Retirement state?

[Newtosavage]

Pick a red state. About my best advice.


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Now how do you expect to turn those blue states red with that mentality? LOL

OP, I wish you luck and congratulations on reaching retirement. My wife and I are about 4 years behind you and we've been traveling every summer to explore where we may want to land. I love my home state of Texas (mostly) but not so crazy about how many people live here now, or the lack of public land. So we'll probably end up in SW Colorado or Oregon, based on what we've seen so far. Being within a couple hours of coastal fishing really appeals to me, which is why we've been traveling to Oregon to look around there the past few years.

I love college towns. We'll probably retire near one. Usually the cost of living is reasonable and there is plenty to do. I don't mind liberals as I am not easily offended by differing points of view and I welcome whatever debate they may want to offer.

But there are quite a few conservative bubbles you can go live in if you really need everyone around you to think like you do. I find that pretty boring however.

 

[IdahoElk]

Do you like the cold and 5 months of winter? Yes or no to this will help narrow your search

 

[Mosby]

I would offer the opposite advice. Avoid college towns at all costs. 9 times out of 10 it will be an Uber-liberal city chocked full of red diaper doper babies. Even in the most conservative states college towns are bad-bad-bad politically. This is what I found when I was visiting and researching locations to move my family to away from the PRC (People’s Republic of California). Typically you can find a rural area within a 60 minute drive where the politics are better, less people, and way better cost of living.

A number of things to look at when you get older. Health care is a critical issue in retirement. I live in the country. It takes an hour and a half for an ambulance to get here. Neighbor died on his floor two years ago because they got there late, the volunteer EMT couldn't get an airway and wasn't enough time to life flight him. Life flight insurance is popular here for a reason.

Takes almost an hour to get to a grocery store and pharmacy and an hour and a half to our dentist....one way. We have to drive to the PO to get our mail. When my wife had to have chemo she had to stay 4 hours away at our son's house because her treatment was 10 minutes from his house. When you can't eat and barely walk and get down to 90 lbs, you can't drive an hour and a half for a chemo treatment and an hour and a half back. Hunting, fishing and politics aren't very important either....trust me.

I am as conservative as the next guy on here but if you are moving to a place to get old and die, then politics is about the bottom of my list on important issues to consider. Most people don't hunt and fish more than 30 days a year. You have to live and survive the other 11 months and its a hell of a lot easier to drive or walk 20 minutes to your doctor, dentist, hospital or grocery store....especially when you get into your 70's. I would rather drive to my hunting and fishing spots, then the reverse.

I grew up in the country in a house with no running water in the winter and an outhouse. I live in the country now. People romance about living in the country and I like it too but I understand and live with the downside and I don't recommend it to people who are starting over later in life. JMO and YMMV.

 

[roadrunner]

Since everyday is "Saturday" and you have lifetime guaranteed income, travel for hunting and fishing when necessary.

If you want to live under restrictions and idiotic legislation, then NM is the way to go. If you don't have the patience to deal with stupidity, then look at WY, ID, or SD.

UT is going liberal, they just don't know it yet...

 

[Oregon]

Washington Wyoming South Dakota Nevada and Texas don't tax military retirement.
Something to think about.

 

[cnelk]

This would most likely be my answer too if i lived there. When i last lived in Colorado in the 80s it was much less populated. Every year when i go back to Montrose its just getting bigger and bigger. Sad truth is I may still try to find a crack to squeeze myself into there. At least ill add another red vote. Maybe we can get that ugly blue color off it on the "election map".

You bring me $600,000 cash and I'll be out of my place in 7 days

 

[Mosby]

Personally, I think SD is way under rated. Bird hunting, walleye fishing and an easy drive west.

 

[EdP]

It seems a bit late for you to be making this decision, but things are what they are. I have a friend that retired in Wyoming and likes it a lot. He moved to a very small town, much smaller than I would be happy with, but is within 45 min of Cheyenne. He is not a hunter but is a big fisherman and finds a lot of creeks to fish. Winters are more harsh and longer than the St Louis area that he moved from. Wy is the least populated state but is not yet much impacted by those fleeing Cali. He says that's because the Wy residents won't sell their land. I don't know. If proximity to family wasn't an issue, I would have loved to retire to Wyoming or Idaho instead of Virginia. I drove through part of Casper last fall and it looked like a nice town. Good luck with your move.

 

[KINGSNAKE]

Personally, I think SD is way under rated. Bird hunting, walleye fishing and an easy drive west.

Don't overlook waterfowl hunting. Great way to blow a lot of money on another hunting discipline. I hunt the west and waterfowl hunt around home. Makes a nice mix. I would look at Washington. Great waterfowl state. Also not far from southeast Alaska. Also provides better access to Idaho.

 

[Gone4Days]

Northern AZ.

 

[JDB9818]

Born and raised in Colorado and looking to retire within the next 3-4 years. Will be leaving this state for sure!

Liberal, expensive and getting more crowded by the day. I'd look at other options.

 

[zion zig zag]

Does the state need to be in the US? Cause Guanajuato has some kick ass weather.

