods and now every block has construction going on so it just cant keep up...most of this was driven because Del Webb put in 2,000 homes, paid for a pumping station which enabled this entire section to all of a sudden be moved to "city" from country and thus enabled 7 more builders to come in which then drew every corp developer under the sun to try to build to keep up with the population explosion.

I hope the score gets updated soon as it hurts our property values but once you go see the area you are like oh wait that is totally wrong.

 

[braumeister]

Just to note though this score is based on area code and doesn't account for any new development so can be quickly outdated and skewed.

Not area code; that would cover much too large an area. Really just a small part of your ZIP code.

Walk Score measures the walkability of any address using a patented system. For each address, Walk Score analyzes hundreds of walking routes to nearby amenities. Points are awarded based on the distance to amenities in each category. Amenities within a 5 minute walk (.25 miles) are given maximum points. A decay function is used to give points to more distant amenities, with no points given after a 30 minute walk.

Walk Score also measures pedestrian friendliness by analyzing population density and road metrics such as block length and intersection density. Data sources include Google, Factual, Great Schools, Open Street Map, the U.S. Census, Localeze, and places added by the Walk Score user community.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I'd be more interested in a golf cart score than a walking score lol - I take my cart just about wherever I can

 

[karen1972]

Not area code; that would cover much too large an area. Really just a small part of your ZIP code.

Sorry, you are right, I had only looked at it when it couldn't find us because google hadn't updated our address yet so it used my zip code only, now it is more fine tuned. It is still flawed but better.

Not necessarily walkscores fault, its just a matter of most database driven things are taking months if not a year+ to update as they just can't keep up. Zillow still doesn't think I exist after living here 15 months.

Things like planned communities will show up with zero park scores as most of these have their own parks and walkscore appears to only count public parks which makes sense because they dont' know if they are really private or just built via private funds. It just needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[braumeister]

It is still flawed but better.

Yes, it keeps improving. When I first moved here five years ago it showed a walk score of about 13 IIRC. Absolutely nothing has changed since then, but it now shows a score of 40.

 

[COcheesehead]

I put zero credibility in the walk scores. We lived just blocks from a friend and they had a much higher score, just based on having more retail near them. Not quality retail, just more of it.
Our walk score for our neighborhood is low, though we can walk to nice restaurants/bars, coffee houses, have dozens of parks/trailheads near us within a mile and have access to a pool/pickleball court. To me that is good walkability.

 

[Gumby]

I put zero credibility in the walk scores. We lived just blocks from a friend and they had a much higher score, just based on having more retail near them. Not quality retail, just more of it.
Our walk score for our neighborhood is low, though we can walk to nice restaurants/bars, coffee houses, have dozens of parks/trailheads near us within a mile and have access to a pool/pickleball court. To me that is good walkability.

I also give no credibility to Walk Score. My score on their site is 50. The next door neighbor, whose house is literally less than 40 feet from my house, has a score of 64.

 

[Gumby]

Here is another map tool for those thinking about relocation. It shows the proximity of institutions of higher education geographically. If that is important to you, take a look.

https://hef.jfiresearch.org/geography-of-higher-education/

 

[braumeister]

Here is another map tool for those thinking about relocation. It shows the proximity of institutions of higher education geographically. If that is important to you, take a look.

https://hef.jfiresearch.org/geography-of-higher-education/

Interesting approach, but seriously flawed. I looked in my area and it completely omitted a major university while including quite a few "beauty academies." So their definition of higher education needs some tweaking.

 

[Ronstar]

Interesting approach, but seriously flawed. I looked in my area and it completely omitted a major university while including quite a few "beauty academies." So their definition of higher education needs some tweaking.

I though the same thing at first. The default map setup includes all school types, but the user can select bachelors degree only schools or whatever setting satisfies the user's definition of higher education.

 

[38Chevy454]

My walk score is zero, but so what? I like having 2.5 acres in the relative country.
I would die living in high density urban downtown areas. Different strokes for different folks.
For OP, make a list of what is important for you. Not what some article prioritizes. Set your priorities and then search places that meet the most of your priorities. If you want to get technical, weight each priority and put it into a mathematic formula.

 

[smoghat]

I would love to relocate, but my wife and are shy extroverts. We don’t enjoy life on our own but have difficulty making friends. Over the years most of our friends were faculty I met via teaching. But now that that’s over, it’s proven much harder to connect. I’d hoped there’d be a community of artists I could get involved in but apparently not. Connections are so much harder these days now that dinner parties and such are much less popular. On the one hand, I’d like to move to a somewhat more isolated locale, on the other hand, I’m afraid we will drop off the plane then. Plus once our kids are done with school in four years it seems like we won’t even meet their friends parents. I’ve tried a congregation. It was of limited value. Has anybody any strategies for meeting people in places the move to post-FIRE?

 

[tb001]

For OP, make a list of what is important for you. Not what some article prioritizes. Set your priorities and then search places that meet the most of your priorities. If you want to get technical, weight each priority and put it into a mathematic formula.

Yes! This is so important. I would add that personally, I would solicit as many thoughts as possible from others during this phase and ask what was important to others in choosing their location (and home) and what they wish they’d thought more about. For example, never occurred to me, as a healthy 40 something who had always lived in urban areas with great medical facilities, to put this on our list, but I remember someone here mentioning it. Also easy access to an international airport.

My parents built their retirement dream home on 30 acres in their 60s. Now in their 80s/90s it’s a huge struggle to maintain and too expensive to hire out. They’re also an hour from the hospital and 30+ minutes to the grocery store. When driving becomes difficult it’s going to be a huge issue. The flip side is that they’ve loved the time they spent there. Still, moving, when it needs to happen, will be a monumental task.

