Places to retire

[Aloha_Shooter]

We are contemplating mid to eastern Tennessee for a retirement move. Cost of living is cheaper, cost of land/housing is more affordable, pace of life is a bit slower, disabled veterans get % off property taxes, no state taxing of retirement payments, and as one of my co-workers put it, they are "our" kind of people, meaning, more conservative in their political views. Any thoughts from the crowd on this?

I have a cousin who moved with her family from Honolulu to Mt Juliet, TN. I don't think she's ever going back to HI except to sell her townhouse (if she ever does).

[William]

I would encourage you to look elsewhere. Source: I grew up in Western Nebraska and the moment I graduated high school I couldn't get out of that area fast enough. It's far more humid than you might think, it gets hotter in the summer and colder in the winter with nowhere near as many nice weather days in between.

If that weren't already enough there's the added excitement from hail, tornadoes and mass snow storms. On top of that, there's zero commerce. I often thought I would move away, make my money and then move back to a patch of land on the lake. Now, I don't see that happening.

The reality is that whenever we go back it's just a painful reminder of why we left in the first place. We don't even visit often due to how crappy it is. The crime rate is far higher than you would expect for such a low population and density.

SE WY is just as bad but with much more wind. If you're not too far from Cheyenne at least there's some commerce but outside of that it's pretty desolate pretty quickly, which may be what you want.

(I started having deja vu while typing this so I scrolled back and sure enough, said roughly the same thing a year and half ago minus the additional meteorological & crime info)

We considered Arizona (Scottsdale area was the front runner) up until very recently but had begun having concerns. This continuing trend of increasing temps and real estate prices there coupled with the water situation that could get dire as soon as 2 years (depending on what experts you believe) has kind of moved us off of that position.

I tell you what, the more places we travel around the US to interview different locations to buy land/real estate we end up appreciating Northern Colorado more and more. We may just end up moving up in house here and calling it good w/o having two places in different areas to snow bird. We're perfectly content to wait it out where we are and see how things play out and if that takes us up to our final days (hopefully) decades from now... I think that would be alright.

Kind of my plan but in southern co/mountains. A lot to like still in Colorado.

[colorider]

I would encourage you to look elsewhere. Source: I grew up in Western Nebraska and the moment I graduated high school I couldn't get out of that area fast enough. It's far more humid than you might think, it gets hotter in the summer and colder in the winter with nowhere near as many nice weather days in between.

If that weren't already enough there's the added excitement from hail, tornadoes and mass snow storms. On top of that, there's zero commerce. I often thought I would move away, make my money and then move back to a patch of land on the lake. Now, I don't see that happening.

The reality is that whenever we go back it's just a painful reminder of why we left in the first place. We don't even visit often due to how crappy it is. The crime rate is far higher than you would expect for such a low population and density.

SE WY is just as bad but with much more wind. If you're not too far from Cheyenne at least there's some commerce but outside of that it's pretty desolate pretty quickly, which may be what you want.

(I started having deja vu while typing this so I scrolled back and sure enough, said roughly the same thing a year and half ago minus the additional meteorological & crime info)

We considered Arizona (Scottsdale area was the front runner) up until very recently but had begun having concerns. This continuing trend of increasing temps and real estate prices there coupled with the water situation that could get dire as soon as 2 years (depending on what experts you believe) has kind of moved us off of that position.

I tell you what, the more places we travel around the US to interview different locations to buy land/real estate we end up appreciating Northern Colorado more and more. We may just end up moving up in house here and calling it good w/o having two places in different areas to snow bird. We're perfectly content to wait it out where we are and see how things play out and if that takes us up to our final days (hopefully) decades from now... I think that would be alright.

The water situation in Scottsdale is real. I happen to live next door to a head honcho that is pretty much the expert regarding the Colorado River Basin. He?s been on the national news about has been hired out of retirement to work on the issue. Let?s just say, the Government doesn?t listen and keeps doing things that are a temporary fix. At best. Kind of like Biden and the oil reserves.
Back to retirement. Recently took a trip to St Joseph Missouri and also Lake Of The Ozarks. St. Joe is sleepy and ?historic?, and cheap as hell. Lake of the Ozarks is fun as hell and also not expensive. Hell, gas at the docks is cheaper than Colorado gas stations! Both places are pretty much 95% like minded. The lake is pretty much solid right leaning. Super nice people in both places. We are looking to get a house in St Joe for winter, and a lake house at Lake of Ozarks for the summer.

