Where did you retire?

[F.I.R.E User]

For those who pursued F.I.R.E in USA:

Where did you decide to retire? Did you stay at the same vicinity or chose another destination and why?

What major city and/or small town in USA gives the best bang for your buck in retirement purely from a financial perspective?

 

[aja8888]

For those who pursued F.I.R.E in USA:

Where did you decide to retire? Did you stay at the same vicinity or chose another destination and why?

What major city and/or small town in USA gives the best bang for your buck in retirement purely from a financial perspective?

Retired in Texas...you are in Sugar Land....I'd stay there.

 

[F.I.R.E User]

Retired in Texas...you are in Sugar Land....I'd stay there.

Sugar Land and The Woodlands are 2 reputable suburbs in Houston but I think Katy's COL is lower.

 

[aja8888]

Sugar Land and The Woodlands are 2 reputable suburbs in Houston but I think Katy's COL is lower.

Pasadena and Deer park are probably lower cost than Sugar Land and The Woodlands. But the chemical plants are....well, you know!

There are dozens of threads here on "where to/did you retire to" and maybe try searching them out since it's been a popular topic here. Here's one to go through:

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/i-have-no-idea-where-to-retire-109409.html

 

[Ronstar]

Retired in northern Illinois 7 years ago and still trying to get out.

 

[F.I.R.E User]

Pasadena and Deer park are probably lower cost than Sugar Land and The Woodlands. But the chemical plants are....well, you know!

There are dozens of threads here on "where to/did you retire to" and maybe try searching them out since it's been a popular topic here. Here's one to go through:

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/i-have-no-idea-where-to-retire-109409.html

Not sure if I want to live in Pasadena but Deer Park is a good place I heard. Conroe is another good one. The further out from the city you go the cheaper it gets and newer RE.

I will check them out.

 

[F.I.R.E User]

Retired in northern Illinois 7 years ago and still trying to get out.

How come?

 

[aja8888]

Not sure if I want to live in Pasadena but Deer Park is a good place I heard. Conroe is another good one. The further out from the city you go the cheaper it gets and newer RE.

I will check them out.

I have a Conroe address and our village is still a Woodlands one. Conroe, Magnolia and Willis are growing like gangbusters. And are far enough out of Houston to not be affected by the crowds, big city stuff, etc.

 

[RAE]

Retired here in northern Michigan, where I grew up and spent most of my career. Eventually bought a house in central Florida, to get away from the long winters here. Snowbirding is the way to go, for me anyway.

 

[Ronstar]

How come?

Weather, taxes, scenery, and I’d like to downsize

 

[F.I.R.E User]

I have a Conroe address and our village is still a Woodlands one. Conroe, Magnolia and Willis are growing like gangbusters. And are far enough out of Houston to not be affected by the crowds, big city stuff, etc.

Oh ok. Each suburb pretty much has what Houston has. Many are now Working from home like myself so it easier to move out to get a bargain and not have to worry about commute.

 

[F.I.R.E User]

Retired here in northern Michigan, where I grew up and spent most of my career. Eventually bought a house in central Florida, to get away from the long winters here. Snowbirding is the way to go, for me anyway.

Where in FL?

 

[F.I.R.E User]

Weather, taxes, scenery, and I’d like to downsize

Fair enough.

 

[Dawg52]

Mississippi. Not for everyone but I'm from here and still have a lot of friends around. Plus I live on a golf course of which I'm a member. I also spend a lot of time on the AL coast which is a nice change of pace.

 

[W2R]

After planning a move to another state, we ended retiring right where we were (New Orleans).

We are happy here and plan to stay, barring the unforeseen. He's a New Orleans native and I have lived here for a quarter century by now, longer than anywhere else.

While still working, moving sounded so appealing. But once we retired, we realized that we were perfectly happy without moving and could save time, effort, and money by staying here.

