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So you're representing pure conjecture as fact. I hate to burst your bubble but the census bureau thinks otherwise. They project a population growth rate of 0.82% this year. It is still projected at 0.46% growth rate in 2060. We will add almost 100 million people. 2060 in Japan projects to be a total disaster. They project to shrink from 130 million down to 86 million in 2060 and that 40% of the Japanese population will be over the age of 60.
Projections are not fact, either. I believe most projections of increased US population are based on the twin assumptions that immigration will continue at the same rate as today, and that immigrants will have more children than non-immigrants. Population decreases in Europe and/or Asia might very well send more would-be American immigrants to those countries while at the same time, lure younger Americans there to work. It's also likely that the children and grandchildren of current immigrants, like the children and grandchildren of previous immigrant generations, will have much lower birthrates than their parents/grandparents.
I could escape traffic by moving somewhere else, but there may not be much to do, so less populated roads wouldn't really matter!
I live in an area with minimal traffic problems, both locally and on the highway. Because it's a high-density education/arts area, there's lots to do year-round and easy access to world-class cultural events in three major cities. So just sayin' that traffic and not much to do do not necessarily go hand-in-hand.
There is a third parameter. A big chunk of the US lives in places where the cost of living is too high to retire there. If you don't have a generous pension from your Federal/State/Local or Union job, you're looking at Social Security, whatever you've managed to stuff in your 401-K, and your assets which is typically your house and nothing else. If you live somewhere like metro-Boston, metro-NYC, metro-DC, or the Bay Area, you need a huge pile of money in your 401-K to ever think about retiring to where you've lived your adult life and raised a family. People retire, sell their homes, and move to low housing cost areas because that's all they can afford.
... That's what DW & I are going to have to do ...
Not everyone in the great bay area is a manager, technical innovator, software developer, inventor, or preacher in a church. Some of us have pretty-much been hourly workers for most of our lives. If we even have a 401(k), there's not a whole-lot in it. We've made enough (per hour) to be ineligible for State Assistance, and have had to pay our own way for most of everything we've wanted - and needed.
Please don't get the wrong idea ... I'm not complaining ... I came to the Left Coast because I could make more $$$ than I could doing what I do, in TEXAS.
I came here thinking that I might be able to "take the money and run" when the time came. Well, "the time" is almost here - within 720 days - and one realization we're having is that we'll be unable to afford to retire here, with any type of comfort & freedom, regardless if either of us planned to "take the money and run".
It's that realization, that's recently had me doing property searches in some other Western States, for two (2) reasons: 1) To find a less-expensive place in which to retire (CoL and tax-wise), and 2) To help us hold-onto what we've saved, should The Good Lord decide to let us stay-around a bit longer than we've planned.
... As many others have stated, "Retiring-In-Place" is something they desire. Others of us feel a bit 'disappointed' by being unable to afford to live where we've been living, and know we must move in order to maintain a decent level of living ... We're all different, tho - YMMV - More power to ya!
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For the last few years my husband and I have wrestled with whether to stay here in CA or move elsewhere. CA is a tough place to retire IMHO. Taxes, politics and at this point, water problems. But we've been here for over 30 years, we have our favorite restaurants (where everyone knows are name) and hubby is surgeon so we know all the doctors and hospitals that we might need in the future. We will sell our home with 20 acres in a year or so and move into town. Haven't decided whether to rent or buy. I'd just like a place with less responsibility. I guess we can travel to other states and stay awhile and then come home as opposed to moving to some other state. Would be nice to be living in a friendlier tax state and a state with fewer weirdos .
For the last few years my husband and I have wrestled with whether to stay here in CA or move elsewhere. CA is a tough place to retire IMHO. Taxes, politics and at this point, water problems. But we've been here for over 30 years, we have our favorite restaurants (where everyone knows are name) and hubby is surgeon so we know all the doctors and hospitals that we might need in the future. We will sell our home with 20 acres in a year or so and move into town. Haven't decided whether to rent or buy. I'd just like a place with less responsibility. I guess we can travel to other states and stay awhile and then come home as opposed to moving to some other state. Would be nice to be living in a friendlier tax state and a state with fewer weirdos.
