Retirement Relocation...?

[Bubba]

Mrs. Bubba and I are pretty well set financially for retirement in a few years, thanks in large part to both sets of parents hammering into us the importance of saving money long-term. Neither of us particularly want to remain in metro Atlanta after retirement, though, so the question of where to relocate to is at the beginning stages of turning into a real discussion. For years if you'd asked either of us that question the answer would have been Savannah, but when actually asked that question by our next-door neighbors after a few bottles of wine a couple of months ago Mrs. Bubba blurted out "Miami". We both would probably be perfectly happy with a condo in the Brickell area of Miami looking out over the water (with short flights to Caribbean islands as an added bonus), but that was the first time it was actually vocalized (so, my fairly buzzed self's response was "um, what???" ). Carrying that conversation forward over the past few weeks, apparently her ideal (but admittedly unrealistic) retirement would be summer in Toronto (presumably a condo looking out over the lake) and the rest of the year in Miami. I guess playing the "what if we could" game is nice in theory, but realistically I think the decision will come down to Savannah or Miami.

Anyhoo, long story short - is anyone looking at moving after retirement, and, if so, what is your "what if we/I could" location, and what is more realistic for you?

 

[DVD]

I'm in a city I love so I'm not moving. I'm sure we'll downsize the house and knowing my wife she'll want to live in one of those retirement communities. I expect to hear that in about 4-5 years when the kids are done with college. She has some odd romanticized image of Sun City like it's not God's waiting room.

I would recommend the Phoenix metro, but you like history and unless you like mid-century we got nothing.

 

[JNA]

That is my question too -
Family is on both coasts where I could not afford to live, besides they are are in their 60's too.
I don't have deep roots here, I have considered moving to a tax friendly state.
But I am scared about starting over - health care is important concern.

 

[The Terminator]

I'd like to retire to a game reserve in the sacred Matopo Hills in Zimbabwe, where I raise Pumas, Jaguars, Cheetahs & Ocelots.

 

[Planit]

Not going anywhere soon since Mrs. P has about 5 more years and we moved mom up here 3 years ago.

We've had some preliminary talks.

 

[michaelskis]

I still have quite a while before I get to "retirement" although I don't know if I will fully retire as much as pivot into a consulting job. The other factor is for where we are, the things that are important to us right now can't be beat. The schools and quality of life are phenominal here and with my youngest in 6th grade and college opportunities if we stay instate, we won't be leaving anytime soon.

Having said that, at some point, the wife and I want to get back to the coastal area of the south east. If we could afford it, living in a cottage or rowhome in a historic community in close proximity to the ocean would be our goal.

 

[Hink]

We are going to follow our kids around for the next 5-6 years and keep our current place as a home base. After we fully retire in 2039, we want to get out of Ohio ASAP. I would imagine we will live in Colorado for the summers, and then somewhere near the kids for a portion of the year.

As of now my kids are all interested in east coast colleges, so if they all end up in Virginia, we are buying a house somewhere over there. Here's to 13 years of more work!

 

[Gedunker]

Ever the oddball, I'm looking to retire ... somewhere in the north, where it gets very cold and snowy in the winter, and not so damn hot and humid in the summer. Right now I have my eyes on Marquette, MI and Duluth, MN. I took a financial hit in the divorce, so affordability will be an issue (my current mortgage, homeowner insurance and property taxes are under ... $700/mo just thanks to stupid good luck in the timing of the divorce/new home-buying, e.g., pre-Covid).

Relocating is complicated by a dependent adult on the autism spectrum for whom I am the exclusive caregiver (de facto, not by any agreement with the ex). I'm just about exactly two years out, so, we'll see.

 

[MD Planner]

Already live in a retirement community although a lot of us still work. I'm in the non-age restricted part but that's only about 150 homes and they might as well be age restricted. The others are 55+. I love the community, it's very active and there are tons of things to do all the time. That said, when retirement hits in about 7 years (sooner if possible) we'll probably sell this place for a nice chunk of change. Bought the lot at the right time and already have a ton of equity which is awesome. The plan is probably to buy a small house/cottage/condo in a southern beach area that is walkable/bikeable and then have a small place in Maine as well for the summers.

 

[WSU MUP Student]

I'm in a city I love so I'm not moving...

^ This. It's not so much that I love the Detroit area, but I do love our neighborhood and the immediate surrounding area. I am perfectly happy not going outside the 2 mile radius around my house unless I absolutely need to.

That said, I do like a bit of heat and sunshine in the winter so it would be nice to have somewhere to go for a few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas if I wanted to and then again through January through April. My in-laws have a house just north of Naples, Florida that they've already told us will be coming our way when they die or when they can no longer keep going down there. The community that the house is in has a bunch of pools and golf and tennis and a nice gym and even a daily boat shuttle out to the beach in case you don't want to deal with parking. There are also a few restaurants on the property. I don't really want to live in a country club community and have to pay dues, especially since I have no desire to golf, I do like all the other amenities though, but it's hard to pass up a nice house there. My wife and I both prefer coastal North Carolina, particularly somewhere like Carolina Beach, Surf City, Topsail, so we have occasionally look at properties down there. I think we both sort of like the idea of maybe selling the Florida house once it's in our name and then putting the money towards something in NC.

