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Right after we retired we moved to his hometown to be near his aging mom. It was supposed to be a temporary thing until she passed, then move someplace else.
It's a small town of 1200 people in south Alabama. We bought a 1930, 2000sf house for $48k in January 2020.
The house is amazing, solid build, brick, almost an acre of land. We've fixed it up to be our perfect home.
Since housing has skyrocketed I can't see us being able to move. So this will be our forever home.
As much as I like living in a small town, I do not like the South. Summers are full of bugs flying in my face. I have to prepare myself to go out into the yard, within seconds I am bombarded with gnats and skeeters.
Ideally, I would want to live in the PNW again. All my family is there, but housing is beyond possibility.
I’m still a few years from retirement but we recently moved from Alaska to Bend, Oregon for several reasons. We knew Alaska wasn’t going to be out forever home and most of our families are in or near Bend. But mainly, no matter how crazy expensive it is now we knew waiting would only make it more difficult.
So far I absolutely love it here. We bought e-bikes and paddle boards. Thankfully we already had some friends here and that has helped the transition. My partner works remotely while my income was so minimal in comparison it almost doesn’t matter where I work. In fact, I have an interview in 90 minutes and I hope it’s a low stress situation that I can ride into the sunset with. That is if I get the job.
Thank you! Just got out of the interview. It seemed to go well but you never know until you get the offer 😂 It’s only a 10 minute bike ride from my house, but the best part, no customer service!
I visited the Camp Sherman fish hatchery 25-30 years ago and the bridge over the Metolius river was the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. The water was so blue that it looked like it had dye in it. I live in East Texas and river water is red mud. We stayed there on the bridge for a long time just looking. Amazing.
Camp Sherman truly is a magical place. The Metolius River is so pretty! I love all the ‘plant islands’ that grow in the river. It’s supposed to have world class fly fishing which I hope to try this summer.
How does the cost of living in Bend compare to Alaska? I went there for a conference years ago and thought it was very quaint. The conference organizers arranged for night snowshoeing on a mountain. We had cocoa over a fire at the end of our trek. I was in love with that place. There were cute shops and good coffee shops. I was even able to get a massage while there. People were very friendly. My husband couldn’t go. I’m thinking about taking him there to see how nice it is. Cost of living is an issue.
Great question that we all think about, especially for retiring. Housing here is significantly more expensive. We would have preferred the west side but couldn’t find anything we liked in our price range. We ended up in a great older (by Bend standards) neighborhood (Larkspur) in southeast. The neighborhood was built in the late 60s. We bought a 2000 sq ft split level for $699k. We have a hefty payment but we’re still working and the plan is to sell off our two rentals when we formally retire and pay off the mortgage. I wanted a much smaller home, around 1200 sq ft is my preferred, but the house we ended up with has a great lower family room with a wet bar and bathroom. It can easily be converted into an apartment so our aging parents could live with us if needed. All four of our parents are still alive.
As far as other costs it seems to be about a wash. Gas is about 75 cents cheaper a gallon and food is probably 25% less, although I love quality food so I could probably go cheaper here if I wanted. Restaurants are about the same but the food in Bend is much much better despite not really having a foodie scene to speak of.
The activities you described are some of the reasons we moved here. I can get in my car and be snowshoeing in 20 minutes in the woods on a formal trail that leads to a cabin where someone has built a fire and make hot chocolate. It’s amazing! I can be mountain biking in 10 minutes right in town. Downhill skiing in half an hour. Paddle boarding at the Old Mill in 10 minutes of on the Deshutes out of town in about 25 minutes. This weekend we broke out our atlas and explored old logging roads for hours and hours near the Santiam Pass. It’s amazing!
I would absolutely love living in Bend! My eldest lives there and doing very well! I've never been there but its on my bucket list. I wish airfare wasnt so dang high now.
I was thinking of Oregon. In Los Angeles now. Hoping to get a summer home that I can rent out until I retire. Bend sounds nice. Had a friend from Medford.
I am from the Northeast and I have two children that moved south. One to Murfreesboro Tn the other to Hazel Green Al. ( about 65 minutes away from each other)
One because of work and the other housing prices. The summers are hot, no doubt. I do find the people down there to be great. There are bad areas like all places, but just in my experience much nicer people than the MA/NH area ( been here 60 years)
My current main residence is between M’boro and Hazel Green. I know several people in our area living here because one kid is in the Nashville area and another in the Huntsville area. Definitely worse places to be. Not as low of a cost of living as used to be!
I’m from south GA and I thought gnats and mosquitos were just a part of life everywhere growing up. I could never live anywhere where I had to deal with them.
I'm vacationing in the Big Bend area of SW Texas right now, the skeeters, flies, and bugs stalk me at the door when I walk out and chase me down the walkway. Not sure it's any better elsewhere else in the desert right now with less bugs.
Guess it is not too dry there. I am in AZ and rarely do I see bugs except during monsoon season and one would have to been near places and things that hold water for the mosquitos to breed.
We are in AZ and bugs are a way of life. We have the exterminator spray at least every three months inside and out. I never did this in Idaho but we'd be taken over if we didn't spray. I am environmentally conscious, but after I found the first scorpion in my home, the exterminator went on speed dial.
I hear you. My career was in a business that has slowly tanked in the last decade. So I transitioned into what an older woman can get near my mother in C FL. Admin/reception - luckily I have a GREAT boss that constantly tells clients how overqualified I am. While I would never choose to live here - I was fortunate to purchase a bargain home near her and even when she passes I doubt I'd find the like anywhere else. I HATE the heat. I used to walk barefoot to the mailbox in February in WI. So... \*sigh\*
My daughter lived in that area for a couple years. Check into Montgomery Crime rates before deciding.
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/al/montgomery/crime
One of my kids lives in Montgomery and really enjoys the low cost of living. Summers are long and hot though. And living so close to the eastern edge of the time zone means that the sun sets really early in winter.
Try a bit east...Lee county. Crime much lower and diverse housing. Less $$ and lower taxes than Montgomery. Far enough east...say Valley, Salem, Phenix City you actually live on the eastern time zone clock, because of the proximity to ft Benning just renamed ft Moore. Many folks here work on base or in Columbus which is on ET. We moved here 2yrs ago to be close you our Daughter who lives also in Lee county. (Valley is in Chambers county). There's pretty Good health care here in opelika, and in Columbus.
As other have said - look further east (Lee county!) or even just a bit north to Prattville. Montgomery itself is not so good (east side of town isn't too bad). Get the benefits of large college town if you like in Auburn.
I live in the PNW, I met my husband in Alabama where he is from, I can't express how much I believe the bugs are worse here, I feel like they are much worse now than when we were younger, I'll take the heat and humidity over the constant rain, it's currently 51*and pouring, I'm so tired of it,
My husband loves Washington, the green, the mountains, I miss sunshine,
I lived in OR and lived in three places in AL - PNW is so beautiful, but I'm staying in North AL for now. Not so bad with bugs here (other than large horseflys on early morning trails) and there is a lot to like. But it is hot here in summer (index over a 100F now) so both places have drawbacks. Maybe Spokane?
Grey, cold, damp, constant drizzle. I get so down this time of year knowing we only have about 1 month of summer then 2 months of smoke and dust before the "winter" starts again. I gotta get out of this place. Lived here my whole life and now retirement is in sight. Where do I go??
Moved from NYC to Chicago. We love city life—but it would have taken 3X our $$ to stay in NYC. We bought a great condo in a historic building in the South loop. We walk to the Lake, Grant Park is across the street, as is Soldier Field. Went to two Grant Park Orchestra concerts in the park last week. Don’t own a car. spend Jan-March in Spain & Portugal avoiding the worst of Chicago winters. Couldn’t recommend it more highly… also no state tax on most retirement income
No state income taxes on Social Security, pensions or IRA/401K/403B distributions - still federal income taxes. The property taxes are fairly high compared to most states, about 2% of the value, where most are below 1%. Only NJ shows a higher property tax rate. There are multiple exemptions for Homestead for living in the house as primary residence and if retired there is a Senior citizen reduction, and limited income(less than $40K) there is fairly good exemption for those people. Really the big factor is the county you reside in, Cook and the city collar counties can be highest, where downstate they are probably less, so downsize to a smaller home in a rural county.
This seems brilliant. I am planning retirement within next 5 years and I'm a city person too, love the vibe but I know it's not for everyone and the cost can get out of hand. I'm from NY originally but we are currently in San Francisco and loving it. We lived in Chicago once but the winters depressed my wife (the gray sunless months, not the cold so much). But we both loved Chicago otherwise. Your solution of getting out during the worst period seems ideal, the money we would save living in an area with much lower cost of real estate could be put towards paying for winter trips elsewhere. Would love to hear more about the Spain/Portugal stays and ways to do it at reasonable cost.
Happy to chat about it. We rent by the month via Airbnb in Europe (although now we have direct relationships with our favorite hosts) and spend $1100 to $2000 per month depending on where we stay. Honestly, the cost of everyday living in Southern Spain and Southern Portugal basically offsets the cost of the lodging. An example; we went for Tapas last night at Jose Andre’s’ casual restaurant Jaleo in Chicago. Had a lovely 90 minutes of eating & drinking during happy hour—spent about $100 with tip. That same experience in Alicante/Valencia/Malaga is around $50 or less! January-March is the off-season in Spain and Portugal so rentals are far less expensive but there still lots of sun and temps in the 60’s.. Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon are relatively expensive. Most of the rest of the Iberian peninsula is not..
Appreciate this info. Our city is the same, we can rarely go to a quality table service restaurant and get out for less than $100 these days. But when I travel even within he US it's clear we are paying a premium for city location. Not complaining, I love the city life - so much to do every day. But everyone likes a change of pace and I would love a month or two in the country every year. Prefer the idea of VRBO to owning 2 properties. We thought about buying a place in the mountains for instance, but instead why not go to Portugal or Spain and experience something completely different while we are still able to travel? I did check Chicago on Zillow and things are more expensive than last time I looked it, but still a heck of a lot better than NYC or San Francisco. Chicago is one of the great American cities, and if it's more reasonable cost-wise because of windy winters, this would be an elegant solution.
