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This is a good point. The political winds of the US change with... well, the winds. I sure wouldn't plan a major life step like emigration based on who happens to be sitting in the Oval Office.
Granted, every change of executive branch results in so many people on internet message boards declaring their intention to move to another country, with follow through rate probably less that 0.000001%.
Yes indeed. Talk is cheap, and sometimes it's amazing how little our daily lives are affected by various political matters. There is a lot of California bashing on the internet based on our rather extreme left-wing politics here. In fact, I quite understand that people would leave California because of it. My solution - I just ignore it and continue to enjoy the many advantages which still prevail here. Why work myself into a tizzy at my age? I did enough of that when I was younger and guess what? It didn't change a ching. Most of it doesn't affect me directly except for the rather high taxes and they are not much higher than many other states.
Some time ago (two or three years ago, it seems to me) a certain poster wrote how she not only would never live in the state of Arizona but refuses to set foot in that state. She wouldn't even drive through it to get from the west coast to points east or vice-versa. I didn't ask if she checks whether airline flights might fly over the state. It seems like so much silliness to me.
It stands to reason that a surfeit of wanderlust means that the people in question will explore and venture into the unfamiliar, regardless of what's said on an online forum. I wish them all the very best. The operative question here, I think, is for more conservative and skittish people, who seek serenity more than adventure. Should they move abroad, not for reasons of adventure or stimulation, but to enjoy a more commodious, lower-cost or politically more palatable life? Maybe they should. But caution is merited, even if they are intimately familiar with the culture, are fluent in the language and so forth. In the example that I cited, the thought is about Tom Wolfe's "You can't go home again". Never mind international questions. This even applies say to a person who hails from a small American town, who moves away for college, settles in the big-city, and after a rewarding and remunerative career hankers to return to said town. But it is no longer welcoming or idyllic. It hasn't grown the way that the person in question has grown. One feels, as it were, a foreigner there.
Being some years away from retirement myself, but with a workplace-tenure that most people would find to be sufficient to justify retiring in the near-term, I often wonder regarding the "ideal" location. This is because I moved to where I presently live, merely for the job - and not for quality of life, or the culture, ore the climate, or the economy. My career has been a sort of deployment, where I took it upon myself to live in an undesirable place, but one that was necessary for the "mission" of my job. Upon completing said mission, what then? Desire for change is in competition with inertia and acceptance of the now-familiar.
A thougtful and well stated little essay there, Ohio_peasant, as we have come to expect from you. I am guilty of a certain amount of inertia, as I bought my townhouse 16 years ago at age 57 with the thought that it was my last move and that I would die here. I wasn't even retired yet at the time.
Yet maybe "guilty" is not quite the right word. First, if we have had our great adventures when younger, there may be less motivation to seek them out when older. I travelled extensively abroad and even lived for a year abroad in my 20's, and not in an English-speaking country either (and not among American ex-pats either). Later (late 20's and early 30's) I learned to fly private airplanes which was the greatest adventure of my own life. That adventure lasted only six or seven years for complicated reasons that need not concern us here.
Second, just because we continue to live in the same place doesn't mean our new experiences cease. Since buying that townhouse 16 years ago, I have done the following:
-- Driven though the Canadian Rockies by car, where I saw the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen from a paved road with the possible exception of Switzerland.
-- Experienced live bluegrass music in Nashville, Tennessee.
-- Visited a number of presidential museums (Eisenhower in Abilene, Kansas; Truman in Independence, Missouri; the elder Bush in College Station, Texas; and both Reagan and Nixon right here in Southern California. Whether we like or dislike a particular president, it is fascinating to re-live that slice of history with film clips, documents, and memorabilia.
-- Embarked on the adventure of reading aloud to fifth grade classes once a week. O.K., I can imagine the objections to the use of the word "adventure" in this context, but for me it really has been an intellectual and personal adventure to select the right books and have the experience of presenting them to young minds. So even if we are to reject the term "adventure" in this case, it certainly has been a new experience for me and a most gratifying one.
So the "new" doesn't necessarily have to be linked to relocation, although I admire and understand those who have been rejuvenated by moving.
Some time ago (two or three years ago, it seems to me) a certain poster wrote how she not only would never live in the state of Arizona but refuses to set foot in that state. She wouldn't even drive through it to get from the west coast to points east or vice-versa. I didn't ask if she checks whether airline flights might fly over the state. It seems like so much silliness to me.
I take a step farther and avoid other states that the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns, Arizona Diamondbacks, or Coyotes are playing in. It can be hard planning a road trip when trying to juggle all their schedules.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Escort Rider
A thougtful and well stated little essay there, Ohio_peasant, as we have come to expect from you
I know right? I'd love to have a beer with Ohio_peasant to see if this prose happens in real time too. Amazing.
I have family in Houston, Dallas, and west Texas, travel to the Panhandle for business, and have lived near El Paso and have seen or heard of all of this list except for the mandatory death sentence (which was a funny joke), high home insurance rates, and the playground. My brother near Houston makes 1/2 of my income but pays more for property tax than I pay for property tax and state income tax combined (and I pay some of the highest property taxes in my state). And with the oil bust and many unemployed in that area (and west Texas), his property taxes have increased $2K in the last two years. Not a very progressive tax structure.
