Best Place To Retire Early

[yanktar]

Most people in most places don't like it if you look down at them and are condescending, even in places nobody in their right mind would want to live.
This is why we in New Jersey resent many New Yorkers.

 

[Pterodactyl]

I was an Army brat and then served 25 years in the Army myself. I have lived in 13 States, 2 Canadian Provinces, Europe, SE Asia and SW Asia and Japan. I have also visited every State and Province. I have enjoyed living in just about place we've been. The only places we were really unhappy was the two metropolitan areas we were assigned to (Toronto and Hampton, VA). I think a good way to assess places to live is to make of list of characteristics you will not accept to narrow the field and then use characteristics you want to assess what remains. Sometimes there is a single overarching thing that will drive your decision. In our case it was being near our dayghter and her family. They live in Montana so here we are (not sure we would have made the move to be close had they lived in a major city). I like a four season environment and after 16 years in Fairbanks the Montana winters are a piece of cake. I can put up with the cold more than I can with oppressive heat and humidity. We considered the live in an RV idea and have friends that happily do so. In the end it was clear to me that I want a home and shop where I can work on bikes and other projects. One person's hell is another person's heaven.

 

[Dr. Rich]

I am on my sixth year of retirement.... It is the best job I have ever had. We too traveled extensively and had definite opinions on where we wanted to live. The fiscal piece of the puzzle had been scripted and planned for about 20 years. Years ago we met with a financial planner ( that was his job and he did not sell any products ). We laid out a plan and tried to adhere to it. His advice was a road map and it definitely was worth the cost.

The "where do we retire" and 'what we wanted in retirement' came down to making a list of what we desired. Some of the items were..

A home without stairs

Being close to a major airport so that we could visit the kids or they could come visit us

An environment with clear air, water and a good quality of life

Being retired military, we wanted to be close to a military facility

Having access to a very good hospital with exceptional doctors. Additionally a good dentist

Settling where the kids and grand kids would want to visit.

An environment with four seasons and good recreational opportunities

Being close to the ocean and a cool average temp / no humidity or stifling heat

Being within a two or three hour drive from a large city

A rural community where we had acreage and privacy/ Also room for a big insulated barn with lots of toys

I think our list was about 15 things and we got most of them. We spent three years before we retired visiting different communities and trying to find the things on our list. We too looked overseas (Scotland and Austria)

Living on an island limits my riding as I have to travel about an hour to get over to the mainland were the roads go up into the mountains but it is one of the trade-offs. I find that as I have gotten older, I don't ride as much. I still have my bikes but there is so much else to do...

 

[yanktar]

I won't mind living on an island when we retire. It's 90 miles long, with a bridge to another 30-mile long island. Just must remember to ride on the left!

Can't get good chain lube there, either. All they have is Liquid Wrench Chain Lube. And the TSA pulled the good stuff out of my checked luggage. They SAID because it was dangerous, but so's hair spray. I think the TSA guy just wanted it for his own bike.

 

[RichDoyle]

Well, we retired last year (not early, BTW) from Washington State to Oregon. More specifically, from Whidbey Island to Central Oregon.

It's financially advantageous for us. All our insurance (Homeowner, Auto, Bike, Aircraft) dropped between 10 and 40%. Taxes and tolls reduced/eliminated by thousands per year. Electric rates by 35%.

Those ratings by State are too gross an analysis. States are NOT homogeneous in cost of living and many even have significantly variant climate.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

The best place to retire is where you are when you're retired. JSNS

 

[hppants]

I suppose cost of living has to be seriously considered for my wife and I. We have to potential of drawing our retirement (at least partially) for 30 years. The last thing I'd want to do is go back to work at 75 years old because I can't live on my retirement.

Right now - I'm concentrating on climate. I mean REALLY studying it.

 

[wheatonFJR]

I suppose cost of living has to be seriously considered for my wife and I. We have to potential of drawing our retirement (at least partially) for 30 years. The last thing I'd want to do is go back to work at 75 years old because I can't live on my retirement.Right now - I'm concentrating on climate. I mean REALLY studying it.

Well, don't come here...we're in the middle of our annual 10-14 days of winter... winter sucks!

Best to be headed to South Florida with the gators...

 

[Pterodactyl]

I suppose cost of living has to be seriously considered for my wife and I. We have to potential of drawing our retirement (at least partially) for 30 years. The last thing I'd want to do is go back to work at 75 years old because I can't live on my retirement.
Right now - I'm concentrating on climate. I mean REALLY studying it.

But just in case you should practice saying, "Would you like fries with that?" and "Welcome to Walmart!"

 

[HotRodZilla]

You all know I live in NM. Is it the BEST place to live? No idea, but like any other it had advantages and disadvantages. From my house, twisty roads are a half hour away. Spectacular dirt bike riding is less than a half hour away. Living somewhere with almost as much land as I want is within an hour of a large city, and it's not usually crazy expensive.

Have hobbies? We have 4 gun ranges within a half hiur. Skiing is an hour away, fishing is 20 minutes away, great recreation lakes are a 3 hour drive. Camping is close, mountains are everywhere, handgliding, mountain climbing, hiking, running, you name it, are available.

