OT: "Best" places to retire (assuming you can)

[Icebear]

I only play when either of the mega lotteries are above 100 million. I still have my list of ten things I will do if I win. Only way to combat the likelihood of doing stupid is to have a plan.

1) Buy back for the local community the local nursing. Establish a community board to run it and reconnect it to the local community.

2) Buy the local truck stop and restaurant from the current company that has run it into the ground and establish a profit sharing basis for all of the employees and free coffee for all veterans daily from 7:00 to 10:00am.

3) Pay for my nieces and nephews education through whatever they want to study even to PHDs. Reimburse my brothers and sister in laws for what they have paid to date.

4) Provide everything my parents need to stay at home and be safe and healthy.

5) Establish a charitable foundation to continue doing good works in our community and to handle all local requests for assitance.

6) Build a retreat center for pastors to use for personal retreats and sermon and program planning.

7) Build 5 Habitat for Humanity houses every year.

8) Establish a matching funds endowment at my congregation for mission trips and /or church camp.

9) Establish a women's basketball scholarship in the name of The Boneyard.

10) Whatever trips my wife would like us to go on and move back to the coast of CT.

Since I already more than tithe I will look for ways to responsibly tithe to our congregation and the denomination.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Here is what I think...know what you are doing financially, both before and after retirement. No head in the sand I will win the lottery fantasies. Make a plan within your means and stick with it. Live where and as you can afford it.

Hope for heath to carry out the plan, and keep a sharp eye out for differentiation between want and need.
OTOH, if you have enough, spend like a drunken sailor. Life is short.

However, I may be wrong for some or many…wouldn’t be the first time.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Look, if you have the money, CT is a fine place. I do, however, have many friends who just can't afford the cost of living here, so they go elswhere. You have to run the numbers.

Just the way it is.

Precisely why I am in Arizona, just substitute NJ for CT.

Likewise, to the poster who talked about weather, it is a factor. Neither my wife nor myself were able to shovel snow safely, so were dependant on a service. Mom, with us at 93, was snow-bound almost the entire last winter that we were in NJ, as she was unable to go out on slippery walks or in serious cold. Here, she is out almost every morning, walking around on the patio with her walker.

 

[Icebear]

Here is what I think...know what you are doing financially, both before and after retirement. No head in the sand I will win the lottery fantasies. Make a plan within your means and stick with it. Live where and as you can afford it.

Hope for heath to carry out the plan, and keep a sharp eye out for differentiation between want and need.
OTOH, if you have enough, spend like a drunken sailor. Life is short.

However, I may be wrong for some or many…wouldn’t n be the first time.

Agreed. Oz, that is exactly why my plan is dominated by what I want to do to impact the lives of others. Essentially, we should all live as we want to be all the time no matter what we have as blessings. Reason for sharing my list with others is to help me be accountable to how I continue to live my life.

 

[UcMiami]

I only play when either of the mega lotteries are above 100 million. I still have my list of ten things I will do if I win. Only way to combat the likelihood of doing stupid is to have a plan.

1) Buy back for the local community the local nursing. Establish a community board to run it and reconnect it to the local community.

2) Buy the local truck stop and restaurant from the current company that has run it into the ground and establish a profit sharing basis for all of the employees and free coffee for all veterans daily from 7:00 to 10:00am.

3) Pay for my nieces and nephews education through whatever they want to study even to PHDs. Reimburse my brothers and sister in laws for what they have paid to date.

4) Provide everything my parents need to stay at home and be safe and healthy.

5) Establish a charitable foundation to continue doing good works in our community and to handle all local requests for assitance.

6) Build a retreat center for pastors to use for personal retreats and sermon and program planning.

7) Build 5 Habitat for Humanity houses every year.

8) Establish a matching funds endowment at my congregation for mission trips and /or church camp.

9) Establish a women's basketball scholarship in the name of The Boneyard.

10) Whatever trips my wife would like us to go on and move back to the coast of CT.

Since I already more than tithe I will look for ways to responsibly tithe to our congregation and the denomination.

Nice list and I totally agree on waiting for the JP to top $100M - I figure I really don't want to have to win twice, so why waste the time on the chump change JPs.

 

[AllAmerRedHeads]

Guess I am in a bit of trouble. I thought CT was bad. we may be the opposite of most and head north to Maine.

