making myself CRAZY!!!

BiXLL

BiXLL

New Member
Location
Pittsburgh, Pa. area
Hi all, I found this forum hoping maybe somebody has gone through what I am doing to myself and can offer some advice/guidance as to what they ended up doing.

I am about 7 years away from retirement with a possibility of 5 years if everything fell into place just right. I am trying to figure out where I want to live in retirement. I now live in the Pittsburgh Pa. area and have no doubt in my mind I want out of here with the cold snowy winters. We have always been outdoorsy type, with our interests being camping, boating/kayaking, fishing, trail walking and I like golf. (wife wants nothing to do with it) and we enjoy going on cruises.

I thought I had it all figured out. Western Tenn. has a lot of lakefront property that is very affordable, great tax rates, good medical. Problem is now I don't think the winter months are going to be warm enough for our liking. It seems like I am back to square 1 so far as finding a place with the good senior tax rates, good medical facilities and so on. I have started thinking I need to look maybe southern Florida, Southwest Texas, or maybe even Arizona?

I am sure I have left out vital info for anybody to totally help me with suggestions, but with the likes and interests I have listed I am hoping to maybe start a conversation so I can maybe narrow down my research areas. Any ideas?
 

:wave: Hi BiXLL. :welcome: to the forum.
As you can see, I live in So. Calif. and love it, coming from Detroit. I could recommend that but your other options sound good too.

Let's wait and see what others have to say.
 
I always thought of southern Cal. as having too high a cost of living for me. I have worked hard and saved all my life for this, but unfortunatly I am very much from the working class and money and cost of living will play a major factor for me.
 

Hello BiXLL! :wave:

In Georgia you are not taxed on SS or the first $35,000 of other income, if you are over 62. The weather is warm (like Florida) in the far south, and cool in the mountains in the north, and anything in between those. It is humid, but probably not any more so than Tennessee.
 
NancyNGA said:
Hello BiXLL! :wave:

In Georgia you are not taxed on SS or the first $35,000 of other income, if you are over 62. The weather is warm (like Florida) in the far south, and cool in the mountains in the north, and anything in between those. It is humid, but probably not any more so than Tennessee.
Click to expand...
Dont you still get snow and freezing temps in winter even in southern Georgia?
 
BiXLL said:
I always thought of southern Cal. as having too high a cost of living for me. I have worked hard and saved all my life for this, but unfortunatly I am very much from the working class and money and cost of living will play a major factor for me.
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with being from the working class, they are the salt of a country, in my opinion. You could live "down Under'. :playful:
 
BiXLL said:
Hi all, I found this forum hoping maybe somebody has gone through what I am doing to myself and can offer some advice/guidance as to what they ended up doing.

I am about 7 years away from retirement with a possibility of 5 years if everything fell into place just right. I am trying to figure out where I want to live in retirement. I now live in the Pittsburgh Pa. area and have no doubt in my mind I want out of here with the cold snowy winters. We have always been outdoorsy type, with our interests being camping, boating/kayaking, fishing, trail walking and I like golf. (wife wants nothing to do with it) and we enjoy going on cruises.

I thought I had it all figured out. Western Tenn. has a lot of lakefront property that is very affordable, great tax rates, good medical. Problem is now I don't think the winter months are going to be warm enough for our liking. It seems like I am back to square 1 so far as finding a place with the good senior tax rates, good medical facilities and so on. I have started thinking I need to look maybe southern Florida, Southwest Texas, or maybe even Arizona?

I am sure I have left out vital info for anybody to totally help me with suggestions, but with the likes and interests I have listed I am hoping to maybe start a conversation so I can maybe narrow down my research areas. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I spent most of my life in California, but have also had homes in South Dakota, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona. I now live in Arizona. I have been here around 8 years now. Weather is hot in summer but the rest of the year is perfect. The California expense, including taxes made living there to costly for us, even though I was born there. So many migrated in from elsewhere it drove prices up on everything. I looked around before deciding on Arizona and now, this is where I want to be.
 
Hi There! What I'm wondering about is what I have put in red below. Please explain.

BiXLL said:
Hi all, I found this forum hoping maybe somebody has gone through what I am doing to myself and can offer some advice/guidance as to what they ended up doing.

I am about 7 years away from retirement with a possibility of 5 years if everything fell into place just right. I am trying to figure out where I want to live in retirement. I now live in the Pittsburgh Pa. area and have no doubt in my mind I want out of here with the cold snowy winters. We have always been outdoorsy type, with our interests being camping, boating/kayaking, fishing, trail walking and I like golf. (wife wants nothing to do with it) and we enjoy going on cruises.

I thought I had it all figured out. Western Tenn. has a lot of lakefront property that is very affordable, great tax rates, good medical. Problem is now I don't think the winter months are going to be warm enough for our liking. It seems like I am back to square 1 so far as finding a place with the good senior tax rates, good medical facilities and so on. I have started thinking I need to look maybe southern Florida, Southwest Texas, or maybe even Arizona?

