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When we were working, we sought out vacation venues that were restful, restorative, serene. The sounds of the sea, white sandy beaches, a few good restaurants were all we needed.
Not speaking for anyone else but ourselves here but I think this is why many mistakes are made in choosing a retirement place. In retirement (and reiterating, speaking only for ourselves) we find we need ties to more than white sand and a margarita bar. We spent the first five years of our retirement misplaced in an isolated part of Florida, 90 minutes from the entertainment we sought. It's very hard to judge a good retirement spot with a stressed out work brain. We've since relocated to retirement venue #2 and we're happy with our choice but it wasn't until we lived out our first choice and realized it didn't suit us.
I'd like to know if the criteria you used to find your location has worked for you. I know this question has been asked before in different ways.
We visited various locations in states that met our criteria (warm, no motorcycle helmet laws, Second Amendment friendly, homogeneous population, nearby military base). One day, on one of our trips, the wife got out of the car, looked around, and said "This is it". We were in a shopping area and were looking at flyers in the window of a real estate firm. Just then, one of the flyers fell down and an agent came out and said this must be the house you're looking for. It wasn't, but she did find us the one we were looking for and we bought it. To this day my wife loves it there. We did move back home, but only for the summers. We spend just enough time there to maintain residency, which saves us a lot on taxes, vehicle registration and other things.
When we were working, we sought out vacation venues that were restful, restorative, serene. The sounds of the sea, white sandy beaches, a few good restaurants were all we needed.
Not speaking for anyone else but ourselves here but I think this is why many mistakes are made in choosing a retirement place. In retirement (and reiterating, speaking only for ourselves) we find we need ties to more than white sand and a margarita bar. We spent the first five years of our retirement misplaced in an isolated part of Florida, 90 minutes from the entertainment we sought. It's very hard to judge a good retirement spot with a stressed out work brain. We've since relocated to retirement venue #2 and we're happy with our choice but it wasn't until we lived out our first choice and realized it didn't suit us.
I'd like to know if the criteria you used to find your location has worked for you. I know this question has been asked before in different ways.
Since I am now just about to enter that phase (retirement) I have used vacation time to look at possible locations but I would certainly not want to retire next to Goofy's house.
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