I am eligible to retire within 2 years (but will likely be working another 6).
For those who have or are considering retirement, what things are important?
Some I can think of -
Within an hour of airport
Close to good medical care
Not too remote
Lots of nature based activities available
Probably close to kids, or between them
I’d like to be able to walk places from where we live
Have some ideas what you will be doing in retirement
Things can change but you might want to look at taxes on retirees. Some tax pensions, some don’t. Some only don’t tax their own pensions. Some don’t even tax 401K withdrawals.
I would look at other taxes too and if you can get an age freeze on property tax. Kiplinger’s and other sites have info like that.
Another big question is - winter or no winter?
My H will be retiring next year, I am not working currently. We have no immediate plans to pick up and move. Our friends and social activities are here. One D is a 4 hour drive away, the others will be cross-country plane rides away. We may go away for a few months in the winter, but I expect this will be home base for about 20 years.
I’m retired. DH isn’t yet.
If we are going to relocate, we will do so in our early 70’s not later. We have seen family members who relocated in their late 70’s early 80’s. They never really got established in their new community…they just didn’t have the energy to find new activities, volunteer opportunities, friends. We want to be young enough to become real members of a new community,
We will look for…proximity to a decent airport, good health care, decent cost of living for retirees (includes those tax incentives), good cultural and arts things. And while we prefer the change to all four seasons, we would prefer a shorter winter than in New England.
I want to retire in a college town so I can take continuing ed classes . . . also would like to stay in Florida. Palm Beach County is wonderful for those thing (but expensive). There are lots of health care providers.
The biggest negative to southeastern Florida is the expense and how far away it is from other family.
I do not want to do winter at all.
Walk-ability
Close to kiddo (but who knows where tenure position might be offered)
Oh, heck, we’ll probably stay where we are, since I have no idea what I would with myself if I wasn’t working.
H and I hope to retire early in about 5 years. We will stay in our current city. It’s beautiful, on the coast, close to an airport, with plenty of outdoor and cultural activities and great medical facilities. The only downsides are traffic, hot summers and potentially our proximity to the kids (that’s hard to predict). Ideally, we’d like to spend January through June here, and July through December at a house in the NC mountains.
We’re taking our first steps toward retirement. We’re remodeling and downsizing to a house that we’ve been renting out the past few years. The goal is to finish paying for D’s school and to cut expenses now so we can payoff the small mortgage on the “new” house, bank more money, and save for the mountain house. Realistically, I think the mountain house may require a few more years in the workforce.
We haven’t decided on a location in NC. I’d like something in a quiet town with some land around it and a view, but I don’t want to be too far from shopping and restaurants. Unfortunately, most places that fit that bill are pricey.
^^NC mountains have gotten nuts, though I like your plan @Overtheedge!
You might try a vacation rental or two up there to see if you really like it. I think we will do that at some point. I’m from North Carolina and would love to go back home part-time. But it’s gotten pricey, especially for the amenities that we want.
I would like to retire in 5 to 7 years.
My major criterion is that I NEVER, EVER, EVER want to see snow again in my life. I love NY but I no longer want to live here in the winter. We own a small bungalow that we could use in the summer. Other than that, my main criteria are taxes. I am looking for states that don’t tax private pensions heavily and that even exempt SS income.
I want to be someplace that has a good public transit system and/or an access-a-ride type system for seniors because I would prefer not to drive. A college town would be nice because I would like to learn the things that I refused to take in HS or college for fear of ruining my GPA and not getting into law school - like chem, calc and physics.
My husband refuses to fly so I would want to be near an Amtrak location. I don’t want a lot of land. I would prefer to be in an apartment building, but my husband has always lived in private houses. I would prefer to be someplace where maintenance and yard work are not my responsibility, where there are activities for seniors and possibly a pool.
I would prefer to be someplace where there is some semblance of Jewish life, at least culturally, but I am not interested in joining a Chabad.
Can you tell that I have been giving this a lot of thought, lol?
We have been mulling over Wonsron Salem NC for several years. We like the town…UNCSA has theatre and dance and music. Great small walking downtown. Decent climate. Good hospital. We’ll see.
