Help needed deciding where to retire ! (real estate, rentals, home)

[Randall999]

I am going cRaZy trying to figure out where to move in 3-4 years when I will take early retirement from teaching (I will be 55 then). Help / ideas greatly appreciated!

I guess it is reasonable to expect I should relocate in the USA, but I would also consider living outside the USA (although the dollar tanking against the euro does not help).

The fudge factor in all this is my mother who is 80 and recently diagnosed with Alzheimers disease; she was moved into assisted living last October, and currently lives in southern MN (I am 5 hrs away in northern MN).

I am so sick of living here in northern Duluth MN USA, it is lousy with snow and cold Nov-April, that is 50% of the year. I have also spent my entire life in the midwest (Iowa, Minnesota), so I believe I would like to move and live near or on the ocean--although I know cost will be a factor in that (I do not need to have beachfront, but to be close to the beach would be nice, even close driving distance). I also want to live south of Minnesota lattitude, I am so sick of snow and cold. I should have about $1.2M in savings plus another $2500/month in teacher retirement; I am frugal and live in a small simple house, I do not need much, I am single and I would be comfortable renting a small home or apt. My enjoyment comes from reading philosophy at a coffee shop, walking, photography, art/painting.

Any help, thoughts, ideas welcome in helping me brainstorm where I might move to in 3-4 years.
~Randall

[mayfair]

You might like Port Townsend or Langley, WA. Both are small artsy towns with many retirees and places nearby for walking (coffee shops, too). You'll find many photo ops in the area. If you rent, you could probably afford a place near the water. If you like warmer beaches, check out CA, Texas or the SE.

[DannyBanany]

Sounds like you might fare well in San Francisco, or somewhere along the West Coast.

[WILWRadio]

My aunt and uncle, formerly of New Jersey retired in Lebanon, PA which is near the State Capital of Harrisburg. PA is becoming a place where more and more retirees are spending their reclining years. PA is not all that far to the Jersey beaches or the Maryland shoreline.

[parasol]

Originally Posted by mayfair

You might like Port Townsend or Langley, WA. Both are small artsy towns with many retirees and places nearby for walking (coffee shops, too). You'll find many photo ops in the area. If you rent, you could probably afford a place near the water. If you like warmer beaches, check out CA, Texas or the SE.

I've never heard of Port Townsend but it looks like a beautiful place and seems to fit what the OP is looking for. I want to live there.

[Randall999]

Originally Posted by mayfair

You might like Port Townsend or Langley, WA. Both are small artsy towns with many retirees and places nearby for walking (coffee shops, too). You'll find many photo ops in the area. If you rent, you could probably afford a place near the water. If you like warmer beaches, check out CA, Texas or the SE.

Isn't WA in the northwest? = lots of snow, cold? I need to get myself south of MN lattidude-wise, I can handle 2-3 months of mild winter, but no more, I have paid my dues of winters to be sure. However on the flip side I have heard AZ is hot as hell in the summer, and FL summers are humid as a sauna, though I have never been to AZ or FL fwiw; at least in heat or humidity a person can walk outside without dying in 10 minutes from hypothermia, and you don't skid down a hill in your car and collide on the road from heat/humidty!

[Randall999]

Originally Posted by DannyBanany

Sounds like you might fare well in San Francisco, or somewhere along the West Coast.

isn't housing super expensive in the San Fran area?

[Cruikshl]

Originally Posted by Randall999

I am going cRaZy trying to figure out where to move in 3-4 years when I will take early retirement from teaching (I will be 55 then). Help / ideas greatly appreciated!

I guess it is reasonable to expect I should relocate in the USA, but I would also consider living outside the USA (although the dollar tanking against the euro does not help).

The fudge factor in all this is my mother who is 80 and recently diagnosed with Alzheimers disease; she was moved into assisted living last October, and currently lives in southern MN (I am 5 hrs away in northern MN).

I am so sick of living here in northern Duluth MN USA, it is lousy with snow and cold Nov-April, that is 50% of the year. I have also spent my entire life in the midwest (Iowa, Minnesota), so I believe I would like to move and live near or on the ocean--although I know cost will be a factor in that (I do not need to have beachfront, but to be close to the beach would be nice, even close driving distance). I also want to live south of Minnesota lattitude, I am so sick of snow and cold. I should have about $1.2M in savings plus another $2500/month in teacher retirement; I am frugal and live in a small simple house, I do not need much, I am single and I would be comfortable renting a small home or apt. My enjoyment comes from reading philosophy at a coffee shop, walking, photography, art/painting.

Any help, thoughts, ideas welcome in helping me brainstorm where I might move to in 3-4 years.
~Randall

Asheville NC or Hendersonville NC are great towns in the mountains of NC

[Randall999]

Originally Posted by Cruikshl

Asheville NC or Hendersonville NC are great towns in the mountains of NC

For some reason NC seems to me to be in a region I might like-- lattitude-wise I should imagine the winters are pretty mild (certainly far shorter/milder than MN!)? And i would think I would be within a few hours drive of the ocean for experience the surf now and then. And travel to Europe would be shorter in duration from the east coast than from in the middle of the US. I think I should visit NC, maybe also SC.

I have heard the Outer Banks are nice, but I imagine real estate and rentals are pretty expensive there. It would be quite cool to live on the Outer Banks, but then as a biologist I also worry that they will go under water in 10-20 years, but then if I was just renting an apt/home I guess that would not directly affect me.

[dolphin3]

You can buy a nice home cheap in Palm Coast,Fl. (Thats just north of Daytona Beach) and the cost of living isn't too bad. Theres plenty of good medical care around also. The weather is nicer. No snow! Put up some solar panels and you'll only have a phone bill!