Advice / Info on Where to retire in the US

[sengsational]

More aging people now may not have "people" these days.

Yes, if that's the case, move to a place that looks good (rent first is usually wise), and start cultivating friends there.

I've got a huge family on my side, and my spouse has a smaller group, but they're close. And we have just a few close friends, but they'd do anything for us and us them. And then the kids who we're very close with. So it's hard for me to picture plopping down in some geography where I don't know anybody. I'm glad for this discussion. It's a chance to do my routine Stoic "negative visualization." So glad to have people to help and help me.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I live in Reno and it’s absolutely beautiful! It’s a short drive to Lake Tahoe and the mountains. There’s many recreational activities to keep you busy year round. The healthcare is decent and you’re 3 hours from San Francisco with some of the best healthcare facilities in the country.

We have no state income tax and property taxes are low. However, home prices have skyrocketed and are now more expensive than Sacramento. Other costs are higher as well.

 

[zekeboz]

Check out the area between Portland Maine and Boston. We moved back after being away for a number of years for the following: Overall low taxes, settled in NH. Proximity to major cities, 50mins to Boston, 40min. to Portland. Outdoor recreation, beaches 10-20 mins, mountains 50 mins+ away. Four seasons but when we are tired of skiing we head south, 4 nearby airports to choose from that have daily flights to FL - Boston, Portland, Manchester and Portsmouth, NH. Granted the last one is very small but Allegent has been flying out of there for 10+ years now and sometimes has some amazing deals if you are flexible with your dates. Until our kids start to settle it is important that we are "close" to an airport in order to visit easily. Final plan will be to pick up and move again IF the majority settle in a similar location. Biggest con.. the secret is out and housing prices have gone up across the board. Best bet is to pick a location unloved OR a fixer upper. Good luck.

 

[Alex The Great]

I would suggest Portland, OR of course if you don't mind a rain. The city itself has european look. Great healthcare available. Great nature all around. Relatively large airport with some flights to Europe. But I would suggest to settle just outside of Portland in state of WA, close to Vancouver WA. Then you have the best combination of no income tax in WA and no sales tax in OR.

 

[lakerunner]

Modest North Georgia mountain town house (like Morganton, GA) and rent 6 months per year near kids and all over. 90 minutes to ATL. Driveable to NE. Great outdoors.

This is a great area. We are 10 minutes from Morganton. We were fortunate enough to buy a weekend place back in the late 90s. I do worry that the area is getting over priced though.

 

[pjm-7]

I will put my plug in for Colorado's western slope. I had to escape the Colorado front range four years ago. I always liked the Loveland/Ft. Collins areas but now they are just suburbs of Denver. Also, they are getting painfully expensive and congested.

The area in and around Grand Junction is a good fit for me.
1. Have access to health care. Two major hospitals plus a VA hospital.
2. Access to transportation, airport and Amtrak.
3. Local university, current student population about 12,000
4. Wineries, currently 35 of them in the county plus more in the surrounding counties.
5. The ski area is 30 minutes outside of town. If you want bigger areas it is about two hours to Aspen or Telluride.
6. Entertainment, since we are halfway between Denver and Salt Lake City, we do get some major acts.
7. Lastly, real estate is reasonably affordable. Not as cheap as a few years about but it's not Denver.

 

[Mexpet]

Lots to think about, but I know a lot more now thanks to you.

 

[mebden]

Yes, insurance is crazy sky-high! $2495 this year for homeowners', flood, and wind'n'hail (=hurricane insurance) for a 1500 sf house that Zillow says is worth $327K. But some other things are low in cost, so some of that balances out.

I would never move here again with insurances period! auto, home, Parrish, and state taxes are ridiculous here and W2R your homeowners is a steal as I'm south of you and just got my renewal and it went up to $4800 and that is cheap for this area on average what I'm hearing from some other peeps their paying $6000 a year as the Insurance companies are trying to recoup all their losses from Hurricane IDA

 

[EastWest Gal]

This is an different suggestion, but based on 25 years here, consider south central PA, Harrisburg area. Not major mountains but astoundingly beautiful. Picture a wagon wheel. We are in the center. Highways leading everywhere. Three hour drive to NYC, 1.5-2 hr to Baltimore and DC. Four hours to Pittsburgh. Seven hour drive to Michigan and Boston. Yet I live 5 miles from the Appalachian trail and next to a farm with its own farmer's market.

We are surrounded by farmland, yet boast some of the best school districts in the state, and have multiple colleges nearby. State income tax is 3.07%, and retirement income, IRA distributions, 401K distributions, and SS income is not taxed at the state level at all. When we moved here in 1999, I had no idea how amazing this area is. When we moved here, even Starbucks was almost non-existent. Now we have multiple ethnic restaurants everywhere, and great festivals in the summer. We have a Nepali community mostly populated by MDs, PhDs, and the like, and the ethnic food of their culture is amazing. We have an annual Greek festival. Three festivals on the Susquehanna River during the summer holidays-Arts, Music, and Kipona festivals

We can see the ski resort from our house-facing south. Turn north and we are looking at state gamelands. Beautiful colors every fall. If you love rollercoasters and amusement parks, Hershey Park is one of the best in the world. Snow is welcome and handled beautifully by our state and local governments.

