Retirement thread - where to?

[Thebobo]

Well it's come that time to think about where to go to retire. It's a long way off /wink but I want to start thinking about the process. So I am asking for some ideas.

Things I want:

• House/Ranch/Castle to be under 200k Ish
• I don't care about stuff like Marble countertops or stainless appliances as long as it's functional, clean and in good shape.
• I want to live on as much land as possible and as remotely possible
• I don't mind cold just not a 100 inches a snow a year. Unless the place comes with a snowcat.

BUT I want:

• Fast low lag internet - online games, streaming video.
• Good medical facilities somewhat close by.
• Area to be moderate to progressive in ideology. I don't want to be surrounded by the Armed state militia.
• Reasonable medical/marijuana laws.

So my initial thoughts were, Florida;

pro on cheap housing
Pro on fast internet
Pro on no snow
Pro on no earthquakes or volcanoes.

Con will flood soon
Con Hurricanes
Con well it's florida
Con MJ no go
Con to hot in the summer?

I've also looked at Oregon and Nevada and other sites in the NE but its too $$ and crowded. Any suggestions in the USA?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Well it's come that time to think about where to go to retire. It's a long way off /wink but I want to start thinking about the process. So I am asking for some ideas.

Things I want:

• To house to be under 200k Ish
• I don't care about stuff like Marble countertops or stainless appliances as long as it's functional, clean and in good shape.
• I want to live on as much land as possible and as remotely possible
• I don't mind cold just not a 100 inches a snow a year. Unless the place comes with a snowcat.

BUT I want:

• Fast low lag internet - online games, streaming video.
• Good medical facilities somewhat close by.
• Area to be moderate to progressive in ideology. I don't want to be surrounded by the Armed state militia.
• Reasonable medical/marijuana laws.

So my initial thoughts were, Florida;

pro on cheap housing
Pro on fast internet
Pro on no snow
Pro on no earthquakes or volcanoes.

Con will flood soon
Con Hurricanes
Con well it's florida
Con MJ no go
Con to hot in the summer?

I've also looked at Oregon and Nevada and other sites in the NE but its two $$ and crowded. Any suggestions in the USA?

Upstate NY hits a lot of that, proximity to medical may depend on your specific requirements. Gonna have snow, though. I personally wouldn't want to fly over FL, much less live there.

Why not just buy land and build a house to the spec that you want?

 

[Drako]

Idaho or Montana.

For your internet requirement you will have to live in/near some of the larger cities like Boise, Billings, Nampa, Meridian, Missoula, etc.

 

[vi edit]

There's a couple requirements that are tough...fast internet, remote land, and access to good health care all sort of conflict with each other. When you say "as much land as possible"...define that. To some that's 1 acre. To other's it's 5. To other's yet it's 100.

 

[fenrir]

• I want to live on as much land as possible and as remotely possible

BUT I want:

• Fast low lag internet - online games, streaming video.
• Good medical facilities somewhat close by.

I think it is going to be tough to meet the first requirement, and get the other two.

You also forgot that Florida has a lot of sinkholes. Unless you like deadly surprises....

 

[Thebobo]

Thanks for all the replies so far. The internet situation could improve making the decision a lot easier with the new the low latency lower altitude satellites coming online in 2019, might be expensive at first but we'll see. Pretty excited reading about it.

https://arstechnica.com/information...ill-launch-thousands-of-broadband-satellites/

As far as the amount of land assuming if the satellite pricing is reasonable and it works with online games that opens just about everywhere.

I love Montana and actually Kalispell is one place I thought about.

 

[tynopik]

The Villages

 

[KB]

Ashville, NC is a nice place especially if you like beer.

Hits a lot of boxes.
UNC medical center downtown
MJ is decriminalized but not legal
Internet is good in some spots
You can find land and peace in the mountains surrounding it
liberal/progressive especially in the heart of the city
Mountainous but not really cold like NY

 

[deadlyapp]

I'd hit a lot of the northwestern states for some of the things you want. In washington/idaho/colorado/montana there is still a lot of cheap land and reasonable proximity to civilization to get some of the other things on your list.

 

[scannall]

Oregon coast. Meets all your specs.

 

[vi edit]

Are state taxes any concern to you? Some are much more favorable to retirees than others.

