We currently live in Southern California, so definitely not looking for somewhere warmer, lol. We’re in our early 50s with four kids. It definitely depends where they settle. It is very expensive here and not particularly beautiful in L.A. county. We’re both ready to move to a different house. Our daughter lives on the central coast and our son lives near us. The central coast is very pretty but still just an expensive. Trying to get medical care there is ridiculous we’ve found with our daughter. It’s definitely not Los Angeles. We’ve talked endlessly about cashing out and moving out of state, but I’m not sure if we’ll ever pull the trigger. It definitely sounds nice to live a simpler life in Tennessee or Idaho, or someplace, but not if my kids aren’t there.
We have lived in the Midwest our entire lives. Neither of us likes hot, humid weather. We don’t mind winter, and we have snow cleats so we can walk when it’s snowy. We have a snowblower & are fine with using it. We invested in a standby generator so that power loss isn’t an issue. We plan to stay put. We like where we live. If we need to downsize or go to one floor down the road, we’ll stay in this general area.
If we end up in assisted living way down the road, we will live where our D lives. She is nearby & doesn’t plan to move … but if she does, we have experience with having parents in AL in an area that isn’t near us … we won’t do that to our D (who has indicated that she will be our helper when/if the time comes).
Me too. That’s why I won’t do that to our D either. So much time and $ spent flying back and forth and having to drop everything for “emergencies”.
It’s a good second home spot. There are limitations though that you are well aware of. Being right on the water is expensive, but there are still good values if you’re willing to be a mile or so back.
We have one kid, so it’s possible we would move closer if they decide to settle down far from where we currently are. We would definitely love to move closer to the city or possibly live in a city if we can afford it. One constraint for us is to be not far from a big city with good medical facilities.
We are in the South, so not going any place warmer than here. I’d like to move somewhere colder, but my spouse might not like that.
Moving abroad seems unlikely. But having lived on 3 continents and having close relatives on a 4th, who really knows the future.
We have been trying to figure that out for several years now.
We have the vague sense that we will want a smaller and easier to maintain home, but have not figured out what we would want it to be.
The hot and humid weather over the past few days have reminded me that I do not want to move very far south. We do have relatives (in-laws for me) in Florida but I think that the summers would be just too hot and humid.
We have talked about moving to Canada (particularly since I have dual citizenship). One issues are that it would be disruptive and our friends, children, and relatives on my wife’s side are all in the US. A second issue is the complexity of filing two tax returns and paying US taxes on any real estate sales that we would have in Canada. A third issue is that our medical providers are here in the US, and we would need to find new ones and get them up to speed on our various ailments. Overall it does not seem to be worth the trouble.
So, instead we just slowly try to get rid of stuff (perhaps too slowly).
We also might be increasing the amount of time that we spend on the coast of Maine.
Unlikely to move in the near future as:
–Both kids live within 70 minutes (in different directions);
–We are happy with our current living situation including friends, activities nearby; and
–H and I would probably want to move in different directions LOL.
We moved from FL to AZ last year. We have 3 children that are spread out over the country and all have said they would not return to FL. No parents left to worry about.
- Still wanted warm. I’m cold when it gets in the 60’s
- Needed to downsize
- Needed less yard maintenance since we plan to travel a lot and we don’t enjoy doing it anymore (rocks and cactus need very little upkeep compared to the jungle we’d have after leaving FL for a couple weeks in the summer)
- Have always lived on the East Coast so want to see more of the West
- Love the outdoors and wanted a good hiking/biking area
We chose a 55+ Active community and are loving it! We are busy with tennis, pickleball, hiking, biking, card games and lots of volunteering. We’ve made friends (community is newish and still building, so new people looking for friends all the time). We miss our friends in FL, but plan to spend a month at the beach there each summer to catch up. We also travel with some of them and we expect lots of guests.
Do you plan on moving when you retire?
We moved to our current state for dh’s job. We plan to move when he retires.
Would you move you another country?
We have toyed with this idea. One of our children wants to live overseas. But … we have older relatives who may need our assistance. One of our reasons for wanting to move from our current location is the distance from family.
Somewhere warmer?
Warmer than 100 degrees? (This week’s weather). No, I want cooler. Husband would like to move somewhere with more moderate summers and then travel south for the winter. I’d be content to nestle-in during severe winter storms.
Closer to your kids?
We don’t know where that will be. I would like to be close enough to major transportation hubs to make travel less of an ordeal.
What are your requirements for a place you’d move to?
Location is flexible but ideally within a day’s drive of our parents (assuming they are still living). House must have a basement and a large garage. Otherwise we are still working out criteria. We are more sure about what we don’t want than what we do want.
We are happy where we are and all three children and their families are close by. Two of them have stuck around while the third family has lived in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Mexico and Germany. About 5 years ago they decided to move back home to the Mountain West.
For a little change of pace I would love to give a Midwest bible belt area a try for a while. I would love to see what makes that culture tick.
Do you plan on moving when you retire?
