What do you like about where you live?

[WAB]

Grew up on a farm in Ontario and won’t go back. The Ontario I grew up in is gone.

Retired in Alabama.

Positives:
Low cost of living
Birmingham is a foodie paradise
Our farm is stunning:
Great bass pond
100 yards from my reloading bench to my shooting bench
Steel at 100,200,300,600 and soon 800
Great deer, turkey, quail and dove hunting out the back door.
2 hours to the Atlanta airport

Negatives
Summer
Summer
Summer

 

[schwerpunkt88]

Florida...the hurricanes! Definitely..

 

[Fatback]

I live in South Georgia. Been here since I was 10 years old, so 41 years. I’ll probably stay here after I retire. Some of the positives are we live in a still relatively rural area. I own some land that I can hunt, fish, trap, shoot on however I like. We have very liberal hunting seasons and have good deer, turkey, small game and bird hunting. The freshwater fishing for largemouth bass, catfish and panfish can be world class. We are only a couple of hours from the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico for saltwater fishing and beach time. Cost of living is pretty reasonable. Taxes are not crippling like what I hear about in some other areas of the country. Most everybody in my part of the state is still relatively conservative and we mostly share similar beliefs about God, family, work ethic, etc…. Still have good, second amendment supporting firearms laws.

The negatives include a lot of the more liberal folks who have migrated to this part of the world after destroying where they are from, especially a lot of the folks in Atlanta. The summers here can be long and miserably hot and humid. Lots of things want to bite or sting you when you’re out in the woods traipsing about. Until the last couple of years I wouldn’t have said this but the last couple of years we have really been impacted by hurricanes, which sucks.

Overall, the positives outweigh the negatives and the fact this is where my wife and children want to be also plays a big part in me staying in this area. However, if it were just me, I would find a way to spend the falls up in Alberta, the summers down in Africa and the best spring months when the turkeys are gobbling and the fish are biting here in South Georgia.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I’ve live in three different houses in my life.(27 years) All out in the country in pike county Illinois. My current house is two miles from the one I moved out of, and the first one is in between those two.
I have good neighbors, meaning anyone within 3 miles or so. Most of us are farmers and would do anything to help one another out.
There is lots of opportunities for a man like me here. I could get a job doing most anything around here. Some people would have a hard time finding something in their field. Farming is the major industry and I love it that way.
Pittsfield, the county seat, has 4500 people living there. That is about perfect for me, as if has a Walmart, farm store, and a grocery store. It’s about a 10 minute drive from home. The nearest big town with Home Depot’s and chain restaurants is Jacksonville, a 40 minute drive. Springfield IL is one hour and St. Louis is two.
The hunting is good, but hard to find land to do it on as out of state deer hunters have most of it leased.
I love living in the country, there’s just nothing like pissing off the porch.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

In thinking about retirement and where I’d like to spend the majority of my time when I don’t have to work for others. Many states/areas come to mind. So, I’d thought I’d ask you the same question.

1. What do you like about where you live?
2. Where will you retire? Why?

I make a living working here (Ca) with my day job. I’m from here (native born and raised). I will likely keep a place here due to family and personal business obligations, but I won’t need to be here full time.

I love California for a lot of reasons:
1. Weather
2. Beauty and diversity of scenery. Mountains, ocean, bays, rivers, lakes, desert, microclimates in Northern Ca, perfect year round weather in San Diego, snow skiing in the Sierras, Lake Tahoe, etc…
3. All different types of fishing.
4. Bird and game hunting.
5. Culture - Not too important to me.
6. Lot of Family and friends here.
7. Personal history and memories of growing up in a small town 25 minutes from SF or Napa Valley…

Don’t like:
1. Expensive to retire here in general.
2. Politics.
3. Homelessness and the impact to daily life.
4. Anti hunting & anti fishing.
5. Gun control laws.
6. Housing costs.
7. Taxes are high.
8. Crime.
9. Environmental movement and their impact.
10. Traffic.

California Is just not the same place I grew up in… I’ve had a residence and business in Reno/Sparks since 2002 and like it there for many reasons, but it’s starting to change. It feels and looks more like Ca. That is likely due to the influence of people leaving Ca and coming to NV! Now I’m starting to look further. Looking for more space, friendlier people, more conservative politics or just less political influence, sportsman friendly, cleaner and more peaceful living. And, retirement friendly!

Thanks in advance…

I was born in Northern California (Napa) and lived there until I was 40. Job issues forced a move to Washington (aka California North, yuck). Plan was to.move to Idaho when I retired (5 years ago). So why am.I still in Washington? Daughter and grandkids are here. Wife says she isn't going where they aren't. Yes, I heard the trap snap shut!

 

[SFRanger7GP]

We live in 2 of the best places in the world.
Wichita Falls TX is the Little Town that refuses to grow. It has had about 100,000 people for over 85 years. Pros: It’s Texas. The town has everything you need to include most the major big box stores. Great hunting for deer, hogs, turkey, waterfowl, varmints and sandhill crane. Cons: If you want to hunt, you need to get a lease or get a friend that has one. There is no fine dining but we have great diners, BBQ, Tex Mex and real Mexican food and Fort Worth is only 100 miles away. Heat: It get’s a bit warm in the summer.

Which brings me to our other town, Apia Colombia. It is 70’s in the day and 50’s in the night year around. It’s a coffee town so the entire economy depends on it. Very low crime, the cantinas seldom close and the cost of living is low. Pros: It’s a coffee town in Colombia and the others pros are listed above. Beautiful mountains and wonderful people. Cons: It’s a small town in Colombia and the big city is 1.5 hours away. Colombia can be challenging at times and most foreigners cannot adapt. If you don’t speak Spanish it will be even more of a challenge. Biggest con: no hunting and gun ownership is limited. Having said all that, we love it there and I call it my Fortress of Solitude.

Good luck and safe travels.

 

[Rimbaud]

Something else to consider, and discuss with your financial advisor (s), is how much money you can draw each year from brokerage. A lot of people are surprised to learn that they can only take 4%, or 3% (% often depends on who is giving advice) of whatever it is they have saved/invested. If you take more than that %, you trigger a depletion schedule in your account. I only mention that in hopes it helps some think through the expense side of where they want to live. Many people have been lucky that the markets have advanced so much, but the gains have been historically unusual. Strong stock market helped my in-laws who lived into their 90s maintain a reasonable quality of life. Their life style was diminished as they aged, but they lived a long time. We’re in NY, out on eastern Long Island, on the water. Beautiful here. High quality of life, but we deal with high taxes forced on us by incompetent government. Everything is at our fingertips, but I’ve yet to find a great place to shoot. Still head down South, where I grew up, for deer season, and boar, and travel to hunt. In time, and I’m not near retirement age, we will need a place in the country where I can have a place to shoot, hang all my trophies in a big study, hike, hunt, and not be unduly taxed by corrupt ideologues who have no respect for people’s rights. Always enjoy hearing what everyone is doing as it helps to calibrate my own thinking.