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We were 99% sure we were retiring in Oregon this summer.. We even took a week out there few months ago and drove all over to see what towns we liked..
My husbands kids live in Portland and Medford and we were going to live around Eugene/ Cottage Grove.
However they both said they will be moving back towards Seattle soon.. Both are expecting their first kids and their mom lives near Seattle so they want to live closer to her..
We can't afford Seattle or Portland area..
So I decide to so some more research and came across Coeur d'Alene, Idaho area.
I guess it is ranked high place to retire to.. Low cost of living and the homes are very affordable..We would be about 4.5 hours away from Seattle.
But my husband can work couple days a week at his company that they have in Spokane that is 30 min drive..
Wish list is to be near lots of lakes and rivers, foresty and nice home for less than 275K
Now my biggest issue is the SNOW.. never lived in it.. ( I am 56 and lived in So Ca my whole life)
So it weather wise, it would be snow and cold vs lots of rain and more grey sky ..
My husband is making me take a trip there in Jan ( CDA ) to stay a week just to get a feel for it..
Then we will take a 2 week trip this summer to stay a week in Oregon and one in CDA..
Oregon is just so beautiful but from the looks of it, so is CDA and the lakes..
You should look at taxes: real estate, sales, income.
You should look at hospital availability and quality.
You should consider what it will mean when you cannot drive.
Amen to all these suggestions. My wife and I live in Brooklyn (yep, the one that's part of NYC), have lived here for decades. She retired in 2009 and I retired in 2012. Our plan had been to sell our ridiculously overpriced coop apartment, pocket the profit and move to New Hampshire, where we have relatives. We've been going to New Hampshire for many years, and we thought we'd love to live there.
However, I had a fairly routine medical procedure in 2013, after which we would finally make the move. Unfortunately, though, I acquired a hospital infection that was quite severe, and I ended up in the ICU for a week, followed by five weeks in the hospital and another five weeks in a rehab facility. Suddenly our reality had changed.
My wife doesn't drive, never has, so I was gonna do all the driving. But my illness took enough of a toll that I realized that I probably needed to curtail my driving, either drastically or even altogether.
We live in Brooklyn where there is a flourishing service economy. We can get online and use a service like Seamless or Grubhub or Caviar or Postmates or DoorDash to order meals from restaurants, both locally and from other parts of the city (for an additional cost, of course). We can have our laundry and dry cleaning picked up and delivered, or we can use the machines in our apartment building. We have the buses and subways as well as taxis, and Uber and Lyft should we want or need door-to-door transportation. We have online grocery shopping (the main purveyor of which is a company called Fresh Direct), which allows us to shop online and have our groceries delivered within a specific two-hour window. There are numerous hospitals and health facilities available to us, some of them world-renowned.
If we ever do move to New Hampshire we would give up most, if not all, of these services. We would gain a much lower cost of living, and a less frenetic life in many ways, but we would need to have a car and we would need to devote so much more of our time to routine chores, at least until we could no longer do them. And then what?
Don't get me wrong here - I am not saying that there is anything wrong with daily chores. What I am saying is that the service economy that exists in New York City allows us to be far more independent for more of our lives. It makes accomplishing those chores so much easier. Yes, we are very lucky to be able to afford living in NYC, and for that we are both grateful.
The suggestions to think about taxes, to think about health care, and to consider what it may mean if you cannot drive anymore are excellent advice.
Amen to all these suggestions. My wife and I live in Brooklyn (yep, the one that's part of NYC), have lived here for decades. She retired in 2009 and I retired in 2012. Our plan had been to sell our ridiculously overpriced coop apartment, pocket the profit and move to New Hampshire, where we have relatives. We've been going to New Hampshire for many years, and we thought we'd love to live there.
However, I had a fairly routine medical procedure in 2013, after which we would finally make the move. Unfortunately, though, I acquired a hospital infection that was quite severe, and I ended up in the ICU for a week, followed by five weeks in the hospital and another five weeks in a rehab facility. Suddenly our reality had changed.