Yes.
Would you move to another country?
No, my spouse is adamant we stay in the U.S., and I’m mostly in agreement. Traveling abroad for extended stays is likely, but not a permanent move.
Somewhere warmer?
Absolutely not: our local government sent an alert out today that there’s an excessive heat forecast with “feels like” temps as high as 120. Don’t want a place that gets too hot, but that also has milder winters, preferably with less than 20" of snow a year. Having sunny weather more often than not (at least 200 days a year) is also highly desirable.
Closer to your kids?
Unsure. The kid has expressed a desire to stay close to us, but there are so many unknowns with regard to what the future will bring. If we move before the kid has settled down, we do plan to take into account the proximity to major job markets (with affordable housing) so that the kid would have that as an option.
What are your requirements for a place you’d move to?
Climate change is an issue. We want to move someplace that will have few concerns about natural disasters, especially those that can devastate a large area. Also want to make sure we’re in a location where water availability is not a concern, now or a century from now.
My sister and I currently live a couple thousand miles apart, but our families vacation together for a couple of weeks at a time every year, and we would like to live close to one another. Whether “close” is as neighbors, same town, or (at worst) an hour away from each other, will depend on the location. But a place where both of our families would be willing to live is a requirement.
No place that is very Trumpian, talking about the 2020 election and its after-effects. If 70+% of the population went red in that particular election, it’s not going to be a contender.
If our mother is still living, she plans to relocate with us. As mentioned before, a place where there is access to jobs and affordable housing in case our kids want to live near us. Good hospitals are a must, and public transportation being available is a definite plus. Being within an hour of an airport is also a big plus, approaching a requirement.
I’m curious, what states/area do you consider the Midwest Bible Belt? Don’t know that I’ve ever heard that (for the midwest)
Maybe I mistitled that a bit. Maybe middle America would have been a better term. Just didn’t want to go too far south because of heat.
I guess I used Midwest because I was familiar with the Gaither Vocal Band that came from Indiana.
This map came up when I searched Bible Belt just now so maybe I can have a teeny bit of vindication. 
Yeah, for me Middle America vs Midwest Bible Belt TOTALLY different animals!
Though I’m sure you can find some churches left in any state! 
Do you plan on moving when you retire?
Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on where our kids end up. Totally love the house we’re in right now and I’d be happy living in this house for a really long time. But if, for example, both of my kids ended up in Texas, I’d totally move to Texas in a heartbeat. If they move to the Midwest, NE, CA, or Pacific Northwest? I’ll visit them when the weather is ok.
Would you move you another country?
Nope.
Somewhere warmer?
We’re in AZ and today (6/27), it’s going to be 107 at my house, so it’s hard to move to a warmer spot than that. LOL.
Closer to your kids?
Yes, I’d do this.
What are your requirements for a place you’d move to?
- Access to a major airport w/in an hour’s drive from home.
- Access to good medical care, including a cancer center. If the only hospital is available is a small rural hospital, then I don’t care how cute the town is, forget it, I’m not living there.
- Nowhere near or on the ocean
- Nowhere in CA, OR, WA
- Nowhere in NV (whole state is depressing & ugly with exception of Lake Tahoe)
- Nowhere where I’d have to shovel snow or drive on icy roads for 3-6 months of winter
- preferably a state where I can legally own a gun without needing a permit
We like CO because even though there is winter there’s also plenty of sunshine… usually snow melts quickly. This year was an exception, and it did make me realize that snow is MUCH easier to deal with when we are retired and don’t have to hustle off to work at 7:30am.
Nope! Might downsize but only maybe. Got my spot and sticking to it as long as I can. On the water, a house we built and a close airport for quick get aways. If I ever do move it won’t be very far.
I think we are completely opposites! lol
emphasized textWhy would we leave paradise? H is retired and I’m working part time. My sibs all live here—within a 5-60 minute drive from us. Temperatures are pretty mild and we have a one story home that is fine for just the two of us or when the kids come to visit (as they do multiple times/year). The weather is mostly moderate and pensions aren’t taxed.
We warned the kids if they live far away and start families, we will have long term rentals near them. Haha—only partly joking.
S lived in DC for a decade and just moved to NYC. D has lived in LA for a decade and may be moving back to hnl.
We visit with our kids several times/year—them coming to us or us going to them. I like having our medical providers, love our neighborhood and neighbors.
My daughters and I have made a decision to stay around NYC. There is no lack of work here. We enjoy eyeing each other on holidays and our various milestones. D1 likes to have me and D2 close by to babysit her kid. D2 likes the convenience of me watching her dog when she is away. My mother lives an hour away from me. I see her few times a month. She feels secure with me close by in case of emergency. A lot of her friends have moved to lower cost states. It was fine when they were in there 60-70, but now they are in their 80s nd 90s, they are having hard time to take care of themselves. It is very hard on their kids to get to where they are when they are sick.
I am happy in NYC. It has great public transportation, best doctors, and I could get everything delivered.