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2. How would you describe your experience? (Satisfied / not satisfied / no difference)
We love it. I surf, paddle, or windsurf almost every day. We garden year around. We grow our own oranges, tangerines, pineapples, coconuts, papaya and bananas. We never have to heat or air condition the house. My only clothes are t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops (called "slippahs" here). My wife is a painter and has lots to paint here as well as a huge community of artists.
3. What recommendations would you give someone considering a new locale for retirement.
Try it before you commit to it. For us, we spent 4-6 weeks every year in Hawaii for several years. We searched for several years for the right house to buy. We researched the impact of state taxes and different medical care. New friends is probably the biggest impact on us.
How much time did you spend on the thread actually reviewing what has been posted as these have been covered a number of times.
My observation on many CD forums is someone will post a rather trite question and then disappear. There is a lot of trolling going on, I assume for rep points. In my engineering days we would call this a poor signal-to-noise ratio.
1. Where did you move for retirement?
2. How would you describe your experience? (Satisfied / not satisfied / no difference)
3. What recommendations would you give someone considering a new locale for retirement.
Hi,
1. I moved to Sarasota, Florida from a suburb of Philadelphia, PA.
2. So far, very satisfied. I've only been living here about 15 months. The quality of life is so much better than where I lived before. The weather(yes the summers are long but rather have that than cold and snow), the activities, and the friendliness of the people have all helped.
3. I would suggest narrowing your choices first. Then possibly visit a few places you are considering. That way; you can rule any of them in or out. Once I decided I was interested in Sarasota, I started researching online, trying to find out as much as I could, especially regarding cost of housing since this is a major component of any location. Next, I made visits at various times of the year, especially summer to see if I could deal with heat and humidity. I spent time looking around the area to learn more about shopping (including grocery, gas, clothing), medical/hospital facilities, recreational and cultural activities, to get a feel for what the area offered.
I think it is important to learn as much as possible about what actual living will be like because it is much different than just being a tourist. I also feel that having a positive attitude is important. Moving is hard and it takes some time to get used to a new area. There will always be some things you don't like.
Finally, I made up a budget/financial picture to include what I had researched during visits to make sure this move would be possible. I then made a final visit to look for an apartment. I was able to eventually find one I could afford.
My observation on many CD forums is someone will post a rather trite question and then disappear. There is a lot of trolling going on, I assume for rep points. In my engineering days we would call this a poor signal-to-noise ratio.
True but the other extreme is to post a question and then respond to each and every posting as if it is a private conversation and not for the benefit of all. And take every response personally if they disagree with it. That drives me crazy too.
Better, take a trip there and look at the area before you move. When your ready to start packing up the stuff you don't need is too late. Just drive out, maybe take the cat, and drive around. Look at the area. When you find one of interest check out Realator.com and see what the prices are. If you see a house you really feel drawn to, go look at it. Don't rush yourselves, just see what they place looks like up close and if it feels like you'd be comfortable there. Also go have dinner in local restraunts. Check out local shops. And be honest, if it only mostly feels okay maybe its time to keep looking.
It's important to go and see the area, and get a feel for it. A lot of times we have a general idea with a few particulars, but can't guess about the things you know only when your there.
How long away do you plan to retire? If its not fairly soon, then looking the area over now can help you further define this. It can tell you if a particular area is in or out so when you do serious looking you maximize your time.
And sometimes accidents happen. I came here to OK for setting up stuff for a fan convention. But I hated the smog in Califorina, and had LONG wanted out of there. I felt comfortable here right away. The sky was blue, not grey and nobody was in a hurry. When I got home, I started looking at houses, just to see, and had one in mind when I returned for the next year. Its still a work in progress but that's the way I like things. But if I'd not come here for another reason I'd have never thought of this area, and most of the ones I had in mind were way past affordable.
Maybe take a trip where your thinking and it will inspire you.
As for being alone, maybe talk with family about it, not later but now, and come up with a plan. If you have one then you can stop worrying over it. But keep in mind family may not be where they are then either. My son got married and moved out of California since I moved, and sounds like he's putting down roots there. The rest of the family is in California, at least for now.
But I have found it so very rewarding that I found the right door to open and got lucky. Absolutely, if you are pretty sure of where, before its time to call the realator and start packing take a vacation there and see if you still think its your goal.
Oh we've taken 3 trips and plan on another. Timeline is 8-10 yrs. My family is not here in MD, all over the country, but a ton of friends and her family is still here. Maybe I'm over thinking this but we've talking about a small town and the odds of me finding someone at a late age is hard to predict. I'd hate to be home alone day after day, that's not retirement that would be sad and lonely.
My observation on many CD forums is someone will post a rather trite question and then disappear. There is a lot of trolling going on, I assume for rep points. In my engineering days we would call this a poor signal-to-noise ratio.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jlawrence01
Question for the OP:
How much time did you spend on the thread actually reviewing what has been posted as these have been covered a number of times.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABQ2015
True but the other extreme is to post a question and then respond to each and every posting as if it is a private conversation and not for the benefit of all. And take every response personally if they disagree with it. That drives me crazy too.