I will definitely admit to fire ants by the way! Nasty little critters but there are ways to control those. I lived in the DFW area but my husband had a daughter and her family in Houston so we spent a fair bit of time there. West Texas I have been through but don't know well but I can see some of your list may indeed be found in many rural areas (though I don't think only TX has many of them either). At any rate, I think if you want to avoid a great deal of the things on that list I would stay closer to a decent sized town rather than moving to the outback. I do appreciate that there are issues in TX (I wouldn't move back to be honest but I am glad I did live there for a while).
Or go to Florida - I hear the gators are fun too.
Property taxes are going up rapidly just about everywhere you go right now. But also it used to be that the cost of housing was lower in TX for a house you would pay a lot more for elsewhere. I had a 2300 sq. foot ranch house in a very good subdivision in the mid-cities area that I bought for just over $100k but I would not be surprised if was well over $200k now, because I sold it 5 years later for over $150k - but that size of home where I had come from would have been about $250k when I bought mine for a lot less than half that there.
Maybe you would like NC better. Not quite as many natural dangers, it is still on the 'warm side' but not outrageously so (lower heating and cooling bills anyway here in western NC than in TX or up north), and if you aren't looking for a view there are still cheaper areas to buy in .. but then often there are no jobs there either. Parts of eastern TN are nice too (no state tax but yep, there are other ways they get you there too). I don't think you would find the cost of home insurance much cheaper in FL due to hurricanes than you may in TX due to tornadoes, etc.
There are problems everywhere, aren't there. Unfortunately, no place is perfect. Pick some place and start there - you need to be here for 5 years .. you can survive just about anywhere with the right attitude and preparation for that short period. Or buy an RV and drive around the south all year till you find a place you really like. Try not to paralyze yourself with analysis. Good luck.
My family and I live overseas and we are planning to move back to the USA for 5 years at some point in the future. My Wife who is 30 years younger than me is not a US citizen. According to social security regs, She must live in the USA for five years in order to collect my social security when I pass.
We are currently considering TX and FL. We have a bit of trepidation over FL due to Hurricanes/Tornadoes/flooding/bugs/sinkholes/etc but apparently is better than TX for the following:
Texas is infested with scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, crazy raspberry ants, cockroaches on steroids, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, brown recluse spiders, love bugs, swarming crickets, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, alligators, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty beaches, polluted air, dust storms, drought, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, rednecks, huge piles of flaming mulch, spontaneously combusting playgrounds, roads hot as flowing lava, the stench of natural and unnatural gasses, pirate attacks and amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, the highest homeowner insurance rates in the US, unbelievably high property taxes, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions, polygamous religious sects,etc.
Sounds like Florida except for the pirate attacks.
My wife is Filipino. English is one of the Philippines two official languages. Plan to spend a great deal of time there when retired. Yes, Medicare does not cover healthcare there but it is cheap and pretty good in the Philippines.
A cheap area in the US usually means a small town or a rural area, neither which of interest me. Retiring abroad would allow me to retire in an urban area for a fraction of the cost of the US.
Thank you so much Aredhel and Llep for your response. It's what I was afraid of. I have seen about the only places that might accept us are Panana and Costa Rica but not sure that's what we want. Not islandy types - love mountains and change of weather. I'm sure we'll end up stuck in the US but thought I would ask. Thanks again.
We researched Victoria, CN and found we could buy a place and live there -- just have to return to the USA once every 6 months. Pretty easy to take a ferry to Seattle and spend a bit of time away. Right now, in some areas on Canada, there's a 15% surcharge on buying residences if you are a non-citizen. That wasn't the case when we were keen on the idea. We still toy with the concept. Our concern is, if we became disabled, having to go into the USA regularly and getting medical care. We would have to have another plan to move back to the USA under those circumstances.
A cheap area in the US usually means a small town or a rural area, neither of which interests me. Retiring abroad would allow me to retire in an urban area for a fraction of the cost of the US.
Indeed, that is the dilemma for people who do not care for small town/rural living. In your case, I would check out Buenos Aires. I understand it is a cultured, sophisticated metropolis with a European flavor. I would expect to find art films, opera, and live classical music of a decent level of professionalism there, from what I've heard and read.
I know nothing of the cost of living there, but it would have to be less than places like Paris, Rome, London, Berlin, Vienna, and the like.
Just a thought, I worked as a social worker with many elderly people who were ex-pats. A common theme was they loved the first few years and had a wonderful time but as their health deteriorated, they found themselves forced to return to the US. I cant' tell you how many times one of my clients told me how much they wished they had kept their home here in the US and merely traveled for extended periods to the countries that interested them. Upon returning to the US they found that the paid off home they had sold to finance their adventure was now unreachable to them in terms of cost and they could not only NOT afford to purchase a home but were forced to rent at outrageous prices. Now this is in S.FL were the cost of living is rather high but it is a very senior friendly state. Now that I am myself venturing into retirement, hubby and I have decided to travel to Spain for several months out of the year but KEEP our home here in FL. You never know when a medical/family issue may force you to return only to find out you can no longer afford to live there.
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But also it used to be that the cost of housing was lower in TX for a house you would pay a lot more for elsewhere. I had a 2300 sq. foot ranch house in a very good subdivision in the mid-cities area that I bought for just over $100k but I would not be surprised if was well over $200k now, because I sold it 5 years later for over $150k - but that size of home where I had come from would have been about $250k when I bought mine for a lot less than half that there. 