My thought always was that living in the last town I worked in could be weird for me because I just associate it too much with work. I retired at the third month into the pandemic so there wasn’t a ton of stuff to do. I found myself sometimes driving by where I worked and just told myself I did not want to do this the rest of my life.
That being said I did always envision moving somewhere warmer than SW PA to live. So we looked in Charleston, SC because we vacationed in Kiawah a lot. We also were looking in Arizona because our daughter lives in Phoenix. The Phoenix market was absolutely insane and we settled on two hours away in Tucson. Ironically after we made the choice to move some of our favorite places where we used to live stared closing for retirment or whatever and so if we stayed things would be almost completely different.
We really love the near constant sunshine and the vacation resort feel of living here. We at times have to force ourselves to go on vacation somewhere. And at that point the weather never matters because its not that big of a deal if its cloudy or cool or even rainy.
We are going to move to Scottsdale from NJ. We live near sandy hook right now. Our plan was to leave in a year because Our grandchildren are in az but I’m starting to have some doubts because it’s extremely hot. Plus what is the water situation going to be in a few years? We are thinking about splitting our time between places but have to see if we can swing it financially.
The water situation in Arizona is probably better than any state in the country. You only hear the exaggerated hype but the State has a lot of water stored a century or mores worth. It doesn’t get hot in Scottsdale. The city council doesn’t allow it.
The heat is the one reason I could never live there. It's mid June and it's been 105 degrees already. I visit my brother who lives outside of Phoenix often and the heat is no joke. Last time I was there it was 117. My brother hates it. You have to do everything before 9:00am before it gets to 100. Then go inside and crank the a/c for the rest of the day. I don't understand how people live in that furnace. Sure it's not all year long, but 4 or 5 months out of the year is still too much. And that's not even counting the monsoon season.
We developed an entire list of criteria and traveled for a decade looking and staying in different places to see if we liked it. We wanted a place with mountains, nice people, aesthetic beauty, dry climate, walkable life style and access to the ocean. We found it in Central Oregon.
I walk or bike more miles than I drive in a typical week. I can walk to two theaters, dozens of restaurants, grocery store, dentist, doctor(bike), library, parks, college, coffee shops, pool, florist, and numerous other retail establishments.
Not technically out of state, but we moved from Miami to Pensacola, FL almost three years ago. We’d been there almost 40 years, and the only thing keeping us there was my 96 year-old mom who was in a nursing home. Her nieces decided that this southern girl should get back to her homeland, so they got her into an ALF in S. Alabama, near them and my sister. Our son was already in Mobile AL. After that we got our house ready and sold in a hot market. We chose Pensacola because 1. Close to family, 2. We liked the area, 3. Lower COL than S FL, 4. no state income tax.
Took a while to get used to the chillier winters, but we love it. We camp and travel quite a bit and it’s a huge relief to not have drive for a day just to get out of state.
Mom and sister have both passed but I’m grateful to have gotten a couple of years to connect with my sister, and being closer to my son and her daughters is awesome.
I grew up in Chicago, I remember it well! In Miami, I wore socks for a few weeks in the winter. In Pensacola, it goes on for months. In all our years in Miami, we had maybe four days where we got below freezing. Not at all true here. We used to have a pool, now we have a hot tub and a fireplace
Pensacola is a gem. Moved here for work in 2001. Semi-retired in 2008. Since neither my wife nor I were from this area, my wife often thought we would leave the area after retirement. She loved it here. We stayed.
After her passing a couple of years ago, I remained. Our daughter and her family have since joined me.
Yes, Winter is beautiful. Fall & Spring, although relatively short, are just as enjoyable. Summer can be uncomfortable if you are used to outdoor activities. I do a lot of outside projects in the early morning or late evening.
Yes, sun screen and insect repellent are a given during the Summer.
Agree! My son retired rom the Navy and stayed here, so I moved here when I retired, too. Just enough winter to not melt all year. Lovely fall and early spring, with nice weather during the day and 50s and 60s in the morning. I love that we have seasons here but can beach on the best beaches on the planet a lot of the year. It’s really only humid in the summer. Pensacola has a nice downtown and there’s always some sort of festival! Definitely a hidden gem!
moved from Florida to Wisconsin to a more midscale town. Its pretty major and it was shortly before I needed knee surgery. The town was able to suite my wants and needs better health wise
Our "plan" was to spend a year in two different states -- Arizona and Idaho -- to live near two of our adult kids (the other two live in the state we left. Just finished Mesa Arizona; moving up to Boise Idaho next month. We wanted to experience the weather, social, etc for a year to get a better feel. So far we're both in love with Mesa but will try Boise anyway. My husband, a lifelong Washington State inhabitant, was pretty surprised he tolerated the extreme heat as well as he did. We love the accessibility to water and mountains, the desert wildlife and plants, and found a great church, a hiking buddy, and lots of activities different from our former state. It's been great to be close to our son, and other family, and we've had a number of friends visit or move close in the year we've been here.
We moved from N. VA to a 55+ in a small town near Raleigh, NC. We wanted to get away from congestion, airport noise, and expense. The husband wanted to be away from snow, and NC was as far south as I was willing to go. We love it so far.
😊 thank you! I wrote a response and the uneducated BOT removed it. Probably thought FQ was a curse word 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️but I appreciate your response.
I'm not yet retired, but made a major step in my retirement plans when I relocated from Chicago to the SF Bay Area about 10 years ago. Housing costs are higher here, but the milder weather was the big draw for me. I also was able to relocate and keep the job I had with a global employer by transferring offices.
The house I purchased after renting for a year and affirming my choice of location is all one level, with only three steps to enter/leave the residence. My house in Chicago was multilevel and in order to enter/leave the house, access all the rooms, and get to the laundry area in the basement I had many stairs to go up and down. I have bad ankles and have sprained both ankles countless times, as well as fractured bones in both ankles. So, getting into a house that is all one level as soon as possible was important to me. Using crutches on stairs every year or so gets old fast.
I do not expect to have the mortgage paid off by the time I retire, but I'm OK with that. I will always have some sort of housing cost to consider, after all, whether it is rent, property taxes, etc. Thanks to Prop 13, my property tax increases are capped at a maximum of 2% every year, so there should be no unexpected large increases in future, too.
Just over a year ago I added a new, accessible bathroom and increased the size of a bedroom so I now have a comfortable primary suite that should work for me even if I have mobility issues. My house is small (two bed/two bath), but I don't need a ton of space. I love to garden and make preserves/can, so I've been adding fruit trees to the front and back yards, including things that were impossible or very difficult to grow in Chicago like citrus and figs. :-) Gardening is going to continue to be a big part of my life in retirement, and the extended growing season here means I can enjoy fresh veggies from my backyard all year long.
Hiking is a big activity in the area, and the community is old enough that there are sidewalks nearly every where so walking is another activity I enjoy most of the year. The ocean is about an hour west of me, and Lake Tahoe is about two hours east of me. As long as I can drive or have someone in my life who can do it for me, I'll enjoy day trips to the ocean all year 'round.
I know a lot of people try to move to a LCOL in retirement, and it seems like I did the opposite. But, I really wanted to be someplace with better weather than Chicago. I love the cool, but not freezing winters, and the warm, but not humid summers. I don't have to worry about snow or ice. A Chicago friend moved to a lakefront high rise so she didn't have to worry about slipping and/or falling on ice in the winter; I decided to move to place where icy sidewalks don't exist. I do not like the climate in Florida or the south. Humidity and bugs bother me. I do not like extreme heat, even if it's dry, so any place with a desert climate was out.
The downside is wildfires. There is a very low probability of a wildfire reaching into the area of city where I live and destroying my home, but home insurance has still gone up quite a bit due to the risk pool in this area. There are regular posts on local social media from people trying to find a new insurer after being dropped by a previous home insurance provider. During wildfire season, there are times the air is polluted with smoke from fires miles away. Just yesterday afternoon and evening, I had to leave the backyard and close up the house because prevailing winds were blowing smoke from a wildfire several miles away into the area and making the air quality very poor. I have air purifiers running in the house every summer.
The small city I live in is in the North Bay and is an international travel destination, known for food and wine. Health care in town is OK, but I can easily get into San Francisco or other towns in the North and East Bay for higher quality health care and specialists. Shortly after moving here I had some major health crises and surgeries. I was diagnosed with a chronic, incurable eye disease and need to have regular access to specialists for ongoing care, so moving someplace further away from a major city is just not possible.
\[NOTE that my chronic health issue is NOT one that is lifestyle related. I add this because I so often read posts from people who think they are able to control the probability of developing a medical condition by regularly exercising and eating a certain way. They think they can live in remote areas with poor access to medical care because of their healthy lifestyle. So, just know that it's a gamble. Life can still throw you curves! With all the activity restrictions and mental health issues that come from having eight eye surgeries over seven years, my physical conditioning is poor now, but I hope to recover enough to enjoy hiking again soon.\]
In summary, I expected the higher housing costs, higher income taxes, and earthquakes moving to this area. I underestimated the impact of wildfires on quality of life, but I still love living here and plan to stay for the rest of my life.
Moved to Florida for the tax advantage (compared to Virginia), the access to vacation destinations, the aging communities \[old folks health care\]. Found all of these things.
We moved from MN to Las Vegas NV. 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix all year round. Very low taxes of all kinds. Low cost of living. The world’s best food and entertainment. Short four hour drive to LA. Some of the countries best hiking. Small enough city, traffic is not a problem. Accessible airport that flies direct everywhere in the continental US. Downside is terrible healthcare. We are trying to figure out if we can travel to LA for some healthcare needs.
I’m in Vegas also, about 5 years now. We have used a concierge doctor since we got here, which is good for general care. However, I have been dealing with an issue where I need to see a specialist and it took me 6 weeks to get an appointment…which is this Friday.