We are also fortunate that we were given a small beach house on the property next to my in-laws here in Michigan so we already have a place to go here in Michigan that is "Up North" but only 90 minutes away. We have a lot of friends with second houses or cottages Up North but most of them are at least 2 or 3 hours away. When the in-laws die, we will also get their house there next to our beach place. If it were up to me, I'd sell that house and buy something in the mountains in Colorado or somewhere out west but I have a feeling my wife will shoot down that idea and have a hard time selling her parents houses which is the house she grew up in.

 

[mendelman]

Ever the oddball, I'm looking to retire ... somewhere in the north, where it gets very cold and snowy in the winter, and not so damn hot and humid in the summer. Right now I have my eyes on Marquette, MI and Duluth, MN. I took a financial hit in the divorce, so affordability will be an issue (my current mortgage, homeowner insurance and property taxes are under ... $700/mo just thanks to stupid good luck in the timing of the divorce/new home-buying, e.g., pre-Covid).

Relocating is complicated by a dependent adult on the autism spectrum for whom I am the exclusive caregiver (de facto, not by any agreement with the ex). I'm just about exactly two years out, so, we'll see.

Consider the Lake Michigan coastal communities in WI, not including Milwaukee - Kenosha, Racine, etc. Good 'value' still, summers aren't too bad and large metros/airports are right next door - Milwaukee, Chicagoland, Madison, etc. Here's cool multi-unit in downtown Kenosha. And a cool 4-square in downtown Racine.

Also, Port Huron, MI is a good buy right now and the very northern Detroit suburbs and Flint metro are easy drives, plus, Canada (Sarnia though ) is right across the River...just in case. Paging @WSU MUP Student

My wife and I are starting to think about lower property tax locations outside of Chicagoland, but still within it's easy travel sphere - very SW MI, very SE WI, etc, but we want to stay north of I-80 in the Great Lakes region and as near the Lakes as possible.

@Bubba If you guys want to summer in the Great Lakes region and 'Toronto' is your ideal, then you should buy something now just in case as the RE market is insane costly. But Hamilton, ONT might be an option. Maybe @Tranplanner or @donk could provide more Canadian insight.

 

[jumbach]

Our plan is to retire to either USVI or the Cayman Islands in 15 years. SO far, we are well on track to meet that goal.

^ This. It's not so much that I love the Detroit area, but I do love our neighborhood and the immediate surrounding area. I am perfectly happy not going outside the 2 mile radius around my house unless I absolutely need to.

Is your house within 2 miles of the NPC conference planned for next April? If not, would that qualify as a need?

 

[Suburb Repairman]

Our most likely retirement path will involve following our only daughter wherever she goes in life. Our only real criteria will be ease to travel from whatever place--we've always enjoyed traveling.

Absent that, we've long discussed an ex-pat pathway to retire abroad. Portugal, Spain and Ireland have long been high on our list. We've never been big on warm sandy beaches--we prefer cooler climates and rocky beaches.

 

[zman]

Maybe buy an abandoned RV park along a desert highway in the SW United States and sit out front of the condemned office drinking Coors tall boys and watching cars drive by.

Honestly, I haven't thought much about it. I reckon it will depend on where my boys live, how mobile I can be, and whether there's a new Ms. Z in my life. I have thought about lighting out for a completely different part of the US or Canada when my youngest graduates.

Like, @michaelskis I will likely pivot to consulting full time, (if I haven't already, as my firm is still getting some business) and still work a bit. A former City Manager of mine retired and now does government executive recruitment, allowing for some travel, and some time not working.

Right now, my focus is on building up my Oregon pension years of services, to supplement my WA pension and whatever I can throw into personal accounts.

 

[WSU MUP Student]

Is your house within 2 miles of the NPC conference planned for next April? If not, would that qualify as a need?

It's about 16 miles to downtown Detroit. I like that the NPC will be in Detroit next year and our office is sponsoring and coordinating some off-site tours but I'm fine not attending the conference. I'm quickly turning into a homebody and have no desire to drive that far anymore.

I'm not actually a planner so it's going to come down to what is actually on the agenda whether or not I attend. If there are a few sessions focused on the economic development side of things, that will make me much more likely to attend.

 

[WSU MUP Student]

Consider the Lake Michigan coastal communities in WI, not including Milwaukee - Kenosha, Racine, etc. Good 'value' still, summers aren't too bad and large metros/airports are right next door - Milwaukee, Chicagoland, Madison, etc. Here's cool multi-unit in downtown Kenosha. And a cool 4-square in downtown Racine.

Also, Port Huron, MI is a very good buy right now and the very northern Detroit suburbs and Flint metro are easy drives, plus, Canada (Sarnia though ) is right across the River...just in case. Paging @WSU MUP Student

My wife and I are starting to think about lower property tax locations outside of Chicagoland, but still within it's easy travel sphere - very SW MI, very SE WI, etc, but we want to stay north of I-80 in the Great Lakes region and as near the Lakes as possible.

