Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Living in NJ gives us an advantage when it's time to retire. We're used to the high cost of living, and our homes are worth more than most places in the country. So when it's time to retire someplace else, the transition should be favorable to us. Our $400,000 homes go a long way in Mississippi.
In no particular order:
Manhattan - easy to get around, enough to do to keep you busy forever, if you have enough money.
Santa Monica - beautiful area, fresh food, a lot to do, not easy to get around, expensive.
Washington DC suburbs towards the blue ridge - free museums! tons of restaurants, great location access to ocean and mountains.
College Town? - I think college towns would be good because of all the resources, relatively cheap things to do, activities.
Boulder Co - Lots of outdoor activities, thinks to do, great location for easy access to western states for visiting.
Staying here - NJ is nice, we have a nice home on 4 wooded acres in Hunterdon. Could just stay here and travel. But this area is lacking in activity or culture. I don't want to sit in the house all day when I'm retired. Some days, but not all, if I'm healthy.
Where will my daughter and her family be living? Somewhere close to them and my other family.
This^. I'd like to move away from the congestion and high taxes, but my son-in-law's job is here and they will be staying put for the foreseeable future. I want to live near my daughter and granddaughter so I'll stay here and just hope that his company moves somewhere that I would like better.
I've got a while to think about this, but I'll live near my kids' families and near some sort of walkable town with good public transit. right now, there's not a ton of places like that, so options are limited. lol
We're looking at the Bay Area in California, maybe wine country in the next 3-5 years. We considered New England too but wherever we go has to be warmer than where we are now so that can't be an option. We are so done with cold/snow/ice. We know the Bay Area is expensive but it's the same thing here so we will be more or less equal. We're OK with that for the quality of life we'd be getting.
Location of retiring will depend on following criteria for me in order of importance.
1. What my wife and I can afford (tax, living cost, etc.)
2. Proximity to friends and family
3. Areas my wife and I desire (i.e. big city, beach town, mountain resort, countryside, etc.)
Living near friends and family are all nice and stuff but if I can't afford it. I can't live there.
No to Texas (full of Texans) or midwest (boring). West Coast expensive like NJ. New England is nice but even colder and pretty expensive. FL full of gators, old people & redneck idiots. But the weather & no state tax is pretty enticing.
Then there's always the foreign options like Costa Rica or Europe. In 20 yrs time there may be some other new places to retire to.
Anyone who says that has never lived here. Yes, no sales tax. But registering a car costs can go several hundred per year.
Real estate tax isn't low by any means. Everything else is the same as far as costs.
Quote:
putting up with 4-6 months of miserable winter
Were do you live? The artic. winter in NJ runs maybe from mid Nov. to mid March. During those times you can get some warming trends.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
