I've mentioned our high cost of living in my area of the US before. My husband is approaching retirement in a couple of years. Lately we've discussed the possibility of moving to a part of the US with a lower cost of living for retirement, so our funds will last longer and go farther.
Our house has appreciated quite a bit in the last 29 years here. We could sell our house and have a nice sum leftover to enhance our retirement and be more generous in our giving. But here's the catch, we would likely be leaving some or all of our kids in our current area due to their choice.
So, less expensive housing, same size house and land, lower property taxes
vs
staying here where we're comfortable and have all of our kids nearby.
I know we're fortunate to have all of our kids right here. That's just not the case for many retirees. But I also think it would be nice to worry less about the cost of every last thing.
This is a big question to think about over a long period of time. So I'm asking if you ever considered moving away from family, friends, church, community for your retirement years? What were your considerations?
We moved from where we both grew up in NY to CT for a better job opportunity for my husband. From there we chose Maine because we love the state. Since we have six children, we had plenty of family to keep us company and we could visit extended family or they would visit us. We wanted a less populated life. We live on a lovely country road with lots of woods, a marsh and 4 of the kids live right nearby. One house is through a "Little Red Riding Hood" trail and grandchildren show up regularly. So relocating worked for us. As to prices and cost of living, it's high everywhere.
ReplyDeleteHi Judy,
DeleteIt sounds like you and your husband made a good retirement choice for yourselves. I love the Little Red Riding Hood vibe.
That's a really hard question with benefits to both scenarios. When our kids were younger, we relocated from Texas back to the east coast to be within driving distance of our relatives. We wanted our kids to know their grandparents and cousins better. Some people lived less than 30 minutes away and the furthest lived 12 hours away, but we saw them all more frequently, which was the goal. However, the cost of living was a lot higher here than where we left. We got a house that was 1/2 the size for 2x the money, but it was the right move for us.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, we moved to our age-in-place house and considered moving out of the area to a cheaper place, but in the end stayed in the area and are happy with that decision. As our parents aged and needed/need attention, we have been happy that we didn't have to jump on an airplane to see them.
One thing to think about. I have seen people move to be near their children and then their children move because of a job change or other reason. Your kids are young and just starting their life and may move in the future. I think it would be nice for you and your husband to not have be so vigilant with your finances. That may possible if you move to a place with a lower cost of living. Have you started to research possibilities of places you might want to relocate to? How far do you have to go from the Seattle area to see a measurable drop in expenses?
Good luck. Retirement is a major life change and brings many new decisions.
Hi Live and Learn,
DeleteThat's a very good point that some or all of our kids may move for employment or whatever at some point.
We've looked around at several states, some closer and some quite a distance. We're just beginning to think this through.
Cost of living is very expensive in Hawaii, especially housing, yet perhaps for that reason we don't want to sell or we'll lose our ability to live here. Prices will go up faster here than a lower cost of housing state. We want our children to have this home to roost if they fall on hard times. So far our children live here. If they moved away, we may not have as much incentive to keep our house.
ReplyDeleteWe retired almost 9 years ago and have managed to live within budget. In many ways, we spend less in retirement, except healthcare and insurances. At 65, we decided to buy Medicare Supplement policies so that boosted our expense but it's also a way to budget medical cost evenly over our lifetime. Especially when sick, I don't want to forgo or worry about the cost of treatment. Although Medicare Advantage is nearly free, the insurance company will decide your treatment based on cost effectiveness to their bottomline. So far, we are in reasonable good health but we have age related health issues that were not a concern 10 years ago. I cannot imagine what the next 10 years will be like. Then there is the concern about long term care, for which we are not prepared. I am like my dad and prefer to live with family, so I'm expecting a family member to live with us as we age, possibly our grandson who says he's planning on living with us forever. I don't think we can get rid of him because free rent is a good price.
I know it's scary to be on fixed income and not have an income from work. For us, it worked out as planned. I took early SSA retirement at 62, while my husband suspended his retirement until 68. We don't have other retirement income except our solo 401k which I rolled over to IRA, and now do Roth conversions every year to preserve the IRA status before (and during) RMA which begins next year for my husband. We all will have different strategies but doing some planning as you're doing will make a big difference in how it actually plays out. It's scarier anticipating every shortfall than reality will ever be, in my opinion.
Hope this helps,
Laura
Hi Laura,
DeleteIdeally, we'd like to spend our final years with one of our kids, if they would take us in. I love that you and your grandson are so close.
Yes, we moved when hubby retired but we moved closer to family. Now one child, married and their baby are 5 hours drive away (they moved not us) so it will always be unpredictable if the kids decide to move therefore moving closer to kids really shouldn't play a role. And we have 3 children so moving closer to one, leaves the other two farther away. As to moving to a place somewhere more affordable during retirement, I would say yes BUT we have 2 living parents (one my parent, one hubby's parent) who are very old and being near them helps to keep an eye on them. We don't live in an expensive area so moving would only happen after the parents are gone and then we might think about being closer to our grandchild. But the other two kids would be left alone. Yes, I would definitely move to a lower cost of living area in retirement if I needed to. We are also in those thinking stages right now as well.
