Where do you want to retire? Migrate to?

[tarheelmjfan]

Wait- winter is bad in North Carolina?! I find that hard to believe being from New England - people move from here to NC for the better weather - it’s all relative I guess.

No doubt a New England winter would be worse. The person I quoted is a born & raised Floridian. (Their words.) DH & I were born & raised in NC. We moved to Florida 25 years ago. When we go back "home" in the winter, we're usually miserably cold & don't want to go out to do anything. As much as we love our families, we're always glad to get headed south again. To be fair, I also think Northern Florida can be quite chilly, so it really depends on where you're moving from in FL & where you're moving to in NC.

 

[Mokat76]

Recently I moved back to Missouri. That’s where my family is. Family trumps location for me.

 

[Mokat76]

Recently I moved back to Missouri. That’s where my family is. Family trumps location for me.

 

[georgina]

I find it intriguing to see so many comments of people saying they are going to retire wherever their kids are.
if you have more than 1 child, how do you pick which one to follow? If they move after you follow them, will you follow them again?

We have 2 adult kids that are still in our currant state. 1 will probably stay here and the other will probably move out of state in a few years.

although it came as no surprise to the kids, (they know we hate it here) neither one of them are too happy that we have decided to finally make the move to Florida.

We have 3 kids. DS will never get married, he has worked from home for 6 years and is not very social. Wouldn't move near him. DD2 is currently working remotely and moving around the country. DD1 is married, her DH works for the government and they bought a house in DC and had a child. We know they will stay in the area so we moved to Northern Virginia. Easy decision for us to spend time with grandchild.

 

[meggiebeth]

Somewhere warm and sunny I think. I’m fed up of having day after day of clouds and dreary weather in the UK during the winter and generally subpar summers.

The US would be a nice place to retire but I don’t know that I could risk it with the healthcare system unless money wasn’t an issue at all. Southern France would be a good option - lovely dependable weather, a beautiful culture and good healthcare provisions for me as I get older.

 

[mefordis]

I think we're going to keep our house and travel to different places January - March.

 

[DisneyOma]

I've already moved from snowy states to a 55+ condo in Florida, and I'm not even quite 45 yet. I'll probably be here until I die or come into a large amount of money. And I'm talking like lottery or Publisher's Clearing House money. I'd stay in the same general area I'm currently in, but would like something more private if I can afford to hire out for taking care of yard/pool/etc.

How can you, at age 44, be living in a 55+ condo?

 

[BorderTenny]

How can you, at age 44, be living in a 55+ condo?

This place only requires that one of the owners of each unit be old enough. DH meets the requirement.

 

[DisneyOma]

This place only requires that one of the owners of each unit be old enough. DH meets the requirement.

That's a nice perk! My mom's place isn't that flexible.

 

[Figmentv]

My dream is to move to the mountains someday, but I honestly don't see that being much of a reality. I'd love to be on the outskirts of Asheville NC but even that has gotten very touristy. I'm sure there are a lot of areas convenient to Asheville but off the beaten path where you don't have to immerse yourself into the touristy areas unless you really wanted to. Cost of living-wise, Kingsport Tennessee or Johnson City/Bristol area would be ideal. I love the idea of small town living after living in such a tourist trap for my entire life.

My late husband and I did retirement a little backwards than most. We lived in the Virgin Islands for 23 years, retired, then moved to Asheville, NC for a lot of different reasons. The main reason for me was being closer to our children and grandchildren. It was very expensive flying stateside to visit. The next major reason was that we didn’t want to deal with hurricanes EVER again.

Alicefan……Even though Asheville tourism has grown tremendously, there are still many small towns within a 30-45 min drive that are still very laid back. The mountains of western NC are beautiful. The winters here are much gentler than say New England (where I’m from originally). Yes, it still can get very cold here and we do get snow. Usually, the snow doesn’t last very long. One thing I would recommend to anyone thinking of moving here is, don’t live at a higher elevation. The difference in climate between 2500 ft (elevation of Asheville) and 3500 ft and above is DRAMATIC.