 

[Retired Expat]

Actual experience with living overseas

As one of the few here who actually retired overseas I can speak from experience that it is a real possibility and a great experience. My area was once promoted highly by some of those magazines folks mentioned, although they had nothing to do with my choosing it. I know they promoted it because of financial incentives they were given by local developers.

Much of the promises of those articles were total fiction. But with just a little research the info is there. #1 you must visit anywhere you are considering living and then go back for an extended stay during the worst time of the year. Minnesota lake country may be beautiful in July but winter comes in early October...foreign countries have a whole host of other issues. Articles said you could get a great apartment here, near the beach, have a maid clean and cook everyday etc for $1500 a month. No way was that real...not at twice the price!

But in my case, moving here cut my cost of living by 75-80% from LA which allowed me to retire and still build up my savings tremendously these past 8 years. Is it ideal? No of course not but where is?

Consider Pet and house sitting websites if you want to live like a local in a place. It is not just a vacation, there are usually chores involved but then if you lived there you would have chores to do too. Grass to mow, repairs to do, groceries to shop for. What no gourmet market with 5 kinds of pate? Learn to make your own and save money..... learn the language, learn what living there really costs and what there is to do. Visitors to my area balk at the cost of restaurants but we don’t eat out much for that reason but really how much do you eat out now where you live. Golf membership is so much less and no greens fees or wait to get a T time. I saved $10000 a year on medical premiums, medications, co pays, deductibles. That adds up.... you have to look at a place holistically to figure out cost of living and quality of life. You really can’t just look at a few criteria and you need to weight those criteria.. I lived in an area of Miami Beach once that was great for walking. Except it was too hot for me to walk anywhere. Others didn’t mind the heat so what might score highly for one person may not sore the same for you.....

Something else to consider, is that a change of location can go along with a change of lifestyle. Big house, fancy car becomes smaller house which costs less but is easier to maintain but gives you a garden to use all the time and a smaller car you can park easily since you aren’t commuting or driving as much and you don't have Bob next door who just bought a new Mercedes, looking down his nose ar you. Here it would be ostentatious and people will be envious of your Chevy!

 

[harley]

Though not yet retired, our goal is to winter somewhere, so we built criteria that looked like this:
...Hiking and Biking (The hiking one really hurts southern Florida's intrigue for me)

Just out of curiosity, why? I live part time in SWFL and I love the hikes here. Going to Bird Rookery Swamp (my favorite place in the world) for about 8 miles tomorrow. I acknowledge that it's flat, but there is a lot of really primitive wildlife and landscape down here. I mean, the freakin' Everglades!

Anyway, I'd just as soon the OP try someplace else, because, as you point out, traffic down here sucks the big one. But the hiking is fine. And since I snow bird, I'm up on the Appalachian Trail and other mountain trails at other times of the year.

 

[ckelly78z]

My walk score is zero, but so what? I like having 2.5 acres in the relative country.
I would die living in high density urban downtown areas. Different strokes for different folks.
For OP, make a list of what is important for you. Not what some article prioritizes. Set your priorities and then search places that meet the most of your priorities. If you want to get technical, weight each priority and put it into a mathematic formula.

My 10 acres in the country is my safe haven, it is not walking distance to anything except my daughter's house 3/8 mile down the road. I would absolutely suffocate in a suburb, or city where I felt like eyes were watching me at all times.

 

[Andre1969]

Not area code; that would cover much too large an area. Really just a small part of your ZIP code.

Yeah, I just tried it with both my current address, and my old address, and it seemed pretty specific. I also tried putting in just the respective zipcodes, and it put a marker pretty much in the center of the area, and extrapolated from there.

FWIW, my old address had a walkability score of 11. My new place, is a 5! Neither one is what I'd call "walkable". The nearest things you could walk to at the new neighborhood are a little park that's about 4/10 of a mile away (although I could really just jump the fence at the back of my property, fight my way through the thicket, and get in the park from the back) and a liquor store about 8/10 of a mile away. But, it's along a couple of narrow country roads with no sidewalks, and a good deal of traffic at certain times. Not exactly walk-friendly.

With the old house, there's a gas station with a convenience store, and they sell booze, about 1 1/2 miles away. And there's a shopping center with a Giant Food, McDonalds, and a few other stores about 2 miles away. But you have to walk about 1 mile of that on the shoulder of a 4-lane divided road with a 45 mph speed limit that most people just take as a suggestion.

I actually like the solitude. I can go out if I want social interaction, but come back to my little fortress. Although as I get older, and especially if I got to the point I couldn't drive anymore, I'm sure I'd start to hate it.

 

[COcheesehead]

I would love to relocate, but my wife and are shy extroverts. We don’t enjoy life on our own but have difficulty making friends. Over the years most of our friends were faculty I met via teaching. But now that that’s over, it’s proven much harder to connect. I’d hoped there’d be a community of artists I could get involved in but apparently not. Connections are so much harder these days now that dinner parties and such are much less popular. On the one hand, I’d like to move to a somewhat more isolated locale, on the other hand, I’m afraid we will drop off the plane then. Plus once our kids are done with school in four years it seems like we won’t even meet their friends parents. I’ve tried a congregation. It was of limited value. Has anybody any strategies for meeting people in places the move to post-FIRE?

Have you tried Meet Up? You’ll connect with people with similar interests of your choosing.

https://www.meetup.com/

We do hikes, archeology trips, wine tasting, you name it.