When and how do you decide a retirement location and lifestyle?

[FrugalInvestor]

I apologize if this has been referenced before, but here is a great tool that lets you filter on US counties using weather, cost of living, likelihood of natural disasters, and several demographic factors.

[url][https://www.movemap.io/explore[/usurl]

Page could not be found

[hudson]

When and how do you decide on a retirement location and lifestyle if it's at least 12-15+ years away? We have no idea where the kids will end up, don't know how our health will be, don't even know what kind of place we'd like to live. It's hard to budget for something without a clear plan. Does whether or not you have a lifestyle plan really make a difference?

Has anyone planned for something and ended up somewhere completely different? We know a number of couples who moved away and then one of them died within a year or 2. At least one moved away and didn't like it and moved back.

Do you simply assume you will live somewhere no more expensive than our current house to make a rough budget and figure out details in a decade+?

For me, plan #1 was: no debt, paid for house, enough income.
I've accomplished #1 and have no thoughts of moving.

If I wanted to move, I'd come up with plan #2 and see if I could afford it. I'd also do all plenty of homework on the proposed location including lots of visits. Since you asked, you probably want to move; go for it and see if you can make it happen.

Bottom Line: Moving is expensive. It'll cost more than you think. Will you have enough?

Many that I grew up with always wanted to retire near the beach. They all found a way...somehow. Some live further back than others.

[Mr. Curious]

I apologize if this has been referenced before, but here is a great tool that lets you filter on US counties using weather, cost of living, likelihood of natural disasters, and several demographic factors.

[url][https://www.movemap.io/explore[/usurl]

Page could not be found

I might be using the copy link function incorrectly. See if this works.

https://www.movemap.io/explore/us

[FrugalInvestor]

I apologize if this has been referenced before, but here is a great tool that lets you filter on US counties using weather, cost of living, likelihood of natural disasters, and several demographic factors.

[url][https://www.movemap.io/explore[/usurl]

Page could not be found

I might be using the copy link function incorrectly. See if this works.

https://www.movemap.io/explore/us

That does it!

[JS-Elcano]

I am about 10 years away from retiring and I have been thinking about this too. Currently, my favorite option is to stay put here where I have my home on the central west coast of Florida and move away for the summer months (like a reverse snow bird ). Late October to April/mid-May is perfect here, but I would like to move north or northwest for the summer to enjoy hiking or just staying in a place where the outdoors are comfortable. I am even considering a different place each year for a couple of months.

[winterfan]

My spouse's extended family and my family all live where we live, so we won't leave. I like it here anyway. However, all bets are off if my child moves somewhere else! I do like the idea of renting a place in a different area for a month or two at a time, just to explore things at a leisurely pace.

[Wannaretireearly]

I dream of spending 6 months in Cali (home state) and 6 months abroad.

Given other current threads here on challenges of buying abroad (taxes, etc), I think I'll be fine renting when needed abroad.
Thailand, Spain & Portugal are high on the list. UK will always be on the list, but more as a transit country

I would love to have options in retirement, and change based on weather, politics, health, healthcare situations etc.
I envy those who have been able to be flexible and 'go live' where it is best at that time in their life (and would love to hear how they did it!)

Maintaining lifestyles in the USA and abroad is when it gets expensive. It might very well be a preferable method (my parents did it for years) but it is definitely not the cost effective solution.

Agree. I don’t think we’ll sell our CA house until or unless all our ties here are gone. That will take perhaps close to 20 years to figure out. In the meantime, I cannot/will not carry two housing costs. Too much headache as shown by posts here, especially when I’d rather just be traveling

[halfnine]

I dream of spending 6 months in Cali (home state) and 6 months abroad.

Given other current threads here on challenges of buying abroad (taxes, etc), I think I'll be fine renting when needed abroad.
Thailand, Spain & Portugal are high on the list. UK will always be on the list, but more as a transit country

I would love to have options in retirement, and change based on weather, politics, health, healthcare situations etc.
I envy those who have been able to be flexible and 'go live' where it is best at that time in their life (and would love to hear how they did it!)