Cost of living isn't bad. We don't have tax on food, but it gets made up somewhere. Car registration is stupid cheap, it cost me $30 for 2 year registration for my FJR, and our cars around $35/year. We have liberal gun laws, and unfortunately, liberal judges. Because of that, crime in Albuquerque is up. I'm pretty sure if Albuquerque was larger, we'd have the highest crime rate in the country. However, on regular days, a person can get from one side of the city to the other in a half hour.

I grew up in Rural NM. Small town, and 20 minutes from the closest store. Not bad really, but around here, that's pretty good. Hell, where we lived, we would shoot coyotes from the driveway. Middle of nowhere, but only 20 minutes from town. Haha...

I'll probably retire here, simply because my mom and my wife's mom are here and are both widows. My immediate family is here, and my kids are young. I don't want to move 3 states away and only see my family a couple times a year.

So, basically, I need NM to remain a good place to live. That may include discouraging all of you dorks from wanting to move here and bringing your problems with you. We already have two frigging Texans from this Forum, who have a nice second home outside of Santa Fe. They're great people, but we don't need any more. Haha...

 

[RJAMT]

After 30 years in the service, my former chief planned a second career as a "fitting room attendant" with Fredrick's of Hollywood. He even showed me his completed application form!

 

[Abercrombie FJR]

You all know I live in NM. Is it the BEST place to live? No idea, but like any other it had advantages and disadvantages. From my house, twisty roads are a half hour away. Spectacular dirt bike riding is less than a half hour away. Living somewhere with almost as much land as I want is within an hour of a large city, and it's not usually crazy expensive.
Have hobbies? We have 4 gun ranges within a half hiur. Skiing is an hour away, fishing is 20 minutes away, great recreation lakes are a 3 hour drive. Camping is close, mountains are everywhere, handgliding, mountain climbing, hiking, running, you name it, are available.

Cost of living isn't bad. We don't have tax on food, but it gets made up somewhere. Car registration is stupid cheap, it cost me $30 for 2 year registration for my FJR, and our cars around $35/year. We have liberal gun laws, and unfortunately, liberal judges. Because of that, crime in Albuquerque is up. I'm pretty sure if Albuquerque was larger, we'd have the highest crime rate in the country. However, on regular days, a person can get from one side of the city to the other in a half hour.

I grew up in Rural NM. Small town, and 20 minutes from the closest store. Not bad really, but around here, that's pretty good. Hell, where we lived, we would shoot coyotes from the driveway. Middle of nowhere, but only 20 minutes from town. Haha...

I'll probably retire here, simply because my mom and my wife's mom are here and are both widows. My immediate family is here, and my kids are young. I don't want to move 3 states away and only see my family a couple times a year.

So, basically, I need NM to remain a good place to live. That may include discouraging all of you dorks from wanting to move here and bringing your problems with you. We already have two frigging Texans from this Forum, who have a nice second home outside of Santa Fe. They're great people, but we don't need any more. Haha...

Alright this dork is sold. NM is on the short list for places to spend the winter when I retire. LOL But seriously, I did enjoy the Silver City area for SW-FOG in 2014. If I could find all the touted amenities within an hour of or so of a bigger town or city, it sounds like it checks all of my boxes of things I desire.

 

[FJRay]

I'm pretty sure I'll stay right here. Like AJ all things are close. I can shoot on my property, I'm about 300 yards from the Deschutes national forest with many miles of dual sport riding, I can be fishing in 10 minutes without touching pavement, no sales tax, cheap car tabs( our 2014 F150 was 140.00 for four years). Lapine has most anything you need and Bend is half an hour away and has everything else you need. Winters can be a bit long but it helps keep the population down and being a pretty conservative area keeps the crime rate down. What crime there is seems to get dealt with on a local level

.

We have great roads all around and to top it off we have the best Reuben sandwich to be found.

 

[Big Sky]

FJRay: yeah, but... How far are you from the Deschutes Brewery? Mmmmm Black Butte Porter...mmmmmm. I read recently that Oregon has the most breweries per capita. Montana is second but we're gaining!

 

[Pterodactyl]

In MT motorcycle tags are permanent. You pay once when initially registering the bike and that's it... forever. I think we paid $90 and that was for a vanity plate. On the other hand, cars and trucks must pay every year and a new vehicle can be $350. The amount drops significantly after five years and can become zero after ten. So, it is best to own several new bikes and an old truck.

 

[hppants]

AJ - Albuquerque is too large for me, but I wonder what smaller towns like Bernililo and Edgewood are like?

On average, how many times does it snow there a year?

How hot does it get during the summer and for how long does that last?

 

[wheatonFJR]

^^^^

Pants, except for the first question accuweather might be your friend...

 

[Pterodactyl]

Thinking about retiring in Montana............

 

[Panman]

Thinking about retiring in Montana............

That kinda reminds me of going out the Forman's farm when we went to Lewistown Mt to visit my dads family in the fifty's. They even let me go rabbit hunting with a real 22 when I was eight years old!

 

[Big Sky]

Ptero's video is pretty accurate...and you can still go hunting rabbits with a .22 when you are eight years old. Now, my arm is getting tired from cranking the generator so I'm signing off.