Warmer climates are great, no doubt about it, but I was thinking if a person is retired and living in a colder climate, they do not have to go out and drive in the snow, as they would have to do if they were working. In other words, a retired person in a cold climate could simply spend the day inside. That doesn’t sound too bad, and the retired person could travel for a week or so to a warmer climate in the winter. What do you folks think? May I be so personal as to ask if any of you folks who will be retiring in several years, if you have plans to move to a warmer climate (if you currently live in a cold climate)? I am undecided if I want to move to a warmer climate when I retire, but would like to hear of any suggestions either for or against it. Do you have any recommendations either for or against certain places for retirement? I guess the usual places are AZ, CA and FL. Thanks for any comments!
I think warmer climates in the US are favored for two reasons, the main one being the favorable tax environment. Florida for instance has no income tax. Looking at this, most of the lowest per-capita tax states are in the South, although that’s also partly a function of lower income in that region.
Also, I don’t have cites to support this but supposedly older people grow more sensitive to cold in general, so all else being equal the same temperature will feel subjectively chillier.
But despite these factors, I plan on retiring to upstate NY because that’s where I grew up. I dislike Florida because of its heat and flatness and low altitude.
Another point is that when you retire your income usually falls. This means that the saving on heating costs can be significant. Although that might be offset by the cost of air con.
My take on it is this. First off, what warmer climate. At my age (76), I am concerned about medical issues and no warmer climate quite addresses that. Victoria? Maybe, but I don’t know anyone there. Which is true of all warmer climates anyway. Yeah, San Diego might be a possibility, but not only don’t I know anyone there, I couldn’t afford medical care (not eligible for medicare).
Staying here, I still have to go out shopping, clean my driveway (actually I get it plowed, but I still have to do stuff like put the trash out), and we go to a lot of concerts. There is one place I would live in that is attached to an enclosed mall that includes a supermarket and is also attached to the Metro so I could even go to concerts without moving outside. My office is still not connected to the Metro stop though. Anyway, my wife will not give up gardening.
So I’ve considered it, but so far the cons outweigh the pros.
Well, CA is not exactly a tax haven.
I don’t even like visiting the South much less moving my creaky old life there. Ugh. Humidity and giant bugs and racism and anti-knowledge and all those creepy reservoirs with chemicals in them.
I am kind of planning to retire to Oregon myself.
I am 2 years from retirement, and live in San Francisco, a very temperate climate. We don’t spend much on heat, and nothing at all on air conditioning. No snow in the winter, very comfortable in the summer.
I occasionally think that it might be nice to retire to someplace with real seasons and more distinct weather throughout the year, but then I remember about the snow or the mugginess, and I think better of it.
Since we are already here, we are used to the high taxes and cost of living. And the house that the bank kindly lets us live in while we pay for it is also here. So I reckon we’ll stay here.
Roddy
[moderating]
Since this thread is looking for opinions, I’ve moved it from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion.
[/moderating]
Speaking of opinions, I never saw the allure of hot climates. Even in the most extreme cold weather here in Montana, I can bundle up and go outside for a while to take out the garbage, feed the horses, or whatever. When it’s 100 degrees in Florida, there’s no way to go outside without turning into a sweaty miserable mess. I simply cannot fathom why people move to places like that.
I live in Illinois, and am retired. If I move somewhere warmer, I have no family or friends and as you get older you find yourself depending on people more and more. When you work you meet people at your job or through our kids, but when you’re retired it’s a little different. If I moved south it would also be a hardship on the family in Illinois as I get older and need more help. They can’t just drop everything and take off work to help.
When we have a heavy snow I can often just stay inside, unless I have a doctor’s appointment or something, so that is helpful. However I still need to clear the driveway in case I need to go somewhere or someone needs to get to us. It’s not a long driveway at all, but I’m not in the shape I used to me. Neither my husband nor I am supposed to be out for long, so I just blow out a one car track and around the mailbox and leave it.
I’ve never been fond of hot, hot weather. However, I find that I move better in hot weather. And, the taxes are so high here that it’s too much of a loss to stay, so I’ll be getting out of the Great Northeast the minute I go into retirement, if not sooner.
Add on the high cost of heating - a good $3,000-4,000/year – plus high electric rates for everything that requires electricity, and it’s not economically savvy to stay.
Another big factor is the frigid winter (hence the high cost of heating). I’ll be happy if we don’t have to worry about snowplowing, getting snow tires, shoveling, scraping ice off of windshields, navigating icy sidewalks, getting caught in snowstorms while traveling. If I never get another static shock from the dry indoor air I will be happy, and saving money on the gobs of lotion needed to remedy dry skin from the heat will be nice.
Since we like to garden and our growing season is so short, it will be nice to not have to compress everything into 4 months of the year. It would also be great to be in a climate where it’s easier to be outdoors and remain active. I realize the summers can be insufferable, but at least you don’t have to be a shut-in for the rest of the year.
We’re already getting the house ready to sell even though retirement is at least 7 years away.
I don’t know where that retirement place is yet, although we have been looking. I like the concept of Florida; it has potential. Lots of things to to do and see. OTOH it’s been done to death. Still, whatever you want for entertainment is likely just a short distance away.