Weirdos are everywhere. Consider that the mass shootings have occurred in places other than California. Consider certain posters on City-Data.
For the last few years my husband and I have wrestled with whether to stay here in CA or move elsewhere. CA is a tough place to retire IMHO. Taxes, politics and at this point, water problems. But we've been here for over 30 years, we have our favorite restaurants (where everyone knows are name) and hubby is surgeon so we know all the doctors and hospitals that we might need in the future. We will sell our home with 20 acres in a year or so and move into town. Haven't decided whether to rent or buy. I'd just like a place with less responsibility. I guess we can travel to other states and stay awhile and then come home as opposed to moving to some other state. Would be nice to be living in a friendlier tax state and a state with fewer weirdos .
Other than maybe the water problem, it would seem, from the perspective of an East Coaster, that there's no real compelling reason to move from the state you've lived in half your life...unless you just want a change of scenery. My California sister in one of your most upscale towns with an almost million dollar value on her smallish home pays less property tax than I do for my New England farmhouse. Her expenses are generally less than mine and she lives a relatively lavish lifestyle. OTOH, we know three couples who retired here from your state, and they were relieved to have left for the reasons you cite. And, being in one of the best medical environments (here) in the country, I would suggest not underestimating that value where you are now.
And, being in one of the best medical environments (here) in the country, I would suggest not underestimating that value where you are now.
Knowing there was a daily van service to the elite Boston hospitals was a factor in where I decided to buy the house I intend to retire to. I'm hoping I never need it but I have decent local medical services in town and world class an hour away.
I always wonder about people who opt to build an off-the-grid cabin in the middle of nowhere as their retirement solution claiming they're healthy and will never have any health issues. One health glitch and you can no longer live there.
I prefer to do all my contingency planning now so I have a better shot at retiring in place. Wheelchair access. Proximity to a reasonably priced labor pool who can look after all the things I can no longer do.
I'm dealing with a bit of that with my mother right now. Her husband just landed in a nursing home after a couple of weeks in the hospital and looks to never be leaving other than in a pine box. She's declined to the point where she is unable to live by herself. She's in semi-rural suburbia where a store is 10 minutes and most things are 20 to 30 minutes drive. I've had to arrange stopgap people to put daily eyeballs on her and provide companionship. I was on the phone this morning arranging assisted living. This is a house that was bought 8 years ago. I don't know what they were thinking. I don't have children to do that for me so I have to plan better than that.
Most threads on a retirement forum deal with moving away since so many people do it upon retirement---and there isn't as much to say about staying in place. But just wondering whether there are other folks who don't feel compelled to move away---and what your reasons are for staying in place. Is it liking your home, not wanting to sell and take a loss, or being by family?
I guess what I'm really wondering is whether I am just being lazy and letting inertia rule by staying in place---whether the goal should be to find your ultimate happy place...and whether such a place really exists (there's a saying, "wherever you go, there you are" as well as "bloom where you are planted.") So while I feel that I am doing well by enjoying my current locale (even though it's not perfect---traffic is the biggest issue), I don't know if I am doing myself a disservice my not exploring the "ideal" place to live.
Is anyone else okay with retiring in place?
We retired in place in 2010.
But our lives have been one of travel with business - ENDLESS travel! I'm more of a tumbleweed than my wife, but we never even gave much of a thought to moving.
The house is paid for, the rental property is paid for and the kids are fairly close. And that's not even speaking about the low cost of living here in the deep south.
So it's different for everyone. Yesterday I sat in the back yard yesterday watching the dragonflies annihilate the mosquito population and listening to the cicadas announce the arrival of really hot weather. I hope everyone finds a content retirement. But you have to plan it; it doesn't just happen.
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in some other Western States, for two (2) reasons:
Guess We're Staying in Place