Maintaining lifestyles in the USA and abroad is when it gets expensive. It might very well be a preferable method (my parents did it for years) but it is definitely not the cost effective solution.

Agree. I don’t think we’ll sell our CA house until or unless all our ties here are gone. That will take perhaps close to 20 years to figure out. In the meantime, I cannot/will not carry two housing costs. Too much headache as shown by posts here, especially when I’d rather just be traveling

It sounds like you will be be carrying two housing costs though. You are paying for housing in two locations at once. Once in California and wherever you are traveling whether it is via rent or home ownership.

My point is more generic then that, though. By spending 6 months in the USA and 6 months abroad you likely have high carrying costs to maintain two lifestyles concurrently. Like I mentioned this lifestyle for many might be preferable but it does come at a premium.

[ralph124cf]

I strongly suggest deciding on a LIFESTYLE first, before trying to decide on a retirement location.

[lepegasus]

I purposefully chose the area I retired to. I had not lived here before, but had briefly lived an hour away — twice, in different directions. My primary consideration was the weather, second was the overall tax burden, third was access to both mountains and waterways.

I came here and rented an Airbnb for a month while looking for a house. I ended up further into the hinterland than I anticipated, in a gorgeous MCOL area with far more days of sun each year than I wanted, but it turned out perfect. Written from my hot tub overlooking the water.

Seems as if the plan came together for you. Well played.

[JeanneForever]

Thank you, everyone! This has given us a lot to think about, and I'm glad most people don't figure out all the details this far in advance and that things can work out even when plans change.

[Elsebet]

I apologize if this has been referenced before, but here is a great tool that lets you filter on US counties using weather, cost of living, likelihood of natural disasters, and several demographic factors.

[url][https://www.movemap.io/explore[/usurl]

Page could not be found

I might be using the copy link function incorrectly. See if this works.

https://www.movemap.io/explore/us

Just a note, I didn't check every county but for my home county this site gets the biggest cities 100% wrong. Not even close!

[tj]

I purposefully chose the area I retired to. I had not lived here before, but had briefly lived an hour away — twice, in different directions. My primary consideration was the weather, second was the overall tax burden, third was access to both mountains and waterways.

I came here and rented an Airbnb for a month while looking for a house. I ended up further into the hinterland than I anticipated, in a gorgeous MCOL area with far more days of sun each year than I wanted, but it turned out perfect. Written from my hot tub overlooking the water.

Where did you end up?

[tuningfork]

I apologize if this has been referenced before, but here is a great tool that lets you filter on US counties using weather, cost of living, likelihood of natural disasters, and several demographic factors.

[url][https://www.movemap.io/explore[/usurl]

Page could not be found

I might be using the copy link function incorrectly. See if this works.

https://www.movemap.io/explore/us

Just a note, I didn't check every county but for my home county this site gets the biggest cities 100% wrong. Not even close!

Other data is incorrect as well. The low-humidity, wildfire-prone, in-drought-for-most-of-the-past-20-years county I've lived in for a very long time, shows up as high humidity, wildfire-safe, and drought-free.

[quantAndHold]

I apologize if this has been referenced before, but here is a great tool that lets you filter on US counties using weather, cost of living, likelihood of natural disasters, and several demographic factors.

[url][https://www.movemap.io/explore[/usurl]

Page could not be found

I might be using the copy link function incorrectly. See if this works.

https://www.movemap.io/explore/us

Just a note, I didn't check every county but for my home county this site gets the biggest cities 100% wrong. Not even close!

Other data is incorrect as well. The low-humidity, wildfire-prone, in-drought-for-most-of-the-past-20-years county I've lived in for a very long time, shows up as high humidity, wildfire-safe, and drought-free.

And apparently San Diego has high humidity and tornadoes. It must be a different San Diego.

[PinotGris]

I retired in 2014, after a long career as a college professor. I had accumulated a good retirement account. I had no debt. My kids had left our household and were doing well in their careers (also they were financially independent).