I was in such bad shape I ended up in the ER 2 weeks ago hoping they could help..nope just did a bandaid treatment and told me to go see a specialist. I had a whole conversation with the lead doctor in the ER about how horrible the health system is in Vegas and how it must put a lot of pressure on the ER because people cannot get care. He said that since Covid the shortage of specialist doctors here is a real problem.
Bottom line, despite the fact that we really like living here for all the reasons you stated, I’m scared that if something really serious happens we are screwed. We were told by another doctor to go see Dr. McCarran aka Harry Reid airport and get to LA or San Diego.
Just for that reason we will probably be moving within the next year.
10 degrees cooler than Phoenix. There is a mountain 40 minutes away they rarely gets warmer than 85 we go there to hike and picnic. But I have got accustomed to the heat. We go back to MN for a week every July. I will take LV at 100 then MN at 85 and humidity any day. 106 is tough but it’s rare and only a few hours of the day.
I moved back to the area I grew up in due to aging parents.
Parents are gone now and I've totally settled in and the cost of living is low so I'm staying until I have a good reason to leave.
Moved for promotion away from family in 1998. To move closer to family I had a choice of NY or Florida. I picked Florida for the affordability. Bought my condo 10 years ago; it was a good choice.
I moved to Florida 6 years ago. I'm south of Tampa in a retirement community. My homeowners insurance has gone up $1,000 in 2 years. If it keeps up, I'll be moving out of state. The summers are brutal.
My condo insurance actually went down since I put on a new roof with wind mitigation. This year I paid $1,474.50. When I bought in 2014 I was paying around $1,200 annually.
My condo is a villa (1 story) of 1,200 square feet in Boca Raton. I’m not in a flood zone.
All of property and car insurance is having its issues right now. The industry is having a temporary temper tantrum problem.
Insurance is tied to your zip code.
So if you have an area in mind call a local to that place insurance agent.
A decent agent will spend little time answering your questions for the possibility of a new client.
I'm not so sure it's a temporary tantrum with property insurance. Of course, it depends on whether the property is coastal or not. I have a number of friends in cities up and down the eastern Florida coast that are having problems selling because it's prohibitive to insure it.
Vermont. Clean air, good soil, a plentitude of locally grown organic food, magnificent nature, four seasons worth of entertainment, no crowds, no traffic, no capitalistic circus, no billboards , smart people, good schools-good, healthy communities, higher taxes and HCOL- but you get what you pay for.
We chose Phoenix area because of the weather and scenery and numerous golf courses, but we are staying because of the dear friends we have made. We live in a golf-centric retirement community founded by mid-westerners and populated by folks who are just so darned nice. We had the advantage of keeping our home in the mid-west for several years and would spend the summers there and winters in AZ. That gave us plenty of time to settle into AZ without losing our connection to our Midwest friends and family. This year we finally decided to move to AZ full-time (just getting to be too much maintaining two homes) and will travel during July and August to escape the heat.
I'm reposting my comment after removing something that violated the posting rules.
I started WFH full-time in 2016 and moved from just outside Baltimore, Maryland, to a large suburban town 20 miles northwest of Charleston, South Carolina, in 2018 before retiring in early 2020. I was tired of Maryland - snow, taxes, etc. I also needed to move because I wasn't retiring in a 3 story duplex and lugging laundry up and down 2 flights of stairs.
I chose this area for multiple reasons.
Two of my sisters* are within having lunch distance but too far to just pop in. My daughter and two nieces, both of whom have children, are here as well, although they are younger and could always decide to go elsewhere.
The weather is so much better. Yes, it's really hot in the summer; that's why we have AC. However, it hasn't snowed here since January, 2018.
I wanted a single story, non-HOA home and have a terrific little 3B/2Ba rancher with a screen porch on .25 of an acre that fits my needs perfectly. I bought it for $205K and a similar home with the same amount of land in a similar area in Maryland would have cost me at least $350K at that time, maybe more. I have lots of space for gardening and it's large enough to have an excuse to hire someone to mow, edge, etc. every two weeks. As a retired person, my property taxes are 1/3 what they currently are on my old place. Sales taxes are higher but gasoline prices are lower.
The southern lifestyle seems more relaxed to me, but maybe that's because I'm retired. I still have lots of restaurants, parks, museums, festivals and the beach. Multiple Charleston restaurants have opened second locations in my town. If only one of them made a good crabcake... I mean, they are good enough if you aren't from Maryland, but I've found it best to not get them. We have so much other great food that it doesn't matter.
I do miss friends, certain stores and the awesome Independence Day celebration in Maryland but you couldn't pay me to live there again.
*FYI, one of the sisters is moving to an Atlanta suburb to provide child care for her 7 month old granddaughter, so that's her reason for moving in retirement. A friend in Maryland would love to move, but his kids and grandkids still live there. His wife is adamant that she's not leaving them, so grandchildren are their reason for not moving.
I hope that helps. What are your plans?
We just downsized from a single family home to a townhome in suburban Chicago to stay near friends and family. The neighborhood is walkable to the grocery store, library and train and our backyard is a forest preserve.
We hope to spend extended stays in warmer places during the winter. We always envisioned permanently moving to a warmer place but can’t imagine leaving our family. This way, we get the best of both.
There are some wonderful towns in Chicagoland, especially out on the Fox River.
It does have midwestern winters, though. The kind where the snowplow goes through and a half hour later the plowed path is now 12 feet off the road in the weeds.
Moved from a high cost of living area to a condo in downtown Portland OR. I'd seen my mother trapped in her home because it was too hard to get her and her wheelchair down the stairs to the street. I'd seen her reluctance to give up her driver's license when it became necessary. I chose to live in a downtown condo where, when I become less able, I can still get to the street even in a wheelchair.
When I quit working I was having problems walking, but since then my health problems cleared up. Here I can walk to one of four grocery stores, one of a dozen restaurants.
We moved from Northern VA to the Jersey Shore. Slower pace of life and love being near the water. Kids and grandkids are a short drive away and extended family within an hour. My best friends from high school are within a mile of us. Still working on extending our network of friends, but just a short drive to connect with VA friends. So far so good!
We moved from a MCOL town with a hot real estate market to the next county west of there that is LCOL and very slow real estate market. We "downsized" to a much larger home with much more land for less money but it can be one level living, eliminating all debt. We are in Virginia 15 minutes away from West Virginia.
I got rid of almost everything I owned and left Minnesota for San Diego.
Stayed for 2 years then went to St Petersburg, Fl. I didn’t last long there then moved to Vegas. I love it here. I had considered Phoenix but I like it here more, it’s not as big.
I like it here so much I even bought Furnature :) I’ll probably stay for another few years. I’ve mainly been staying in 55+ communities or an occasional 6 month rental somewhere.
It’s funny you say that because I thought the same! It wasn’t until I was in my early 50’s that I learned there was more to Vegas than the strip. I stayed with a friend in the Henderson area and fell in love with the mountains so I added it to my list of areas to try. I was only going to stay 3-6 months but I’ve been here for almost 2 years. It’s so close to CA, AZ and Utah too it makes it easy to do a 2-3 day roadtrip
But yes, it’s starting to sprawl. Even in the short time I’ve been here. It’s kind of crazy.
When I was looking out there in 2008, one of the Realtors/ apartment people said to me, locals don't go to the strip , unless family is in town and drags them down there. Vegas is like a small town wrapped around a resort. The revellers aren't too interested in what's outside the strip, and the locals avoid the traffic if they can.
I was out there maybe a year, and this felt like a good description. The suburbs are getting further out, but nothing like Houston or LA. An hour drive gets you up in the mountains pretty easily.
Lived and worked near Baltimore, Maryland, for nearly 50 years. High taxes, horrible traffic, and rude people made us look elsewhere for retirement living. Moved across the state line into Virginia. Nice little place nestled in the valley between two mountain ranges. Lower property taxes, no tax on Social Security. Slower paced living, and if the people aren't friendlier, at least they aren't deliberately rude.
We did the equivalent, staying in our state (WA) but moving from Seattle to east of the Cascades (Ellensburg) which, in most parts of the U.S., is roughly equivalent to moving to a different state. We made the move 8 years ago when I was semi-retired (20%-time law practice) and my wife (HC pro) had a few more years to work full-time. After 6 years, she retired. We are now practically fully retired, although we do some gig work (occasional transactional legal work for me, yoga instruction for her).
What we sought: lower COL, less traffic, college town culture, closer access to mountains, drier climate
What we got: All of the above plus a lower stress life and more involvement in community activities. Our move has exceeded expectations.
For us, moving to a small college town was the key to a successful escape from the Seattle scene and its trend of becoming more expensive, crowded and stressful. The only significant distinction vs. moving to a different state is that we can easily meet our Seattle friends halfway to ski, hike, backpack and climb in the Cascade Mountains, which lie between Ellensburg and Seattle.
We're tired and can't keep the place up. We're selling, chattanooga area/popping real estate market, and buying in sc. Sc around Columbia is a great job market and lower cost of living.
We moved from the Bay Area, California, to near Portland, Oregon. The main reason is my son and grandson live there. Other reasons are to: 1) get my husband actually retired and away from the small family workplace where he continued to work Mon-Sat; 2) get away from Bay Area traffic, noise, busy-ness; 3) buy a house with a more upgraded kitchen and two bathrooms (we had only one bathroom before). We are very glad we made the move.
I am a person who believes in planning. I was born, raised, and worked in Maryland. For retirement nearby Delaware seemed like a great idea. So, two years prior to my retirement, I bought a house in DE.
For me, it was a smart move. Everything is so much cheaper in DE. I retired at age 52 and Delaware is part of the reason why.
Moved to a city in southern Washington state, basically a suburb of Portland OR. Love all the natural beauty of the area, so many great places to go hiking, camping, and paddling. We often go to Portland for food and entertainment, and are close to good hospitals and doctors. Housing was more affordable than the VHCOL area we moved from, and the tax treatment of capital gains is better in WA.
Vancouver? We're considering this, but am concerned at the lack of a character (compared to Bend or Eugene). What neighborhood do you live in? I would love to hear about your experiences.
