Where Is the Best Place to Retire?

As for climate preference, climate change is here and appears to be accelerating. The endless summer that some longed for may soon be endless unbearable heat and humidity. Beaches will be fouled with red tides and dead fish, plus water temperatures near hot tub levels. In the West, forest fires will be increasing as the mountain areas dry out and the smoke impacts air quality and the fires destroy property. Water supply is also a major problem in the West and getting worse.

Just be careful when making a choice that is heavily based on climate. What appears ideal today may soon be far from what you wanted.

A Comment from Maureen: Every retirement home add I see is over $300k. There are lots of people who can't afford these prices especially being retired. Where are the affordable places for $200k or less. If you find a cheap place the hoa fees can kill you. The FL keys are not affordable.

Maureen's question is a good one that we often hear. Fortunately there are alternatives. Generally, the further you get away from the coasts the less costly the real estate. Central Florida has many affordable options. Manufactured homes are usually much less costly, although you have to look out for yearly escalations of ground lease fees in many cases. Here are a couple of articles: https://www.topretirements.com/blog/looking-for-an-affordable-retirement-check-uut-central-florida/ and https://www.topretirements.com/blog/11-more-affordable-towns-for-retirement/ (Member suggestions). Type in "Affordable places to retire" in the Search box at top of page and get even more.

Some of the "Affordable Places to Retire" articles are three years old or more. Things have changed drastically in that time. Does anyone have any updated information? I'm with Maureen. I had my sights on a few 55+ communities I was looking at and now everything has changed. The prices have skyrocketed and my income has not. Single, 58, looking to make my move soon. Can't afford most of these places. Central Florida is out because of insurance costs.

There is a nice small community in Ocala, Fl called Cherrywood Estates. While the HOA is Approx. $300 a month it includes cable TV, internet, DVR service, DVD box & 2 stb's. They have a clubhouse that has a billiard room, card room, exercise equipment, large hall for bingo, tennis, bocce and shuffleboard courts and an outdoor pool and hot tub. Lots of activities too!

There are indeed numerous questions that a retired couple (or single) should ask before even considering visiting potential places to live. Many of them are contained in the article above, but the order is just as important as the questions themselves. The first decision to make is, indeed, climate. Do you want one season (say southern Florida), two (e.g. Asheville, NC) or three or more (my native New Jersey, for example)? That leads to a related question -- topography. Do you want to live near/at the ocean, in the mountains or somewhere in between (a nice lake, or perhaps the sand hills of North Carolina)? If you choose, say, the ocean, your seasons will likely be one or two. This decision could very well be guided by your possible anxiety about natural disasters, like hurricanes along the coast, or the occasional landslide in the mountains. Next up is population density: Will you prefer a rural or urban location, or somewhere in between? If rural, you will wind up in an area likely free of pollution (air and noise, generally) and traffic. But you are just as likely not to have nearby quality medical care, more than one supermarket to choose from, and the kinds of entertainment options you probably enjoyed during the decades before you retired. Choosing a suburban location will mean you'll have to travel more than 30 minutes to enjoy the embellishments of a city. Access to an airport may be important if you plan to visit your kids and grandkids often, or if they intend to visit you. Many of the clients I have worked with to find their dream retirement home have emphasized an interest in low taxes, as in no-income-tax in a state like Florida. That can be fool's gold, as there are compensating taxes and costs of living that can make the financial comparisons, between, say, Florida and South Carolina, almost meaningless, especially for those folks who won't generate large incomes during retirement. Just as important, from a fiscal standpoint, is to understand the costs of property ownership inside the gates of organized communities. Property owner dues and club memberships -- the latter are mandatory in some communities -- can take a big bite out of your budget. (Note: You should not, at this point, be worried about whether you want a home in an organized development or in a regular neighborhood; you are still trying to identify a geographical area that suits you.) And even though this is just the very beginning of your search -- actually the prologue -- you should consider the "long haul," as in whether conditions you expect might change a decade or two down the road -- medical and family related, for example -- could cause you to have to eventually relocate. Or will your choice of your "forever home" truly take you to "forever," with everything you need in your 60s being accessible in your 80s.) It is a lot to consider before you even start your engines to visit communities, and I have a lot more to say (which I have written in a book about finding your dream retirement home). I would be happy to respond here to any questions about how to find YOUR own best place to live. Larry

There is no better place on this Earth than The Villages, FL. The activities here are endless (it takes two pages in the daily newspaper to list them, the homes are nice (and not expensive), and the location is convenient. There are also several independent/assisted living places available. Hope you visit here before you decide.

