Anyone? I near such a decision. Moving always sucks in the extreme, but more so in one's later years as by that time you feel like you should be done with all that.
I worked in home health care most of my life and also had to deal with ageing and dying depression era parents who lived in their original home and hoarded everything so I have experience with this.
I was forced out of my job/resigned at age 62 while hubby was still working at age 64 and he was getting tired with commuting and the corporate BS, the schedule of work, etc.
I had a pretty clear picture of what we would face in older years staying in a large home on a lot of acreage in a secluded area with pretty much no family or friends nearby.We lived in NY all our lives and wanted out for various other reasons as well. We lived in our former home for 32 years and our first home before that one for 10 years. Husband and I were both born and grew up in NY.
So I wasted no time hiring a fee only financial planner/advisor, searching for a downsized/low maintenance home in a state where our only child lives (yes- we did consider other states where we did have family/friends, but most were in Florida and that was a no for us due to the climate and landscape). As luck would have it were able to buy a brand new, very affordable, 1100 square foot one level cottage to be built in the last phase of a HOA community in a vacation area up the road from a gorgeous and popular lake in New Hampshire. (no income or sales tax). Our single, 36 year old son lives a half hour away and has lived in that town since he started college way back in 2006.
We vacationed in Vermont and New Hampshire for 22+ years so we were very familiar with the states.
The community is not a 55 plus but it is somewhat like that with snowbirds, part-timers, some renters short and long, and full timers. Many retired or only working part-time or from home. There are a few young families. Most are from Massachusettes.There is just one other couple here from NY and we never see them. They all have a lot in common being from the same state, so that is different for us in that we don't always know what they are talking about relating to their towns, sports teams, etc. But it's all good!
Then I interviewed a few realtors and hired a husband/wife team. And attys for both homes.
We had to move twice since our home sold quickly, but the new home was not finished being built and anyway my husband had a few more months to go for his official retirement.(a lot of work to do with that also). The young couple who bought our home actually rented their little former home, which was about 1/2 hour from our former home, to us for that 5 month period! So we swapped houses!
Then had to get moving quotes.
Ironically we closed on the new home the exact day of my husband's official retirement(12/31/2019). Uncanny. So we moved to the new home in February 2020. I was 63 and 8 mos and my husband was 65 and 9 months.
I will tell you moving is difficult and expensive. Husband was working the whole time as I was home packing, selling and giving away stuff, dealing with building a home long distance (it was 6 hours away). Yeah we took a couple of rides up there, but for the most part we were too busy dealing with the cleaning out and selling of our home.
There is so much to do when you move, physically and mentally. I kept saying the whole time it was a good thing we were doing it then because I don't know how much older people do it. We had no help. Just us.
Then when you do move, unpacking everything and doing what you need to do to become residents- drivers licenses, registering the cars, getting adjusted to the way things are done. Doing things in the new home that need to be done.
Thankfully I am super organized and we did very well! We like it here. We have great neighbors, a nice clubhouse and small pool, resident driven activities, a resident managed HOA that is not controlling with a low monthly fee that takes care of the tiny lawn the house is on, mulch beds, and the trash and plows the private road.
Moving into a community like this (and our is small- only 85 homes) gives you an instant social life (if you so choose). Also we had joined a group BEFORE we moved here outside the community which gave us more connections/acquaintances/friends in the state and local area. My husband immediately joined a sportsman's club since he was giving up his back in NY and also when I was able to in the first two years, I participated in some hikes given by the local town recreation dept.
Hubby took up fishing and I get to float and swim in the gorgeous lakes or hang by the pool in season.I can walk to one beach. Feels like we are always on vacation!
And since we've had the time we got involved a little with local politics. I will tell you the days fly by!
Also we are only 4 miles from shopping, movie theatre and live theatre, banks, restaurants, medical care, hospital, etc. We can walk across the street to a Cumberland Farms if need be. And there are actually a few seasonal restaurants we could walk to, as well as walk to the docks to take mail boats or the big ship out on the lake. A lot of people here have their own boats also and keep them at the marina right down the street from here.
BTW- besides the good tax climate, things like auto and home insurance are much less expensive. Property taxes are high but the overall tax burden is very low. And having the smaller home heating and ac, maintenance. cleaning, are much less of an expense.
In addition to no income tax, don't underestimate how much you save with no sales tax either. It's HUGE! That was a big surprise to us.
I will be 68 in June and my husband will be 70 in April. Last year I ended up with spine surgery. Never would have guessed I'd have a back problem. Up until then I was hiking and snowshoeing. It's been a challenging year for me but I am ok- just not like I was only a few years ago and I don't think I could handle that move again
My husband is thankfully doing well, but he does get more tired.
So the moral of the story is- there's no time like the present if you decide to move when you are older!