Why are so many people puzzled as to where they want to go for retirement? (community, 2015)

[twelvepaw]

I am two years away from retirement. I am originally from mid-state NY but relocated for work to a mid-sized city in the upper mid-west. I have a cute bungalow that I am slowly working on, am in a great neighborhood within walking distance to amenities, but I am not happy here. This is an area that is almost always on top 10 lists of cities for young professionals, retirees, and business growth, but the culture here is very insular and xenophobic, and I find it very challenging.

If I still don't feel comfortable here when I retire I will relocate. I am torn where to go though- I love New England but can't afford to buy there or the COL. I love Maine, but the winters are so long there, and Wyoming is appealing, but again, property is expensive and the winters are quite severe. I am considering NW Arkansas, western VA, and possibly western NY. To further complicate things, my only living relative, my brother lives in NW Montana which holds no appeal for me, but I also ideally don't want to be too far from him.

So, at least in my case, a lot of factors come into play when considering where to live in retirement. I also think that given how theoretically ideal my current situation is, that maybe I should just suck it up and stay in my current location. I also worry that my desire to move is a case of the "grass is greener" syndrome. It is however very appealing to think about starting my retired life over in a new location, sort of pressing the reset button on my life.

I feel- and probably sound- very neurotic. I am really a pretty balanced rational person with a pretty simple down-to-earth life, so if the thought of where to retire drives me nuts, I can only imagine how other people with complex family and health situations must feel about it.

[blueherons]

Originally Posted by galaxyhi

We do have a duplex in FLorida already, but DON'T actually like Florida. It is congested, dirty and overpopulated. Even "nice areas' of cities like Orlando,'the happiest place on earth".


We have looked at Atlanta, but won't entirely get away with "no winter". It has its dark and dirty secrets too.




The Carolinas, may be nice, but again, no total escape of the winters.


Then, we will do the "try it here for a few months and explore" game until we further decide where to alight for our golden days.Unfortunately, the vacations we take are too short to really explore.

BEst of luck to all who have this dilemma!

Decisions, decisions....as my departed mother used to say...

I can help you out with a few of these.

Orlando is far from being a nice part of Florida. It is an armpit.

Check out Sarasota, Fort Myers, St. Petersburg, Tampa and lots of areas around Lake Okeechobee and lots of other inland lakes.

Atlanta has miserable summers.

The "Carolinas" are not one place. There is a swing of almost fifteen degrees and three hundred miles in the average daily highs between Asheville, NORTH Carolina and somewhere south like Beaufort, SOUTH Carolina in January and February.

Don't think that is much? Try the difference between cloud covered 45 degrees and sunny 60 degrees.

[meo92953]

I'm contemplating Knoxville, Tn. I look at other places, but always return to it. Yet, I am torn because I know I can afford where I am. As newengland says, when you grow up with winter you find winter things to do. I have crocheting, needlepoint, trying to draw & write. Yes, these can be done anytime but when it's spring, summer & fall, you just want to be outside. It's so easy to live here. Lots of lakes, lots of greenery, good col, a trusted car repair place which is family owned & people that care for each other. Will I have that in Knoxville? I don't know.

[JRR]

We are still working at determining where we are going to wind up. We bought some land in the North Carolina mountains 15 years ago and were sure that is where we were going to be. Then the real estate crash here in Orlando along with with the cost of living in the NC mountains kind of put the kibosh on that.

So we started looking again and found Cookeville TN which we both like very much and it sure fits us from a financial point of view. But now my wife is thinking that maybe she would like to be near her family in Chillicothe Ohio instead of moving somewhere where we would be starting over with no friends or family.

My first choice is Cookeville but I could be OK in Chillicothe if that makes her happy. She doesn't start Medicare until November (she is on COBRA) and I have hip replacement surgery coming up next month and we don't want to move over the winter. So we have a timeline of getting a house built and ready to move into by August of next year. That is, once she decides on where she wants to be.

Sometimes in life, things just don't go exactly according to plan.

[Montana Griz]

Originally Posted by twelvepaw

I am two years away from retirement. I am originally from mid-state NY but relocated for work to a mid-sized city in the upper mid-west. I have a cute bungalow that I am slowly working on, am in a great neighborhood within walking distance to amenities, but I am not happy here. This is an area that is almost always on top 10 lists of cities for young professionals, retirees, and business growth, but the culture here is very insular and xenophobic, and I find it very challenging.