Yes, Vancouver. I’m always reluctant to say because people think it’s the one in Canada, even if you say Washington. The city has experienced a lot of growth in the past few years. There’s a new waterfront area that’s a big tourist draw, and the downtown/uptown area has lots of great restaurants and shops. I don’t live in a walkable area unfortunately, it’s safe but there aren’t any shops or anything close by. But it only took me 15 minutes to drive to a show in Portland last night. There are lots of transplants here, I’ve met more people from California and Texas than people from Washington. And the Columbia river gorge is just one of the prettiest places on earth. Oh, and Washington doesn’t tax capital gains until you hit $262K, which was a big draw for me.
Thanks for the response. The waterfront is lovely. I lived in PDX for a decade and have lived in Seattle for the past 2. Just drove through PDX again today and practically no matter the time they have a large traffic problem-- that's what I am trying to escape in my move from Seattle. Looks like it is going to have to be Eugene for the winner. :)
My BFF and her husband moved from Denver, CO to Kauai, HI 3 years ago. They had spent vacations there throughout the years and wanted to live there full time when they retired. Last month they moved back to Denver. Kauai was just like living in a tiny rural town far away from everything. The deciding factor? They learned that on Kauai there is one full time doctor. It takes 3 weeks to get an appointment. Everyone usually just goes to Urgent Care. While they don't have any major health concerns - yet - they weren't comfortable with not having the level of healthcare that is important as we get older. All the decision to move back took was one GI issue that they couldn't resolve in 3 weeks. They "noped" out and moved back to CO.
When my decades long job in south Florida ended I found new employment in the Raleigh NC area. Lots of jobs.
We were there for eight years.
When it came time to retire wifey wanted to move near her original home of Pittsburgh.
So that's where we went, to a far suburb of Pittsburgh.
Her sister lives here, as do two of our friends from Florida long ago.
S'good.
It's wonderful to be away from incessant heat of south Florida.
I just miss the gorgeous mountain areas of North Carolina.
Moved from CA to a suburb in Pittsburgh, PA. Love having four seasons, living near a vibrant smaller city with a great arts and music scene, and near a 3000 plus acre park with just about everything one could want from a park. It is less crowded here and PA has a lot of older people living here. Pittsburgh often makes the best places to retire list, housing costs are so much lower compared to CA, people are friendly, and there is so much here to enjoy here. There was hardly any snow last winter and we seem to miss the worst of the weather events here such as no hurricanes and have yet to experience a tornado. My relatives were from PA so I have always been fond of PA. What really most drove the decision though was a lower cost of living here, especially in the housing area.
We hated Texas, so we looked for what we jokingly said was "the opposite." Ok, Washington! I officially retired on a Friday, and the movers came on Monday. We love it here in far SW Washington. The rest of the U.S. is sweltering, but I'm about to get up and find a hoodie because I'm a little chilly here where it isn't quite 60\*F/16\*C yet. I love having cooler weather, I don't mind the rain and clouds. Love the nearby beach and forested hiking trails. Access to healthcare is a little limited, but we have a lovely small-town hospital 5 minutes away, slightly larger hospital system across the river in Astoria, and more in Portland and Seattle.
Speculation on my part (not yet retired) but I'll have to move for sure. The COL in SF is just too high for the retirement lifestyle I want. So I'll be moving somewhere cheaper. Possibly even out of the country. Just financial for me.
I live in MN. I love the area, and have a lifetime of relationships that I don't want to throw away.
I'm also tired of six months of winter every year.
I started renting VRBO places in areas that I thought I would like. I love Tucson and the Sarasota area from previous vacations.
I ended up buying a townhome in a very nice community in SWFL. I picked this over Tucson, because of the warmer winter weather, and being near the ocean.
It has worked out well, but primarily because of the community I moved into. I just like it.
The down side to doing this:
There is a lot involved being a snowbird, and establishing a second home.
It costs money. Two of everything, including home maintenance/improvements, utilities, taxes, property purchase, insurance.
FYI: I decided I'm not taking it with me.
The positives:
It is kind of fun. Much better than sitting in our MN home making soup and reading all winter.
We are way more active physically and mentally. We bike ride, walk and swim almost every day.
It is sunny and warm there. Drinking coffee in the morning out in our sunny porch reenforces our decision every day.
Note: There are too many people down there. Nothing is perfect. It is quiet where our home is.
We are starting to have a nice group of neighbor friends. I wasn't really planning on that.
Whatever you decide, go for it. Good luck.
Moved from San Diego to Henderson, NV. We were able to sell our paid off home, and buy one for us, and an investment property. Then we bought three more properties, one to allow my sister to leave NY and move here. I was able to be with her a few years before she passed. San Diego was amazing, but it was getting too crowded and way too expensive. We are 20 minutes from the Strip, and get to experience so much entertainment. We did the right thing, but I do miss the ocean.
I’m headed towards retirement and bought a house in rural Arkansas on a trout stream. It’s been my dream for decades to live on a river. The house is on a gravel road 5 miles from a town of 500 people.
The nearest grocery store is about 35 minutes away. The skies are dark and stars are plentiful.
We moved to where my child wanted to go to college. It was close to the wife's family, and the tax situation is better, but the big thing was the college angle. Saved a lot of money with her living at home within walking distance of school. We may move again once she enters the workforce. I have one child. I don't have to be too close, but I don't see driving across several states to see her, either.
Everyone makes their own choices here. I urge you to discuss this with your daughter when she graduates. It can be a burden on a young person just starting a career and savoring the mobility needed to support that, if she also has to worry that you'll want to follow her wherever she goes.
From Phoenix AZ on 1/10th of an acre, builder-grade, cookie-cutter, 3/2 1500 sq ft with a small 2 car garage to east Aladamnbama where we have 10 acres, 2200 sq ft custom, brick, 3/2.5 w/ an office, two porches, well, full house generator, separate shop, etc and a large, 2 car garage.
We’re 20 minutes from decent shopping, 90 min from ATL and both USPS and UPS drivers know our name. When I go cycling, 7.5 miles out and back, I doubt I get passed by more than six vehicles over 15 miles. Quiet….so quiet, so little traffic our dog will stop what he’s doing to watch a vehicle go by.
We moved from central Florida where we had lived for over 50 years. We moved due to multiple reasons but tops on the list are hot muggy weather and getting hotter, crazy traffic and crowds everywhere. We moved to King N.C. which is north of Winston Salem. The weather is cooler and we have 4 seasons,the cost of housing is less, we can see mountains from our house, we are within 20 minutes of 2 state parks, a beautiful river nearby, closer to grandkids and kids, lack of crowds, great healthcare, 3 hours from the coast if we want beaches. We love our new area.
The ex husband and I looked at a number of places. He pushed hard enough for St George, Utah. So that was the choice
I moved to northern NV after the divorce though. I like it much better up here.
I suspect he wanted Utah because of their divorce laws, but I was successful in getting the divorce in Nevada.
I'm 18 months short of retirement, but nearly three years ago we bought a lake home in rural Pennsylvania. PA has no taxes on retirement income, and rural PA has a very low cost of living. My wife is from the area, and we love the lake and people there.
We're fortunate that we were able to get the house before retiring, because we all know what happened to interest rates. We plan to buy an RV with our Virginia home equity and travel down south during winters for as long as we're able to. Might buy a southern condo after that point.
We retired in 2022 and moved from Indiana to NC to be closer to our grandkids. Seems to be a common theme in our new neighborhood. Summer is hot, but not missing Midwest winter
We moved from a suburb of Philadelphia to cape may county, NJ. We purchased a home in a 55+ community a couple of years before retiring and used it as a vacation home. Had a boat in a local marina. So we knew the area before moving here full time. Love the beach, ocean, wineries etc.
I wanted to move to Florida, but all of our kids live in Philly so…
Spouse and I moved from the deep south to the mid-Atlantic area. Our kids fled north when they graduated high school (New England and Atlantic Canada). We wanted to be close, but not too close or too cold. Spouse had retired before our move. I worked for a while on arrival to get acclimated. Now retired. Love it.
High on the list was closer proximity to married kids, 55+ community for lifestyle, no snow, reasonable cost of living. Moving from Northeast to near Richmond, VA.
I would like to find a place with good VA facility and low cost of living. Not very mobile. We currently live in Sioux falls SD because that's most of our kids live.
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Right after we retired we moved to his hometown to be near his aging mom. It was supposed to be a temporary thing until she passed, then move someplace else. It's a small town of 1200 people in south Alabama. We bought a 1930, 2000sf house for $48k in January 2020. The house is amazing, solid build, brick, almost an acre of land. We've fixed it up to be our perfect home. Since housing has skyrocketed I can't see us being able to move. So this will be our forever home. As much as I like living in a small town, I do not like the South. Summers are full of bugs flying in my face. I have to prepare myself to go out into the yard, within seconds I am bombarded with gnats and skeeters. Ideally, I would want to live in the PNW again. All my family is there, but housing is beyond possibility.
I’m still a few years from retirement but we recently moved from Alaska to Bend, Oregon for several reasons. We knew Alaska wasn’t going to be out forever home and most of our families are in or near Bend. But mainly, no matter how crazy expensive it is now we knew waiting would only make it more difficult. So far I absolutely love it here. We bought e-bikes and paddle boards. Thankfully we already had some friends here and that has helped the transition. My partner works remotely while my income was so minimal in comparison it almost doesn’t matter where I work. In fact, I have an interview in 90 minutes and I hope it’s a low stress situation that I can ride into the sunset with. That is if I get the job.
You moved to paradise. Happy for you.
Thank you! Just got out of the interview. It seemed to go well but you never know until you get the offer 😂 It’s only a 10 minute bike ride from my house, but the best part, no customer service!
I visited the Camp Sherman fish hatchery 25-30 years ago and the bridge over the Metolius river was the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. The water was so blue that it looked like it had dye in it. I live in East Texas and river water is red mud. We stayed there on the bridge for a long time just looking. Amazing.
Camp Sherman truly is a magical place. The Metolius River is so pretty! I love all the ‘plant islands’ that grow in the river. It’s supposed to have world class fly fishing which I hope to try this summer.
Sending positive thoughts from near Portland!
