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Size up what you want. Personally, I like green vegetation. I like to be in a real, mossy forest, with tons of green. I would never feel comfortable on the Plains. No amount of financial incentive would make me want to live in North Dakota.
My first consideration would be to get away from severe winters. My2nd consideration would be a low cost of living area. My 3rd consideration would be not rural.
We did a list of what our ideal retirement situation would be, and we were realistic about it, not pie in the sky impossibilities. DH and I did separate lists and then combined them. Here are factors we included that were researchable on the internet:
overall cost of living,
state tax situation,
preferred types of real estate available within our budget? (SFH, condo, rental home or apartment)
preferred climate/weather,
preferred type of town (big city, small city, rural, suburbs),
important things to have nearby...and HOW nearby is near enough, (hospital within 30 minutes, or grocery within 20 minutes, etc,)
preferred natural environment (beach nearby, mountains, lake, desert, etc)
recreational opportunities important to you available nearby? (parks, theater, golf, boating, hiking, casinos, mountains , ocean, whatever's your thing),
type of community (55+, all ages, gated, manufactured homes, HOA, non-HOA)
proximity to airports or major highways for travel
Other types of things you will have to visit the area to ascertain:
traffic, friendliness, overall tone of the place, quality of life, zoning, what types of neighborhoods there are, and local amenities (pool, fitness center, clubs, neighborhood parks)
These may not be what is important to you, but I think it's a good starter list. I got much of my info from the state forums right here on C-D, and Google. For us, we used a process of elimination starting with the climate, and that eliminated about 80% of the U.S. right off the bat. Then we zero'd in on COL/tax situation, and that eliminated a few more. Then we went to recreation and environment desired, and finally desired proximity, and type of neighborhood.
For some people climate is not the most important, but to us, the weather is something that must be dealt with every single day, so it's important that it not be problematic for any large portion of the year.
I'm a retired 52 year old single male living in NW PA, would like to relocate, but having analysis paralysis/overload, and would like to know how folks in a similar situation decided on where they wanted to move. I know this is asking a lot for a reply; just the same if you could distill your thoughts, I'd love to hear them. Also aware how much $$$ you can spend on housing is a huge factor, health factors, and insurance costs. I currently have ACA coverage, and its cost seems to vary so much depending on what state you end up in. Its cost has gone up so fast, so much, that this single factor may be the most important to consider, no matter how sad this fact is, in a country like ours.
When I was married, it seemed so much easier as a team do do the many moves over a 23 year marriage, but now after almost six years of divorce, it all feels so much different. I'll see places that look great, then another, another... Never thought having so much freedom could be such a challenge, so I really appreciate your help. Thank you.
Friends of our retired in their mid-fifties and after a careful evaluation of their health insurance costs, decided to move to Costa Rica.
They say their health insurance costs for the year are about what they would've paid for one month in NC.
They report being happy with the health care they've received, which includes an annual visit by a health care provider to discuss diet, health goals, medications, etc.
Other friends retired to the south of France. They live on a houseboat and seem happy with the health care situation there as well.
I would encourage you to explore health care in any potential retirement situation and go from there.
I think the evaluation process is more important than the place. The place will sort itself out when you go through some sort of evaluation process. I think for a lot of people, weather and COL are major starting points. If OP has moved before, there are ways to look at earlier places and evaluate. Maybe a weighted list?
We love the beach. Granted, there are affordable places along the Gulf Coast, but other COL is high. Property taxes, HOA, etc. And the hurricanes and wind----
So we kept going south and ended up at zero latitude. It's not for everyone, for sure. Lots of trade-offs, but that's life no matter where you go. We're content, and have found the low COL enables us to travel, which was not in our plans, initially.
I was ambivalent about condo living, but find it to be just what we need (so far, lol)---tired of yard work and home maintenance. Built-in social structure, if we want it. Pool is nice. I'm regaining some interest in gardening---on the balcony. Our activities have changed 100%, but that had to happen with age, anyway (for us). OP, you are young still, so physical differences probably won't apply to you.
I'm a retired 52 year old single male living in NW PA, would like to relocate, but having analysis paralysis/overload, and would like to know how folks in a similar situation decided on where they wanted to move. I know this is asking a lot for a reply; just the same if you could distill your thoughts, I'd love to hear them. Also aware how much $$$ you can spend on housing is a huge factor, health factors, and insurance costs. I currently have ACA coverage, and its cost seems to vary so much depending on what state you end up in. Its cost has gone up so fast, so much, that this single factor may be the most important to consider, no matter how sad this fact is, in a country like ours.
When I was married, it seemed so much easier as a team do do the many moves over a 23 year marriage, but now after almost six years of divorce, it all feels so much different. I'll see places that look great, then another, another... Never thought having so much freedom could be such a challenge, so I really appreciate your help. Thank you.
Retired at 52... nice. So do you have all your financial ducks in a row for living potentially for 40 years? You need to do that to get your realistic financial parameters on what is actually possible for you. Insurance - taxes - healthcare - housing - transportation... these are the big ticket items to try to research for the years ahead & then how much is left over for "living"?
Are you a city mouse or a country mouse? Urban might be more expensive & have less space & more noise, etc... but also more chance for walking around neighborhoods & casual socializing. Rural may be cheaper & more peaceful & nature filled but also more isolated & boring if you haven't lived a rural life till now. Good or emergency healthcare may be more difficult to get.
I've realized that I do very poorly in extreme weather, hot or cold, so no matter how cheap that knocks out the Southeast & AZ unless I could afford to also live elsewhere during the hot season. Perhaps I stay in the northeast & just snowbird Jan - Mar someplace else?
As a singleton who might move I have just recently started to consider over-55 communities since I would be less isolated with the community center activities, whole different issues to consider.
I retired at 52 and stayed put in MO until I was 65 (and a surviving spouse) then moved to NM. It took three years to sell my house because the economy was trashed and there were some fixes that I had to do. I wanted a place with a better 4-season climate, a comparable or lower cost of living, more diversity, more cultural opportunities, more outdoor activities, an escape from bible-thumpers, and a more liberal climate. I considered places in Colorado but the state is too crowded. Arizona just didn't fit at all. Texas was a non-starter. I considered places in the deep south (coastal NC, Mobile, Florida) but not seriously interested and too humid anyway.
Northern New Mexico was the Goldilocks spot for my interests. I'm close enough to Albuquerque but not in it. I'm close enough to mountain greenery but live in the high desert. Close enough for fly fishing and outdoor stuff. Santa Fe is 39 miles away. No grass cutting, No mosquitos, no ticks, no crowds. Starry skies. Cultural diversity, great music, great beer, and great food.
I moved away from friends and family but now they come to visit me and I have made a bunch of new friends. That is sometimes the one thing that keeps people from moving and the most common negative comment I got as I was preparing to move. I have room for visitors and making friends is not rocket science.
This seems like an impossible question to answer because we have no idea of the OP's finances or likes/dislikes. I'd say if I was in the OP's shoes and didn't have to work and had the finances I'd probably try San Diego. It's got a really nice climate and scenery. It's not hectic or crowded like LA, not cold and damp like San Francisco. It's large enough to have all the amenities without being a metropolis like LA, NY or Chicago.
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