Retirement/relocation destination?

In March, when it's been cold and wet for months, and the Atlantic hasn't changed from dark gray and the wind rattles your teeth for the fifth consecutive month, I wonder why I picked here. But it's the tradeoff, and a grownup accepts tradeoffs.

 

The generations of family thing is an odd thing that can go both ways. My cousin is in the same boat I am: only child, no kids, dad has passed, and in his case, his mom is just hanging on. We have both left and returned and grudgingly hung around but have harbored ambitions of moving on to the lives we've wanted to lead. The other day we were having the conversation, and I said something along the lines of, "Just because our great-great-great grandparents decided to set up shop here, where's it written that this is where we have to stay if it's not where we want to be? We have nothing keeping us here."

 

But he has to live in Arkansas.

 

I agree. You'll have to live among insufferable Razorback fans.

 

Maybe it’s a matter of those who travel being a higher caliber, but Hogs fans have always struck me as possibly the most well-adjusted in the SEC.

 

Isn't this like being the finest cellist in all of Paducah?

 

Yes, it’s horrible here. Please don’t come.

 

Hog fans are permanently frozen in a state of 1964 and briefly thaw to a state of 1969 until Jamie Street sends them back into inferiority.

Edit: Or to a state of 1998 when Burlsworth leg-whipped Stoerner into a fumble and the national champion Vols get off the ropes.

 

If your income isn't tied to actually living within a metro, there are cheap(er) places all over a short drive away.

 

It really depends on what people want to do with their time. I know a guy who retired to Chicago from Arkansas. Bought a condo with a lake view. He and his wife always loved visiting big cities and wanted to see if they'd like living there. They spend their days going to museums and exploring the city. But he's an exception to the trend of moving to cheaper zip codes once you quit working.

But, yeah, if you really want to maximize your budget then you need to move out of the major and even medium metros.

 

We picked Cape Cod, but the other contender for our retirement location was New York City. Among the pluses, besides the obvious benefits of a great city, was not necessarily needing a car. But even back when we were thinking about this, it was just unaffordable, even in places where you wouldn't think so, like the far reaches of Brooklyn or Queens.

 

I will add that selling acres and acres of undeveloped farm land isn't as easy as you'd think, and it's not as valuable as you'd assume, either. I got slightly above what realtors thought I could, but it took 10 months. It went to a developer. There doesn't seem to be an endless supply of out of state retirees who actually want to farm. They want a few acres of land to have the illusion of being farmers. Deep down, they know that whole "salt of the earth" lifestyle comes from actual blood, sweat, and tears.