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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.
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?
As a person who moved 1800 miles after retirement, I do not think that there is anything fundamentally wrong with "retiring in place.". That is YOUR choice.
Having said that, my current location is the FIRST place that I have lived in 40 years that was not dictated by my employer or the location of the educational institution that I was attending. The location where I retired at had NO ATTRACTION to me other than it was the location of a good paying job.
I could have retired in the Chicago area, I guess. However, to do so, I would have to work perhaps five more years. Also, as I grow older, I cannot handle the absolutely terrible congestion that you encounter on a daily basis.
We retired in place for a year which reconfirmed what we suspected; that we didn't wish to remain there. Without going into a lengthy explanation, suffice it to say that we looked forward to the next, grand adventure which was a 2,000 mile move. I can easily see arguments on both sides of the issue. Whatever you ultimately decide to do, best of luck.
Of course a lot of us are happy "retiring in place"; with the quantum leap in mobility provided by the personal auto, the airliner, and more experiences "away from home" as a young adult -- via college and/or the military, etc, we get a better picture both of our lifestyle alternatives, and of our individual needs and desires, often well before attaining the age customary to retirement.
So it shouldn't surprise anyone that many of us have already found the right place to retire somewhere along the way.
I think there are plenty of good reasons to retire in place, if you so choose. Especially if you have lived in an area for a long time. Decades old friendships, acquaintanceships, and business relationships with your chosen service providers. It's not so easy to sever all of that and just pick up and go.
I do intend to relocate, pre-retirement, but well into middle age (age 48 right now).
I think there are plenty of good reasons to retire in place, if you so choose. Especially if you have lived in an area for a long time. Decades old friendships, acquaintanceships, and business relationships with your chosen service providers. It's not so easy to sever all of that and just pick up and go.
I do intend to relocate, pre-retirement, but well into middle age (age 48 right now).
I think a lot of that decision hinges on past experience. Many bloom where they were planted early in life and have strong ties to the community in which they lived and worked for a majority of their lives. I actually consider them very fortunate and to a degree, envy those with such roots.
Then there are those raised as military brats like my wife and me. Our upbringings were full of moves to different states and countries. As an adult, her first marriage was to a member of the military and I spent 12 years in the military. For her it was more moves in-country ending up back at her childhood home where we met. For me it was three more states, yet another country followed by four more moves in the U.S. It becomes a way of life so a final move after retirement is seen more as an adventure than a hardship. Roots? What are those? Now, we're both where we wished to end up. Health permitting we're here for the duration.
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?
Doesn't sound like laziness or inertia to me. You have no "pull" to another place, as many of us have. But there's many reasons to relocate—to get nearer to, or farther away from, family; to be nearer to the kinds of retirement activities and opportunities you want; to be closer to medical or other services, etc. I doubt that many want to leave their current location just for the heck of it. There almost always is a reason or two (or more).
I plan to "sort of' retire in place. Like others I only left my hometown because of a job. I own our paid off family home in that city, and plan to retire right back there. I go home about once a month. Most of my family and longer term friends are still there. In my mind I'm still so emotionally tied to the city -- and the people there -- I kind of feel like I never left. Of course I did, I've been living a state away for 20 years, and have 10 more to go before retirement. But I'm still from THERE. I'm only where I am because of a job. I'm truly going home when I retire, where I go to once a month anyway.
So am I planning some big relation to another area? I'd say no.
OP, If you're happy where you are..... stay.
Your question makes me think YOU are the one who does know what you want.
If there's a place you think you MIGHT want to move to...WHY?
Why would you want to move? Only you can answer that.
Last statistic I read (Forbes) was 62% of people polled would remain in their state after retirement. I can understand this as many older couples move away from families and then when one of them passes they are moving back near their families.
I was never that content where my roots are. I had a great life, great job, just felt like I wasn't where I was supposed to be so I kept looking with every vacation.
I found my retirement spot 13 years before I could get here. That was 12 years ago and they will have to carry me off this hill, prepare my ashes, then bring me back to this hill and scatter them
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