We don't have Colorado level mountains. We have two world class medical centers competing for our business, 10 minutes from our house. PM me if this is of interest to you. Also, if your family is located in the USA east, this ia considration. If to the west, maybe not.

 

[Koolau]

This is an different suggestion, but based on 25 years here, consider south central PA, Harrisburg area. Not major mountains but astoundingly beautiful. Picture a wagon wheel. We are in the center. Highways leading everywhere. Three hour drive to NYC, 1.5-2 hr to Baltimore and DC. Four hours to Pittsburgh. Seven hour drive to Michigan and Boston. Yet I live 5 miles from the Appalachian trail and next to a farm with its own farmer's market.

We are surrounded by farmland, yet boast some of the best school districts in the state, and have multiple colleges nearby. State income tax is 3.07%, and retirement income, IRA distributions, 401K distributions, and SS income is not taxed at the state level at all. When we moved here in 1999, I had no idea how amazing this area is. When we moved here, even Starbucks was almost non-existent. Now we have multiple ethnic restaurants everywhere, and great festivals in the summer. We have a Nepali community mostly populated by MDs, PhDs, and the like, and the ethnic food of their culture is amazing. We have an annual Greek festival. Three festivals on the Susquehanna River during the summer holidays-Arts, Music, and Kipona festivals

We can see the ski resort from our house-facing south. Turn north and we are looking at state gamelands. Beautiful colors every fall. If you love rollercoasters and amusement parks, Hershey Park is one of the best in the world. Snow is welcome and handled beautifully by our state and local governments.

We don't have Colorado level mountains. We have two world class medical centers competing for our business, 10 minutes from our house. PM me if this is of interest to you. Also, if your family is located in the USA east, this ia considration. If to the west, maybe not.

This is quite a revelation to me. Sounds like a "sweet spot" of activities and facilites. How is the COL in this area?

 

[Katsmeow]

So many factors that affect this that you haven't mentioned (I am sure you have thought of most of or all of them). We moved from Texas to Delaware last year. We considered strongly Las Vegas. So I just want to mention a few factors

Weather - There is a lot of difference between a snowy mountain area and south Florida. I've been to south Florida a number of times and it is much like Texas -- hot and humid. You need to think if you can tolerate that. Go visit in August and wee how it is.

Insurance issues - Living aside every other factor, some states have major home ownership insurance issues. Florida has the biggest problem. Some parts of California are problematical. Research this as it is a big issue. This would have crossed Florida off our list for sure.

Disaster risk - Different places have different disaster risk. Our insurance went down 80% when we moved from Texas to Delaware because the disaster risk went down so much. Also, it isn't just the insurance. It is the risk of the disaster itself. I lived in the Houston area for years and often had to deal with hurricanes but I mostly picked places where only a little rain and high wind was an issue. There are definitely places I would not want to live due to hurricane risk (part of coastal Texas and all of Florida). Other places we ruled out partly due to disaster risk - California (wildfires mostly, although some environmental concerns) and Pacific NW (Cascadian Subduction zone).

Amenities - Different areas have different available of amenities. Some years ago we lived near Houston in a neighboring country. We lived on an acre and it was a great house. But it was 25 minutes to the closest grocery store. It was an hour to any significant shopping. It was 30 minutes to any hospital. That was OK at the time but as we get older I realized it was going to be a problem particularly if we couldn't drive.

Politics, government and values - I don't want to discuss specifics of these topics. There is a mix of people in every state. But, make sure that the governmental system aligns with your values. If you will be in a minority viewpoint in your state that can be very stressful. Think about it and consider it when moving.

House and city style -- This is sort of vague. But I will try to explain. The way houses and neighborhoods look in Delaware is almost completely foreign to how they were in Texas. Neither one is bad, but they are very, very, very different. When we moved to Delaware I had to adapt and give up on certain things that were common in Texas. On the other hand, I got certain things I didn't have in Texas. If you are very adaptable you may not care. But, many people do care. Go online and look at houses in your desired areas (or condos or townhouses) and look at pics of the neighborhood. Make sure you are comfortable with the area.

Health care - Be sure to check the availability of good health care in your chosen area including where you would go if you had a serious emergency that the local hospital couldn't handle. We ruled out Las Vegas because there weren't good options for the sudden, serious emergency.

I personally would never want to live in a mountain area. I would be totally cool with living in an area where I could see mountains. Even so, I would pick living in a mountain area to living in Florida given all the risk factors of disaster and insurance.

 

[folivier]

Regarding the political climate, whichever side of the fence you are on make sure the area you pick doesn't bounce back and forth. That is very frustrating. I'd rather be in an area with a solid political climate than one that is changing every few years.

 

[Ronstar]

I’m looking for a mini ranch in a rural mountain area with a 2000 sf maintenance free house (that DW likes) and workshop barn, with decent biking and hiking areas nearby, low taxes, weather where temps don’t usually get above 90 or below freezing, mostly sunny days, with very little traffic/congestion, with grocery and hardware/home improvement stores within 15 miles, airport within 1.5 hours.

I’ve searched the entire US and the place does not exist.