ReplyDeleteAlice
Hi Alice,
DeleteBeing nearby for your father and mother-in-law is surely a big help and comfort to both of them. I would choose to stay near my or my husband's parents if they were still alive.
If we had a grandchild in this area, then I would say we'd likely stay and manage our finances as best we could. It's a lot to think about.
I doubt we’d move because most of our kids are here. The cost of living has drastically increased in Montana, and my area hasn’t been immune from that. I would like to buy a smaller house in town. Could you move to a cheaper area but still stay within a couple hours? My dd just moved to Spokane and so far she loves it. The house she bought was slightly more expensive than it would have been here, but she wanted a certain kind of neighborhood. She has found everything more expensive except for food. She is amazed every time she goes to a store how much more food her money is buying. I’m not advocating for moving to Spokane, but I know it’s a lot cheaper than Seattle. Other cities probably would be too.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good suggestion, finding a town sort of close but with a much lower housing cost. I'll add this to the realm of possibilities for us.
DeleteNot sure I'm the right person to ask this of--everyone else has made some great points. I would take into consideration any elderly family members and their potential needs, my own finances and how strict I wanted to be with budgeting for my current and future needs, how invested I am in my church/community, and how far from my kids I want to be. My observation with retirement is that there seems to be the early stages of retirement, when you are healthier and more mobile, and then the later stages, when you potentially need more assistance from family. It can be tempting to think you are making a one-and-done choice, but I'm not sure it's that simple.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteI think you're right about retirement's phases. I was thinking about that when looking at a couple of houses online. There were a few that I really liked, but they had stairs. Right now, stairs are no problem. But in 10-20 years, stairs could be either a big daily risk or something I would avoid altogether and need to find a new stair-free place.
You made some great points about what you would consider.
I can give you more insight regarding a home in your later years. A bedroom/full bathroom on the main floor are very important, as well as a main floor kitchen and laundry area. It can be really hard to find a zero-entry home (no steps to enter) but if you have a home where a ramp can be installed, that would accomplish the same thing. The ratio for the correct rise on a ramp is 1 inch of rise to 12 inches of length. This makes wheelchair navigation possible. Something to consider would be if you could fit a ramp in a garage if you live in an area with snow/ice in the winter. Those would be the main things I would look for. You can always add grab bars/shower benches/handicap height toilets at a later date if the need arises, and while there is some expense associated with that, in the big picture it's fairly minimal, but not having a bathroom on the main floor is hugely problematic and expensive to add in later.
DeleteHi Kris,
Deletewhen we bought this house, we chose it over others because although it's a two-story, it has 2 bedrooms and a full bath on the main floor. My husband is disabled and we thought this would be a good set-up for us when we were older, should we stay in this area. There is one step up to the front door, but a ramp could be placed. The deck in back is large and level with the house. So outdoors could be enjoyed from the deck if one or both of us were in wheelchairs.
You already know what to look for. :)
DeleteWow, what a great conversation! Lots of wisdom and different perspectives and situations. I'll just add that we did move for economic (and lifestyle) reasons in retirement. I had a fear of being taxed out of our home in my elderly years, among other things; and also prices for everything were high. We bought LOTS more property for a fraction (and payed it off in full -- no mortgage, anymore. WHOOPEEEE!), and pay a LOT less in taxes, car registration, etc. (those things REALLY add up, and sometimes vary a lot even from county to county --ours is super-cheap), here; so that's been good. Medical care is a little less-available/-local, which would be a consideration for a lot of people. I miss neighbors and friends from our last home, but some of them have moved, too (most for financial/lifestyle reasons); and we're all getting older and less-healthy/-mobile (as Kris noted). We've already lost our best friends here to illness and death, though, so there's no guarantees, even if you stay in the same place, unfortunately. And many of our friends from our old state are staying put to be with their kids/grandkids -- and struggling with finances and politics, and as others have said, sometimes the kids move, afterall.
ReplyDeleteI've never lived close to my extended family, so my expectations are lower about that. We always had family spread all over the U.S., and that continues to be the case. We moved closer to my parents, and hoped to care for them; but they never took us up on that. We're close enough to a DS in the next state to help in a pinch (if the weather's not too bad). DH has always lived close to family, and they just all ended up where we are, which is nice for him. Making new friends takes some effort, and COVID lockdowns didn't help (ending a number of our local clubs, which have not recovered); but I'm happy to say that I now have people who light up when I walk into their stores/offices, and hug me when I leave. :) As I've told my in-laws and others -- I think there's really NO perfect place to live, nor any perfect plan. Life's so unpredictable, and every situation has it's pros and cons. I AM very glad that we moved to a cheaper place, personally (and it's beautiful here); but there's a lot to consider, for sure. GREAT that you're talking and thinking. It took us a long time to decide on here, and I'm glad that we researched, visited, watched the real estate market and news of the area, etc., for as long as we did, so we were not surprised about anything. Good luck, Lili! Love, Sara
Hi Sara,
DeleteThanks for sharing your experience. It's a major decision, so we're talking and thinking on this a lot. I'm so glad that your move worked out so well for you.