I think that folks need to think long and hard about moving away to retire at this point. As has already been mentioned climate is not a reason to move anymore. The two big retirement areas, Arizona and Florida have climates that are changing rapidly and look like they are quickly becoming unsustainable. When my parents generation retired and moved to Florida many of them moved back to where they were originally from when they became too old to live far away from family. For many of us, going home is no longer an option. Prices "back home" are now in the millions for many of us. Where do we go when that happens? We moved back to our home state but were unable to get even close to where we were from. Now we are in the middle of nowhere with little medical care and still too far from family in an emergency. My advice is if you have not moved away yet. think long and hard before you do.

Roberta I couldn't agree more with your point of view. We took advantage of the covid real estate market craziness sold our home on LI and retired early to Hardeeville SC. I have a medical condition that I need a Oncologist/hematologist and I thought what could go wrong with being 1.5-2 hrs Charleston, Just outside Bluffton, 15 mins to Savannah GA and 2 hrs to Jacksonville, FL. I had heard the rumors that healthcare wasn't the greatest in my area and I was wrong the health care in our surrounding area is horrible, lacking, and overwhelmed. Communities and commercial properties are still being built and Margaretville (not far from us here) just brought more property to add over a few thousand more homes. The infrastructure is not up to par to handle everything. You cant get into any primary care doctor or if you're lucky its close to a year wait. We have gone through a few doctors, which either left or they were just horrible. The health care quality is a bit scary compare to the NE. I have go to two different reputable Blood Labs and I have received inconsistent lab reports. Many go back to their home state to received medical care unfortunately we cannot do that. Many travel to the Mayo Clinic or Charleston and do that continuously is a bit overwhelming for us. Although we have family here and still in the Northeast; we have been researching to make another move from Virginia to further north. We thought about Florida, but we have heard all the negatives and heard/met many that are moving out. It has been frustrating between trying to figure out how to navigate the high housing prices, interest rates, trying being close to health care and take advantage of states that offer tax exemption benefits for 100% Disabled Vets (my husband) plus stay in between the family. I constantly kick myself in that we should of stayed on LI, we had good healthcare, P/T work, close to family, ect. At this time we couldn't even get back with the crazy housing prices. This time around we are definitely taking our time with our next move but it cant come soon enough for us.

The comments above, especially about healthcare, are important. The situations described in terms of healthcare will only get worse, and quickly. Roberta is mostly right; that climate is not the top reason to relocate, especially in the current environment and especially in what are commonly referred to as "red" states (which most states in the Sunbelt are). In the wake of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, some of those states have made it a criminal act for doctors to perform abortions. Forget, for the moment, how you feel personally about the issue. Current OB/GYNs or those about to graduate from medical school are not relocating to states in which their medical judgment and proper care for their patients could result in jail time? And that situation won't turn around until those states are more welcoming to doctors. At a dinner party the other night, a friend related a story that her doctor daughter (an OB/GYM in New England) had been offered a $500,000 bonus and six-figure salary to relocate her practice to a rural area of a red state. She was not tempted. Neither will others...In our retirement years, the chances of needing reproductive health services are, of course, slim. But there is likely to be a pass-along effect to other new doctors with other specialties who, given the choice, will start their practices in more medical friendly locations. (Side note: Dobbs is affecting women's health services in blue states too; women who cannot receive the healthcare they need/want elsewhere are flooding clinics in states where reproductive health services are available, thereby stressing their delivery of services.)...Climate will still be the starting point for some retirees, and it is likely that some southern state legislatures will react to the women's health crises in their states with legislation that is more encouraging to doctors. In the meantime, those retirees with medical issues or with concerns about their health in the future should approach those flashing red lights carefully. Or move to southern California, taxes be damned.

Larry, spot on! Speaking of healthcare, those living or wanting to move to small, rural towns need to check out the healthcare resources available. Driving an hour or two to a doctor might not seem too bad when you're in your 60's or 70's, but it becomes more difficult as you get older. I'm speaking from experience - my parents - mom is 85 and dad is 90 and they live in a small town. The doctor in their town is horrible. For decades they would go see him for a cold and he would give them antibiotics - for a cold! He's now in a nursing home because of dementia and I believe all those antibiotics may have played a role in his dementia. I'm getting ready to move back to my hometown, about an hour outside of where my parents are, but I'll be surrounded by doctors and hospitals. We're building a new home. Even though I'm not yet 60, we're thinking ahead and building a ranch with no steps so we can age in place.

Is the one with dementia the family doctor or your father? And can you tell us where your hometown is?

My father is the one with dementia, and before people think I'm crazy for the statement I made, there's research out there linking antibiotics with dementia. Just google it. (Conclusion: Antibiotic exposure may increase the risk of dementia in a cumulative duration-dependent manner among adult participants. Future studies are needed to assess the causality between the long-term prescription of antibiotics and dementia risk. Sep 26, 2022) Hometown is Belleville, Illinois.