#46..ouch! Yet the town we go to has more than most towns here in CT. a river is 200 feet from us, ocean is 900 feet. a drive in, Imax theatre, 2 theme parks, golf course and a old fashioned restaurant in an old mill where no meal is more than 4.99

The only downside compared to CT for me is December thru March isnt a lot of fun. even with lobster crate races and igloo building.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Despite the high cost of living and taxes, I'm heading to San Diego, where I have wanted to be for 40 years. I retired 6 months ago and hope to be in SD in another 3 months. YOLO!

 

[MilfordHusky]

I only play when either of the mega lotteries are above 100 million. I still have my list of ten things I will do if I win. Only way to combat the likelihood of doing stupid is to have a plan.

1) Buy back for the local community the local nursing. Establish a community board to run it and reconnect it to the local community.

2) Buy the local truck stop and restaurant from the current company that has run it into the ground and establish a profit sharing basis for all of the employees and free coffee for all veterans daily from 7:00 to 10:00am.

3) Pay for my nieces and nephews education through whatever they want to study even to PHDs. Reimburse my brothers and sister in laws for what they have paid to date.

4) Provide everything my parents need to stay at home and be safe and healthy.

5) Establish a charitable foundation to continue doing good works in our community and to handle all local requests for assitance.

6) Build a retreat center for pastors to use for personal retreats and sermon and program planning.

7) Build 5 Habitat for Humanity houses every year.

8) Establish a matching funds endowment at my congregation for mission trips and /or church camp.

9) Establish a women's basketball scholarship in the name of The Boneyard.

10) Whatever trips my wife would like us to go on and move back to the coast of CT.

Since I already more than tithe I will look for ways to responsibly tithe to our congregation and the denomination.

A seriously nice list.

But we come in at #9??

 

[Icebear]

A seriously nice list.

But we come in at #9??

Still higher than myself at #10.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Despite the high cost of living and taxes, I'm heading to San Diego, where I have wanted to be for 40 years. I retired 6 months ago and hope to be in SD in another 3 months. YOLO!

Mil…SD is such a wonderful city…I was just there, and I found the Gas Lamp district to be incredibly invigorating, the ballpark fun, and the hotel we stayed at(Marriott Marina) had beautiful surrounding views, restaurants, and walkways. I’m sure there is much more.

 

[Rayvin56]

Mil…SD is such a wonderful city…I was just there, and I found the Gas Lamp district to incredibly invigorating, the ballpark fun, and the hotel we stayed at(Marriott Marina) had beautiful surrounding views, restaurants, and walkways. I’m sure there is much more.

The 'more' is 'less'--only 3.5" of rainfall a year! Great city!

 

[Bestiarius]

Mil…SD is such a wonderful city…I was just there, and I found the Gas Lamp district to incredibly invigorating, the ballpark fun, and the hotel we stayed at(Marriott Marina) had beautiful surrounding views, restaurants, and walkways. I’m sure there is much more.

The bar from Top Gun - Kansas City Barbeque. It burned down in 2008 (accidentally the biggest bra burning event in history). Subsequently rebuilt.

 

[johnnyc]

Southern states have a lower tax burden largely because they spend less - a lot less - on education. (They also give large tax-breaks to auto companies to lure them out of the "rust belt", taking jobs from Michigan, Ohio, etc.). When you look at mortality rates, obesity rates, smoking, etc., southern states are also unhealthier than the rest of the country. So, cheaper than the rest of the country - but also not as educated, and unhealthier.

Yeah...I'm lookin' for a degree in relaxation.

 

[pinotbear]

"you look foah me, Elvy boy, on accountta I'ma-facin' in the wrong Di-rection .."

 

[uconnfan68]

Despite the high cost of living and taxes, I'm heading to San Diego, where I have wanted to be for 40 years. I retired 6 months ago and hope to be in SD in another 3 months. YOLO!

Spent 4 years there (Navy), and absolutely loved it. Came back east for a visit... been 33+ years now, but one day I'll get back.

 

[tomcat]

This is a really interesting thread. My wife and I -- northeasterners -- moved to Arizona 7 years ago for a job opportunity. That part has worked out really well, but find I really miss the ocean. To put this in perspective, this comes from a person who as a kid, spent a couple of weeks every year on the shore. Whether at Ocean Beach, Hammonasset or Rocky Neck in Connecticut, Wells or Ogunquit in Maine or Gloucester in Mass., fun just equaled ocean. I never got it out of my system.