 

[BoomerD]

We opted for Washington's Olympic peninsula. Reasonable prices, (especially when compared to Seattle/SF, etc.) But even still, $200K isn't gonna get you much land. The plusses are, relatively uncrowded, yet, depending on location, easy access to needed services, decent internet, and trees...lots and lots of trees, no state income tax...but they get you on property taxes and vehicle license fees. Some prices are lower here than CA, gasoline, electricity, and, houses/land...but food can be comparable priced...or more expensive.

You're going to be looking ar the."fly-over states" if you insist on getting a house with acreage for $200K...and possibly not in the.better parts of those.

 

[Thebobo]

Are state taxes any concern to you? Some are much more favorable to retirees than others.

Well to a point. How they differ from a retiree or some regular joe and what defines favorable. I would be interested to learn more. Have any states in mind?

 

[Thebobo]

We opted for Washington's Olympic peninsula. Reasonable prices, (especially when compared to Seattle/SF, etc.) But even still, $200K isn't gonna get you much land. The plusses are, relatively uncrowded, yet, depending on location, easy access to needed services, decent internet, and trees...lots and lots of trees, no state income tax...but they get you on property taxes and vehicle license fees. Some prices are lower here than CA, gasoline, electricity, and, houses/land...but food can be comparable priced...or more expensive.

You're going to be looking ar the."fly-over states" if you insist on getting a house with acreage for $200K...and possibly not in the.better parts of those.

Well more than most suburban houses type of acreage. I don't want to be able to look out my kitchen window into my neighbor's window. I also I play instruments and I don't want to bother anyone. Even where I live now you can hear folks playing in my house on my neighbor's yard.

 

[dullard]

Well to a point. How they differ from a retiree or some regular joe and what defines favorable. I would be interested to learn more. Have any states in mind?

Retirees generally have low income and low spending (your post indicates a preference for low spending too). Thus, state income tax and sales tax should not be primary considerations. But state property tax can kill you, even with a cheap house. Here are rankings:
https://www.thebalance.com/best-and-worst-states-for-property-taxes-3193328

For example, Texas and Arkansas share a border. So, you might assume (wrongly) that they might be similar. But a $200,000 house in Arkansas will charge you $37,200 in property tax to live there for 30 years (a lengthy but not unrealistic retirement). Move a few miles west into Texas and you are charged $114,000 for the same 30 year period for the same $200,000 house.

And those aren't the extremes. Hawaii would charge $16,800 and New Jersey would charge $142,800 assuming equal value homes. Although I highly doubt you can get a home at the equal value across the states, so keep that in mind too.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I sometimes think about that too. Either retirement, or lottery. My requirements are basically the same. I'd just want cheap but functional house/land that is decently remote in a forest. Though I'd want lake front too, so basically a cottage. I'd be ok with slower internet but faster is better of course. Idealy it would be mostly off grid where I may drive to town for certain things but overall I'd want to be as self sufficient as possible. Living costs keep going up, so the more self sustained I can be the less those costs will affect me.

Pretty much any rural place in the area I live would work, so I'd probably stick to the same area and just go further from town. Probably buy an actual cottage. I'd want to buy a tractor and other equipment to snow plow though.

Oh and that's the other thing, a place with low property taxes would be a must too, so perhaps not my area but further north. I would hate to be forced out of my house at like 80 because I can't afford the taxes anymore. They go up every year.

 

[Thebobo]

Ashville, NC is a nice place especially if you like beer.

Hits a lot of boxes.
UNC medical center downtown
MJ is decriminalized but not legal
Internet is good in some spots
You can find land and peace in the mountains surrounding it
liberal/progressive especially in the heart of the city
Mountainous but not really cold like NY

Yea I have Ashville on my radar as well, have a friend living in the outskirts. Been looking at zillow and looks like I can find me a place out in
yonder hollers with an acre or two. Places like that would be perfect, it really all depends when and how this new sat internet works out.

Working on my southern "drawl."

I like this: I'll find land and peace in the mountains

 

[Charmonium]

You can be out in the boonies in Illinois but still be only a couple of hours from Chicago. Not sure what internet is like there but there must be places that are on the trunk lines. The only thing you'd have to look into is what areas get lake effect snow.

Oh, and it's f***ing flatter that flat out there. And corn. Corn as far as the eye can see. In every direction. Forever.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Another option for internet is to put up a tower in the city, either on a property you buy or ask someone you know, and then put a tower on your property too and do a p2p microwave link.