Great Retirement Spots?

[midwest5-0]

What are some great retirement cities/towns?...looking for warm affordable areas near the ocean and/or mountains. 10 years down. 10-20 more to go, and yes I'm counting every day.


Thanks and Stay Safe

[Kieth M.]

Right now, subscribe to a magazine called Where to Retire. Of course they always seem to highlight the retirement communities created/built by many of their advertisers, but they do their best to cover the entire country, from beaches to mountains, deserts to big cities. Can't hurt!

[PhilipCal]

Well, I'm in Montgomery Alabama. Not exactly a retirement mecca, but not all that bad either. We're about 180 miles from the nearest ocean(Gulf of Mexico),and the nearest real mountains are in North Alabama. Cost of living isn't too bad. city services pretty fair. Crime and traffic are problems, but that's true almost anywhere. You appreciate Montgomery every time you come back from Atlanta. They don't have their own ocean either, and fortunately, I don't have to go there anymore.

[just joe]

Retire in country or out? A lot of retirees are going to Mexico, Belize, Costa Rico, etc.

[elusive]

Im gonna retire anywhere that homes sell for a lot less and the cost of living is a lot less. Sell my house and use the profit from the sale as additional retirement investment.

[hemicop]

Some of the smaller towns in Az. may be to your liking. YES, we have mountains & lakes here. Payson, Show-low, Alpine, Strawberry, Yuma, Flagstaff those are just a few of the places people retire to. Where do Arizonans retire? REAL small towns in the State or sometimes Mexico (i.e. Rocky Point, etc.) usually on the Sea of Cortez.

[HEAT162]

Good thing I read your thread before I replied. All I could think of was it sure as H E L L ain't in Iowa. Since we are at a balmy 9 degrees right now!

[Frank Booth]

Some of the smaller towns in Az. may be to your liking. YES, we have mountains & lakes here. Payson, Show-low, Alpine, Strawberry, Yuma, Flagstaff those are just a few of the places people retire to. Where do Arizonans retire? REAL small towns in the State or sometimes Mexico (i.e. Rocky Point, etc.) usually on the Sea of Cortez.

Is it safe to drive through Mexico from AZ to the Sea of Cortez with your family? Any suggestions of where to take the family in that area for a (driving) vacation?? What about medical care?

[1042 Trooper]

Good thing I read your thread before I replied. All I could think of was it sure as H E L L ain't in Iowa. Since we are at a balmy 9 degrees right now!
Gotcha beat. We're at 8 degrees. Neener neerer. :D

[hemicop]

Is it safe to drive through Mexico from AZ to the Sea of Cortez with your family? Any suggestions of where to take the family in that area for a (driving) vacation?? What about medical care?

Safe? Pretty much, but you will have to get special insurance for your car at the Border. Whatever you do--DON'T BRING A FIREARM INTO MEXICO! I can't stress this enough as you will be jailed for it. The Federales make NO EXCEPTIONS on this. Not very long ago a U.S. citizen was jailed for a couple of years waiting for his trial there. As to where to go--- sorry, can't help there most of my trips were package deals so I just went where I was told. The thing with travelling in/to less well known parts of Mexico is remember -- you REALLY ARE going inoto a 3rd world country where Americans aren't especially liked by anyone & there LE & judicial system is completely different from ours & as a non-citizen you have little if any Rights

[midwest5-0]

Thanks for the ideas and keep them coming. Mexico is a nice place to visit, but wouldn't want to live there...plan on keeping by %*& on U.S. soil...kind of fond of this place...lol. I've heard nightmare stories about the Federales and don't think I want to test the waters. If anyone else has any ideas, the're greatly appreciated! Looking anywhere from Florida to Cali.

[Kieth M.]

Where to Retire will also highlight other (outside of the U.S.) retirement havens. They accept ads from Central American destinations. A couple of our retirees have gone to Costa Rica.

[Jiu-Jitsu Cop]

I recommend south central LA. This way you never really leave police work behind. :)

[ateamer]

In nine years, we are moving to the Ft. Lauderdale area. If I could take the pay cut and subsequent pension hit, we'd be on our way right now.

[Frank Booth]

The thing with travelling in/to less well known parts of Mexico is remember -- you REALLY ARE going inoto a 3rd world country where Americans aren't especially liked by anyone & there LE & judicial system is completely different from ours & as a non-citizen you have little if any Rights

Hmm, that pretty much tells me everything I want to know....No driving through Mexico for me...