My wife doesn't drive, never has, so I was gonna do all the driving. But my illness took enough of a toll that I realized that I probably needed to curtail my driving, either drastically or even altogether.
We live in Brooklyn where there is a flourishing service economy. We can get online and use a service like Seamless or Grubhub or Caviar or Postmates or DoorDash to order meals from restaurants, both locally and from other parts of the city (for an additional cost, of course). We can have our laundry and dry cleaning picked up and delivered, or we can use the machines in our apartment building. We have the buses and subways as well as taxis, and Uber and Lyft should we want or need door-to-door transportation. We have online grocery shopping (the main purveyor of which is a company called Fresh Direct), which allows us to shop online and have our groceries delivered within a specific two-hour window. There are numerous hospitals and health facilities available to us, some of them world-renowned.
If we ever do move to New Hampshire we would give up most, if not all, of these services. We would gain a much lower cost of living, and a less frenetic life in many ways, but we would need to have a car and we would need to devote so much more of our time to routine chores, at least until we could no longer do them. And then what?
Don't get me wrong here - I am not saying that there is anything wrong with daily chores. What I am saying is that the service economy that exists in New York City allows us to be far more independent for more of our lives. It makes accomplishing those chores so much easier. Yes, we are very lucky to be able to afford living in NYC, and for that we are both grateful.
The suggestions to think about taxes, to think about health care, and to consider what it may mean if you cannot drive anymore are excellent advice.
I always wonder about people that move to a remote area when they retire. When you are young that's fine but when you get old you need people and services.
Since you've never lived in a snowy area, I suggest you go to Coeur d'Alene in January or February to check it out. Ditto Oregon during whatever its cloudiest season is. Spend as much time in each place as you can during the lousiest weather season, and see how well you cope with it BEFORE you make a big move you might later regret. Ideally, rent your current place out and then rent a place in Couer d'Alene so you can live there for a full year before you make a final decision. That way if you find the winter too much to handle, you can still move back to So Cal and revise your plans.
If you've lived in a place that is sunny and warm all year around, you may find endless grey days psychologically tough to cope with. Ditto real cold and snow.
I live in snow country. It can be and is a lot of work after a storm. Plus you can be isolated for a time until the roads are plowed. Taking a walk can be problematic with the ice that forms. And unlike our part of CA it is way colder in ID. Our lows are 15*-20* during the coldest part of the year. How does Zero or minus 15* sound to you?
As to Eugene, how does a 180 days of rain sound? That doesn't include those cloudy of foggy days.
A lot to think about. I'd prefer the snow over the gloom of 180 days of rain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thinkalot
I always wonder about people that move to a remote area when they retire. When you are young that's fine but when you get old you need people and services.
I am like the OP in that I have lived in Southern Calif. since 56. I love everything about here except the high COL and I despise out government. We will get a new governor soon and I fear Calif. will be unlivable.
Thanks to City-Data I have really researched Medford Oregon and would like to move there but the winter is much colder than what I am used to and I hate to be cold.
At 73 I have so much stuff it would take me a year to get ready to move and the cost of moving I undoubtedly will stay here.
I hope I live quite q while longer but it just doesn't seem worth it to move.
I am 56 yrs and my husband is going to be 55 this summer.. We will be bringing our 21 yrs old daughter too.. She can venture out later when she finds a place to live.. for now she wants to come and enjoy a new adventure.
My husband is a truck driver and has a chance to transfer to Eugene or Spokane ( or Seattle)
He will be semi retired.. working just 2 days a week to keep our insurance going. We will live mostly on the pension.
We will have 275K to pay cash for a house and still have 100K in savings..
We have mountains here in So Ca ( Big Bear) that we go to the snow for couple days.. But would be different full time.
It will all come to where we can have the best cost of living.. We love nature and taking his Harley out for weekend drives..
But we are also okay staying at home, grabbing a movie..
I am a professional Photographer and would still do that part time, and fly back to CA couple times a year to shoot past clients.. ( except for winter )
I will be going to CDA in Jan or Feb just for a week to see.. I know if I dont see it for myself what winter is like ( even tho its short time) I will never know..