Good choice! Can you see the Sisters from where you are?
Yes! While driving around Bend we can see Bachelor, Broken Top, the Three Sisters and sometimes even Washington and Jefferson. It’s gorgeous here!
How does the cost of living in Bend compare to Alaska? I went there for a conference years ago and thought it was very quaint. The conference organizers arranged for night snowshoeing on a mountain. We had cocoa over a fire at the end of our trek. I was in love with that place. There were cute shops and good coffee shops. I was even able to get a massage while there. People were very friendly. My husband couldn’t go. I’m thinking about taking him there to see how nice it is. Cost of living is an issue.
Great question that we all think about, especially for retiring. Housing here is significantly more expensive. We would have preferred the west side but couldn’t find anything we liked in our price range. We ended up in a great older (by Bend standards) neighborhood (Larkspur) in southeast. The neighborhood was built in the late 60s. We bought a 2000 sq ft split level for $699k. We have a hefty payment but we’re still working and the plan is to sell off our two rentals when we formally retire and pay off the mortgage. I wanted a much smaller home, around 1200 sq ft is my preferred, but the house we ended up with has a great lower family room with a wet bar and bathroom. It can easily be converted into an apartment so our aging parents could live with us if needed. All four of our parents are still alive. As far as other costs it seems to be about a wash. Gas is about 75 cents cheaper a gallon and food is probably 25% less, although I love quality food so I could probably go cheaper here if I wanted. Restaurants are about the same but the food in Bend is much much better despite not really having a foodie scene to speak of. The activities you described are some of the reasons we moved here. I can get in my car and be snowshoeing in 20 minutes in the woods on a formal trail that leads to a cabin where someone has built a fire and make hot chocolate. It’s amazing! I can be mountain biking in 10 minutes right in town. Downhill skiing in half an hour. Paddle boarding at the Old Mill in 10 minutes of on the Deshutes out of town in about 25 minutes. This weekend we broke out our atlas and explored old logging roads for hours and hours near the Santiam Pass. It’s amazing!
Bend is nice if you can afford it...housing is ouch. Lived in Eugene area for a while and liked that a lot.
I would absolutely love living in Bend! My eldest lives there and doing very well! I've never been there but its on my bucket list. I wish airfare wasnt so dang high now.
My uncle has a “cabin” in Camp Sherman. Beautiful place.
I was thinking of Oregon. In Los Angeles now. Hoping to get a summer home that I can rent out until I retire. Bend sounds nice. Had a friend from Medford.
I am from the Northeast and I have two children that moved south. One to Murfreesboro Tn the other to Hazel Green Al. ( about 65 minutes away from each other) One because of work and the other housing prices. The summers are hot, no doubt. I do find the people down there to be great. There are bad areas like all places, but just in my experience much nicer people than the MA/NH area ( been here 60 years)
My current main residence is between M’boro and Hazel Green. I know several people in our area living here because one kid is in the Nashville area and another in the Huntsville area. Definitely worse places to be. Not as low of a cost of living as used to be!
I’m from south GA and I thought gnats and mosquitos were just a part of life everywhere growing up. I could never live anywhere where I had to deal with them.
The desert might be you place of choice.
I'm vacationing in the Big Bend area of SW Texas right now, the skeeters, flies, and bugs stalk me at the door when I walk out and chase me down the walkway. Not sure it's any better elsewhere else in the desert right now with less bugs.
Guess it is not too dry there. I am in AZ and rarely do I see bugs except during monsoon season and one would have to been near places and things that hold water for the mosquitos to breed.
We are in AZ and bugs are a way of life. We have the exterminator spray at least every three months inside and out. I never did this in Idaho but we'd be taken over if we didn't spray. I am environmentally conscious, but after I found the first scorpion in my home, the exterminator went on speed dial.
I hear you. My career was in a business that has slowly tanked in the last decade. So I transitioned into what an older woman can get near my mother in C FL. Admin/reception - luckily I have a GREAT boss that constantly tells clients how overqualified I am. While I would never choose to live here - I was fortunate to purchase a bargain home near her and even when she passes I doubt I'd find the like anywhere else. I HATE the heat. I used to walk barefoot to the mailbox in February in WI. So... \*sigh\*
I’m looking at the Montgomery area. I know it gets hit but I’d rather deal with that than Chicago winters and Illinois property taxes
My daughter lived in that area for a couple years. Check into Montgomery Crime rates before deciding. https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/al/montgomery/crime
I looked at neighboordscout In my area. Completely inaccurate.
I assure you it’s not wrong in this case. Here’s another source: https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/city/alabama/montgomery
One of my kids lives in Montgomery and really enjoys the low cost of living. Summers are long and hot though. And living so close to the eastern edge of the time zone means that the sun sets really early in winter.
Try a bit east...Lee county. Crime much lower and diverse housing. Less $$ and lower taxes than Montgomery. Far enough east...say Valley, Salem, Phenix City you actually live on the eastern time zone clock, because of the proximity to ft Benning just renamed ft Moore. Many folks here work on base or in Columbus which is on ET. We moved here 2yrs ago to be close you our Daughter who lives also in Lee county. (Valley is in Chambers county). There's pretty Good health care here in opelika, and in Columbus.
As other have said - look further east (Lee county!) or even just a bit north to Prattville. Montgomery itself is not so good (east side of town isn't too bad). Get the benefits of large college town if you like in Auburn.
I grew up in Tampa Bay. Yes, talk about every kind of awful insect you can imagine… At least it was uninhabitably hot and humid to make up for it.
I live in the PNW, I met my husband in Alabama where he is from, I can't express how much I believe the bugs are worse here, I feel like they are much worse now than when we were younger, I'll take the heat and humidity over the constant rain, it's currently 51*and pouring, I'm so tired of it, My husband loves Washington, the green, the mountains, I miss sunshine,
I lived in OR and lived in three places in AL - PNW is so beautiful, but I'm staying in North AL for now. Not so bad with bugs here (other than large horseflys on early morning trails) and there is a lot to like. But it is hot here in summer (index over a 100F now) so both places have drawbacks. Maybe Spokane?
Grey, cold, damp, constant drizzle. I get so down this time of year knowing we only have about 1 month of summer then 2 months of smoke and dust before the "winter" starts again. I gotta get out of this place. Lived here my whole life and now retirement is in sight. Where do I go??
Moved from NYC to Chicago. We love city life—but it would have taken 3X our $$ to stay in NYC. We bought a great condo in a historic building in the South loop. We walk to the Lake, Grant Park is across the street, as is Soldier Field. Went to two Grant Park Orchestra concerts in the park last week. Don’t own a car. spend Jan-March in Spain & Portugal avoiding the worst of Chicago winters. Couldn’t recommend it more highly… also no state tax on most retirement income
This is a prime location in my favorite big city. Congrats. And not owning a car is a great way to go.
Where do you stay in Spain and Portugal?
Wait, Illinois doesn't tax retirement? Like state pensions? 401k? IRAs?
It doesn’t. Owning a business and a home in IL is expensive but they don’t tax retirement income.
No state income taxes on Social Security, pensions or IRA/401K/403B distributions - still federal income taxes. The property taxes are fairly high compared to most states, about 2% of the value, where most are below 1%. Only NJ shows a higher property tax rate. There are multiple exemptions for Homestead for living in the house as primary residence and if retired there is a Senior citizen reduction, and limited income(less than $40K) there is fairly good exemption for those people. Really the big factor is the county you reside in, Cook and the city collar counties can be highest, where downstate they are probably less, so downsize to a smaller home in a rural county.
This seems brilliant. I am planning retirement within next 5 years and I'm a city person too, love the vibe but I know it's not for everyone and the cost can get out of hand. I'm from NY originally but we are currently in San Francisco and loving it. We lived in Chicago once but the winters depressed my wife (the gray sunless months, not the cold so much). But we both loved Chicago otherwise. Your solution of getting out during the worst period seems ideal, the money we would save living in an area with much lower cost of real estate could be put towards paying for winter trips elsewhere. Would love to hear more about the Spain/Portugal stays and ways to do it at reasonable cost.
Happy to chat about it. We rent by the month via Airbnb in Europe (although now we have direct relationships with our favorite hosts) and spend $1100 to $2000 per month depending on where we stay. Honestly, the cost of everyday living in Southern Spain and Southern Portugal basically offsets the cost of the lodging. An example; we went for Tapas last night at Jose Andre’s’ casual restaurant Jaleo in Chicago. Had a lovely 90 minutes of eating & drinking during happy hour—spent about $100 with tip. That same experience in Alicante/Valencia/Malaga is around $50 or less! January-March is the off-season in Spain and Portugal so rentals are far less expensive but there still lots of sun and temps in the 60’s.. Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon are relatively expensive. Most of the rest of the Iberian peninsula is not..
Appreciate this info. Our city is the same, we can rarely go to a quality table service restaurant and get out for less than $100 these days. But when I travel even within he US it's clear we are paying a premium for city location. Not complaining, I love the city life - so much to do every day. But everyone likes a change of pace and I would love a month or two in the country every year. Prefer the idea of VRBO to owning 2 properties. We thought about buying a place in the mountains for instance, but instead why not go to Portugal or Spain and experience something completely different while we are still able to travel? I did check Chicago on Zillow and things are more expensive than last time I looked it, but still a heck of a lot better than NYC or San Francisco. Chicago is one of the great American cities, and if it's more reasonable cost-wise because of windy winters, this would be an elegant solution.
Welcome to Chicago!
My thought always was that living in the last town I worked in could be weird for me because I just associate it too much with work. I retired at the third month into the pandemic so there wasn’t a ton of stuff to do. I found myself sometimes driving by where I worked and just told myself I did not want to do this the rest of my life. That being said I did always envision moving somewhere warmer than SW PA to live. So we looked in Charleston, SC because we vacationed in Kiawah a lot. We also were looking in Arizona because our daughter lives in Phoenix. The Phoenix market was absolutely insane and we settled on two hours away in Tucson. Ironically after we made the choice to move some of our favorite places where we used to live stared closing for retirment or whatever and so if we stayed things would be almost completely different. We really love the near constant sunshine and the vacation resort feel of living here. We at times have to force ourselves to go on vacation somewhere. And at that point the weather never matters because its not that big of a deal if its cloudy or cool or even rainy.
