To Lamar - As far as I know, there are residency requirements for Canadians to retain their Canadian healthcare; they have to spend the majority of their time in Canada (so, six months plus a day in Canada). My husband and I always purchase extra healthcare insurance when we visit the US, so I would assume snowbirds would look after that, too.
Something snowbirds have to think about too, I’ve heard, is that taxes for non-residents can be set at any level the place in question chooses - surprise!
Amen to that. I live in Michigan and cannot wait to get out of here, once my elderly parent (who refuses to move) is gone. I’m in my mid-sixties, single, and financially well fixed.
My property taxes (used to be called “school taxes”) are high, and increase yearly. Most of it goes to infrastructure and code enforcement officers. We have a dwindling population of students, but the number of school administrators and their salaries steadily increases. Statewide, schools are closing due to falling enrollments, yet the hundreds of small school districts in the state fight consolidation and cry for local millage increases.
The state of Michigan very clearly doesn’t care if retirees continue to live here, with their recent decision to tax all pension income.
I will go somewhere that actually wants me. Michigan is telling me (loudly) to get out!
I’m not crazy about hot weather, but I would like milder winters. Right now, I’m looking at a 2-condo situation: one in a northern state for summers and one in Arizona or New Mexico for winters.
My SIL moved to Texas and now my MIL and FIL spend just over 6 months here in Ontario and just under 6 months in Texas every year.
I think Blue Cross is actually cheaper for most healthy people than what most Americans pay. The cost is dependent upon your health status and since it’s travel insurance there is no grandfathering in of conditions so it tends to increase in cost every year as people get older and deal with more ongoing conditions.
For example I just checked the online quote site and if my husband and I (49,45) left tomorrow for 6 months in the US the cost would be 1226.00 total. That includes 5 million in coverage, medical travel home if required and they will pay all costs and recover from our provincial medical plan when required.
I would say the concerns of warmer vs colder climate are not over-rated if you don’t want to be housebound for much of the winter when you are retired. I don’t want a place that’s too warm in the summer, but I would like to be able to spend time on the porch or being outdoors at least part of the time during the winter.
As someone else said, even if the difference in state taxes aren’t all that much, differences in property taxes can be a lot. Even a difference of $100 per month can mean a lot.
Falls are a common cause of serious injury and death in the elderly. The risk of falling on an icy sidewalk is one problem with staying in a cold climate if you’re elderly.
My father in law has some major chronic pain problems, and he loved visiting FL because the warmth helped his pain levels apparently. I imagine that’s a big factor for many oldsters.
I live in the upper midwest, and even though I’m not elderly, I do feel like the winters here are very hard to deal with. I do find myself spending a lot more time at home in winter because I just don’t feel like going out and dealing with the bitter cold. I definitely hope to find a way to at least travel most of the winter when I’m older, even if I don’t totally leave.
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.
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This Yahoo piece calls Montana the “most extreme weather temperature state in the United States,” because the difference between its all-time high temperature (117) and all-time low (-70) is the most extreme in the nation. I hope you live in one of the nicer areas of Montana.
Miami, Florida, on the other hand, has only recorded a temperature of 100 degrees once - that was back in 1942 when 100 was the high for the day.
I’m 55, and I have arthritis. If I’m cold, it’s harder to move, and it hurts to move…and I live in North Texas, where it generally doesn’t get very cold. When I was younger, I didn’t mind the cold. Now I do.
Please tell me where do they record official temps, because I can assure you that in the summer of 1998, 100 wasn’t just reached but broken daily for several weeks in a row.
There are many places where you can get that data. It’s true, Miami’s all-time high temp since 1895 is 100 degrees on July 21st, 1942. Note that this is actual temperature, “feels-like” temps do not count and Miami has extremely high humidity, so temps in the high 80’s and 90’s can easily feel like 100+ degrees.
Having thought about this for a few years, I don’t know that there is a clear answer.
In the first place you should retire in a place where you feel comfortable, a place which is familiar, somewhere where your friends are and hopefully your family not too far away.
Secondly you will want medical care to be reasonably close by.
You will also want decent shopping at least for groceries, to be near by.
You will need a benign climate neither too hot nor too cold.
I watched my father-in-law with interest. I assumed he’d retire to his holiday home in Queenstown (NZ) because he loved going there. But by the time he was 80 his blood was thin (in his words) and the cold winters were too harsh. Beautiful summers, glorious scenery, family happy to visit, but those hard months were too much.
Furthermore he had spent his life in Invercargill which is where his friends lived and every street corner held a story. That was where he was happiest.
I’m 45 and I live in a very rural part of Ohio. I don’t plan on moving after I retire. I have no fondness for hot climates or beaches, and prefer to live in a quiet setting with four well-defined seasons and no riffraff.
My uncle retired and moved to Florida. To a small house right on the water. He eventually grew to hate it. According to him,
The bugs, critters, and termites were a constant problem.
He was *constantly *oiling his tools, because the humidity was so bad that they would rust otherwise.
The summers were so scorching that he didn’t want to go outside.
Too many people, too much riffraff.
He moved back to Ohio after living in Florida for only five years.
Montana is a very big state (4th in area after Alaska, Texas & California) with great climate differences and a wealth of microclimates. Where I live, the record temp swing is fairly significant (-42 to 101), but the averages are pretty pleasant (in my opinion).
Depending on where you live, that can apply in the summer as well.
I think most people really prefer the spring/fall type temps (60-80F, sunny, occasional rain to keep the plants happy), to god-awful blistering sunlight and oven-like heat (100 or so) that is maddeningly constant from June through early September, or the usual blustery, bleak winter weather from November through early March. (Texas months- yours may vary).
I think there’s a lot to the notion that older people just move better and aren’t as sensitive to heat as cold. Anecdotally, I know several older people who keep their houses at a temp that seems to me to be horribly hot, and as a result, the air’s stagnant because their AC fans don’t run so often.
And these aren’t the low fixed-income old folks either; the people I’m thinking of have are pretty affluent by anyone’s standards, much less retirees. They can afford to keep their houses at 65 in the summer with no hardship if they felt like it.
Every year in the US about 28,000 people die from extreme cold weather. That is more than die from homicide, leukemia, or liver disease. Each year about 5,400 deaths are delayed by moving to a warmer region. 8-15% of the increase in longevity over the past 30 years is attributable to people moving south for retirement. Hereis a summary of a research study done on this topic.
I sometimes consider moving back up to the North East from Texas for the cold weather, which I tend to prefer. I’ve become something of a hobby blacksmith and would probably stroke out if I hadn’t made myself a “cooling room” with a comfortable chair and a little portable A/C(it ain’t your Grandpa’s smithy ). Fans don’t do much for you in this very humid part of Texas.
The reality is that I’m not going anywhere. I’ll just moan and complain for the rest of my summers…
). Fans don’t do much for you in this very humid part of Texas.