If I still don't feel comfortable here when I retire I will relocate. I am torn where to go though- I love New England but can't afford to buy there or the COL. I love Maine, but the winters are so long there, and Wyoming is appealing, but again, property is expensive and the winters are quite severe. I am considering NW Arkansas, western VA, and possibly western NY. To further complicate things, my only living relative, my brother lives in NW Montana which holds no appeal for me, but I also ideally don't want to be too far from him.

So, at least in my case, a lot of factors come into play when considering where to live in retirement. I also think that given how theoretically ideal my current situation is, that maybe I should just suck it up and stay in my current location. I also worry that my desire to move is a case of the "grass is greener" syndrome. It is however very appealing to think about starting my retired life over in a new location, sort of pressing the reset button on my life.

I feel- and probably sound- very neurotic. I am really a pretty balanced rational person with a pretty simple down-to-earth life, so if the thought of where to retire drives me nuts, I can only imagine how other people with complex family and health situations must feel about it.

..

Hey Twelvepaw..............................

I just came in from being outside with my Brittany...........I'm still working on his being 'steady-to-shot" and retrieving. Things were going along pretty well until a mama wild turkey and her 10 little ones came flying over my fence (having been spooked on an adjacent piece of property)....... the sight of them coming within 40 yards of us was more than my Britt could stand and "away he went" like a Greyhound.........so I put him in his dog-run and came in the house, turned on the computer and came across your post.

I'm can't help but wonder why you say "Montana has no appeal for you" and yet you find Wyoming appealing? I am extremely familiar with Wyoming having traveled all of the state during the Uranium Years, as well as Soda Ash, Coal Fired Power Plants, and Hydro. The same degree of familiarity naturally applies to Montana, since I have been living here for over 35 years ....(12 years of which were the last years of my working career)..... and have traveled all over the entire state...... I also am very familiar with the upper Midwest, since I was born and raised in far northern (rural) Illinois (Lake County) and lived and worked out of that state until I was in my early thirties. At that point I had had enough of the miserable heat and humidity in the late spring and summer months; the lousy winter-time and early spring weather; the terrible traffic and the never ending transformation of rural farm land into suburban subdivisions etc, etc, etc..........Soooooo, we moved to the Front Range of the Rockies about 35 miles N/W of Denver and stayed there until I discovered (IMHO--the ideal location for our interests, hobbies, rural living & working and ultimate retirement)...... the Bitterroot Valley in Western Montana...(aka "The Banana Belt").
(....NOTE IMHO, on average, the winters in Northern Illinois and in the Denver/Boulder area of CO are slightly more severe and somewhat longer than what I've experienced here in Montana.

If you want any additional information from me that comes from my many, many years of traveling all over most of the western U.S., both in my almost 40 years of working and then another 20 plus years of travel
resulting from vacation and hunting trips (many with my late wife) to Fl, GA, AL, IA, WI, MN, KA, LA, TX, AK and B.C. Canada........I would be more than pleased to provide my objective thoughts and comments.....Sadly, I must admit that I've curtailed my traveling to a great extent in the last couple of years. Being the canine expert you are, you might find it interesting to know that my Bittany has traveled with me (since the death of my wife) in his travel crate in the rear of my SUV in excess of 80,000 miles. He's been to northern FL; S/E GA; N/W AL; East TX; AZ; WI, MN; and KS.-----not the greatest bird dog but good enough for this 'ole codger...................and I'm not reluctant to state:..."He is my companion and best friend FIRST, and my bird hunting dog, SECOND!

I should mention that maybe once or twice a year I had to travel to cities such as Atlanta, Greenville, SC; Newark, NJ; KC, KA; NYC; Toronto & Minn,MN.................None of which ever enticed me to explore those areas.....................not my style,,,,,,,,,,I've never been a "city-type-guy".........My whole life I've been an "outdoors" type person, who loves the mountains, all wildlife, wilderness areas, western rivers and living in the "boonies", (and yet less than an hours drive to Missoula, MT (pop 66,000), and a Missoula Metro population of 113,000.

Good luck with your quest...................................

[yellowsnow]

Retirement is the only chance you will most likely ever have to live where YOU want to live. And you don't want to mess it up! Your parents got to pick where you lived when you were a child. Then it was work/SO/kids who determined where you lived. Now it's your turn to pick! Unless you choose to let the gkids pick for you! But your choice!