We get to San Diego a couple of times a year and that helps. But it really isn't enough. I envy the person who is moving to San Diego, because it's one of our favorite places, but it's way off our affordable chart, and I have a feeling California's financial situation is not going to be in the black for a while yet, so it could cost even more.

I agree with the previous poster about shoveling. A snow shovel is a heart attack on a stick, IMHO, so warm weather is a must. Although we love the beauty of the state and my wife honestly thinks the climate is ideal, there is just something about a lot of Arizonans and their guns and attitudes that turns us off. And, as someone noted, the quality of health care here is not especially good (although Arizonans think it is). As a result, we're probably going to do the northeasterners' retirement cliche -- move to Florida. Cost of living is not impossible and health care is better than it is here. We can live near the water (only the suicidal live on it, it seems to us). I have studied the map and looked for communities on the water with an acceptable level of risk of hurricane strikes (understanding that a hurricane can hit anywhere in a given season) and a low level of sinkholes -- the latest, greatest risk factor to Florida living.

If all goes according to plan -- and Murphy's Law does not intervene -- we'll do this in three years.

 

[UConnChapette]

I'm kinda digging this Palo Alto area thing. But it is expensive. Still, the weather is lovely.

 

[Geno-ista]

Southern states are ranked fairly highly in this format, and that is largely based on their perceived better climate, and lower tax burden. Climate is a matter of personal preference.: having spent 15 years in KY and VA, I have no desire to live in a place warmer and muggier than that. So, whereas the list values Louisianna's climate highly, I would hate it. More objectively, the relatively lower tax burden of the southern states has an undisclosed cost. Southern states have a lower tax burden largely because they spend less - a lot less - on education. (They also give large tax-breaks to auto companies to lure them out of the "rust belt", taking jobs from Michigan, Ohio, etc.). When you look at mortality rates, obesity rates, smoking, etc., southern states are also unhealthier than the rest of the country. So, cheaper than the rest of the country - but also not as educated, and unhealthier.

I will be 55 this month. We are getting rid of our nice home and $10k+ of prop taxes, and exorbitant utility costs. We are going to So Carolina - around Charleston. We don't care about education- both daughters getting married this month and next spring. I'm not a warm weather person, but my wife is. I can't afford to retire yet, and own an insurance agency. I am going to keep an apt at my office, 2.5 story colonial, split my time in So Car and Ct. April- Oct I will have a small cabin in the Catskills-3 hrs away. Attempting to get off the treadmill, cut costs significantly, and make my wife happier. We don't have to let others bad health habits rub off on us. Can't wait to downsize also b cause I think a lg devaluation of the U S Dollar is coming soon. Smaller or less expensive property men's smaller net loss!

 

[DaddyChoc]

10k... damn you must live in a mansion

 

[progrocks]

If you are a non-married male I highly recommend Thailand. Not that expensive, and it seems like 30 year old women really have a thing for old white guys. Must like thai food though.

 

[Rayvin56]

Spent 4 years there (Navy), and absolutely loved it. Came back east for a visit... been 33+ years now, but one day I'll get back.

I was also there during my Navy years, at the ASW base, back in '74. It was only for ST school--I wish it had been 4 years!!

 

[Zorro]

Lake Atitlan in Guatemala is nice. Reasonable prices, esp. if you like fresh fruits and veggies, housing relatively cheap, year-round temp range of 60-80 f. Lots of expats here too, if you want to keep up with your English.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Mil…SD is such a wonderful city…I was just there, and I found the Gas Lamp district to be incredibly invigorating, the ballpark fun, and the hotel we stayed at(Marriott Marina) had beautiful surrounding views, restaurants, and walkways. I’m sure there is much more.

Glad you liked it, Oz. I've been there 40-50 times. My estimate is now August. Anytime after that, look me up.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm kinda digging this Palo Alto area thing. But it is expensive. Still, the weather is lovely.

Are you there, or just your son? Yeah, great weather, but high prices.

 

[UConnChapette]

Are you there, or just your son? Yeah, great weather, but high prices.

I am here helping him get settled, flying home on Tuesday 5/21. Once he gets the internets tomorrow he will have just about everything he needs...an apartment, furniture, new bank accounts, a California driver's license and a job - which, of course he had before he got here. Yeah, the prices are ridiculous - he is paying a little under $3,000 a month for a 685 square foot apartment. It is a new construction in an area with just about everything within a couple blocks including a Cal train station so he doesn't really need a car . It is a very nice apartment in a great area, but I have a hard time with knowing he is paying over three times what our mortgage is for less than half the size of our house.