Should You Move After Retirement?

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I lived in Washington State and I loved it there. Then when I was let go from my job of 14 years I moved to Utah a place I don't much care for because my mother was getting old and I believed I needed to be near her during her last few years. Now that my mother is passed away I really have no reason to remain in Utah. I don't like the climate, the air is dirty. It's desert and I really hope I don't have to stay here much longer. I was planning on retiring at 65 but I have stepped it up to 62 because I really want to get out of here and go back to the Northwest--probably Oregon instead of Washington. As I say I would retire at 65 but I don't want to stay here that long. Let's be real though. No one is going to hire a 62 or 63-year-old woman and I will be working part time. I will need Social Security and my pension to live on as I do not want to tough my nest egg until I'm 67. Utah is not home for me and I really want to go.

Gayla of UT 11:17AM February 23, 2013

I plan to leave the state I am in. I really don't like where I live. I moved here when I lost my job in another state. My mother had few years left of her life and I felt I needed to live near her. Now that she is dead there isn't any reason for me to stay here--especially when I really don't like it that much. I am planning on taking early retirement so I can get out of here.

Gale of UT 11:07PM January 14, 2013

I moved about 75 miles away from where I had gone to college, lived and worked for 40 years to escape a bad mortgage. I was forced to retire unwillingly and could no longer afford the increasing mortgage payments. By selling my home,I was able to pay off the mortgage and purchase a better home outright with the cash from the proceeds of the sale. It has been a mix of good and difficult even being that close to my hometown. Living in a more rural area means the services are not right at your hand, but there also is none of the pollution and craziness of the city. It is a little too far to go to visit friends and relatives on a regular basis but close enough to do that a few times a year. I miss having friends and relatives to count on for such things as weekend vacations and have no close friends here yet. (It has been almost two years) If it not were for a friend who helped me repair and market my home, I would not have been able to do it. I owe him a lot.

Virginia of CA 4:02PM May 30, 2010

I never see it mentioned, as it may not be chic enough, but Pensacola, Florida is an interesting city to check out. It's a city of 50,000, not a beach town. It has opera, legitimate theatre, professional hockey and baseball, a large community college and branch of the state university system, and award winning hospitals. The downtown is undergoing a nice transformation - including the city's waterfront.
Property is inexpensive and there is a good inventory of homes at all price points. Oh, by the way, Pensacola Beach, a community of 4,000 residents, with relatively low to medium density and miles of national seashore, is only 5 miles from downtown Pensacola.
Worth a look -
http://www.ci.pensacola.fl.us/live/pages.asp?pageID=4577
http://barrierislandgirl.blogspot.com/
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/Home.aspx
For the geographically challenged, Pensacola is in the Central time zone in Northwestern Florida.

JR Gordon of FL 2:29PM May 27, 2010

Our house is not selling well but we will not do a fire sale but I-95 and the hectic pace of the Northern VA area is pushing a lot or people out of here after they stay for a second career. That will be us. Were we in a smaller, quieter community then staying would be a definite option

George Bond of VA 9:57AM May 27, 2010

If more people had a decent pension, they wouldn't have to move overseas.

Gordon of VA 6:29PM March 06, 2010

Great article. And yes, boomer retirees can find a much lower cost of living if they retire abroad in a place like Mexico...or many other Latin American countries. It's not for everyone, though, for the reasons mentioned in this article. But if you have a sense of adventure, it can be great fun and a great learning experience. And you'll probably save enough money to be able to go back home a couple of times a year for visits with family and friends. I work for www.InternationalLiving.com and we write lots of articles about retiring overseas -- most everyone I've talked to has only one regret: that they didn't do it sooner.

Suzan Haskins 1:29PM March 03, 2010