Where to Retire???

My wife and I were discussing where we might consider retiring and came up with the following criteria:

- Abundant natural beauty.
-Affordability.
-Abundant wildlife
-Low Taxes
-4 Seasons


Our hope would be to purchase a large plot of natural land and preserve it to be that way for future generations. Just a small home built with the most currently available energy efficient standards. We still have 10 -15 years till retirement but now is the time to start our planning.

I would love to hear people insight into potential locations.

Mike

My wife & I are considering the arear around Gardiner, MT. It's the northern gate to Yellowstone. Montana is a very low tax state and because of that the economy is very stable. The southern end of Yellowstone is in Wyoming, another state with very low taxes, low gas prices, and a quietly prosperous economy. Another thought is the Black Hills of South Dakota. Lots of wildlife, affordable land, and like Wyoming there are no income taxes. (I moved to SD mainly for hunting opportunities and no state income tax.) Reno, NV is close to Yosemite and just might be the best place to live in California. Taxes are low so quality of life there is very high. One place my wife and I fell in love with and considered buying a house in was Iceland. But then we saw the tax rate etc. and knew that was another of those "Great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there." If we had no money we might consider it. In general, the Western states like SD, WY, MT, NV, AZ have lots of natural beauty, well run state governents, affordable land and taxes, and very stable economies. Don't rule out southwest North Dakota either. The area along the Missouri River is very pretty and land is cheap. No state income tax there either.


Kent in SD

Mike - go to Dominica! 4 seasons of warmth and beauty!

Montana and Wyoming popped into my head as well. I'd love to recommend my home state of Washington, but I'm not sure it's exactly affordable (no state income tax though). Maybe out on the coast.

Max

We're aimed at the rural Southwest and have already bought a fair-sized chunk of property there and manage it just as you describe. We considered the Midwest, but wanted a little less winter and it's a bit far from national parks and such. Rural areas have lower living costs. I will say that it's certainly best to start your property hunt now, and to pay for it completely before you retire.

BTW- I'll leave out the specific location, but will tell you that our place is within a long day's drive of everything from Yellowstone to Death Valley including Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands, Escalante, RMNP, Great Basin, Mesa Verde, and a bunch more when you include the monuments and refuges. Yeah, we have a vehicle that gives decent gas mileage and is well stocked with camping gear!

Are you guys sure about Wyoming? It's beautiful there, incredibly, and affordable and a photographer's dream. But the people I've talked to from there say there's only three seasons: preparing for winter, winter, and recovering from winter.

From experience I can tell you that North Phoenix/Scottsdale has the first three (even affordability currently), but definitely not the last two, especially four seasons! 68 is the average temp in January, but in a couple hours you can be in Flagstaff where 15 degrees at night isn't uncommon.

Use the time you have before retirement to explore the places that make it to your A and B list. Add to your list of considerations, proximity of medical and hospital care. When your list is down to top 3, try a month in each location to enable a "total immersion" evaluation before pulling trigger to invest.

We have chosen to live in an area north of Tucson for Nov-April and south of Denver May-Oct in low maintenance town home communities.

Bill Brennan

I've been to lots of places but have to say, the mountains of Tennessee - North Carolina - Georgia fit your criteria very well. Look at Asheville area and Brevard (land of waterfalls), area around Helen in North Georgia. West Virginia might be worth a look. I have to say my hometown of Kingsport TN is becoming quite the retirement area. No income tax, low cost of living, four seasons (but none severe), beautiful natural areas with minutes to hours (including Great Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway). Plus great medical facilities for those later years.

Check out http://www.movetokingsport.com/

Thanks for all your responses. Keep the responses coming I am getting some ideas I had not considered. Does anyone have any feelings on Maine or New Hampshire.

Mike

We chose Nova Scotia, but unfortunately they prefer to not to make it easy for retirees who want to immigrate... so move there while you are still working. Water abounds, reasonably priced property, beauty, four seasons and low taxes as well as friendly people. Winters are comparable to CT/MA because it is on the gulf stream. Since in our case it is not possible to move there 12 months of the year, we are seriously considering selling our CT home and moving to NH for the other six months and a day. I'm told it has low taxes and lower property prices, and I know it has an abundance of state and national parks, lupines, mountains, waterfalls, moose etc.

If you prefer a longer summer season North Carolina is very popular.

Good luck. And Hank's advice to buy now so its paid is right on.

Paul--

Winter in Wyoming isn't that bad. All depends on what elevation you're at. Another plug for Rapid City, SD. WInters there are generally about the same as in Kansas City. It's less than a day from Yellowstone, Badlands, Wind Cave, and Teddy Roosevelt national parks. For another retirement idea there is Tennessee. Eastern part is very pretty, althoughI find eastern states a bit too crowded for my taste, and summers are muggy.


Kent in SD

I'm partial to where I've lived most of my life which is Northern NY on the edge of the Adirondack Park. Lot's of natural beauty, relatively low cost and we definitely have 4 seasons. The Adirondack Park can be expensive in that you are competing with tourists for real estate but there are nice communities on the edges that are an easy commute into the park. I live near Potsdam which is home to two universities (SUNY & Clarkson) and has a lot of cultural activity. Plattsburgh is also close to the park, is on Lake Champlain and has a branch of SUNY as well. It is a ferry ride from Burlington, VT. I once asked a friend who had lost his job in his late 40s why he didn't look for work downstate and he replied "When you put your roots down in the North Country, they freeze". He was right.

Michael, I lived my first third of my life in New England and I still have family who live in Maine. Definitely 4 seasons, not sure about the taxes, gorgeous lakes, mountains and coastline, fishing harbors, islands, abundant wildlife...and the summer has no humidity! Great place to live. And I have family in New Hampshire...another super place.

Montana for sure! My wife, unfortunately, doesn't agree, because she hates winter

I live in Northern Colorado in Loveland. Were about 50 miles from the Wyoming Border and the same to Denver. We have 4 seasons and what I consider mild winters. The best thing living here is over 300 days of sunshine a year! I live 35 minutes from RMNP, 7.5hrs to the Tetons, 5.5 hours to Moab etc, etc.. Our medical facilities are current and new. Our taxes are average not as high as East/West coast. We also have great retirement facilities. Our community supports the arts to include the largest Sculpture show in the country. I'm starting to feel like I'm doing a Chamber add so I'll sign off.