 

[NorthIDHunter]

Don't overlook waterfowl hunting. Great way to blow a lot of money on another hunting discipline. I hunt the west and waterfowl hunt around home. Makes a nice mix. I would look at Washington. Great waterfowl state. Also not far from southeast Alaska. Also provides better access to Idaho.

Hey hey hey, we have made it almost 12 hours without someone saying the "I" word! I have no idea if its even a good place to consider for retirement (financially) but I know it checks a lot of boxes for lots of people. Except its outrageously expensive now, and the word is out so people are coming here like migrating caribou, bad part is they don't migrate back, but that perspective is coming from someone who has lived here their entire lives here. To be completely honest I do understand why people are coming here in the first place, and its really hard to blame them. I just can't believe they are willing to put up with not having running water or indoor plumbing!

 

[Bratch]

A number of things to look at when you get older. Health care is a critical issue in retirement. I live in the country. It takes an hour and a half for an ambulance to get here. Neighbor died on his floor two years ago because they got there late, the volunteer EMT couldn't get an airway and wasn't enough time to life flight him. Life flight insurance is popular here for a reason.

Takes almost an hour to get to a grocery store and pharmacy and an hour and a half to our dentist....one way. We have to drive to the PO to get our mail. When my wife had to have chemo she had to stay 4 hours away at our son's house because her treatment was 10 minutes from his house. When you can't eat and barely walk and get down to 90 lbs, you can't drive an hour and a half for a chemo treatment and an hour and a half back. Hunting, fishing and politics aren't very important either....trust me.

I am as conservative as the next guy on here but if you are moving to a place to get old and die, then politics is about the bottom of my list on important issues to consider. Most people don't hunt and fish more than 30 days a year. You have to live and survive the other 11 months and its a hell of a lot easier to drive or walk 20 minutes to your doctor, dentist, hospital or grocery store....especially when you get into your 70's. I would rather drive to my hunting and fishing spots, then the reverse.

I grew up in the country in a house with no running water in the winter and an outhouse. I live in the country now. People romance about living in the country and I like it too but it I understand and live with the downside and I don't recommend it to people who are starting over later in life. JMO and YMMV.

This is a great post.

My parents recently sold their retirement farm and moved back to town because their local small town hospital shut down and emergency care was an hour away. They also got less and less interested in busting ice and working the stock into their 70s.

Watching it play out has been educational. I have always dreamed of a big spread in the middle of no where, I’m now leaning towards a smaller place within 30 minutes of a stable hospital.

 

[wildwilderness]

Go to AZ for 9 months become a resident, burn your AZ points. Then CO, become a resident burn those points. Finally land in NM.

The single most important thing you can do in AZ is buy a lifetime license. That will give you lifetime RESIDENT draw odds! (you will have to pay NR fees if you move away, but never have to buy another hunting license)

 

[lowpressure]

A lot of things to look at when you retire. If I was packing up and going somewhere, I would look at college towns in any of those states. They normally have decent health care, convenient day to day shopping and stuff to do when you get old or it isn't hunting season. That quickly eliminates a lot and narrows the search down to a manageable list. Then I would compare housing and cost of living, have realtors send you information and get it down to two towns. Go visit them and pick one of the two.

Good advice. My wife and i own a real estate company as our retirement gig so we have a lot of insider channels as far as real estate in a few of those states is concerned. We are already in two states and looking to add a couple more soon.

 

[manitou1]

We built a house in WY and moved here when I retired from the military. We have been coming out here for 25 years as my wife is from here.
Pros: No state income tax, reasonable property taxes, lots of public land in many areas, low humidity.
Cons: Wind! Long winters and cold. Extremely expensive housing compared to where we came from. Everything is more expensive compared to the midwest by a large margin: Food, gas, restaurants, etc.
Lack of jobs if you are still working age. Limited availability on the housing market.
The hunting has taken a serious downturn the past 20 years, even moreso during the past 5 years. Over crowding- too many tag allocations, drought and in some areas, disease has taken a toll on game nimbers and hunt quality. I thought I new what crowded public land hunting was in Missouri, but WY has it beat five-fold!

 

[lowpressure]

You bring me $600,000 cash and I'll be out of my place in 7 days

lol! Thats basically what happened here last week for close to that kinda money. Had a lady hit my wife up on our website about our personal home (which was not listed for sale) and asked if we might be interested in selling. We said everything is for sale for the right price..........................They made us an offer we couldnt refuse.

 

[Newtosavage]

Do you like the cold and 5 months of winter? Yes or no to this will help narrow your search

Or in our case, oppressive heat and humidity and 5 months of summer?

 

[KINGSNAKE]

Hey hey hey, we have made it almost 12 hours without someone saying the "I" word! I have no idea if its even a good place to consider for retirement (financially) but I know it checks a lot of boxes for lots of people. Except its outrageously expensive now, and the word is out so people are coming here like migrating caribou, bad part is they don't migrate back, but that perspective is coming from someone who has lived here their entire lives here. To be completely honest I do understand why people are coming here in the first place, and its really hard to blame them. I just can't believe they are willing to put up with not having running water or indoor plumbing!

My kids are in school and my wife hates winter. But if I was a young single man the I state would be in my top 4. In no particular order. AK. ID Wy Mt would be top four for me.