I am sure I have left out vital info for anybody to totally help me with suggestions, but with the likes and interests I have listed I am hoping to maybe start a conversation so I can maybe narrow down my research areas. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
 
BiXLL said:
What I dont understand about Arizone is I was checking out listings at White Mountain Lake. In the add it stated snow sking 45 min away?
Click to expand...

Arizona has mountains, snow, and we have our desert. Some here have homes in both. The advantage is obvious, up to the cool mountains in summer, down to the wonderful warm temps the rest of the year. All within a couple of hours.
 
AZ Jim said:
Arizona has mountains, snow, and we have our desert. Some here have homes in both. The advantage is obvious, up to the cool mountains in summer, down to the wonderful warm temps the rest of the year. All within a couple of hours.
Click to expand...
Are you familiar with the White Mountain Lake area? Would it be snowless/not freezing in winter?
 
BiXLL said:
Are you familiar with the White Mountain Lake area? Would it be snowless/not freezing in winter?
Click to expand...
Very familiar with it. Pinetop, Show Low and dozens of other small towns. Yes they get winter snow and freezing temps. Not ALL winter like other places I've lived but when storms come, they do get the snow. Go to a Arizona site on Google and when you see a town you're interested in make a search on it and it's monthly average temps.
 
Humidity is very low in summer. Not at all like the deep south or Florida. Ovens are also low humidity however. Look at the link I edited into my above reply.
 
You still haven't explained this (in red) below. Just wondering what you meant.

BiXLL said:
Hi all, I found this forum hoping maybe somebody has gone through what I am doing to myself and can offer some advice/guidance as to what they ended up doing.

I am about 7 years away from retirement with a possibility of 5 years if everything fell into place just right. I am trying to figure out where I want to live in retirement. I now live in the Pittsburgh Pa. area and have no doubt in my mind I want out of here with the cold snowy winters. We have always been outdoorsy type, with our interests being camping, boating/kayaking, fishing, trail walking and I like golf. (wife wants nothing to do with it) and we enjoy going on cruises.

I thought I had it all figured out. Western Tenn. has a lot of lakefront property that is very affordable, great tax rates, good medical. Problem is now I don't think the winter months are going to be warm enough for our liking. It seems like I am back to square 1 so far as finding a place with the good senior tax rates, good medical facilities and so on. I have started thinking I need to look maybe southern Florida, Southwest Texas, or maybe even Arizona?

I am sure I have left out vital info for anybody to totally help me with suggestions, but with the likes and interests I have listed I am hoping to maybe start a conversation so I can maybe narrow down my research areas. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
 
One thing for sure, when you are the "outdoorsy" type, it can be hard to find someplace to retire to and not have some kind of winter to deal with. We use to live in So Calif. and it truly isn't cheap there. Where we lived south of Denver, CO, (Parker) we had no trouble finding "outdoor" stuff to do during the summer. We had a power boat and had a lot of fun with that on a couple of lakes. The area does have a winter that sometimes can get pretty bad, but when a person is fully retired, they don't have to go out into that weather like when working a full-time job.

Actually, we are giving it some serious thought about moving back there when my wife retires.
 
Well, I'll answer the way I usually answer this question:

1st: I made my first WesPac Cruise (Navy) to Viet Nam in Dec. 1968.
2nd: I graduated from high school in May 1968. I was held back a grade in the 3rd grade, so would have graduated in May 1967.
3rd: I started getting Medicare last year.

So, please figure it from there. Guess, 65..........your right!


AZ Jim said:
How old are you CR if you don't mind my asking?
Click to expand...
 
NancyNGA said:
Hello BiXLL! :wave:

In Georgia you are not taxed on SS or the first $35,000 of other income, if you are over 62. The weather is warm (like Florida) in the far south, and cool in the mountains in the north, and anything in between those. It is humid, but probably not any more so than Tennessee.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't even worry about humidity, at least if Georgia is like Alabama (Shoals area). I lived there 3 years, and fell in love with the area, and the weather. I thought I'd die of the humidity after hearing a lot of people talk about it, but I guess I just got used to it, or it wasn't that bad to me. Maybe just my chemistry. I love the South, and if it wasn't so far from what family I do want to be within driving distance of, I would go back there in a minute;)

I think I'd go for the places that aren't so advertised, find your own, special place, unless you want to be in the Senior Fast-lane, LOL!! Yeehaw!! Pappy and a few others here can tell you about Florida;) They love it!
 
Have you looked at the Panhandle of Florida? Whole different kind of Florida up there. It gets a bit chilly in the winter, but there are also spells of gorgeous weather. Beaches to die for. Woods, rivers, bays and bayous. Boating, canoeing, salt and freshwater fishing. Nightlife or get away from it all. We have a family house up there in the Point Washington area.
 

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