Best Places to Retire

T

Tom

New Member
Hi,

I was wondering what others think about this? Do you think of moving after your retirement? If yes, what places do you have in mind?
 

I retired a couple of years ago, and I live in Colorado. It's beautiful here, so my husband and I plan to stay. We enjoy the outdoors and camping, so we have it close to home if we want it. Or we have the option to drive to other states or Canada, Alaska, etc.

We have thought that if we moved, it might be to a state like Oregon. We wouldn't live near the beach, but it would be a close drive, as we both enjoy the beach and the ocean.

Florida and Arizona are popular for retirees, but I don't like the hot weather and other things that go along with it.
 
I heard good things about Colorado. Sounds peaceful. I guess countryside is better than city-life when it comes to choosing a good retirement place.

Hawaii sounds pleasant too.
 

Cristine said:
I heard good things about Colorado. Sounds peaceful. I guess countryside is better than city-life when it comes to choosing a good retirement place.

Hawaii sounds pleasant too.
Click to expand...

I love Hawaii, I've visited twice, many years ago when I was younger...but I don't know if I like the idea of living on an island.
 
I would love to live somewhere in the country in Victoria Aus, but the only trouble is we have to be near a good hospital, for my husband, so retirement in the country is out of the question.but at least here where we live at the moment we are only 10 minutes drive from the national park, so at least we can get away from the hustle and bustle if we wish.We are both retired.
 
I just noticed this thread............ GOOD QUESTION !!!!

We lived and worked in Montreal with a population of about 3 million. That was excellent to make a wonderful living which we did.

We retired up in Northern Ontario in a small village of just under 1000 people where we don't even have a traffic light. let alone a grocery store. No mail delivery. Must go into the village to the postoffice to get your mail.
Love the life and the change and wouldn't trade it for anything.
Very quiet
Very peaceful
Very reasonable
Very friendly folks

No comparison in life between living in the BIG city and the real country.
The real country will win us over every time................


PS........... It didn't take long for us to trade in our luxury cars and buy a Pick-up Truck
 
Cristine said:
I heard good things about Colorado. Sounds peaceful. I guess countryside is better than city-life when it comes to choosing a good retirement place.

Hawaii sounds pleasant too.
Click to expand...
Ouch. After last night's Colorado theatre massacre, I'm not so sure I'd ever move there. I'll stick to my dream retirement place, Costa Rica!
 
I totally agree about moving away from the city..
We moved from Montreal (population about 3 million) to Northern Ontario where we have a population of just under 1000...

From the concrete jungle to wide open spaces..
From the rat race to the easy way of life..
From a pricey lifestyle to a much cheaper lifestyle..
From clock watching to nature watching..
From smog and pollution to breathing air that hasn't been breathed before..
From fast foods and eating out to eating healthier..

Just to name a few reasons !!!!!!!!
 
I knew 22 years ago where I wanted to live in retirement and finally got here in 2003, although that was a few years early and I did work until a year ago.

I spent very few years living in the city or outskirts. I was raised on a small dairy farm and I've been fortunate to be able to commute to my jobs, from the country to the city, all my life.

I love my life where my roots are but not the weather. I knew if I wanted to stay active with my horses and continue to live life mostly outdoors, the OH/PA border wasn't going to treat my arthritis kindly. Not to mention un-freezing water lines at the barn and mucking frozen manure piles in the winter - lol
 
A lot of people do move after they retire. I was already in a town that was conducive for retirement so my adjustment into the retirement world was pretty easy. Orlando is a great city.
 
It would definitely be Norway!! Norwegians boast the kind of healthy lifestyle and quality of life Americans would dream of.The country scored a full two points higher than the U.S. in financial well-being.
 
I've been stuck in the max-tax People's Republic of Kalifornistan all my life. Now that we're able to live anywhere we wish, dear Wifey wants to stay here due to family and friends. So it's kinda hard to take her away from them. But I want to live in Oregon!

A friend who moved from here to Oregon several years ago makes the case very well. No sales tax. Similar real estate taxes. His 1400 sq ft house is all electric and his monthly electric bill is $60 - $70. We have a monthly bill of about $250 - $300 for our 1800' home. And we don't use electricity for heating house or water. Gasoline is more costly here than almost all of the USA. We are the #1 highest taxes state in the union! (http://www.caltax.org/research/calrank.html)

(Our bill for our 1800 ft. home for February was $99.65 for gas, $172.32 for electric plus $6.33 tax for a total of $278.30!!!!)

The cost of living here is outrageous compared to Oregon. But if I go, I'll be going alone!
 
Doesn't Oregon have something like 250+ rainy days a year?

$300/mn for an 1800SF all-electric house doesn't sound extreme in the least to me - we have all electric in our apartment (perhaps a third of the size) and the bill regularly runs around $300 year-round. That's without blasting heat in winter or cranking the AC in the summer.

ETA: Sorry - mis-read your post about NOT being all-electric. Still - I'd question your friend's bill very closely - that doesn't sound quite right.
 
