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My husband is hoping to retire in the next few years. Currently we live in Alaska but as much as we love the state, the cost of living and traveling expenses are more than we want to deal with. However, we love the cold and since I grew up on the east coast, we have been considering New England. Does anyone have any recommendations on places good for retirees or places to avoid in NH? We are active in the arts (especially community theater) so would like to live near someplace with access to such interests. We are only in our 50's so hope to have many years to enjoy our retirement!
weellll... I'm told that VT has a lot more social services that may be kinder to people on fixed incomes, but you pay a price (in taxes) for all that. NH won't tax your retirement income, although it will tax dividends. NH is often listed in the top 10 best retirement states - not just because it's a beautiful place, but because the general tax load (when all things are considered) is lower than most places. We will be retiring to NH, but definitely do a lot of research and run your numbers on cost. While you are still young and (hopefully) in good health, these things can and will likely change in the years to come - NH does not have much in the way of public transportation when you can't drive -unless you live in one of the cities. But personally, retiring in NH is going to be the heck out of retiring in MD for us!!!!!
My husband is active duty military. We won't be retiring here. We have friends who are military retirees and HALF of his military retirement check goes to taxes in one form or another. We're counting the days to leave here too.
LOL When I saw OP's post I was going to trot out the "the winters can take some getting used to" spiel but since you're living in Alaska I'll forgo it. I hope you have many years to enjoy your retirement!
Seriously there are a lot of different regions in NH which can offer the community theater you are after, so you can "refine your search" with other criteria. Do you want to be close to mall shopping, do you enjoy hiking/kayaking/skiiing/ great outdoors, do you want to be close to an airport, close to a major city etc. What do you prefer or want to avoid?
you might check out Peterborough. It's not a city by any means, but it is known for being somewhat artsy. and I believe they do have a community theatre as well as the McDowell arts colony. and a cute little downtown area.
No sales tax, but pretty high taxes on assets. In the end the taxes are on the lower side. You might look at the Littleton/Whitefield area if you like the north woods. 'Seems to be enough going on to interest some retirees there. A lot of people retire in the Lake Wiinipisaukee or Sunapee areas in the southern half of the state.
I have a friend who bounced from area to area in retirement and has landed in Portsmouth and loves it- plenty of things to walk to, arts (she is in dance groups and theater), public transport, waterviews.
I retired to NH rather later in life than you are thinking of doing. I have never regretted the move. Of course, I was moving from a city environment to a rural one and that might be far from the situation you are envisioning.
We are close to a few cities: Winchendon, MA is 10 minutes away. Keene, NH a little under 30. Still, it's a far cry from NYC. A cousin of mine burst out one day with "Tony lives in the middle of NOWHERE!". Well, I don't think so.
Nice brisk weather, most of the year. Still, there are some pretty hot spells come summer. This morning it was about 57 Fahr.
Tony in Rindge, NH
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She's right don't retire in Maryland
I hope you have many years to enjoy your retirement!