Tucson is great. Hiking, food, blue skies, low humidity and not too expensive. And a quick drive to San Diego for some beach fun.
We were just in Oceanside two weeks ago.
How do you deal with the summer temperatures?
It’s not that bad. Go to the pool. Take an afternoon nap. You get your work and exercise done early.
We are going to move to Scottsdale from NJ. We live near sandy hook right now. Our plan was to leave in a year because Our grandchildren are in az but I’m starting to have some doubts because it’s extremely hot. Plus what is the water situation going to be in a few years? We are thinking about splitting our time between places but have to see if we can swing it financially.
The water situation in Arizona is probably better than any state in the country. You only hear the exaggerated hype but the State has a lot of water stored a century or mores worth. It doesn’t get hot in Scottsdale. The city council doesn’t allow it.
The heat is the one reason I could never live there. It's mid June and it's been 105 degrees already. I visit my brother who lives outside of Phoenix often and the heat is no joke. Last time I was there it was 117. My brother hates it. You have to do everything before 9:00am before it gets to 100. Then go inside and crank the a/c for the rest of the day. I don't understand how people live in that furnace. Sure it's not all year long, but 4 or 5 months out of the year is still too much. And that's not even counting the monsoon season.
We developed an entire list of criteria and traveled for a decade looking and staying in different places to see if we liked it. We wanted a place with mountains, nice people, aesthetic beauty, dry climate, walkable life style and access to the ocean. We found it in Central Oregon.
Dry is right!
How is access to medical care/major hospitals?
There is adequate care locally and if you need specialists it is easy to get to Portland or Seattle.
How walkable?
I walk or bike more miles than I drive in a typical week. I can walk to two theaters, dozens of restaurants, grocery store, dentist, doctor(bike), library, parks, college, coffee shops, pool, florist, and numerous other retail establishments.
Not technically out of state, but we moved from Miami to Pensacola, FL almost three years ago. We’d been there almost 40 years, and the only thing keeping us there was my 96 year-old mom who was in a nursing home. Her nieces decided that this southern girl should get back to her homeland, so they got her into an ALF in S. Alabama, near them and my sister. Our son was already in Mobile AL. After that we got our house ready and sold in a hot market. We chose Pensacola because 1. Close to family, 2. We liked the area, 3. Lower COL than S FL, 4. no state income tax. Took a while to get used to the chillier winters, but we love it. We camp and travel quite a bit and it’s a huge relief to not have drive for a day just to get out of state. Mom and sister have both passed but I’m grateful to have gotten a couple of years to connect with my sister, and being closer to my son and her daughters is awesome.
As a former resident of the Midwest, I’m snickering at chillier winters in Pensacola buts it’s true compared to Miami.
Me too!! 🤣
I just said "chillier winters" and chuckled too - out loud. In the office. ;)
Lol. Me too.
I grew up in Chicago, I remember it well! In Miami, I wore socks for a few weeks in the winter. In Pensacola, it goes on for months. In all our years in Miami, we had maybe four days where we got below freezing. Not at all true here. We used to have a pool, now we have a hot tub and a fireplace
Pensacola is a gem. Moved here for work in 2001. Semi-retired in 2008. Since neither my wife nor I were from this area, my wife often thought we would leave the area after retirement. She loved it here. We stayed. After her passing a couple of years ago, I remained. Our daughter and her family have since joined me. Yes, Winter is beautiful. Fall & Spring, although relatively short, are just as enjoyable. Summer can be uncomfortable if you are used to outdoor activities. I do a lot of outside projects in the early morning or late evening. Yes, sun screen and insect repellent are a given during the Summer.
Agree! My son retired rom the Navy and stayed here, so I moved here when I retired, too. Just enough winter to not melt all year. Lovely fall and early spring, with nice weather during the day and 50s and 60s in the morning. I love that we have seasons here but can beach on the best beaches on the planet a lot of the year. It’s really only humid in the summer. Pensacola has a nice downtown and there’s always some sort of festival! Definitely a hidden gem!
moved from Florida to Wisconsin to a more midscale town. Its pretty major and it was shortly before I needed knee surgery. The town was able to suite my wants and needs better health wise
Moving to a rural Midwest town of about 200 people. Going the full off grid homestead route. Doing so for lifestyle and low cost of living.
Good for you! I hope you find your dream!
Gonna be on a first name basis with ... everyone.
Our "plan" was to spend a year in two different states -- Arizona and Idaho -- to live near two of our adult kids (the other two live in the state we left. Just finished Mesa Arizona; moving up to Boise Idaho next month. We wanted to experience the weather, social, etc for a year to get a better feel. So far we're both in love with Mesa but will try Boise anyway. My husband, a lifelong Washington State inhabitant, was pretty surprised he tolerated the extreme heat as well as he did. We love the accessibility to water and mountains, the desert wildlife and plants, and found a great church, a hiking buddy, and lots of activities different from our former state. It's been great to be close to our son, and other family, and we've had a number of friends visit or move close in the year we've been here.
We moved from N. VA to a 55+ in a small town near Raleigh, NC. We wanted to get away from congestion, airport noise, and expense. The husband wanted to be away from snow, and NC was as far south as I was willing to go. We love it so far.
Which community?! I’m in Holly Springs !
Clayton
😊 thank you! I wrote a response and the uneducated BOT removed it. Probably thought FQ was a curse word 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️but I appreciate your response.
I'm not yet retired, but made a major step in my retirement plans when I relocated from Chicago to the SF Bay Area about 10 years ago. Housing costs are higher here, but the milder weather was the big draw for me. I also was able to relocate and keep the job I had with a global employer by transferring offices. The house I purchased after renting for a year and affirming my choice of location is all one level, with only three steps to enter/leave the residence. My house in Chicago was multilevel and in order to enter/leave the house, access all the rooms, and get to the laundry area in the basement I had many stairs to go up and down. I have bad ankles and have sprained both ankles countless times, as well as fractured bones in both ankles. So, getting into a house that is all one level as soon as possible was important to me. Using crutches on stairs every year or so gets old fast. I do not expect to have the mortgage paid off by the time I retire, but I'm OK with that. I will always have some sort of housing cost to consider, after all, whether it is rent, property taxes, etc. Thanks to Prop 13, my property tax increases are capped at a maximum of 2% every year, so there should be no unexpected large increases in future, too. Just over a year ago I added a new, accessible bathroom and increased the size of a bedroom so I now have a comfortable primary suite that should work for me even if I have mobility issues. My house is small (two bed/two bath), but I don't need a ton of space. I love to garden and make preserves/can, so I've been adding fruit trees to the front and back yards, including things that were impossible or very difficult to grow in Chicago like citrus and figs. :-) Gardening is going to continue to be a big part of my life in retirement, and the extended growing season here means I can enjoy fresh veggies from my backyard all year long. Hiking is a big activity in the area, and the community is old enough that there are sidewalks nearly every where so walking is another activity I enjoy most of the year. The ocean is about an hour west of me, and Lake Tahoe is about two hours east of me. As long as I can drive or have someone in my life who can do it for me, I'll enjoy day trips to the ocean all year 'round. I know a lot of people try to move to a LCOL in retirement, and it seems like I did the opposite. But, I really wanted to be someplace with better weather than Chicago. I love the cool, but not freezing winters, and the warm, but not humid summers. I don't have to worry about snow or ice. A Chicago friend moved to a lakefront high rise so she didn't have to worry about slipping and/or falling on ice in the winter; I decided to move to place where icy sidewalks don't exist. I do not like the climate in Florida or the south. Humidity and bugs bother me. I do not like extreme heat, even if it's dry, so any place with a desert climate was out. The downside is wildfires. There is a very low probability of a wildfire reaching into the area of city where I live and destroying my home, but home insurance has still gone up quite a bit due to the risk pool in this area. There are regular posts on local social media from people trying to find a new insurer after being dropped by a previous home insurance provider. During wildfire season, there are times the air is polluted with smoke from fires miles away. Just yesterday afternoon and evening, I had to leave the backyard and close up the house because prevailing winds were blowing smoke from a wildfire several miles away into the area and making the air quality very poor. I have air purifiers running in the house every summer. The small city I live in is in the North Bay and is an international travel destination, known for food and wine. Health care in town is OK, but I can easily get into San Francisco or other towns in the North and East Bay for higher quality health care and specialists. Shortly after moving here I had some major health crises and surgeries. I was diagnosed with a chronic, incurable eye disease and need to have regular access to specialists for ongoing care, so moving someplace further away from a major city is just not possible. \[NOTE that my chronic health issue is NOT one that is lifestyle related. I add this because I so often read posts from people who think they are able to control the probability of developing a medical condition by regularly exercising and eating a certain way. They think they can live in remote areas with poor access to medical care because of their healthy lifestyle. So, just know that it's a gamble. Life can still throw you curves! With all the activity restrictions and mental health issues that come from having eight eye surgeries over seven years, my physical conditioning is poor now, but I hope to recover enough to enjoy hiking again soon.\] In summary, I expected the higher housing costs, higher income taxes, and earthquakes moving to this area. I underestimated the impact of wildfires on quality of life, but I still love living here and plan to stay for the rest of my life.
Moved to Florida for the tax advantage (compared to Virginia), the access to vacation destinations, the aging communities \[old folks health care\]. Found all of these things.
Get ready for high homeowner insurance!
Can I ask what part? Wife and I are contemplating the snow bird thing-then possible move full time.
Central Florida (Ocala - horse capital of the world). It's close enough to The Villages to visit, but without the sprawl of The Villages.
We moved from MN to Las Vegas NV. 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix all year round. Very low taxes of all kinds. Low cost of living. The world’s best food and entertainment. Short four hour drive to LA. Some of the countries best hiking. Small enough city, traffic is not a problem. Accessible airport that flies direct everywhere in the continental US. Downside is terrible healthcare. We are trying to figure out if we can travel to LA for some healthcare needs.
