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In order of importance these were the factors that decided me in favor of staying here:
(1) Proximity to a wealth of excellent medical care in any and all possible fields. And that isn't counting any resources in NY City which is less than an hour away.
(1) Fast access to services and conveniences. Everything from 3x/week trash pickup to emergency service response in less than 10 minutes (more like 5 minutes in reality), to having every single place I might need to go on a daily, semi-daily, or weekly basis within a 5-mile radius. In other words I am spoiled rotten when it comes to conveniences and choice.
(Yes I did number them both as #1 deliberately, because the two factors are equal.)
(2) Truly acceptable climate. I hate extremes of weather for more than short periods of time. No regular visits here by any of Mother Nature's nastiest offspring (hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, blizzards, etc). Not even any radon. I could never tolerate the heat of the southwest or the heat/humidity of the south; nor the near-perpetual winter snow cover of any points north.
(3) My son, DIL and granddaughter are my only remaining relatives and they are planning to stay here. If the foregoing three factors didn't exist, they would not be my only reason for staying, but it is nice to have them within a half hour's drive. I refuse to fly or stay in hotels, and cannot stay with them because of pet allergies, and so if I did move away I would need to depend on them coming to see me which wouldn't happen more than once a year. So I consider their proximity a bonus for as long as it may last. I doubt very much they will move during my remaining lifetime. Financially it makes sense for them to stay: my son's career makes NYC the best place for him to work, and my DIL is a teacher with an extremely good union/contract/benefits.
It's expensive in our area but to me it is worth it. After looking around I realized that the ONLY factor in favor of me relocating was that my COL would be less. Honestly I would rather "struggle" here than live more comfortably anywhere else. This area is home to me and always will be. Some things are hard to quantify. What good is having more dollars in the bank if you are always wanting to be somewhere else?
Except for college and two years with my first job I've lived in the same general area since I was five years old. It has just never entered my mind to move somewhere else for retirement. Moving somewhere and starting over doesn't appeal to me at all.
I am sure there are other threads on this topic but I wanted to know why you have chosen to retire where you are.
We considered moving several times, always to be closer to my daughter and our grand kids, within the east coast. Then she moved to LA and we considered that as well as my husband finally retired. LA is so different from the New England town we live in and the offer on our house we had put on the market when we visited LA fell through and we returned home kind of happy. There was a message in that.
We live in the suburb and our town is considered pretty, which it is. But nothing exciting goes on here but we have a great library, opportunities to volunteer, and I am active with my hobbies, reading, and writing. We live within 1/2 hour of a major airport and we travel quite a bit. It has great medical care facilities. So I think we are settling in, our house is comfortable, a friendly neighborhood, and moving does not seem to make much sense. We have settle for renting a place near where my daughter lives for the winter.
Did you make conscious decision to stay put? If so why do YOU live where you live after retirement?
We made the decision to move 1200 miles and retire to SW Florida in order to escape the mold, mildew, and tree pollen up north that was killing my wife. Two years in and no inhalers, shots, antibiotics,or steroid shots. Couldn’t be happier!
We’re both 70. We live in a nice home, nice community, nice city (I despise the state though). About 4 years ago we decided to downsize to a place in the woods, bought a nice property (outright), about 5 acres, wooded, small stream across the back and started looking around for a builder. We soon realized that we were going to spend just about everything our current home is worth for something half the size. That started grating on both of us.
Right in the midst of this, my wife was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. It sort of brought us around to the reality of just how old we are and whether we really want to get involved in selling a house, building another, moving (UGH!). We decided this is where we’ll be until we can’t. We’ve been here 24 years now. The only drawback is that the house is really quite large for just the two of us. However, I’ve started downsizing our belongings which makes us both feel better so, there’s that.
Starting about 14 years before my retirement, we knew exactly when my employer [US Navy] was going to force me out onto pension. So we began that year to looking for places to retire. Every 3 years we transferred to a new location, and at each home, we looked around and asked ourselves if that might be a good place to retire.
We had a long wish list of things that we wanted from an 'ideal' location.
After I retired, we then moved, on our own, to the state with the highest percentage of retirees. We have been here for twelve years.
We’re both 70. We live in a nice home, nice community, nice city (I despise the state though). About 4 years ago we decided to downsize to a place in the woods, bought a nice property (outright), about 5 acres, wooded, small stream across the back and started looking around for a builder. We soon realized that we were going to spend just about everything our current home is worth for something half the size. That started grating on both of us.
Right in the midst of this, my wife was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. It sort of brought us around to the reality of just how old we are and whether we really want to get involved in selling a house, building another, moving (UGH!). We decided this is where we’ll be until we can’t. We’ve been here 24 years now. The only drawback is that the house is really quite large for just the two of us. However, I’ve started downsizing our belongings which makes us both feel better so, there’s that.
I think we are headed in the same direction. Do not like MD taxes, but we are realizing you get what you pay for. Medical facilities abound, close airports, shopping and restaurants, plenty of volunteer opportunities. There is a crime issue if you are close to Baltimore city but I see that increasing everywhere. It's sad.
We also live in a nice community with nice neighbors so why leave? It seems every place we consider is missing at least one of the conveniences of this area. We really have nothing holding us here but so far haven't found anything that is pulling us away.
We've had many adventures and continue to travel but there is something to be said for the "comfort of home". Especially as we age.
I'm very gad we moved. But, if you like where you live and can see yourselves retiring there I can see the appeal. For one thing, moving can be expensive.
For those with a house that's to big remember that you don't have to use all of it! Close off rooms /space that you don't need and live in what you need. Much better than being "space rich" and stressing over it. Money can get in the way of a good meaningful life if you let it.
I'm a year or two away from retirement (My wife says I'll never retire). In preparation, I built an age-in-place new home (ranch style villa) 50 miles away from Lincoln, the college town that I work in. So far, this is the greatest decision of my life. We're near 3 top hospitals, 5 miles or less to any store or restaurant you could possibly want. I get enough entertainment, sports, to keep just about anyone happy. Before making this decision, I spent a decade researching and going to retirement communities in AZ, NV & FL. I came to the conclusion that everything I needed was here just 5 miles away, including family and friends. I guess I'll earn a lot more air miles in February going somewhere warm, but that's OK. Follow your plan, not the retirement marketing plan.
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