[1042 Trooper]

I do know land is cheap in Kentucky and Tennessee. I just found 50 acres of mostly thick wooded land 10 miloes from Coffeville, for 78K. It had two flowing, spring fed streams and a natural fishing lake. City water, power, etc.

I bought it. :D

[Kieth M.]

I do know land is cheap in Kentucky and Tennessee. I just found 50 acres of mostly thick wooded land 10 miloes from Coffeville, for 78K. It had two flowing, spring fed streams and a natural fishing lake. City water, power, etc.

I bought it. :D

So you're leaving the land "where men are men and sheep are nervous," to where the banjos play, and the words, "hillbilly love ritual," strike fear into the hearts and minds of any city-dweller?:eek:

[1042 Trooper]

I always was a redneck. :D

We're still years away from it, so we can always sell it later if we decide against or leave it to the boys.

Sure is a pretty piece of elbow room. And 50 acres is just barely big enough for a log house in the geographical center and no neighbors.

It was the motion camera shots of three monster whitetail bucks and some wild turkey that sold me. :D

[VSPTAC]

So you're leaving the land "where men are men and sheep are nervous," to where the banjos play, and the words, "hillbilly love ritual," strike fear into the hearts and minds of any city-dweller?:eek:

Hey, what is wrong with some hillbilly love?!?!?!?! :eek: :D

[mikemac64]

Coffeyville KY or TN?

[ICEAGENT]

The area of Brunswick/St. Simon's Island in Georgia seems to be pretty popular for LE retirees. Near the beach, an hour from both Savannah and Jacksonville, FL. Lots of golf and outdoors activities. It is also the location of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center which employs many retired local/state/federal LEO's as instructors. There are also "role players" who assist with the training by acting as witnesses and bad guys. I think they make around $15-$20 an hour to basically have fun for a few hours. When I was down there there were a few retired NYPD/FDNY guys who were role players.

[1042 Trooper]

Coffeyville KY or TN?
Sorry. I meant Campbellsville, KY

[WhoRunIt1475]

destin florida

[So Fla Cop]

In nine years, we are moving to the Ft. Lauderdale area. If I could take the pay cut and subsequent pension hit, we'd be on our way right now.

Have you looked here lately? :confused:

[d0406]

1042, make sure you budget for the 10 ft high razor wire fence around the entire site, and the 4 story sniper tower, I mean bird watching station. Also need a generator and back up hand pump well, stocked fish pond, canning supplies and reloading equipment. Oh wait, I'm thinking of my retirement dream.

[ateamer]

Do you mean for employment, or living? We don't plan to live in Ft. Lauderdale itself, but the general area; that's just the nearest city that people not familiar with the area will know. My sister-in-law lives in Pembroke Pines and loves it. We'll probably wind up near there - Davie looked nice, too.

As far as working there, we can't take the pay reduction. True, the cost of housing is less and we have loads of equity here, but I want the pay, especially when it's in the form of a pension check. In nine years, I'll retire at 84%. By then, that will probably be around $75,000 a year as a pension. I also have deferred comp and an IRA. The house or condo will be paid for the day we move in, so that will leave enough cash for the fun stuff - airplane, golf, boat and so forth.

I would love to be able to move there now, but moneywise, it makes more sense to stay here and build up the equity and pension.

[1042 Trooper]

1042, make sure you budget for the 10 ft high razor wire fence around the entire site, and the 4 story sniper tower, I mean bird watching station. Also need a generator and back up hand pump well, stocked fish pond, canning supplies and reloading equipment. Oh wait, I'm thinking of my retirement dream.
We'll see what we can do. A long time ago I had an idea for a private hunting / fishing club for cops. Who knows - still might do something like that.

[d0406]

1042, the po-po hunting lodge would be a great idea. I don't know if you could control all of them, might be too many off-duty police in one place...lol

[chfwighim]

I maybe partial to my hometown, but I really like it here in St. Augustine, Florida (St. Johns County). We have the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the St. Johns river to the west. The weather well, we still get all 4 seasons and YES it does get COLD here. The winter is short and the really cold weather (30 degrees) only lasts no more than a month. Oh, today (12/29) it was 76 degrees in the high.
If you like golfing, we have 2 PGA golf courses (TPC- The Players Championship and the World Golf Village), plus about 12 to 13 more courses in neighborhoods. We are kinda located between Jacksonville and Daytona Beach. Hope this helps!

[mikemac64]

I am looking at 10-12 years 'till I retire. I am 43 and have been keeping my eyes open. I own real estate here in MA valued at about $650,000.00 in todays dollars.

