Where Did You Not Retire To?

[Pellice]

You have details on the extent of the borrowing to support the hundreds of millions on hardening infrastructure? I’ve lived in FL since the late 90’s and haven’t read anything about that.

No, I'm actually trying to figure it out, as I keep reading that this or that locality is spending "hundreds of millions" to elevate roads, build seawalls, etc., and yet the state still comes up as "relatively low tax." (And those that aren't building, will have to be sooner rather than later). Those contractors aren't working in hopes of future payments!

 

[DrRoy]

We had bought property near Logan, Ohio and Hocking Hills State Park. When RE came, we decided that we would stay where we were in suburban Detroit and sold the land.

 

[Midpack]

It's nice to read about how blood is thicker than water. So many retirees like to live in their retirement years close to family for many reasons.

That’s been my experience as well. Most of my peers live near grandchildren, whether that means staying put or relocating - regardless of any plans they had before the grands came along. However a buddy of mine who moved here to be near their grandkids, told his son if he moves again, they (grandparents) won’t follow…we’ll see.

 

[harllee]

My mother had a condo in the Palm Beach Florida area and at one time we thought that would be a good place to have a retirement home. However, as time passed the area where she had her condo became too crowded for us --the traffic was awful not matter the time of day or night. So we decided to stay in our home state of NC--moving first to Chapel Hill where I went to school and taught during part of my career, we love it there except during the hot summers. For the hot summer time we bought a cabin in the NC mountains.

 

[donheff]

Decades back I had a vague longing to try multiple places like Alan did but never got around to it. My son and three grandkids live a few blocks away. My daughter and one grandkid live a few miles away. Our neighborhood is walkable, there are good support systems for aging in place, and, as 73 approaches, the idea of a move has become a nonstarter.

 

[Koolau]

We had picked out a place on Oahu to retire. We bought 20+ years before retiring. We rented it out before retirement. The place fit almost all our needs (space, beauty, closeness to shopping, etc.) but once we moved, DW couldn't stand all the rain. We looked at the rain bands on a map and it turns out we were in a heavy rain band. Not something we thought of when buying as we spent exactly 1 day buying with perhaps 2 hours viewing. Most of our neighbors LOVED the rain, but DW definitely did not. I would have been okay with living there for the rest of my life.

So, we moved to the lee side of the island where it's almost desert (at least the rains are few and far between.) DW is now happy which is a very important retirement requirement. YMMV

 

[flyingaway]

I have been considering to move to Las Vegas or Tampa after retirement, for warmer weather, no state tax, and casinos. I visited both places. But I could not make the decision. The main reasons are the worry about finding new friends at a new location (mainly for my wife) and the hassles of selling current house and buying a new house and moving. We may eventually move to somewhere, but we will have to wait to see.

 

[Chuckanut]

That’s been my experience as well. Most of my peers live near grandchildren, whether that means staying put or relocating - regardless of any plans they had before the grands came along. However a buddy of mine who moved here to be near their grandkids, told his son if he moves again, they (grandparents) won’t follow…we’ll see.

I live where I live overall, and so far have not found a better place for me.

But, the high COL may force my children to leave the area if they are ever to buy their own home. Right now the place of choice for them is Arid Zona. But, I think they need a few years of the summer heat before they decide they really want to stay there. So I am not even going to consider a move for at least two more years.

I am considering several visits each year, of perhaps two to six weeks. I think it is likely that after a few years of the heat, they will decide to move someplace that isn't' so hot in the Summer. Though where that will be is a huge unknown. So, I stay put

 

[Sunset]

About 25 yrs ago, as I was standing in an all expense paid resort in south Cuba, near Gitmo, looking at the ocean, I realized I could retire here.
A year at the resort would be $50K.
Then I found out, they close for 2 months of the year

So back to work.

Then I thought we would retire to Canada, in Ottawa area. It's safe, healthcare included, not a large population, lots of beaches, nature areas, close to USA.
After a number of years I have decided no, mostly due to the taxation complications, and realized we can vacation in there and not suffer the long winters.

So I'm still thinking of moving, trying to downsize belongings in preparation.

 

[pacergal]

I always thought I would want to live on the coast, but kids and now grandkids are here.
Luckily, we are within a 2 hour drive to the beach. And all of my siblings are within a 30 minute drive.
Our house is perfect to age in, single level, one step to front door and garage. Nice quiet neighborhood, lower end of the upscale area. We could not afford to live here if we hadn't bought the house over 30 years ago! This is Home.

 

[ABQ2015]

Retired about 4 years ago and had planned to move to Central Oregon to be near my sister and escape the summer desert heat but first I wanted to travel around and explore the southwest. With all the great national parks and mountain resort towns, this has taken longer than expected. Meanwhile the climate up north seemed to take a turn with some heavy snowfalls in the winter, hotter summer temperatures, and smoke from the wildfires and the housing prices soared.

Recently my sister moved to Eugene with a very different climate. I plan to visit her later this year and get a feel as to whether I like the area. Regardless of whether I relocate, I need to downsize and buy a smaller home and figure out how to get to a cooler climate for a couple of months each summer. Except for my sister, all my relatives and close friends live in a hotter climate than me.

 

[skyking1]

We are fighting an uphill gradient as far as moving, as we have lived in this state all our lives and DW has never lived out of this zip code, for all practical purposes. Family and friends do figure largely into this, the likelihood that we will stay here and possibly in this same home.
I have been interested in Sequim and the lower rainfall and fewer dreary days.