@Bubba If you guys want to summer in the Great Lakes region and 'Toronto' is your ideal, then you should buy something now just in case as the RE market is insane costly. But Hamilton, ONT might be an option. Maybe @Tranplanner or @donk could provide more Canadian insight.

The Port Huron area isn't a terrible idea. If you want to be very near the water, there are still a lot of cottage type properties available relatively inexpensively up and down the St. Clair River (start in Anchorville and work your way North) and then up the Thumb towards Port Austin. One of the nice things about the area is that it's a very easy trip down to the Detroit area for more amenities or health care options if that's important to you.

The big drawback though is that unless you are basically right on the water, the Port Huron area definitely does not have that "Up North" feel. Michigan's Thumb is not particularly scenic.

There are quite a few good size lakes in Oakland County and there are still some cottages available in the area but you can also go a bit further out to the area to the north and northwest of Ann Arbor (look for the Pinckney and Waterloo State Recreation Areas on a map) and there are a bunch of lakes and rolling hills and that area is very scenic and is an easy drive to Ann Arbor and the western Detroit suburbs and downtown. That's an area in SE Michigan that has the "Up North" feeling without having to actually drive Up North.

Of course, if @Gedunker wants a lot of snow, this is the wrong side of the state for it.

 

[dw914er]

Our list of spots that we have considered is either the Seattle area, somewhere in Colorado, or move upstate into the Sonoma County area. Seattle and Sonoma both have better access for wineries, so that is one consideration - Sonoma and Colorado will have better driving roads, though.

 

[bureaucrat#3]

We love the town we're in and close to my wife's family. At one point we talked about moving back to suburban Nashville to be close to my family. That's no longer the plan. Its too busy, expensive, and my family is starting to disperse more. We're planning on preparing our house for aging in place. My parents are not in an ideal situation with multilevel home with non-code compliant steps and in the middle of a farm, but both really struggling with mobility issues. They're also now in their 80s and their support network is starting to shrink quickly.
I'd love to move somewhere cooler or at least with some water and breeze. I'd love to move to mid-size city either mid-Atlantic or north and probably mid-west and east. I hate the idea of leaving my support network and friends in retirement, but my town is booming and will likely lose that hometown feel in 10 years. The state in general is in a race to the bottom and outside a few cities, I don't think it's going to have the healthcare and services I'd want when I'm old. I'd be happy with a condo, townhouse, or small home somewhere walkable with either a vacation home a little more remote or just the option to travel.

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

This is a question we have been discussing as of late. I could go in 2+years or earlier with a buyout. It will a depend on where our kids are/will be. Her parents also play into the equation. We do know that the Wasatch Front is too crowded for our liking. Her parents feel the same. Ideally, we hop over one or two mountain ranges to the southeast. Problem is, there is no longer an inexpensive place to live in Utah. The public has found out Utah is really not a bad place to be. I would love to be in eastern WA near my family's cabin property. Problem is the kids are not there nor the in-laws so that will likely never happen. Mrs. can work in any community as an RN so we have that going for us, which is nice. I'd go find a place to work. I want a small town, preferably with no more than 15,000 population and near the mountains.

 

[The Terminator]

 

[michaelskis]

Ever the oddball, I'm looking to retire ... somewhere in the north, where it gets very cold and snowy in the winter, and not so damn hot and humid in the summer. Right now I have my eyes on Marquette, MI and Duluth, MN. I took a financial hit in the divorce, so affordability will be an issue (my current mortgage, homeowner insurance and property taxes are under ... $700/mo just thanks to stupid good luck in the timing of the divorce/new home-buying, e.g., pre-Covid).

Relocating is complicated by a dependent adult on the autism spectrum for whom I am the exclusive caregiver (de facto, not by any agreement with the ex). I'm just about exactly two years out, so, we'll see.

Marquette is phenominal and if you are into outdoor recreation (mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, snow shoeing, kayaking, and such) that is the place for you. With Northern Michigan University right there, you get resources that you would not find in a lot of smaller Towns, but being that NMU is still on the smaller side, you doing get that "college town" vibe everywhere you go. Lake Superior is amazing and there are usually a good few weekends that it is warm enough to swim in.

It it wasn't so cold and my wife didn't hate that type of weather so much, I would be there in a heartbeat.

 

[MacheteJames]

Somewhere warm. I've developed Reynaud's living in Northern New England over recent years and I just don't see myself wanting to put up with tundra in old age despite the glorious summers here. FFS, it's felt like late January outside this week.

 

[kms]

I planned to retire to Mt. Airy, NC. I'd have been a few hours from my daughter. So what did she do? She moved back here with a son, and now has a daughter. I've mentioned a few times that we could all move there, but I don't see that happening.

 

[mendelman]

I planned to retire to Mt. Airy, NC. I'd have been a few hours from my daughter. So what did she do? She moved back here with a son, and now has a daughter. I've mentioned a few times that we could all move there, but I don't see that happening.

But...your part of your state is pretty nice and scenic if you can live with the northern redneck/hillbilly mentalities that abound.

I'm used to such people having grown up in rural NE lower MI and literally being related to some.

View attachment 65878

But you already live near Niagra Falls. Why move?