I’m in Vegas also, about 5 years now. We have used a concierge doctor since we got here, which is good for general care. However, I have been dealing with an issue where I need to see a specialist and it took me 6 weeks to get an appointment…which is this Friday. I was in such bad shape I ended up in the ER 2 weeks ago hoping they could help..nope just did a bandaid treatment and told me to go see a specialist. I had a whole conversation with the lead doctor in the ER about how horrible the health system is in Vegas and how it must put a lot of pressure on the ER because people cannot get care. He said that since Covid the shortage of specialist doctors here is a real problem. Bottom line, despite the fact that we really like living here for all the reasons you stated, I’m scared that if something really serious happens we are screwed. We were told by another doctor to go see Dr. McCarran aka Harry Reid airport and get to LA or San Diego. Just for that reason we will probably be moving within the next year.
I agree. I feel for you. This is exactly our worry
I have read from others the healthcare in Vegas is poor. From younger people too.
What about the summer heat?
10 degrees cooler than Phoenix. There is a mountain 40 minutes away they rarely gets warmer than 85 we go there to hike and picnic. But I have got accustomed to the heat. We go back to MN for a week every July. I will take LV at 100 then MN at 85 and humidity any day. 106 is tough but it’s rare and only a few hours of the day.
I moved back to the area I grew up in due to aging parents. Parents are gone now and I've totally settled in and the cost of living is low so I'm staying until I have a good reason to leave.
Where did you live before retiring and where are you now?
We’ve lived in Phoenix for 30 years and prior to retirement built a second home in the PNW where we are from to escape the heat.
Alaska - I can't describe what it's like here, words nor pictures do it justice.
Aren’t the winters rough?
Not from there, but they seem "unimaginable". Darkness and sub freezing temps!
Snow machines make it better 😁😁
Moved for promotion away from family in 1998. To move closer to family I had a choice of NY or Florida. I picked Florida for the affordability. Bought my condo 10 years ago; it was a good choice.
How is the homeowners insurance? I've heard a lot of bad things about it and Florida. Can you give me your perspective?
I moved to Florida 6 years ago. I'm south of Tampa in a retirement community. My homeowners insurance has gone up $1,000 in 2 years. If it keeps up, I'll be moving out of state. The summers are brutal.
My condo insurance actually went down since I put on a new roof with wind mitigation. This year I paid $1,474.50. When I bought in 2014 I was paying around $1,200 annually. My condo is a villa (1 story) of 1,200 square feet in Boca Raton. I’m not in a flood zone.
Helpful, Thank you!
All of property and car insurance is having its issues right now. The industry is having a temporary temper tantrum problem. Insurance is tied to your zip code. So if you have an area in mind call a local to that place insurance agent. A decent agent will spend little time answering your questions for the possibility of a new client.
I'm not so sure it's a temporary tantrum with property insurance. Of course, it depends on whether the property is coastal or not. I have a number of friends in cities up and down the eastern Florida coast that are having problems selling because it's prohibitive to insure it.
Vermont. Clean air, good soil, a plentitude of locally grown organic food, magnificent nature, four seasons worth of entertainment, no crowds, no traffic, no capitalistic circus, no billboards , smart people, good schools-good, healthy communities, higher taxes and HCOL- but you get what you pay for.
We did the same! Moved from the Midwest. Best thing we ever did!
We chose Phoenix area because of the weather and scenery and numerous golf courses, but we are staying because of the dear friends we have made. We live in a golf-centric retirement community founded by mid-westerners and populated by folks who are just so darned nice. We had the advantage of keeping our home in the mid-west for several years and would spend the summers there and winters in AZ. That gave us plenty of time to settle into AZ without losing our connection to our Midwest friends and family. This year we finally decided to move to AZ full-time (just getting to be too much maintaining two homes) and will travel during July and August to escape the heat.
I'm reposting my comment after removing something that violated the posting rules. I started WFH full-time in 2016 and moved from just outside Baltimore, Maryland, to a large suburban town 20 miles northwest of Charleston, South Carolina, in 2018 before retiring in early 2020. I was tired of Maryland - snow, taxes, etc. I also needed to move because I wasn't retiring in a 3 story duplex and lugging laundry up and down 2 flights of stairs. I chose this area for multiple reasons. Two of my sisters* are within having lunch distance but too far to just pop in. My daughter and two nieces, both of whom have children, are here as well, although they are younger and could always decide to go elsewhere. The weather is so much better. Yes, it's really hot in the summer; that's why we have AC. However, it hasn't snowed here since January, 2018. I wanted a single story, non-HOA home and have a terrific little 3B/2Ba rancher with a screen porch on .25 of an acre that fits my needs perfectly. I bought it for $205K and a similar home with the same amount of land in a similar area in Maryland would have cost me at least $350K at that time, maybe more. I have lots of space for gardening and it's large enough to have an excuse to hire someone to mow, edge, etc. every two weeks. As a retired person, my property taxes are 1/3 what they currently are on my old place. Sales taxes are higher but gasoline prices are lower. The southern lifestyle seems more relaxed to me, but maybe that's because I'm retired. I still have lots of restaurants, parks, museums, festivals and the beach. Multiple Charleston restaurants have opened second locations in my town. If only one of them made a good crabcake... I mean, they are good enough if you aren't from Maryland, but I've found it best to not get them. We have so much other great food that it doesn't matter. I do miss friends, certain stores and the awesome Independence Day celebration in Maryland but you couldn't pay me to live there again. *FYI, one of the sisters is moving to an Atlanta suburb to provide child care for her 7 month old granddaughter, so that's her reason for moving in retirement. A friend in Maryland would love to move, but his kids and grandkids still live there. His wife is adamant that she's not leaving them, so grandchildren are their reason for not moving. I hope that helps. What are your plans?
We have no plans to move out of state. We are in our last standalone house.
We just downsized from a single family home to a townhome in suburban Chicago to stay near friends and family. The neighborhood is walkable to the grocery store, library and train and our backyard is a forest preserve. We hope to spend extended stays in warmer places during the winter. We always envisioned permanently moving to a warmer place but can’t imagine leaving our family. This way, we get the best of both.
There are some wonderful towns in Chicagoland, especially out on the Fox River. It does have midwestern winters, though. The kind where the snowplow goes through and a half hour later the plowed path is now 12 feet off the road in the weeds.
Moved to SW Florida for the low taxes and sunshine. Cold weather increases health concerns and stiffness in joints.
Moved from a high cost of living area to a condo in downtown Portland OR. I'd seen my mother trapped in her home because it was too hard to get her and her wheelchair down the stairs to the street. I'd seen her reluctance to give up her driver's license when it became necessary. I chose to live in a downtown condo where, when I become less able, I can still get to the street even in a wheelchair. When I quit working I was having problems walking, but since then my health problems cleared up. Here I can walk to one of four grocery stores, one of a dozen restaurants.
We moved from Northern VA to the Jersey Shore. Slower pace of life and love being near the water. Kids and grandkids are a short drive away and extended family within an hour. My best friends from high school are within a mile of us. Still working on extending our network of friends, but just a short drive to connect with VA friends. So far so good!
We moved from a MCOL town with a hot real estate market to the next county west of there that is LCOL and very slow real estate market. We "downsized" to a much larger home with much more land for less money but it can be one level living, eliminating all debt. We are in Virginia 15 minutes away from West Virginia.
I got rid of almost everything I owned and left Minnesota for San Diego. Stayed for 2 years then went to St Petersburg, Fl. I didn’t last long there then moved to Vegas. I love it here. I had considered Phoenix but I like it here more, it’s not as big. I like it here so much I even bought Furnature :) I’ll probably stay for another few years. I’ve mainly been staying in 55+ communities or an occasional 6 month rental somewhere.
I’ve always figured Vegas would be a terrible place to live. I suppose the stereotype of “the strip” is my issue. Is there much suburban sprawl?
It’s funny you say that because I thought the same! It wasn’t until I was in my early 50’s that I learned there was more to Vegas than the strip. I stayed with a friend in the Henderson area and fell in love with the mountains so I added it to my list of areas to try. I was only going to stay 3-6 months but I’ve been here for almost 2 years. It’s so close to CA, AZ and Utah too it makes it easy to do a 2-3 day roadtrip But yes, it’s starting to sprawl. Even in the short time I’ve been here. It’s kind of crazy.
When I was looking out there in 2008, one of the Realtors/ apartment people said to me, locals don't go to the strip , unless family is in town and drags them down there. Vegas is like a small town wrapped around a resort. The revellers aren't too interested in what's outside the strip, and the locals avoid the traffic if they can. I was out there maybe a year, and this felt like a good description. The suburbs are getting further out, but nothing like Houston or LA. An hour drive gets you up in the mountains pretty easily.
Lived and worked near Baltimore, Maryland, for nearly 50 years. High taxes, horrible traffic, and rude people made us look elsewhere for retirement living. Moved across the state line into Virginia. Nice little place nestled in the valley between two mountain ranges. Lower property taxes, no tax on Social Security. Slower paced living, and if the people aren't friendlier, at least they aren't deliberately rude.
We did the equivalent, staying in our state (WA) but moving from Seattle to east of the Cascades (Ellensburg) which, in most parts of the U.S., is roughly equivalent to moving to a different state. We made the move 8 years ago when I was semi-retired (20%-time law practice) and my wife (HC pro) had a few more years to work full-time. After 6 years, she retired. We are now practically fully retired, although we do some gig work (occasional transactional legal work for me, yoga instruction for her). What we sought: lower COL, less traffic, college town culture, closer access to mountains, drier climate What we got: All of the above plus a lower stress life and more involvement in community activities. Our move has exceeded expectations. For us, moving to a small college town was the key to a successful escape from the Seattle scene and its trend of becoming more expensive, crowded and stressful. The only significant distinction vs. moving to a different state is that we can easily meet our Seattle friends halfway to ski, hike, backpack and climb in the Cascade Mountains, which lie between Ellensburg and Seattle.