I spent a entire week, with no sleep, searching this forum for these answers. Never found a one.
Moved to a progressive, Big 10 mid west university town from an insular, provincial town in PA.
Love everything except the dreary winters.
Very happy, we are close to family and have made great friends. We had visited this area for 25 years before making the decision to move. We wanted all that the area had to offer, and calculated the expense of moving. It's about equal to what we were paying in PA, and there is no death tax, so the state won't get any of my money when DH or I die.
Advice: Research, research, research. If you're not sure, and want to try it out, rent before buying.
This is great advice, thanks. Oddly enough our location looks to be NE Tennessee. But to be honest it doesn't really address my concern about arriving in TN and suddenly being alone and far from home should my wife die. She is a few years older than me and I am much healthier.
You bought your house sight unseen? Wow that takes some nerve. We plan on renting and taking our time in the house search. The problem is we have a cat that may still be with us and renting with pets, well you know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveinMtAiry
Oh we've taken 3 trips and plan on another. Timeline is 8-10 yrs. My family is not here in MD, all over the country, but a ton of friends and her family is still here. Maybe I'm over thinking this but we've talking about a small town and the odds of me finding someone at a late age is hard to predict. I'd hate to be home alone day after day, that's not retirement that would be sad and lonely.
Dave, my husband is also quite a bit younger than I and in better health - but he is an introvert. He would "cave" for weeks if it were up to him. Luckily the friends I have know this and we have discussed making sure he gets up and out from time to time should anything happen to me. I don't think he would move from here - he chose this location for its lack of neighbors mostly. Because I am an extrovert, where I live doesn't matter, I will make friends and be around people. In fact, if I am off FB and out of touch for a day or two, people come checking on me.
As for you being far from home, MD is a short drive from NE TN, definitely doable in a day's drive. Plus, there are airports. I loved NE TN when I was in college - lived in NJ at the time and it was an easy 1 day drive and that was before I-81 was built. Where you are looking is a part of TN that is quite built-up and not at all unlike places in MD. I have a friend from NJ who looked at NE TN for retirement after we moved here - he loves it and frequently goes "back home" for a weekend.
If you're truly worried about being alone, without family and friends, have a plan. Either an exit back to where ever your family/friends are or encouraging others to move nearer to you. The last won't work for us as we are in an opposite culture - we moved out of SI NYC to the most agri area of TN - cotton, soybean, sweet potato, and hay are the 4 big crops here. I've learned so much about raising goats and I'm loving it. But our "city" and NJ friends cannot get past the "country" way of life we've grown to love.
I don't love everything about here - but for now, it's home. Could I see myself moving when I'm in my 70's and alone? Sure - but not my husband. I could see me living on a boat or in a senior community but not him. I'd happily move to Florida but he would not even consider it. And I'm done with cold weather.
Make your plan now - it doesn't have to be detailed, but start thinking about the what-ifs.
2. We're very satisfied, actually more like thrilled. Do we love every single thing about where we live? No, I don't think that would be true of anywhere, but we are very happy with our choice, and the community we live in has everything to do with that. We live in a neighborhood filled with kind, generous people who are eager to make friends and who enjoy many of the same activities that we do. This was part of the research that we did prior to moving, finding a place that felt like home to us and where we could easily meet new friends, and where we would never be bored. Moving here has been the best thing we've done.
3. My advice is to develop a list of you and spouse's must haves, would be nice to haves, and deal breakers. Compare each place to that list. Our goal was to lower our COL, so lower COL and taxes were a given requirement and not meeting that would have been a deal breaker. From there, we started with weather/climate, since that impacts you every day, and then we looked at what type of surroundings we wanted (urban, rural, mountain, lake, shore, what have you). This eliminated large swaths of the US and simplified our search. After that we thought of our desires for entertainment/past times (golf, boating, fishing, hiking, city cultural activities, festivals, etc)and proximity to necessities (shopping, medical care, high speed internet). And finally the people of the area and the overall mood of the place. This can be a regional thing, or specific to the smaller community/neighborhood.
I have heard people on this forum discuss the need to be in a blue vs. red state, and their need to live among like-minded folk. That never was an issue for us. We are definitely blue fish in a big sea of red, but it doesn't bother us. I don't need to be like everyone else and we don't make politics a big part of our life, we vote and move on. We don't even have political discussions with our close friends, just not part of our lifestyle.
DaveinMtAiry, check into some of the resort/retirement communities in eastern TN and see if something like Fairfield Glade or Tellico Village would meet your needs. It's almost impossible not to make friends. We even have a solos club for folks who are single or who have lost their mates. There are clubs for people of every interest from wine tasting to riding motorcycles. Most of the people in this type of community are transplants from around the country and are more than happy to make new friends.
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