I liked northern Alabama and enjoyed staying there for a few days in February. The mountains are close by and that was very nice. Friendly folks. The sun in February is not something we’re used to seeing. What a treat! When we hit southern Alabama (roll tide) and the sun was still shining and the temps were in the 60s and some of the magnolias were blooming, I almost cried. Sunshine, springy temperatures, birds singing, plants greening – I missed you all so much and wanted you so badly!
We also liked Tennessee, especially southwestern TN. Very rural, lots of pretty farms, very clean and tidy. Beautiful mountain sunsets.
Northeast winters are so long and cold and gray and downright depressing. This must be what it’s like to be a frozen mushroom spore, lying cold under the drab and dreary sky and the snow and ice, just waiting for warmth so you can bust out and come to life.
Life is far too short to spend most of the year wishing the cold and gray away. And, those of us moving to fixed incomes have better things to do with my money than throw it into the furnace and into really high property taxes and income taxes. No, thank you. I can’t wait.
We’re looking at Ocean City, Maryland, as our retirement place. Nice and temperate, not too hot in the summer, and not too cold in the winter. We were there recently, and talking to a local about the winter. He was telling us about how “bad” it gets in the winter, with the wind driving the cold rains in January and February. But, in NW Indiana where we are now, we have 20 degree below zero wind chills and blankets of snow and icy rain and all kinds of hell.
OC sounds perfect - average lows of 40, within striking distance of DC, Philly, NYC, Virginia and the mountains, and seriously - no bugs. No Mosquitos, no scorpions, no palmetto bugs, nothing. Also - ocean!
I’d like to move to a warmer climate as soon as possible, no need to wait for retirement. I hate the winter and love the warm weather. I can’t figure out why people enjoy places where sitting on the front porch reading a book is actively painful, and potentially deadly.
My mom’s cousin moved to Arizona from Cleveland, because the weather was favorable for his arthritis.
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:7, topic:662977”]
Speaking of opinions, I never saw the allure of hot climates. Even in the most extreme cold weather here in Montana, I can bundle up and go outside for a while to take out the garbage, feed the horses, or whatever. When it’s 100 degrees in Florida, there’s no way to go outside without turning into a sweaty miserable mess. I simply cannot fathom why people move to places like that.
[/QUOTE]
Ten years ago I said the same thing. Couldn’t fathom it. After spending the large part of the last several winters not wanting to go outside, not even when my son and his wife wanted to take me out to dinner for my birthday every January (can I change my birthday to May or June?), I realized that frigid winters and I were not meant for each other.
That and the fact that my property tax bill is pushing $7K per year on a $250K home, which is really the last straw. One of my offspring already left; the rest of them are making noises about leaving. It’s hard to get ahead here if you’re middle class. It’s also hard to own a small business. It’s just not economically beneficial. Actually, it’s a financial curse.
I could make concessions for horses and a cold place like Montana if the price was right - and all but a few places would be a financial improvement over this part of the country – but all things being equal, I would choose more sun, more warmth, more gardening, and a lower cost of living.
I intend to retire to Canada.
Summer in warm climates is no better than winter in cold. The elderly drop like flies in heat waves, and personally, I prefer the cold.
I plan to move to the Pacific Northwest at some point. I hate hot weather, and tell people the large part of why I don’t mind Chicago is that it’s ungodly hot only about three months of the year. I hate the humidity when added to the heat, too. Blech. I’m usually depressed in the summer. If, and that’s a big if, I were to go somewhere hot, it would likely be Arizona since I have a bunch of family there. Portland or Seattle will be my two most likely spots.
I might not ever be able to retire so I moved to Oregon anyway.
folks need to figure out what they want to DO in retirement, including where they want to do it and who they want to do it with.
stay there, move somewhere else, and the totally legitimate snowbird plan which I guess you could also reverse and move way south, then go north for the summer.
lots of great options!
My plan has always been to move from Chicago back to Kentucky. I don’t have some family there - all of the family is there. Summers aren’t worse than Chicago, winters are considerably milder, and the cost of living is loads cheaper (especially housing). Friends here that have gone home on visits with me claim they’d love to do the same, but I suspect the slow pace there would drive them nuts.
The importance of tax rates on choosing a retirement state lies somewhere between diddly and squat. Take my own state of Michigan. A retired couple with a $50,000 pension would pay about $1860 in state income tax. You’re really going to move out of state to save a lousy $150 per month? I think location of your family and being on familiar turf far outweighs the paltry state income tax. Live where you’re comfortable, don’t base such an important decision on a trivial amount of money.
I know exactly what you mean - a couple of years ago we left a blizzard in Calgary in October and drove south until we hit Las Vegas, where it was around 30ºC (86ºF). We sat outside and ate ice cream and just soaked in the heat and light like we were never going to see the sun again.
Yes. Yes, it is.
I think we can work something out - I want to spend winters in some place like Arizona, and summers in Calgary where summers are just about perfect (not too hot, very few bugs). Do you think we could convince you to get a little place in Arizona? 
This is off-topic but not really worthy of it’s own thread, so…
Lots of Canadians winter in Arizona in retirement. How is healthcare handled? I assume that if they are still Canadian citizens they are covered by the Canadian Healthcare System, but I am not aware of how that works in a foreign country. Does Canada pay the providers in Arizona or do the people have to purchase some sort of temporary insurance that covers them in the U.S. (or any other foreign country?)