Retirement looms near and, of course, it's so unreal as we just never thought about getting old when we were oh so young and foolish. Now that I'm old and foolish, just not sure what's going to happen. (reference money thread where I talk about buying a new sleeping bag...)

Awhile back, was thinking about going to Guam where we lived right after I was born. Sort of figured on finishing my life full circle as it were . . . My dad even mentioned at the time if I'd ever considered going back there which was pretty interesting. Then, my older sister told me about the nasty green snakes they imported to kill the rats and they ended up killing lots of birds and are very poisonous. And . . . I looked up modern Guam with horrible hotels and crap ruining the island. So, decided to stay in the ol' U S of A.

Was joking with my daughter-in-law that I was going to move in with them and they both surprised me by actually seriously saying it was a great idea. Sure don't want to move to Texas (sorry y'all...) but being close to them would be wonderful...
 
We both still work but plan to start visting likely retirement towns as we get closer. One thing we will watch for is were the grandkids live by then. They will still be in school and we would like to be able to visit them or have them stay with us here and there.

Other things I would like is one or more universities near enough
Lots of local music activities (which means musicians I can play with)
Try to find a few acres or very large lot to grow food in a garden

Stuff like that.
 
I grew up in northern Idaho, and so was used to dealing with snow and cold for most of my life. We moved here to Alabama so I could be closer to my daughter, who retired out of the military to live in Huntsville. We lived there until last summer, and then found a caretaking place about 50 miles from there. I really like living here, where pansies are a winter flower, and snow comes in inches, and not feet. It stays for hours or days, and not months, and I don't have to shovel it.It is hot and muggy in the summer, but still better for me than the snow ad cold. So I think this is a great place to retire to.
 
Happyflowerlady,
My niece recently moved to Dauphin Island, Alabama. She keeps posting pictures on facebook making me jealous.

But I really don't think I could find anyplace better than our 25 acres with the lake behind the house.I don't plan on leaving here 'til they carry me away.
 
Boy, the 25 acres and a lake out back sounds pretty close to heaven to me, too ! I imagine that you have pretty much the same weather that we do here in northern Alabama, and it is a lot more moderate than many places a person could live.
I didn't mind Idaho when I was younger, but now I am glad not to have the snow, so I plan on staying right here, and enjoy the warm days, and the fishing.
Oregon is a nice state, and not all of it is rainy, just like Washington . The coast is rainy, the eastern parts of both states are dry, and the center is pretty much a desert in places. So you can have about any climate you want there, depending on where you move to.
We just have a little trailer that we rent and caretake the property. It is not much, but it is private, lots of room for a garden, and we are living here pretty cheaply. Helps stretch the SS pension, so that is good.
 
We lived in Oregon and moved to Texas in 1985. Lived there until 2010, when we retired to the Arkansas Ozarks. Phil, is right about the rain in Oregon, it is a beautiful state though. My best memories are of growing up in Portland and riding the nearby hills and mountains. Property prices are very high, and I would also question the energy prices, they weren't that low when we lived there 28 years ago. Perhaps, Fishwisher, your friend uses wood heat in the winter, as many people there do, and no need for air conditioning in the summer. Even so, that figure seems way low to me. My brother still lives in Portland, and he laments all the time on the high cost of living and traffic. I guess no different than any other major city.

All I can say about Texas is that I love it in rear view mirror. Maybe if we had lived in a rural area I would have liked it more, but I hated the hot humid weather and only two seasons, hot and humid or cold for a couple of months in the winter. In 25 years of living there I never wore out a winter coat. I did love Galveston though and really enjoyed taking, the Gangstas to the beach. Coming from Oregon where it's just too cold to swim in the ocean, I was amazed the first time I went there and dipped my pinkies in the ocean, and it was warm.

We are happier than pigs
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in s*** here in our Ozark hills home. We have 10 acres on a year around creek, at the end of a gravel road. Our mortgage payment is less than half of what it would cost to rent an apartment in Texas, and that includes taxes and insurance. When I found this place online, the ad read, "Not for everyone..." and that is true, as it is isolated and the only time we see anyone is when they are invited or we go out of our "holler". We love not having to deal with neighbor issues, etc., but it may be too secluded for most folks.
 
I know I'm never going to "retire" in the conventional sense so this is just me talking, but if there was one place I could spend my "sunshine years" it would probably be Key West.

I've always had a magnetic draw to the place ever since I first visited it at 18 (after I was dumped by my girlfriend
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). I had wanted to just jump in my car, point it in one direction and just keep my foot on the gas.

Well, it turns out that the car was parked facing South when I got in it, so that seemed as good as any direction to go. I was only disappointed when I couldn't go any further without ruining my leather interior with salt water.

But my mood changed there - maybe it was the sun, or the alcohol, or the water (I've always had an affinity for oceans, especially coral reefs). Maybe it was just having time to decompress ... I don't know. But I returned there regularly whenever I had the chance, even after I was married. We drove down twice and stayed at a plush resort hotel,did the whole swimming with the dolphins thing, etc.

But I've just always felt ALIVE there, more so than in the dirty, cold and bleak Northeast, even though the majority of my life has been here. So that's where I want to drag my old bones when it's time.
 

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