[earplug]

I'm looking at nations in South America. Even Central America is looking good

[encorehunter]

I found this little place. It can't be too bad of a place if it is a Boutique.

[MED]

I'm moving to my retirement place soon, about three years from now. If the state went blue in 2020, it is automatically removed from my list. I will not live in a blue shaded congressional district either. If the state is trending blue, I'm going to avoid it....no desire to experience a repeat of Colorado. I want a property with land, at least 20-40 acres in a rural area far away from populations centers. I can't live in high desert dry climates anymore because of health reasons nor do I want to so Wyoming is out. Not much left in the western states because of the political trends. I would love to go back to the Pacific Nothwest where I went to undergrad, which was by far my favorite climate; but no way I'm putting up with the political BS up there. I'm looking at northern Idaho, South Dakota Black Hills, Utah,, Ozarks, Smokys, Kentucky, West Virginia, losing interest fast in Montana. I can't handle the heat in any of the southern states so those are out.

[encorehunter]

While puerto rico is nice, it is not for us. The mountains We're very steep, almost unclimable and raised until about 3500 feet.
For having 3 million people on the island It seems like everyone had 3 cars and drove all 3 at once. We saw very little damage left over from the hurricane. Most everything fixed an operating conditions. The beaches were beautiful, but they don't make up for the rest of the area. Prices were hit or miss, mostly being very reasonable. Milk was $6.50 a gallon, which we expected. Beer was $6 a six pack.

[Great-Kazoo]

While puerto rico is nice, it is not for us. The mountains We're very steep, almost unclimable and raised until about 3500 feet.
For having 3 million people on the island It seems like everyone had 3 cars and drove all 3 at once. We saw very little damage left over from the hurricane. Most everything fixed an operating conditions. The beaches were beautiful, but they don't make up for the rest of the area. Prices were hit or miss, mostly being very reasonable. Milk was $6.50 a gallon, which we expected. Beer was $6 a six pack.

My tio y tia lived there from birth - death. Nice place to visit, live, never. We left NY close to 45 yrs ago, since there were only 3 bridges to get off the place, not counting the tunnels. To be stuck anyplace where you're dependent on sea, or air to GTFO. A hard pass.

[Martinjmpr]

I know y'all are going to call me crazy but we are looking at Pueblo West.

Gets us out of the Denver metro area but still 90 minutes away from our kids and grandkids. We can get a decent house on 1+ acre for $500k or less, which means if we sell our Littleton house for enough, no mortgage. Warmer weather, no HOA, no yard to mow, no sprinklers to tend to and room for a big-ass garage if the house doesn't already have one (many do.)

I know Pueblo doesn't have the greatest reputation but this is Pueblo West, North and West of the main city. Mostly new-ish developments on large lots. I don't plan on going into the city very often anyway (it's not like we've been to downtown Denver much either - I think it's been literally years since we were there.)

We like to camp and PW is a good jumping off point for destinations West, South and East. The weather is milder in the winter (although blistering hot in Summer - I'm prepared for that if it means no snow to shovel.)

Wife was born and raised in Colorado and she doesn't want to be too far from her kids and grandkids, and I get that. If it was me by myself I'd be looking at Sierra Vista, AZ (about 70 miles SE of Tucson) where I did a lot of my military time. Gorgeous area, it's at 4,000' so it doesn't get as hot as Tucson or Phoenix. Military town (Fort Huachuca) so it's a place I'd feel comfortable. But it's just too far from the rest of the family for my wife.

[BushMasterBoy]

I live in Pueblo West. Zoned for horses on a acre. 3/2 with a attached garage. Lots of junkies from Pueblo like to raid the area for unsecured goodies. It was fairly quiet when I bought this place in 2006. Now it has become like a big city, new fire department and hospital nearby. I hope you like wind! You can cool a whole house with a swamp cooler. I can heat in winter with two cords in a wood stove. Lots of potential for solar. You have to run a humidifier when you sleep. Humidity level was 7% in the bedroom. Pollen levels can go through the roof. I paid 130K, comparables value the place at $330k now.
My location is the north side of hiway 50. The house will shake when the Army fires artillery. Lots of military aviation activity if you like free airshows. If I had to do it again, I would have stayed in Cocoa Beach due to sinus problems.