Right now I am thirty minutes from one pretty decent hospital and forty from another. I don't expect a move would increase the driving time, and may shorten it.
Right now I am thirty minutes from one pretty decent hospital and forty from another. I don't expect a move would increase the driving time, and may shorten it.
In reply to bearmtnmartin :
Like I said. Good! Then the other questions come in. Neighborhood/ neighbors. That's a tough one because who knows if or when the neighbor from hell is going to move next door. Other stuff like how good are community services. Schools ( since you're past school age kids you'd wouldn't think that doesn't matters but it does. Good schools keep kids engaged. Bad ones send them out to create trouble)
Then things to keep you engaged. Social life is one consideration but sports or artistic events. Libraries, museums, hunting, fishing, race cars, airplanes, whatever.
Crime, effective policing, fire departments, Those don't matter until they matter but then they are very important.
Finally the home itself. Maybe you look forward to making a house your home. Maybe you can live anywhere.
My wife and I retired to a small town (900) in the Colorado mountains 22 years ago. Before we decided, though, we had vacationed there many years, so we knew what the area had to offer, and what it didn't have. We also subscribed to the town's weekly newspaper for several years, partly to keep up with what was going on because we loved the place, and partly to see what life was really like. What the crime rate was like (biggest lawsuit the year before we moved was over whether a resident could have roosters in her yard with her chickens - the police report often included herding loose horses back into their pastures), how the townspeople reacted to others in need, what the cultural, food and recreational realities were, etc. So we knew we would fit right in, and we did. Best place we have ever lived, the other places were where the job was located, this place is home. So do the research on a place for at least a year or two and spend some time there before you jump.
In reply to Jim Pettengill :
I spoke to a guy one summer who thought it would be great to live in Door County, Wisconsin (heavy winter) so somebody told him to rent a place and stay all of January to see how he liked it. He did and moved there.
I have lived your transition, and am still living it.
Thanks for your thread. It just prompted a very good discussion between me and my wife. I'll start quoting her...
"Just because something is hard, doesn't mean it is wrong".
Four years ago after living in South GA for over 20 years at age 55, we moved to a new location. Central SC. We left our friends, and entire lifestyle for a work related relocation. It's likely we will do it again soon when my mother passes away to be closer to our kids.
It was really difficult in a lot of ways. Stressed our marriage. We were both lonely. Never really connected well in the new community. Etc...
We have 5 kids. 4 of them have settled in the ATL area. That means we will one day relocate to be nearer to them. We are thrilled with each of them breaking loose from us and starting their own adult lives. We have no desire to be "helicopter parents". But we do want to be close enough that we can spend time regularly with the grandkids. We are now 3 hours away. That's too far.
Like I said, it wasn't easy. Now looking back, we have no regrets. We loved our home and our friends. Still do. But we have entered a different season of our lives. We lost some friends. But those weren't real friendships. The real friendships are still strong, but have morphed into a different form.
Now we are 59. We will be making one more large move at 60 or so. Our previous move prepared us for the next one, and helped us understand the things that are important to us. We know what need, and will have a much easier time finding it.
Our marriage is stronger than it was. Our friendships are stronger than they were (though different). We are better individuals than we were. And we will have more to offer our families and loved ones, and will be more able to enjoy life.
Don't be afraid of change. Change WILL happen. Embrace it.
Feel free to connect me directly if you'd like to talk more about it.
You should consider the first home you have in retirement to be the place you want the family and friends to come and visit. When you get to the early to mid 70's, then you really focus on the health care and down sizing.
This is model that my parents have lived by They are now in their early and mid 80's and being a little early to transition into the next faze has kept them active in their communities and very healthy.
In reply to jr02518 :
We have a staged plan like that. The first 25 years for my wife and I were our parents houses/college. The next 25 (which we are 20 years in) is the house that we're raising our kids in. 25 after that will be a house for us. The last 25, or whatever is needed, will be a combination of housing for our last years, hopefully aging together.
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