I will cash all of that in I think and move somewhere with a bunch of other old folks. I am told if there are lot's of old folks it usually means there is decent healthcare around. Who knows how true that is? I don't.

Or maybe I will sharecrop a couple of acres off of 1042Trooper!!!

PS I start with a new PD here in Massachusetts next Sunday. Wish me luck.

[Mike 842]

Even in the more remote areas, kentucky and Tennessee, they have good healthcare, louisville and Knoxville. That area used to be tobacco farming, about 10 years ago, most of the land there was sold at auction for about 250 an acre. now most of it is planted in hay or corn, the average size is 150-400 acres. Florida has infrastructure issues, too many people, not enough roads or water and crime in the larger Cities is out of control. St. augustine is the nation's oldest city, and it's pretty there. Depends on what you're looking for, not alot of large property available and not the place to be when a cat. 4 or 5 comes. Western S. Carolina, N. Carolina, S.W. Virginia, E. tennessee, nice affordable areas that are clean not too crowded yet.

[Frank Booth]

I will cash all of that in I think and move somewhere with a bunch of other old folks.

You're gonna get SLAUGHTERED in capital gains if you're talking about significantly more property than your residence!!!

[ateamer]

Nah, we're going to hide the money. I will no longer be ateamer. I will be incorporated as ateamer 2007 (Cayman), Ltd.

[mikemac64]

You're gonna get SLAUGHTERED in capital gains if you're talking about significantly more property than your residence!!!

You have an exemption on your primary residence if you lived in it for 2 out of the last 5 years. I can squeeze that in with two houses. My accountant says it is done all the time (though the tx code could change). You seel them both or sell one and establis residency in the other then sell that (or fudge your residency and sell them both at the same time).

[Mike 842]

Don't think that South Florida is a great idea. Property is high, acreage in Davie will average about 350k. Add your annual property tax of about 8-9k plus another 5-6K for homeowners insurance and any home owner or property owner association fees on top of that and even with no mortgage, you're looking at 15 thousand a year just for the house. Most of the bedroom communities there have incorporated, because the larger agencies have 40-50 calls holding at any one time and people wanted protection.The good thing is easy access to the turnpike and 5-95 to get out of there. Great place to work, job security and ALL the overtime you could want, terrible place to live. It's a war zone down there.

[Frank Booth]

You have an exemption on your primary residence if you lived in it for 2 out of the last 5 years. I can squeeze that in with two houses. My accountant says it is done all the time (though the tx code could change). You seel them both or sell one and establis residency in the other then sell that (or fudge your residency and sell them both at the same time).

I thought maybe you meant you had land or rentals for property. I have some land that's increased dramatically in value since I bought it. I'm going to have to build on it and live there a couple years just to avoid capital gains...That's my plan anyway and the "avoid taxes" position is my leverage to convince my wife to give it at least two years at the new location!

[chfwighim]

[QUOTE=Mike 842;1044865]St. augustine is the nation's oldest city, and it's pretty there. QUOTE]

Very true, cant deny that one! But, just think of the health care for all those old people out there :). One thing is if you live outside of the old city, you will have more room to expand. To each its own.

[ChopperCopper]

Colorader Springs! They've got everything! Including a HelicopterEMS provider.

[mikemac64]

I thought maybe you meant you had land or rentals for property. I have some land that's increased dramatically in value since I bought it. I'm going to have to build on it and live there a couple years just to avoid capital gains...That's my plan anyway and the "avoid taxes" position is my leverage to convince my wife to give it at least two years at the new location!

I do rent out the other house (just received the rent check today...$700). But when the time comes, I will transfer my permanent residency to there, and then back, or something like that.

It is a small winterized beach cottage (600 sq/ft) about 1/4 mile from the beach entrance in a town on Boston's South Shore. I normally rent it out for the winter and keep it for the summer. However, we may let it go as a year round rental this year. As my daughters (12 and 8) get busier with sports and other activties we have less time to use it. As Robert Kiyosaki says, and I am paraphrasing here: "make your money/assets work for you, not the other way around"

I am not sure where we will end up up. But it will be a simply designed house with everything WE need and it will be located somewhere there is a mostly mild/warm climate. Big enough for family to visit, but small enough that they'll leave!!!

I think 5-10 acres would be nice too.

[Woffski]

Don't forget to look at Eastern North Carolina. It is along the coast, and a very nice coast, I might add. The weather is great, except it is hot in the summer. The houses are still pretty cheap.