 

[Bamaman]

We moved from Atlanta area to North Alabama getting ready to retire. We already had an inherited lake home there with a deep water 6 mile sunset view to the West and two Robert Trent Jones 18 hole golf courses on our street. We have the best big smallmouth and big catfish fishing there is out our front door.

We moved our main residence last year to 10 miles outside of Huntsville, The Rocket City and what's known as one of America's smartest cities. This is the #3 fastest growing city in the U.S.--per United Van Lines and we're satisfied with a high quality, ultra low COL place. It's great not having any property taxes because DW is disabled too.

 

[F.I.R.E User]

Mississippi. Not for everyone but I'm from here and still have a lot of friends around. Plus I live on a golf course of which I'm a member. I also spend a lot of time on the AL coast which is a nice change of pace.

LCOL right?

 

[F.I.R.E User]

After planning a move to another state, we ended retiring right where we were (New Orleans).

We are happy here and plan to stay, barring the unforeseen. He's a New Orleans native and I have lived here for a quarter century by now, longer than anywhere else.

While still working, moving sounded so appealing. But once we retired, we realized that we were perfectly happy without moving and could save time, effort, and money by staying here.

Where were you going to move? NO is also LCOL.

 

[F.I.R.E User]

We moved from Atlanta area to North Alabama getting ready to retire. We already had an inherited lake home there with a deep water 6 mile sunset view to the West and two Robert Trent Jones 18 hole golf courses on our street. We have the best big smallmouth and big catfish fishing there is out our front door.

We moved our main residence last year to 10 miles outside of Huntsville, The Rocket City and what's known as one of America's smartest cities. This is the #3 fastest growing city in the U.S.--per United Van Lines and we're satisfied with a high qualityq, ultra low COL place. It's great not having any property taxes because DW is disabled too.

That’s a good LCOL area.

 

[Scuba]

We researched Texas, Florida, and Nevada pretty extensively pre-ER due to their LCOL’s relative to CA. In the end, we stayed in CA because we’ve been here 30 years and have deep long-term friendships that would be impossible to replace. We did move away from Coastal CA to Palm Springs about 3 years after ER, but we kept our coastal condo in case we ever want to move back. We are renting it out to a long-term tenant for now.

The beauty of moving somewhere that’s only 100 or so miles away is that you can keep your old friends and see them often, but also make a whole new set of friends.

 

[F.I.R.E User]

We researched Texas, Florida, and Nevada pretty extensively pre-ER due to their LCOL’s relative to CA. In the end, we stayed in CA because we’ve been here 30 years and have deep long-term friendships that would be impossible to replace. We did move away from Coastal CA to Palm Springs about 3 years after ER, but we kept our coastal condo in case we ever want to move back. We are renting it out to a long-term tenant for now.

The beauty of moving somewhere that’s only 100 or so miles away is that you can keep your old friends and see them often, but also make a whole new set of friends.

I moved from San Jose, CA to TX.

 

[DrRoy]

We had plans to retire to a small town in Ohio near Hocking Hills state park, but decided to stay in our house in suburban Detroit.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

From SoCAL to Caribbean to a Small Town 40m South of JAX in N.E. Fla. Best of both worlds. Coastal Charm, Great Beaches, close to everything, World Class Healthcare that one can actually access and is fully covered by Medicare & Healthcare plans.

I hate to harp on it, but the MOST important amenity for us is Healthcare Access. As we get older we use it a lot more, and we do not want to drive 30m to a Hospital or Specialist. You have to give that to Florida, it has it's healthcare access sorted for the most part in most of the more affluent Counties, and there are a lot of them.

 

[street]

Stayed in the area (Montana) from where I was born and raised. I'm an outdoor person and not sure where there would be a better place to live.

 

[Dash man]

We’re in SE Pennsylvania in the Philly suburbs. Lots of family around and Pennsylvania doesn’t tax retirement income. PA weather has four seasons, but doesn’t get any really severe weather. There’s plenty of water and nature is great! We do have vacation homes in Florida and the Jersey Shore to get away when we need to.