To answer your double headed question. 1) We chose a location that was near to where we had lived and worked for more than 30 years; we had friends here; we knew the territory. We could still visit our kids for holidays and vacation periods. 2) Our lifestyle at this age wasn't about to change much whether we moved or stayed close to home. We had plenty of money accumulated in 401K and IRA accounts (>>$2 MM). We owned our property outright and had no other debt. Add Social Security and we have more financial resources than we need, even after relocating to a new residence that is about 1 hr by car from where we had lived the previous 35 years.

As for lifestyle, we still take long-distance vacations, though our travel has been reduced a lot during the COVID era.

Pretty much our story as well. We love where we are, our neighbors, our house, everything is comfortable and familiar. As you say our lifestyle would not change much no matter where we move. May I ask why did you move an hour away?

[Garco]

Just for a change of scenery, restaurants, etc. Also the medical care facilities are outstanding. We were familiar with the new area from some of my work activities. We're closer to a major airport. And we can still visit our former city. Many of my work colleagues and our friends had left the state. A pull in some cases is that their children and grandchildren were located far away, and our friends wanted to move closer to their extended family. Our situation was complicated by the fact that my own family was concentrated on the West Coast and my wife's family on the East Coast, while we live in the midwest -- but our own children had also settled in the East.

[JediMisty]

More than a decade before retirement, I started considering locations. I wanted to scuba dive regularly, so initially checked out Bonaire, Cozumel (Mexico) and Costa Rica whilst on vacation. For various reasons, ruled them each out. Then checked out Tampa, FL and Jacksonville, FL to be near family, thinking that I could fly to my vacation destinations from there. Ruled those both out due to various reasons. I still wanted to live in warm weather, flying to travel easily. I decided that places near a good airport would be preferred. Also areas not to far from parks and hills for walking. Finally, I found a place I wanted to volunteer and it's near a major international airport. Downsized to a townhouse making it easier to travel. I knew no one here, but I've made friends. I'm close enough to family to make it a one day drive. Overall, I've balanced wants fairly well. I'm close to hospitals if I need health support later. Hopefully the stairs won't be an issue. But if they are, I'll move again, downsizing further.

[tj]

More than a decade before retirement, I started considering locations. I wanted to scuba dive regularly, so initially checked out Bonaire, Cozumel (Mexico) and Costa Rica whilst on vacation. For various reasons, ruled them each out. Then checked out Tampa, FL and Jacksonville, FL to be near family, thinking that I could fly to my vacation destinations from there. Ruled those both out due to various reasons. I still wanted to live in warm weather, flying to travel easily. I decided that places near a good airport would be preferred. Also areas not to far from parks and hills for walking. Finally, I found a place I wanted to volunteer and it's near a major international airport. Downsized to a townhouse making it easier to travel. I knew no one here, but I've made friends. I'm close enough to family to make it a one day drive. Overall, I've balanced wants fairly well. I'm close to hospitals if I need health support later. Hopefully the stairs won't be an issue. But if they are, I'll move again, downsizing further.

Your location says Central NJ, is that somewhere warm?!?

[JediMisty]

More than a decade before retirement, I started considering locations. I wanted to scuba dive regularly, so initially checked out Bonaire, Cozumel (Mexico) and Costa Rica whilst on vacation. For various reasons, ruled them each out. Then checked out Tampa, FL and Jacksonville, FL to be near family, thinking that I could fly to my vacation destinations from there. Ruled those both out due to various reasons. I still wanted to live in warm weather, flying to travel easily. I decided that places near a good airport would be preferred. Also areas not to far from parks and hills for walking. Finally, I found a place I wanted to volunteer and it's near a major international airport. Downsized to a townhouse making it easier to travel. I knew no one here, but I've made friends. I'm close enough to family to make it a one day drive. Overall, I've balanced wants fairly well. I'm close to hospitals if I need health support later. Hopefully the stairs won't be an issue. But if they are, I'll move again, downsizing further.

Your location says Central NJ, is that somewhere warm?!?

Lol. That's my location before I relocated. I'm near Atlanta now. I spend a month a couple of times each year diving in Cozumel, a couple of other weeks at other dive destinations, and three or more weeks visiting family in Florida.