Wife wants to leave NC to go home... smart??? (Milwaukee: transplants, insurance)

[Va/NC/WI?]

My wife is dying to leave NC and move home to Wisconsin. She's from Marinette / Menominee area, as are all of my mother's family. I was born in NC, raised in Va, moved back to NC where we've raised our kids, but they're all gone and we are in our 40's. I am in estate / retirement planning (insurance side). I deal strictly with people 59 and older, with good incomes. I have workshops in nice chophouses @ 30 bucks a plate to find clients. I will probably maintain an office down here, but am looking to do the same work up there. My question is, what area in Wisconsin may be the best fit for my work? I need to be in populated area but REALLY would like to be on the water since I've been used to fishing out of Hatteras a lot. We'd also like to be w/in half days drive from her aging parents in Marinette. A smaller town would be great to live in if I could reach out up to 30-40 miles with my advertising etc. She is a nurse so she can work anywhere.
Any ideas or suggestions where we might begin looking? We're planning on spending a week or so in August exploring up there.

She's excited.... I'm sort of scared after 46 years in the south.

[Mykal]

Hi

I don't know how much you know about the dispersal of money within the state of wisconsin, buy if you want to move up here this is what I've observed.

I'm going to give you some logistics to Wis and the where abouts of, and who's holding all the dough that might need financial planning. It would be good to have a Wisconsin map in front of you or online so you can follow along.

Marinette is a bit north of Green Bay (an hour?) on the Wisconsin/Michigan border separated by the Menomoniee River (i think)

If you look at the map, start at I-43 and go north of Milwaukee County. Next is Ozaukee County. Most of these cities/villages etc are mega-wealthy (Mequon, Thiensville, Cedurburg, Grafton, Newberg, Kohler) Most of the money is generational, older money. Head up to Green Bay and Door Cty. The money is there and so are some very rich football players and old Chicago residents. In Milwaukee Cty, just a few cities are worth investigating -very old money . . . Whitefish Bay, Shorewood, Bayside. And South of Milwaukee include, Greendale, Franklin, Muskego, Oak Creek.) These are areas of "newer" money and only some money, not a lot-its up and coming.

However, your two best bets in the state are Lake Country and the Fox River Valley. If you look at a map and follow I-94 about 25-35 miles west of Milwaukee. Average costs of homes in this area is about half a million. There about 15-20 lakes that are being built around. For the most part this money is from new upper echelon executives who work in Milwaukee, Madison or somewhere in-between. The cities include Hartland, Merton, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, Nashotah etc. Then there is the Fox Valley cities including Appleton, Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha. These are all old paper processing mill towns. As paper processing was sent elswhere, printing and advertising plants replaced then, but kept some paper processing going so its a mix of old and new money. This area is built around Lake Winnebago.

Last, there is always Madison–politicians, doctors, research facilities, new technology start-ups, professors, multiple universitie,etc.

Any of these areas would be 4-5 hour drive (or less) to your wife's mother in Marinette. You could even have one office somewhere in the middle and then maybe a satellitte office from your car.

You probably knew most of this stuff but I thought I'd just throw it out there for whatever its worth. Take Care. -Mykal-

[Packrat]

Stay in the South,your form of activity would not go over big in most areas of the Midwest. I am familar with NC and Marinette having lived in both.I MUCH prefer Marinette but VERY few southerners would.That nervousness is your intuition saying NO.

[BacktoNE]

Listen to your instincts. NC is a very nice State and if you are making a good living there, stick with it.

[Packrat]

Wel Said BacktoNE-the older I get the more I realize that the USA is NOT one
country but at least 4 or 5 rather poorly stitched together.

[sunflower53072]

I would stay in NC too. Sounds like things are going well there. In fact I would move there if I could Wisconsin is a hard place to break into as a transplant.

[DaBears]

I would have to agree with packrat...i lived outside milwaukee though..I dont know how you would do your work there honestly...looks to me a lot of people are retiring down in the south...

[ekg56]

If your wife wants to live by her parents to help out I can relate to that. We stayed within 5 hours of Chicago so that we could help out our parents too. They have since died but I am glad I was close enough to visit often. Family means a lot to me so I can understand what your wife is saying.
We have a friend that lives in central WI and his clients are all further north. He is an investment advisor and does quite well servicing his clients that are about 3 hours north of here. There are many beautiful areas on the water in Wisconsin. Good luck.

[MissingTheEastCoast]

Whomever said it in this thread about WI being a tough state to break into as a transplant is right on the money. It's the truest statement about Wisconsin - and if you're going to be relying on Wisconsinites for business... well, just think about the fact that they may not want to do business with an "outsider." It could take you a long time to build a clientelle up here, so you may want to ask yourself whether or not you can wait a few years for that to happen. And by a few... I mean like five or so years. They really are a exclusive bunch here. They're nice people, but they just don't take transplants under their wing or anything... you're on your own!

[ekg56]

As I said in my other post,we have a friend who moved here and is in investments. He had no problem with the locals and his clients are as far away as 3 hours north. He said no one ever treated him as an outsider. He is so happy he moved here.