Where to retire?

VelveteenR said:
We were astonished at the low cost of living in Georgia. Our son bought a beautiful three-year-old 4-bedroom home in Evans, GA (Augusta area) not far from Ft. Gordon for $260K. The house is beautifully landscaped with hardwood floors and coffered ceilings and a kitchen with a top-of-the-line appliances and a custom-built island. (He bought it from one of the Augusta National chefs.) Evans is a lovely little town and near enough to Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, etc. to do a lot of exploring. If he stays there and starts a family, we may considered a second place in that area.
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I just looked on Zillow for Evans GA houses and they are beautiful and by California standards, affordable.
 
VelveteenR said:
We moved to Scottsdale, AZ from the Boston area in '99 with an eye to retirement. We figured we'd choose our retirement location early while real estate prices were favorable. We officially retired in 2017 and downsized to a Club Med-like non-age-restricted golf community less than an hour away from the Scottsdale house so we didn't lose our friends, restaurants, etc. I think it's hard to beat the AZ value package. It's still incredibly cheap to live here. We love it, but we spend our summers in Maine.

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This is the end of our street. It looks like this pretty much every day. And almost every day, DH says, "Look honey, no snow!"
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Cool. What is the community's name?
 
unkown1961 said:
Cool. What is the community's name?
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Can I hide behind @kinnem and plead the 5th? ;)

If you Google "Arizona Golf Communities," you will get a nice list of choices to wander through. For us, being near Scottsdale and living in a non-age-restricted community (not dominated by retirees/older folks) were important criteria.
 
Since someone finally brought it up...the “grass is always greener” is in full force.

i can’t go home to coastal GA because it is so built up with incoming out-of-state retirees, including the barrier island where I grew up. I can’t face the change. The slow sleepy Southern charm is pretty much gone. I recognize change is inevitable, but I don’t recognize my home island anymore. The woods where I used to play with friends (and terrify my mom because of the poisonous snakes and wild boars) are all gated communities now. There are stoplights and chain restaurants (gasp). As for the humidity and bugs and mildew, you get used to it. Multiple showers a day, loose cotton clothing, plan your day around high tide and the associated breeze.

Friends in CO are departing that state because of the continuing flood of CA retirees. They are looking at ID, WY or MT (they don’t mind Western cold weather), but find the same incoming streams.

We have decided to “thrive where we are planted” and rent houses in places for a month when we need desert, oceanfront, mountains, etc. The Annapolis area has become home. Close enough to DC and Baltimore for big city events, pro sports, fine dining, culture, but water everywhere (required for me), three good airports, trains to the NE cities, 4-season climate but no extreme summer or winter, the pleasure of Johns Hopkins Healthcare, several military base facilities and continued involvement with USNA events and returning sponsor mid grad alumni family. MD continues to increase the exclusion granted for military pensions, and continued lobbying is focused on getting it similar to PA, NC, HI, etc. where military pension income is excluded from state income tax.

Interestingly, many MD folks retire to DE beach communities. We have good Navy friends who retired to Tampa, FL but after 5 years, returned to the St. Michael’s area on the Eastern Shore of MD. Not a good fit for them in FL. Another set of Navy friends built their spacious dream home in Asheville, NC and encouraged visitors. No one came, as it wasn’t on the way to anywhere. They sold up and bought a condo in downtown San Diego and are supremely happy with their busy social life and downtown vibe in a Navy town. We never visited them in Asheville, but see them every trip to SD, where, as good Navy people do, we have many friends.

It’s a mix of community, family, friends, geography, weather, amenities, culture, costs, what your soul needs to see everyday - and everyone’s pie chart is weighted differently.
 
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VelveteenR said:
Can I hide behind @kinnem and plead the 5th? ;)

If you Google "Arizona Golf Communities," you will get a nice list of choices to wander through. For us, being near Scottsdale and living in a non-age-restricted community (not dominated by retirees/older folks) were important criteria.
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Got it. I used to love there, my parents as well, and my brother currently lives there. I witnessed the growth and how it took away a lot of great places that were in the beautiful desert, but your place looks great.
 
DBIL and DSIL retired to PA from NoVa, to a golf community not far over the border with MD. Both his military pension and her Fed pension are exempt from state income tax in PA. Easy run down freeway to DC/ married daughters in NoVa, or over to us in Annapolis. Pretty foothills area, low-cost, more rural than suburban. Still have access to Johns Hopkins Healthcare system in Hagerstown. Plenty of Amish and Mennonite craftsmen who have done marvelous work in and on their home. They come stay with us for cultural events and fine dining excursions. We go stay with them when we want to just set on their screened porch and listen to the silence and look at the stars with little light pollution. They were happy to get away from crowded NoVa. We like visiting them but not enough water for me.
 
Moved to Colorado Springs from Atlanta seven years ago and LOVE it here:)
300+ days of sunshine, gorgeous mountain views, lots of "military support" and we certainly don't miss the heat, humidity, mosquitos & traffic we left behind in Atlanta!
 
We have about two years to go until retirement and we are up in the air about where we will end up living. With two out of three kids at the whim of their next PCS we are waiting to see where they settle. I do know that the past few days of -11 temps here in Wisconsin will be replaced with warmth and sunshine regardless of where they go.

Stealth_81
 
kinnem said:
Just don't retire to NC. We're already inundated with non-natives. 😃
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That makes me sad. I have a buddy who is a big Panthers fan and he went to watch a home game and that was it. He is in love with that state. Says the people are the friendliest people you will ever meet. And, my son, who is a big NASCAR fan, would probably come and visit us.
 
We are seriously beginning of thinking of final retirement states too, figuring we better start early as spouse only has maybe 6 more years of active duty. The thought of having to live in one place forever, that we get to chose, is a bit stifling and scary. Who would have thought I would find it comforting to move every 2-3 years and seeing all different places. I always say I can live anywhere for 2 years, but NOW we need to pick a place to live FOREVER! We only have ourselves to blame if we don't like it and then WE would need to pay movers if we didn't chose the right place? Certainly, I cannot be the only one to feel this way?!

We've had the conversation many times of where we would want to retire (mostly because other people ask) and neither of us are that connected to any one place, so our response has always been who knows? How quickly the time goes by and it seems like having to make a decision is on the horizon. Spouse needs to be near water for sailing and I like the country and hate the heat. Of course, airports, healthcare and culture are all important aspects to consider. We haven't gotten much further than narrowing it down to states that don't tax military pensions and somehow going east to get to the ocean seems most logical, although we are flexible to that too. So I don't have any suggestions for the OP, but just wanted to add how much I can empathize with the decision.
 
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