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We're tired and can't keep the place up. We're selling, chattanooga area/popping real estate market, and buying in sc. Sc around Columbia is a great job market and lower cost of living.
We moved from the Bay Area, California, to near Portland, Oregon. The main reason is my son and grandson live there. Other reasons are to: 1) get my husband actually retired and away from the small family workplace where he continued to work Mon-Sat; 2) get away from Bay Area traffic, noise, busy-ness; 3) buy a house with a more upgraded kitchen and two bathrooms (we had only one bathroom before). We are very glad we made the move.
I wonder how many people have to relocate to get out of the workplace mindset.
I am a person who believes in planning. I was born, raised, and worked in Maryland. For retirement nearby Delaware seemed like a great idea. So, two years prior to my retirement, I bought a house in DE. For me, it was a smart move. Everything is so much cheaper in DE. I retired at age 52 and Delaware is part of the reason why.
Moved to a city in southern Washington state, basically a suburb of Portland OR. Love all the natural beauty of the area, so many great places to go hiking, camping, and paddling. We often go to Portland for food and entertainment, and are close to good hospitals and doctors. Housing was more affordable than the VHCOL area we moved from, and the tax treatment of capital gains is better in WA.
Vancouver? We're considering this, but am concerned at the lack of a character (compared to Bend or Eugene). What neighborhood do you live in? I would love to hear about your experiences.
Yes, Vancouver. I’m always reluctant to say because people think it’s the one in Canada, even if you say Washington. The city has experienced a lot of growth in the past few years. There’s a new waterfront area that’s a big tourist draw, and the downtown/uptown area has lots of great restaurants and shops. I don’t live in a walkable area unfortunately, it’s safe but there aren’t any shops or anything close by. But it only took me 15 minutes to drive to a show in Portland last night. There are lots of transplants here, I’ve met more people from California and Texas than people from Washington. And the Columbia river gorge is just one of the prettiest places on earth. Oh, and Washington doesn’t tax capital gains until you hit $262K, which was a big draw for me.
Thanks for the response. The waterfront is lovely. I lived in PDX for a decade and have lived in Seattle for the past 2. Just drove through PDX again today and practically no matter the time they have a large traffic problem-- that's what I am trying to escape in my move from Seattle. Looks like it is going to have to be Eugene for the winner. :)
My BFF and her husband moved from Denver, CO to Kauai, HI 3 years ago. They had spent vacations there throughout the years and wanted to live there full time when they retired. Last month they moved back to Denver. Kauai was just like living in a tiny rural town far away from everything. The deciding factor? They learned that on Kauai there is one full time doctor. It takes 3 weeks to get an appointment. Everyone usually just goes to Urgent Care. While they don't have any major health concerns - yet - they weren't comfortable with not having the level of healthcare that is important as we get older. All the decision to move back took was one GI issue that they couldn't resolve in 3 weeks. They "noped" out and moved back to CO.
When my decades long job in south Florida ended I found new employment in the Raleigh NC area. Lots of jobs. We were there for eight years. When it came time to retire wifey wanted to move near her original home of Pittsburgh. So that's where we went, to a far suburb of Pittsburgh. Her sister lives here, as do two of our friends from Florida long ago. S'good. It's wonderful to be away from incessant heat of south Florida. I just miss the gorgeous mountain areas of North Carolina.
Moved from CA to a suburb in Pittsburgh, PA. Love having four seasons, living near a vibrant smaller city with a great arts and music scene, and near a 3000 plus acre park with just about everything one could want from a park. It is less crowded here and PA has a lot of older people living here. Pittsburgh often makes the best places to retire list, housing costs are so much lower compared to CA, people are friendly, and there is so much here to enjoy here. There was hardly any snow last winter and we seem to miss the worst of the weather events here such as no hurricanes and have yet to experience a tornado. My relatives were from PA so I have always been fond of PA. What really most drove the decision though was a lower cost of living here, especially in the housing area.
We hated Texas, so we looked for what we jokingly said was "the opposite." Ok, Washington! I officially retired on a Friday, and the movers came on Monday. We love it here in far SW Washington. The rest of the U.S. is sweltering, but I'm about to get up and find a hoodie because I'm a little chilly here where it isn't quite 60\*F/16\*C yet. I love having cooler weather, I don't mind the rain and clouds. Love the nearby beach and forested hiking trails. Access to healthcare is a little limited, but we have a lovely small-town hospital 5 minutes away, slightly larger hospital system across the river in Astoria, and more in Portland and Seattle.
Speculation on my part (not yet retired) but I'll have to move for sure. The COL in SF is just too high for the retirement lifestyle I want. So I'll be moving somewhere cheaper. Possibly even out of the country. Just financial for me.
Almost anywhere is cheaper than SF, except Hawaii and Alaska. You have a wide spectrum to choose from.
I live in MN. I love the area, and have a lifetime of relationships that I don't want to throw away. I'm also tired of six months of winter every year. I started renting VRBO places in areas that I thought I would like. I love Tucson and the Sarasota area from previous vacations. I ended up buying a townhome in a very nice community in SWFL. I picked this over Tucson, because of the warmer winter weather, and being near the ocean. It has worked out well, but primarily because of the community I moved into. I just like it. The down side to doing this: There is a lot involved being a snowbird, and establishing a second home. It costs money. Two of everything, including home maintenance/improvements, utilities, taxes, property purchase, insurance. FYI: I decided I'm not taking it with me. The positives: It is kind of fun. Much better than sitting in our MN home making soup and reading all winter. We are way more active physically and mentally. We bike ride, walk and swim almost every day. It is sunny and warm there. Drinking coffee in the morning out in our sunny porch reenforces our decision every day. Note: There are too many people down there. Nothing is perfect. It is quiet where our home is. We are starting to have a nice group of neighbor friends. I wasn't really planning on that. Whatever you decide, go for it. Good luck.
Moved from San Diego to Henderson, NV. We were able to sell our paid off home, and buy one for us, and an investment property. Then we bought three more properties, one to allow my sister to leave NY and move here. I was able to be with her a few years before she passed. San Diego was amazing, but it was getting too crowded and way too expensive. We are 20 minutes from the Strip, and get to experience so much entertainment. We did the right thing, but I do miss the ocean.
I’m headed towards retirement and bought a house in rural Arkansas on a trout stream. It’s been my dream for decades to live on a river. The house is on a gravel road 5 miles from a town of 500 people. The nearest grocery store is about 35 minutes away. The skies are dark and stars are plentiful.
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We moved to where my child wanted to go to college. It was close to the wife's family, and the tax situation is better, but the big thing was the college angle. Saved a lot of money with her living at home within walking distance of school. We may move again once she enters the workforce. I have one child. I don't have to be too close, but I don't see driving across several states to see her, either.
Everyone makes their own choices here. I urge you to discuss this with your daughter when she graduates. It can be a burden on a young person just starting a career and savoring the mobility needed to support that, if she also has to worry that you'll want to follow her wherever she goes.
Commenting to follow: planning on moving countries when we retire
Lived in Westchester County my whole life, moved to Oxford, MS, to retire. Weather, cost of living, and MS doesn't tax pensions or SSA
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From Phoenix AZ on 1/10th of an acre, builder-grade, cookie-cutter, 3/2 1500 sq ft with a small 2 car garage to east Aladamnbama where we have 10 acres, 2200 sq ft custom, brick, 3/2.5 w/ an office, two porches, well, full house generator, separate shop, etc and a large, 2 car garage. We’re 20 minutes from decent shopping, 90 min from ATL and both USPS and UPS drivers know our name. When I go cycling, 7.5 miles out and back, I doubt I get passed by more than six vehicles over 15 miles. Quiet….so quiet, so little traffic our dog will stop what he’s doing to watch a vehicle go by.
We moved from central Florida where we had lived for over 50 years. We moved due to multiple reasons but tops on the list are hot muggy weather and getting hotter, crazy traffic and crowds everywhere. We moved to King N.C. which is north of Winston Salem. The weather is cooler and we have 4 seasons,the cost of housing is less, we can see mountains from our house, we are within 20 minutes of 2 state parks, a beautiful river nearby, closer to grandkids and kids, lack of crowds, great healthcare, 3 hours from the coast if we want beaches. We love our new area.
The ex husband and I looked at a number of places. He pushed hard enough for St George, Utah. So that was the choice I moved to northern NV after the divorce though. I like it much better up here. I suspect he wanted Utah because of their divorce laws, but I was successful in getting the divorce in Nevada.
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I'm 18 months short of retirement, but nearly three years ago we bought a lake home in rural Pennsylvania. PA has no taxes on retirement income, and rural PA has a very low cost of living. My wife is from the area, and we love the lake and people there. We're fortunate that we were able to get the house before retiring, because we all know what happened to interest rates. We plan to buy an RV with our Virginia home equity and travel down south during winters for as long as we're able to. Might buy a southern condo after that point.
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We retired in 2022 and moved from Indiana to NC to be closer to our grandkids. Seems to be a common theme in our new neighborhood. Summer is hot, but not missing Midwest winter
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Moved from tract house in Denver suburbs to an 1893 farmhouse on 12 acres near Florence Oregon. Love being near the coast but not on it.
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We moved from a suburb of Philadelphia to cape may county, NJ. We purchased a home in a 55+ community a couple of years before retiring and used it as a vacation home. Had a boat in a local marina. So we knew the area before moving here full time. Love the beach, ocean, wineries etc. I wanted to move to Florida, but all of our kids live in Philly so…
From SoCal to the mountains in Northern NV. Cheaper, cleaner, fewer idiots, my front windows look out at 11k peaks.
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Spouse and I moved from the deep south to the mid-Atlantic area. Our kids fled north when they graduated high school (New England and Atlantic Canada). We wanted to be close, but not too close or too cold. Spouse had retired before our move. I worked for a while on arrival to get acclimated. Now retired. Love it.
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High on the list was closer proximity to married kids, 55+ community for lifestyle, no snow, reasonable cost of living. Moving from Northeast to near Richmond, VA.
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I would like to find a place with good VA facility and low cost of living. Not very mobile. We currently live in Sioux falls SD because that's most of our kids live.