How Happy Are You With Where You Retired

We spent over ten years checking out different places for retirement! We even bought and eventually sold vacation homes in three different places. We took all of our trips while we were still working, but nothing compared to our cute, one-story patio home in a suburb of San Diego, with perfect year-round weather. What did we try out? We bought properties in the small towns of Silver City, New Mexico; then Safford, Arizona followed by Alpine, Texas. We tested out beautiful towns in Wyoming, South Dakota, Arkansas, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, North Carolina, Florida, and Montana, We learned that where we lived, although "flawed", was nearly perfect for us. I could be a retirement advisor, but glad just to be retired in place!

I am extremely happy to have retired in The Villages, FL. This community is the most active on this earth. It is the largest golf complex in the world (and executive golf is free), the largest number of pickleball courts, over 100 swimming pools, over 100 recreation areas, and over 3000 available activities. Each days schedule of available activities takes two pages in the daily newspaper to list. Also there is free live entertainment at three different town squares each night. If you want to be active this is the place.

We feel like God saved our spot just for us in Eastern TN.
Learning about medical here.... I have had about 50 appointments since October and have only had to wait a bit twice. My Chattanooga doctors confer with the Vanderbilt group, which are very excellent. I was quite ill, and now I am able to do much more! I am on track to live a lot longer than when I was first diagnosed.
Anyway, we'll have a difficult year, but we are still looking forward to several more good years here. We have wonderful neighbors and friends!

I don’t think of retirement in the traditional sense, like my parents did. It’s just been a shift to working part time (same job) and a move to another interesting place. I’ll work until I’m no longer competent, and keep moving whenever it seems appropriate, to the “best” place finances allow. Life is a series of transitions, rather than a specific big change that pivots around career/work to not working.

We retired to Prescott, Arizona after spending many vacations in the Southwest. Prescott was nice, but in the end we decided the cold winters, high altitude (a mile high, leading to some lung issues) and small town living were not for us. We moved again, this time to Tucson. Although the summers are crazy hot, overall it was a better fit for us. Eight months out of the year it's terrific, and some reverse snow-birding brings some relief from the summer heat.

We researched a 55+ condo community and decided to purchase a new unit at the beginning of 2020. We're retired and wanted to move closer to kids & grandkids. We had read comments from others (both positive & negative) about living in a condo community, so we didn't go into this blindly. This is one of those situations that you have to experience first-hand to really know if it's for you! At first everything was fine. A property management firm was not yet in place, since there were still a few units under construction. Our neighbors on both sides turned out to be very inconsiderate ... allowing their dog to run free and leave a mess in our front yard & leaving it to us to clean up! (We didn't say anything, because we weren't sure whose dog it was.) Neighbors on the other side of our duplex kept playing their sound system with the bass turned up, which is against the house rules. When politely asked to turn it down, they ended up telling us off! These are things we could not have anticipated, but also things we never experienced living in a private home. There are cliques, gossips, and rule-breakers! The property taxes are high & the HOA fee has already been raised (after one year) by 50% due to insufficient funds in the reserve account. Needless to say, we plan to move back into a private home.

We moved from CO to northeast FL just south of St Augustine. My wife always wanted a beach house and I was willing to try it out even though while I like the beach I'm not a "beach person" per se. I loved our beach and the town (Flagler Beach) six months out of the year (late fall to early spring) and was dying the other six months of the year due to the oppressive heat and humidity. I tried hard for three years to love it even during the hot months but if just going outside, without doing anything, means I ended drenched in sweat within 20 minutes it was just too much. Forget if I try to do anything like mow the grass, go for a walk, etc., in minutes I'd be soaking, literally soaking wet. After giving it 3 years my wife has graciously agreed to move back to CO. We lived in Durango previously and will probably end up back there. The winters are relatively mild and it is even sunnier than Florida without any oppressive heat and humidity. Like I tell my wife, she can always add another sweater or long johns, I can't get any more naked!!!!

Love these comments - keep them coming. Nothing better than hearing from real people the pros and cons of where they retired. As for me and my wife, we are snowbirds and very happy and fortunate with our summers in CT on the Long Island coast and winters in sunny, warm, walkable/bikable, and funky Key West. We do worry that a lot of people are getting priced out in KW, we are losing friends to places like St. Petersburg. Please let us know where you retired and how it is going!

I was one of the ones who marked "Our new location was the perfect choice". We actually were in a condo for several years, and we liked it OK, but after some time we decided to trade that for a house in the same community. Instead of being beachfront, we are now on the inland waterway in Cocoa Beach. We would have been happy in the condo, but the garden and direct waterfront of our new home is more our speed. We are snowbirds in the sense we are only in Florida 7 months a year -- my wife would be happy to stay here year-round but it is too hot (and too subject to hurricanes) for me.

We are very happy with where we retired as a snowbird in southern Florida and New England in summer. Best of both worlds, only aggravation is going back and forth and two sets of everything. One part of that that is good is having two sets of friends! The only thing that is worrisome is where we will end up when we can no longer go back and forth. Neither place is near our children. If we are lucky enough to get really old, being outside might not be so important - so stay in New England?

Yep; means moving back to my Hometown, as I know they will be overjoyed.to have me...... Know the Town has very good "Old Timer" facilities & is welcoming. Also, being back with old friends who can still Laff has means. Know the Day's are getting shorter so my Smiles will be longer!!
Just sayin",,,,

BillyBogey: I know what you mean. I have lived in different states over the years and now -- thinking about returning "home." Yes - many of the people I used to know are gone but my happy memories are there, my parent's cemetery is there, dinners I used to go to are still there, some restaurants are still there, the neighborhoods are still there, etc., etc. I agree - days shorter but smiles longer.