[jlawrence01]

OK< I will take a stab at this. During my career, I have been to all fifty states and most Canadian provinces between work and vacation. We did not really start talking about retirement until age 40 or so.

Once when we are on a vacation, my wife started discussing retirement. Since we were driving through the plains of Nebraska, we started making a list of potential candidates. I think that in three hours, we had about 40 candidates. In the next hour, we probably got that list down to twenty and we joked that we had about ten years of vacation to visit.

It is one thing to discuss potential retirement locations at 40 than it is at 55. I do not think that we even talked about the availability of health care or public transportation. We did bring up proximity to family. Taxes and finances were a concern but not overly so. At that time, I think that our target retirement age was going to be 60 or so.

We visited some of the candidates and quickly eliminated them as either too expensive or not a fit. We eliminated some remote areas in NV and UT as we did not want to be so far from health care facilities. We eliminated a few candidates as the towns were not that interesting as a resident.

When we got to the final three, we found our original list and noted that none of them were on our original lists. And our eventual location was not in the final three.

[jghorton]

Why are so many people puzzled as to where they want to go for retirement?

I've similarly wondered why so many believe they must wait until they retire to live where they would rather live??? (or move out of the snow and cold).

Of course, I understand about job location, but, even in great retirement locations, people have to work to support the infrastructure.

Over 40-years ago, we decided, 'Why wait to retire to enjoy living near the beach in Florida?' -- We did what was necessary, found jobs in Florida and moved ... and have never looked back. What a great decision!

Perhaps if folks had figured-out where they wanted to go, before retirement --- they would have solved the 'puzzle' and moved earlier. If retirees are still 'puzzled', they are unlikely to actually move anywhere else very soon.

[galaxyhi]

Originally Posted by blueherons

I can help you out with a few of these.

Orlando is far from being a nice part of Florida. It is an armpit.

Check out Sarasota, Fort Myers, St. Petersburg, Tampa and lots of areas around Lake Okeechobee and lots of other inland lakes.

Atlanta has miserable summers.

The "Carolinas" are not one place. There is a swing of almost fifteen degrees and three hundred miles in the average daily highs between Asheville, NORTH Carolina and somewhere south like Beaufort, SOUTH Carolina in January and February.

Don't think that is much? Try the difference between cloud covered 45 degrees and sunny 60 degrees.

Tampa/St. Pete is to which I really referred to as "It is congested, dirty and overpopulated." just outside Tampa really, a bad, dirty, drug infested rural "bedroom community' to Tampa. But Orlando is no better. The duplex is miserable locale to live, and of little value do to that-the dregs of Tampa's society taking over.

I was referring to the southern parts of the Carolinas, actually, where we were thinking...but N C could be fine, as a step away form what we have here.

Anywhere there is humidity, is "bad", so Atlanta is really no different from here. I am asthmatic, so the humidity bothers me here too. used to it. The Humidity in Florida when i tried living there some years ago was stiffling too.

The east coast of late is getting many freezing temps, and icing storms,even down to Atlanta. so southern Georgia may be it.

We have examined many options, but will find our "paradise' for retirement when we can actually "cut loose'

Then we can decide.

Until then, we have two funerals to plan.

[tijlover]

What I've gained the most from indecision is a thinned out house! In my last big spurt of "decisiveness", I thinned out, almost bare bones, boxed up lots of things, all stacked up in the garage, and? Now I'm "all dressed up and nowhere definite to go"! And? With my thinned out house, I love it more than ever! Could someone please set fire to my garage, or could a kind, compassionate burglar come by and steal all those boxes?

I envy my brother, his wife has always made just about every decision in their 40 years of marriage, he goes along with any decision she makes. That's what I need, a bossy wife, to remove the agony of the decision-making, and that would put the kibosh on this agonizing predicament!

My latest plan (subject to change ) is to go ahead, sell the house, take the plunge (except getting my feet in the water), move to Tucson, put everything in storage, get a monthly rental, and if I can't find my ideal place to live, I'll hightail it back to Las Vegas. There's always a number of units for sale in this 433 unit townhouse complex, and back home I go! And? I may just leave the boxes in the storage facility for someone else to enjoy!

And check my most recent decision making tomorrow, or the next day! Yup! You may find me re-considering my idea of becoming an ex-pat in Ecuador or Rosarito Beach, Mexico! Lol!