I know both places are beautiful.. but man, I can see myself on a boat in CDA lake every day in the summer.. that is one stunning lake. But to be honest, I do like the more forest tree feeling in Oregon better..
I will make sure I let you all know how the CDA winter trip goes..
We were 99% sure we were retiring in Oregon this summer.. We even took a week out there few months ago and drove all over to see what towns we liked..
My husbands kids live in Portland and Medford and we were going to live around Eugene/ Cottage Grove.
However they both said they will be moving back towards Seattle soon.. Both are expecting their first kids and their mom lives near Seattle so they want to live closer to her..
We can't afford Seattle or Portland area..
So I decide to so some more research and came across Coeur d'Alene, Idaho area.
I guess it is ranked high place to retire to.. Low cost of living and the homes are very affordable..We would be about 4.5 hours away from Seattle.
But my husband can work couple days a week at his company that they have in Spokane that is 30 min drive..
Wish list is to be near lots of lakes and rivers, foresty and nice home for less than 275K
Now my biggest issue is the SNOW.. never lived in it.. ( I am 56 and lived in So Ca my whole life)
So it weather wise, it would be snow and cold vs lots of rain and more grey sky ..
My husband is making me take a trip there in Jan ( CDA ) to stay a week just to get a feel for it..
Then we will take a 2 week trip this summer to stay a week in Oregon and one in CDA..
Oregon is just so beautiful but from the looks of it, so is CDA and the lakes..
We welcome any advice..
IDAHO far outweighs Oregon!
mainly due to the massive NW earthquake that is waaay overdue.
Last one was in 1700 and they estimate that it was a 9.3 OMG
It is now about 75 years over due
on average one has happened every 250 years for the past 10,000 years
The panhandle of Idaho will be safe and it is ssoo pretty!
I am always entertained by the perpetual hand wringing trade off discussions:
Cold (and more sunny) inland winters versus less cold but rainy coastal.
I want no summer humidity but I want to walk in short sleeves on summer nights. And I hate winter overcast and rain. In other words, I want a summer day slightly inland in the Pac NW, summer night time in TN, winter in FLA. LOL.
I want space but oh darn, it's two hours to the medical care I want. And so on.
Husband and I moved from Portland to Bainbridge Island because we expected our children would settle in Seattle-Bellingham area. It turned out they made other decisions so we moved back to Portland.
If you can't afford Portland you can't afford Seattle or Bainbridge, however, there are communities in Kitsap County whose costs are similar to Eugene.
Take a look at Poulsbo, a cute town with a Scandinavian theme and bus service to the Bainbridge Island ferry.
Bremerton is basically a Navy town so home prices are on the more-affordable scale. Bremerton has direct ferry service to downtown Seattle and also has a decent hospital. Before we moved there was a condo project under construction walking distance to the ferry terminal.
Silverdale, an unincorporated area, is situated between Poulsbo and Bremerton but is really suburban and the location of the major retailers (story there but you will learn about that if you move there).
As pretty as N. Idaho is you will be too far from the people who are important to you IMHO.
I am always entertained by the perpetual hand wringing trade off discussions:
Cold (and more sunny) inland winters versus less cold but rainy coastal.
I want no summer humidity but I want to walk in short sleeves on summer nights. And I hate winter overcast and rain. In other words, I want a summer day slightly inland in the Pac NW, summer night time in TN, winter in FLA. LOL.
I want space but oh darn, it's two hours to the medical care I want. And so on.
I have to agree. When we moved to our present location (preretirement) we didn't have a laundry list of requirements. We just found this area and it felt Right. Is is right, not perfect, but good enough to spend the rest of our lives here. I do get tired of dealing with the snow, but it's part of the package. Made friends and connections. Like the community. Has a good regional hospital. And when Mrs5150 had her heart attack she was only a helicopter ride away from a major hospital.
Too many people on this forum want the perfect place to live, which probably doesn't exist.
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Excellent Advice
