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Or there is this site where you can go look at cities and see graphs of average weather over a few years. It's called city-data.com
Even going back a few months and looking at whole months can be atypical; last winter was odd (and this one is likely to be similar). The eastern US was the only highly populated area of the world to have below normal temps last winter. That warm air that set records in AK and the PNW pushed arctic air over here. TN and NC were chilly and had less of the occasional warm days than usual.
Thinking outside the box, how about the Algarve region of Portugal? Beautiful weather. Beaches. Golf. A crashed property market so housing is reasonable. Good infrastructure and health care. They don't tax retirement income. Tons of Brits vacation and retire there so English works fine. No place in Europe is truly cheap but that's the best you're going to do. You could live pretty well on $50K.
Have you lived there? I looked at it briefly and it seemed too hot and humid for me. Is that not the case?
Thinking outside the box, how about the Algarve region of Portugal? Beautiful weather. Beaches. Golf. A crashed property market so housing is reasonable. Good infrastructure and health care. They don't tax retirement income.
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You could live pretty well on $50K.
Ah, living well abroad is very tempting but there are more to finding a retirement home than just weather, recreational opportunity, medical care and cost of living.
Living abroad is not for everybody and certainly not for us. We love to travel but to permanently settle in a place, one has to decide whether it is a good fit. You can not fit a square peg in a round hole so to speak.
I was quite intrigued about living aboard a year or two ago and spent a considerable amount of research time. I read several books of first-hand experience, blogs, articles etc. pretty much everything that I could find on the web and from the libraries.
The first question is whether one speaks the language. The second question is cultural fit. Americans are used to a certain pace of life and expect certain minimum standard especially punctuality, fairness, justice etc. Many expats complain of workman tardiness, unreliability, extreme bureaucracy, red tapes and even corruption or bribery. The third question is what kind of social life which one will have? Some old world societies are very closed in. I remember reading the complaint of someone who tried to retire in Portugal that they lived there for years but were completely excluded from the life of the natives. People were polite and friendly but they don't invite you to their homes and decline your invitation. Some expats deal with the problem by choosing to relocate in an area with many American expats. This may help somewhat but there are issues with discrimination, envy or hostility from the locals especially when the Americans have much higher standard of living.
Other important issues are securities and the quality of the justice system. Aside from political instabilities and local crimes, some countries do not give foreigners the same justice or protection as the locals. When I was in a country in South America and talked to an expat tour guide, he advised us not to rent a car because if you have an accident, you are automatically at fault. The same unequal justice applies to other legal issues and disputes.
Pittsburgh gets snow and is very cold hardly a good fit for OP. Take a look at tulsa, oklahoma similar climate to Arkansas but a bigger city with more medical options.
Phoenix, AZ....high 105 today. Will rain Wednesday and Thursday.
Las Vegas, NV...high 101 today. No rain in sight.
Dallas, TX...high 100 today. Will rain Wednesday only, breaking a drought. (where I live)
Beaumont, TX...high 98 today. Will rain Wednesday and continuing to rain for the next week.
Tyler, TX....high 93 today. Will rain Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Houston, TX...high 92 today. Will rain today, skip Tuesday, then rain for the next week.
Lafayette, LA...high 89 today. Rain every day for at least the next week, starting Wednesday.
Fayetteville, AR...high 88 today. Rain today and Wednesday.
Chattanooga, TN...high 87 today. Will rain Tuesday thru Saturday.
Greenville, SC...high 86 today. Will rain Tuesday thru Saturday.
Savannah, GA...high 84 today. Will rain today through Wednesday. Then pick up again Friday & rain for at least the next week.
Atlanta, GA...high 82 today. Will rain every day, except one, thru Saturday.
Portland, OR...high 76 today. Not expected to rain until next week.
Seattle, WA....high 71 today. No rain expected except for one day next week.
Just a snapshot, but interesting.
This is all good information, but, it leaves out humidity as a measure of hot-weather misery. I would much rather have 100 out here in dry Eastern WA, than 90 in Atlanta (where I grew up, so I know what I am talking about).
Seattle and Portland areas are good for gardening, but seldom get snow (and no one there has a clue how to drive in snow, so if it snows, just stay home...) Better COL in small towns along the coast. WA has no state income tax.
Thinking outside the box, how about the Algarve region of Portugal? Beautiful weather. Beaches. Golf. A crashed property market so housing is reasonable. Good infrastructure and health care. They don't tax retirement income. Tons of Brits vacation and retire there so English works fine. No place in Europe is truly cheap but that's the best you're going to do. You could live pretty well on $50K.
Been there done that. You better be rich enough to buy property, because a Schengen Visa is only good for 6 months then you must leave the entire EU. The visa applies to everyone that is not a EU citizen.
Have you considered Pueblo Colorado? LOWWWWW cost of living [just purchased a home there for $60,000] Winters have a little snow [much less than rest of state] and is also warmer. Not that much precipitation, but rain barrels will give you plenty of water for gardening.[ illegal in Colorado, but take a walk on the wild side] Fantastic medical care. Active senior citizen center. 30 minutes from the mountains. The University offers free classes to seniors. ,The Colorado state fair is here and the venue is used for many interesting events. The Arkansas river walk is beautiful, relaxing, and free. Incredible Mexican and Italian food throughout the city.
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