 

[Dtail]

I have been considering to move to Las Vegas or Tampa after retirement, for warmer weather, no state tax, and casinos. I visited both places. But I could not make the decision. The main reasons are the worry about finding new friends at a new location (mainly for my wife) and the hassles of selling current house and buying a new house and moving. We may eventually move to somewhere, but we will have to wait to see.

We moved to Tampa. We did consider Vegas for awhile, but all our families are on the east coast.

 

[rodi]

We didn't retire to Italy. Hubster and sons are dual citizens so it was on the table as either a second home or retirement home location. But we decided that visits to Italy are fine and we enjoy San Diego.

 

[Pointby2]

We had planned to move to Reno. Wife and kids both were born there, I lived there for ten years, we both love it.


So, I've been watching the prices for homes and it always appeared we could sell our Orange County, CA home and get a nicer home there plus pocket a few hundred thousand dollars. We took a house-hunting trip there this spring and it turns out we were too late to the party. Reno properties have just exploded in price. So our OC home is, admittedly hard to beat, situated on the edge of a beautiful canyon in a quiet neighborhood and we are also blessed with amazing neighbors. To duplicate or improve on our current home would have cost us almost half million dollars over what we have here.


So, we're staying put. On the plus side, we won't have to deal with winters and any potential water shortages there. Although we may have water issues here still in OC the way things are going.

 

[RobbieB]

A co-worker asked me where I was retiring to. Made me think a few seconds...

Right here where I am. Ten miles from the marina, 10 miles from the outdoor shooting range, 3 hours from Reno, an hour and a half from 4 international airports.

Works for me!

 

[kcowan]

We haven't decided yet. Vancouver summers, Mexico winters since 2007, Europe for a month starting again in 2022. Covid19 has made travel require more planning.

There are plenty of choices but little motivation to change.

 

[aja8888]

Grew up in Connecticut and left before the state started going downhill. Every time I have visited to see what's left of the family, I keep saying I am happy in Texas. And that's where we are staying.

 

[Scuba]

We seriously looked at several options, mainly driven by the desire for lower taxes and COL. Eliminated FL due to hurricane risk as well as climate. We could have tolerated the heat and humidity if we could SCUBA dive in warm water year-around, but even Key West waters are too chilly for us in the winter.

Eliminated NV because we didn’t love the pervasiveness of the gambling culture everywhere, the weather, or the housing value. A lot cheaper than So CA, but we didn’t feel that high quality homes in nice areas were cheaper enough to justify moving.

Eliminated TX due mainly to weather and culture. I lived in Houston for 10 years and love some things about the culture in TX, but other aspects aren’t appealing to us after 30 years in CA.

Considered the USVI also, but eliminated that due to hurricane risk and scarcity of good healthcare. Also, the distance from CA and cost to travel there would mean very infrequent visits with people we are very close to.

Ultimately, like many others, we couldn’t find a place that we felt beat So CA enough to relocate. We surprised ourselves by relocating from the beach to the desert in 2019. We didn’t consider that as part of our plans, but made a rather spontaneous decision to make the move and so far, we love it. Sometimes I miss the beach, but we prefer the dry heat here as well as the slower pace.

 

[target2019]

We did not move to NC, MD, or DE. Gave it serious thought, visited a few places...

We'll stay in NJ for healthcare and family. Winter and summer weather extremes seem to be lessening.

 

[folivier]

Let's see after lots of research we didn't retire to Panama. Haven't even been there to visit yet. After traveling full-time in our motorhome we didn't retire to Colorado, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico. Although last year we did buy a lot to spend the summer's in Colorado. My DW is happy to be in southeast Louisiana year round close to our family but each year the heat, humidity, pollen, mold, etc. gets worse for me. We returned from CO for a family trip to the beach last week. My sinuses have been on overload since we got back to LA.

 

[Badger]

I have traveled all over the US, lived in quite a few states, and spent 6 years before retirement searching for the perfect place to move to. I couldn't find anywhere better than where I am - about 2 blocks from what is +/- a restricted access beach, no snow, all year outdoor activities (hiking, swimming, fishing, golf, tennis...) many major hospitals including Mayo, universities and colleges, military base with it's privileges near by, paid for home, etc.

Everywhere else is where I was not interested in moving for retirement.


Cheers!

 

[GoodLife59]

We’re rather settled here in PA. Good friends, son and soon to be wife are nearby, tax friendly state for seniors, ample healthcare resources, etc…

 

[imnontrad]

I love Mystic and really miss the lobster - but not the cost of utilities and taxes.
I also miss my hometown of Columbus, Ohio - but not the weather.
I am not interested in Florida (went to HS there) after I found out that I was very allergic to Bermuda grass (which is why I was miserable a lot)
I am currently in Colorado Springs. I love the weather here and the hiking - but do not like the evangelical/conservative vibes in many areas of the town. Plus I have no relatives here. And the housing situation is nuts. Now that the average home price is over 500K, I get contacted all the time by investors who want to buy my place.
I am considering just having my home as my "base" and traveling a lot, including out of country.

 

[Paulz]

We currently live in VA right outside of DC. We know we definitely want to leave this area, but all four of our kids live here. We want to move to FL, but the thought of grandkids is a little too much for the wife to move away.

Our oldest just announced she is moving out west, so now no matter what she will not be near all four kids. She finally admitted we all will not live in the same town forever, so it looks like we are moving to FL in a few years when we retire.