1214mom - we plan to retire in about 5 years and our list is very much like yours. I agree with thumper that it’s best to move before you get too much older. There comes a point where it is too physically, mentally and exhausting to move.
We enjoy where we live now (NoVA), but neither of our kids want to come back here, we have no extended family here, most of our friends wll be relocating (a few already have) and it is expensive. No reason to stay.
We have a location in mind. It happens to be somewhere our kids have expressed in in living and we have extended family/friends nearby.
@Overtheedge I recommend Brevard or Hendersonville .
@SouthFloridaMom9 - H inherited a partial ownership interest in a house in Boone. We spent a lot of time up there before we had to sell due to a complicated family situation. We sold the house when the market was at rock bottom. I so regret not having the money at the time to buy out the other family members. We’ll never be able to afford a house like that one! It was 3800 sq. ft, on 10 acres, with incredible views.
We also love Asheville, Highlands and Cashiers, but those places are so expensive. We’re planning on doing as you suggested - vacationing in different areas around the State to find the best one for retirement.
Location trumps taxes for us–honestly, we won’t have enough income that taxes will much matter.
H and I live almost half-time in the home we will retire to in South Jersey. Near water and water and more water. Our favorite place to vacation, so our kids and hopefully grandkids will always want to visit. Lower property taxes than north Jersey, and the same services we expect, and which seem to be rare, in “low tax” states.
I’m 58 and I’m hoping to retire at 62 so I can concentrate on my writing–my first love, and collect SS. H is content to work a few years longer. So we’ll have medical till Medicare.
Knowing what home we will end up at is wonderful. I’m there right now, sitting on our back porch, having enjoyed a wonderful kayak trip on the local waterways. Tomorrow, an equally great bike trip across the Delaware Bay on the Ferry, to the bike paths in Delaware. All my favorite things.
My kids live in North Jersey near our present work home, and journey down here frequently; just a 2 and a half hour drive. That’s key important to me.
Retirement is looming in 3 or so years. We met with our “wealth manager” twice this past year( Our retirement fund assigned us a wealth manager.)
I agree with most of the things many of you have said. But we live an hour or so from two airports and I find that too far away. Because of where we live, it seems flights leave very early in the morning and arrive late at night at one of the airports. At the other one, the airport so so small the planes are small regional ones and are uncomfortable and loud. A little scary, haha.
So at the bigger airport we usually stay at a hotel the night before leaving and the night we get back. They do allow our car to be parked there for free and provide transportation to/from airport. But it still does add to the expense of the trip.
We traveled from the smaller airport this summer. But the first leg of the trip was a bit uncomfortable. So I have said to my husband, being 20 minutes or so from a good sized airport is required for retirement.
However, leaving our current home, fully paid for, may not make sense. We are in a college town in a beautiful area,especially in the summer. Although it is a tourist area so that hurts the summer. If we stay here when retired, we would have to leave for a month or two in the winter.
You’re plan is my dream retirement plan @Overtheedge . I would love to be where you are right now .
While I would love to live near our kids…they are line gnats. I can’t imagine that either of them will be in the same location for very long.
I LOVE snow, but I hate BROWN. So I would like to stay in Maine June through February, and live in Austin March through May. 
Thumper1 -
What is a line gnat?
My kids have all stayed local so far but I just can’t see growing even older where I am. I live in one of the most highly taxed areas in the country. I am sort of hoping that I can find a nice place to retire and my kids will join me - I guess access to good services for young families will be important to me, if not in my community but nearby.
My daughter has a masters in special ed from an NCATE school so she can get reciprocity. One of my sons works for post office - after 2 years, they can put in to transfer to other parts of the country. One of my other sons is planning to become an EMT and he can do that anywhere.
@carolinamom2boys - lol. You may want to be where we are in 5 years if all goes according to plan, but you don’t want to be where we are right now. It’s the painful part. We’re still in our current house and spending money to get it “market ready.” I’m paying tuition at D’s private LAC and H is paying for the remodel out of pocket so we don’t take on more debt. We also have a second rental that we just put on the market (and didn’t renew tenant) that is sucking money. When it sells, we’ll put that toward the mortgage. In the meantime, we are broke and bleeding money!