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I am a mid-50s year old divorced mother with plans to relocate soon once my son graduates from school. I have lived in many states and cities and a few I have loved-Denver, California, and Florida. I am considering what I want most in the city/suburb I move to-arts, libraries, recreation, cost of living-affordability, climate, weather, ethnic diversity, etc.
Presently I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, an area that draws many companies to relocate here and families who want to move here for affordability. However, I have lived here for over 25 years and it is time to move on. As I have gotten older, the heat and humidity in the summer months (along with additional months) bother me more and the fact that the area is growing at a rapid pace the rent and everything else will soon be too expensive to live comfortably for me.
I would love to move close to the mountains, live in an area with moderate temperatures, more sun than clouds, an area with lots of outdoor activities (I am active in outdoor sports), good transit system, affordable rent, a few hours drive to the coast, and good highways.
I have dreamed of living in places like Hawaii, Seattle, Denver, San Diego, San Francisco, and maybe Atlanta. The only two cities I am familiar with are Atlanta and Denver. I have done a lot of research both online and from talking to some people who have lived near these cities-most have revealed that the cost of living is a huge problem. However, I would want to believe that some way, somehow by hearing from people here on this site that with my annual salary (25K-30K and hopefully I could find a better paying job) I could find a way to make living to one of the desired cities a reality.
I even thought of a possible dream job of working and living inside a national park since I love visiting and learning all about national parks but unless I could find housing inside the national park, that idea may not be feasible.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. If you have a city/suburb in mind that I haven't mentioned or thought of please let me know. Please respond in kind. Thank you.
30K is not enough for hawaii for sure and I think not enough for san fran or san diego. can not comment on the other cities as I don't know. how about oregon?
I'm not sure how many jobs there are for relocating people in their mid -50's. The reality is, if you give up your current job, you may not get another one paying the same, if you could even find a job. No one is banging down the doors to hire people in their mid 50's.
You definitely can't afford San Diego, San Francisco, Hawaii. These are some of the highest cost of living areas in the country. Atlanta is hot and humid for months in the summer.
Here's a cost of living calculator that may help you figure out your options. Maybe play around with it for a while, then check into the job situation in any city you find a possibility. New Mexico may be a strong contender. Good luck
What Willow Wind said. Don't move without a job! Not being negative -- I'm in my 50s.
One thing you might do instead is either transfer to a different area within your company or get a condo (whatever) in a different part of the city. That might be enough of a compromise for now and then when you retire, relocate to CO or a different area. In the meantime, take trips there and research those places in terms of your retirement income.
If you move to the Bay Area on that income, your life style will be compromised as some people here have to double up in housing and some work two jobs. There area less expensive areas such as the N.E. Sacramento area like Auburn. When my friend retired and left Phoenix she spent a few years working in resorts in Grand Teton for little pay but room and board. She totally loved it! I'm not sure there is anything like that available in the Lake Tahoe area but it might be something to look into if you want one last fling!
You can move anywhere and survive but you have to decide what it will cost in other areas of your life.
I am a mid-50s year old divorced mother with plans to relocate soon once my son graduates from school. I have lived in many states and cities and a few I have loved-Denver, California, and Florida. I am considering what I want most in the city/suburb I move to-arts, libraries, recreation, cost of living-affordability, climate, weather, ethnic diversity, etc.
Presently I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, an area that draws many companies to relocate here and families who want to move here for affordability. However, I have lived here for over 25 years and it is time to move on. As I have gotten older, the heat and humidity in the summer months (along with additional months) bother me more and the fact that the area is growing at a rapid pace the rent and everything else will soon be too expensive to live comfortably for me.
I would love to move close to the mountains, live in an area with moderate temperatures, more sun than clouds, an area with lots of outdoor activities (I am active in outdoor sports), good transit system, affordable rent, a few hours drive to the coast, and good highways.
I have dreamed of living in places like Hawaii, Seattle, Denver, San Diego, San Francisco, and maybe Atlanta. The only two cities I am familiar with are Atlanta and Denver. I have done a lot of research both online and from talking to some people who have lived near these cities-most have revealed that the cost of living is a huge problem. However, I would want to believe that some way, somehow by hearing from people here on this site that with my annual salary (25K-30K and hopefully I could find a better paying job) I could find a way to make living to one of the desired cities a reality.
I even thought of a possible dream job of working and living inside a national park since I love visiting and learning all about national parks but unless I could find housing inside the national park, that idea may not be feasible.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. If you have a city/suburb in mind that I haven't mentioned or thought of please let me know. Please respond in kind. Thank you.
I believe you only live once --- so you don't get another life to fill your dreams -- you have to make them happen in this life.
However -- you also have to be practical. Does your job allow you to transfer--- if you work for a huge national company, you could check on internal postings. Can you at least get a similar job? Are you flexible enough when it comes to housing?
My dad got a job in his 80s at a state park as a campground host -- he got a free site and hookups for his RV and had to work 4 hours for 5 days and he said he could have easily found another part time job if he had needed more money but he liked working just part time for the free site and hookups.
I work for JPMorgan Chase in the lockbox dept. So I do work for a huge company so I would think I could transfer some way to a place I would want to "settle down" at. The internal jobs posted at my site are for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so I would definitely have to see if there would be similar job positions elsewhere on their website. But as Willow wind mentioned and I do agree, I just don't plan to wing it at my age. I am just weighing my options. My other kids are grown and the last one will soon be graduating (next year). Starting anew at any job in my 50s would be more difficult, from a company's standpoint, than if I was much younger, but I have lots of life experiences and strong work ethic that would be beneficial. I may have to consider looking into a temp agency to find hopefully a temp to hire position wherever I choose to move to.
I am non-materialistic, frugal, and don't spend more than I can afford. I am just looking to find a wonderful place to work, live a simple life doing what I enjoy most-which is hiking, running, taking local road trips, visiting festivals, or anything outdoors. I don't need a lot to be content but having a beautiful scenic area to live would be icing on the top.
I'm going to toss a curve ball at you. Disregard the nay-sayers until you look for yourself.
Take a look at Westerville, OH. Chase has a huge operational center there.
Westerville is an up and coming blue collar town with a very cute historical downtown area, but that's not the point. It has a reasonable cost of living, and you could potentially place yourself within a 15 minute commute of work. When you're not working:
- 20 minutes away from Columbus
- 90 minutes from Amish Country
- 2 hours from the Lake Erie Islands (and the Cleveland area)
- 2.5 hours from Cinci
- 3.5 hours from Pittsburgh
If you like bird watching, weird small-town festivals (Circleville Pumpkin Show!), history, old-time crafts,
antiques, water sports, trail biking (see GOBA - Greater Ohio Biking Association) . . . you might find that Ohio is good fit.
I will warn you: the winters can get icy and the summers are not free of humidity, but of the Great Lakes states, this is one of the better ones. The weather changes frequently, so it's rare to have days on end of oppressive heat and humidity, although don't hold me to that from Aug. 15 - Sept. 6th or so!
There is also a "Southern" vibe that will make the transition from TX into the Midwest culture a little easier.
I just spent the last 17 years in Columbus and transferred out. I can't recommend that area to young people without a good career because the economy is in flux but you might find it exactly what you need. There is a solid block of older guys to date and you might even find yourself a partner, but you'll need to get out and do things. Don't mess with internet dating there.
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