 

[belle032]

We have a number of years to go until retirement, but right now, we are just trying to get vested into the NYS retirement system (5 years to go!) and then we'll really have a serious talk about where to migrate. We both lean towards North Carolina - we like that you still get seasons and the state offers a little bit of everything! (mountains/beaches and rural/city)

For retirement, I can fully see us owning a small condo somewhere south, but spending most of our time on cruise ships.

 

[BK2014]

How can you, at age 44, be living in a 55+ condo?

I was going to ask the same thing. DW and I are both around 40, and have no kids. When we moved to Florida we were looking for a loophole to get into one of the 55+ communities.

This place only requires that one of the owners of each unit be old enough. DH meets the requirement.

That makes sense!

 

[Hook326]

I think we're going to keep our house and travel to different places January - March.

I think this what we are leaning toward. However, I am one who wants to be close to my kiddos (and grandkids) so we will see where they land (only 12 and 15 now so I’ve got a bit of time).

 

[MillauFr]

We are looking at St. Paul Island in Alaska.

 

[MamaBelle4]

If I had my choice - I'd retire to the Pacific Northwest.

But my DH was in a work related accident in 2012 and it messed up his knee terribly, among other things, the rain causes him great pain.

If our 5 kids scatter, we'll probably try to find the most central location we can to them. I couldn't pick one or the other to follow and we'd want to be somewhere that they can each conveniently visit (if it's possible) and we can conveniently get to them.

But I'm 35, DH is 38 and our oldest is 13. We've got a ways to go before we make any retirement plans (if ever).

 

[Redart59]

I was going to ask the same thing. DW and I are both around 40, and have no kids. When we moved to Florida we were looking for a loophole to get into one of the 55+ communities.

Google 55+ 80/20 rule. If you don’t have kids, and don’t plan to in the future there are plenary of communities that will allow you to move in.

 

[diznygirl]

We will stay here - Celebration, FL - and travel. This is already a vacation home. Lol

 

[BK2014]

Thanks for this, I had no idea. Too bad we are currently under contract for a new townhome . . , but its good to know we have options!

 

[Alicefan]

My late husband and I did retirement a little backwards than most. We lived in the Virgin Islands for 23 years, retired, then moved to Asheville, NC for a lot of different reasons. The main reason for me was being closer to our children and grandchildren. It was very expensive flying stateside to visit. The next major reason was that we didn’t want to deal with hurricanes EVER again.

Alicefan……Even though Asheville tourism has grown tremendously, there are still many small towns within a 30-45 min drive that are still very laid back. The mountains of western NC are beautiful. The winters here are much gentler than say New England (where I’m from originally). Yes, it still can get very cold here and we do get snow. Usually, the snow doesn’t last very long. One thing I would recommend to anyone thinking of moving here is, don’t live at a higher elevation. The difference in climate between 2500 ft (elevation of Asheville) and 3500 ft and above is DRAMATIC.

It sounds amazing! I would probably love the higher elevation. I hate heat and my number one reason for wanting to live there is the cooler temps. I'm a winter girl through and through. I love cold, dark, rainy days the best lol. I like the Fletcher area and Hendersonville too. People ask me all the time why I live at the beach and like most people, life just happened to me here. Like a lot of people being from small towns in the middle of nowhere, you get stuck where your job is and it would be hard as a hairstylist to start completely over and make enough money to survive as a single girl. It could be done if I wanted to struggle, but I've stood on my feet for 30 years to be able to only work 15-20 hours a week and still make enough money to make it on my own. I'd be going backwards. At least I get to visit all the time! I'll be coming through in a few weeks on my way to Kingsport!

 

[mefordis]

I figured out one of the things that really appeal to me about their videos. They don't use music. I hate it when vloggers use music in their videos.