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PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 11:30 pm 
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Location: Rolling Meadows, IL. USA
I may be retiring soon and mooving out of the Chicago area , primarly because it is to expensive.
SO ... Sell me on an area to move

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 12:48 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2005 12:01 am
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Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Hey Monte,

I'm partial to The Great Pacific Northwest, but Seattle is more expensive than Chicago. Perhaps Dennis can extol the virtues of the Skagit Valley. :D

Cheers,
Tom

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 11:21 am 
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Location: Skagit Co WA
Yes, Tom, Skagit CO WA is a beautiful part of the country. Haven't shopped real estate here in years but I'm sure there are affordable homes here. The weather is moderate compared to Chicago but believe what they say about the rain. Not the heavy midwest stuff but the winters can be dreary and depressing at times. As Tom implied, real estate taxes in King and Snohomish counties to the south of us are higher than Skagit. Lots of great local micro breweries and wineries if that's on the wish list. Good locally grown produce. What else...? What sort of environment are you looking for, Monte?

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 12:55 pm 
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Joined: Wed Sep 15, 2004 12:01 am
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Location: Middletown, MD, USA
start here

http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/retirement/T055-S001-state-by-state-guide-to-taxes-on-retirees/

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PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2016 5:07 am 
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I'm in a very similar situation. Going to retire soon and looking for a place to move to.

But I'm west coast so I'm looking at places like LV Nevada, Texas, PNW but Southern WA near the Oregon border.

Now if I was in your situation being more east, I would look at Ashville NC, Ky, Tenn seem to be nice places to retire at.

Main things I'm looking at is quality of health care ( I'm a geezer) taxes whether the state taxes retirements, state income taxes, and bennies for retirees especially if you are a vet and over all quality of life.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2016 3:05 pm 
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Location: Albuquerque NM
Well, if you want to see the sun, you should rule out Washington (sorry, TMS/Dennis).
I am partial to New Mexico, of course. 300+ days of sunshine, four actual seasons (though when it snows it melts within 24 hours in most places and you're back to playing tennis and golf, if that's your thing.) If you want real winter, you could pick northern NM (Taos, Chama). If you don't even want fake winter, go south to Las Cruces.

We do have a state income tax and sales taxes, but on the other hand, the state government isn't broke all the time and we're not defunding our schools.

And specific to the interests of this forum - while you can buy hardwoods here, they are EXPENSIVE because they are all trucked in from far away. The only local woods are ponderosa pine, pinon, and maybe a few other bits and pieces. On the plus side, Woodworker's Supply has it's home base in Albq, and we have some truly top notch woodworkers in town.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2016 5:17 pm 
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Location: Cypress, TX
Houston, Texas
There is almost no winter here.
Housing is the cheapest in the country.
Humidity is high in the summer.
No State income tax.
Sales tax - 8.25%
4 million people so look out of the city.
Bottom line - TEXAS!!!!!

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 9:15 am 
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Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 9:37 pm
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Location: Tucson, AZ
After I retired from the AF, we traveled for over a year and though we enjoyed many places, none touched our souls as much as the Pacific Northwest after growing up in Tallahassee FL and living in Maryland, Texas, England, Arizona etc...

If you do as we did and move into one of the "rain shadows" of the Olympics (we live on Whidbey island in Oak Harbor WA) the rain is not bad at all-- around 19-20 inches per year. Out here on the islands the temperatures average 10 degrees cooler in the summer and 10 degrees warmer in the winter than the mainland... meaning we stay between 30 and 80 all but a handful of days through the year.

We observed/observe very little in the way of "stressors"... there are very low tensions along political/economic/racial lines.

Beautiful seashores, amazing outdoorsy activities, interesting sports teams, Canada is close so we can enjoy different cultures within 2 hours drive and though real estate is not cheap, it wasn't nearly as bad as the other places we observed with a low number of negatives.

Plus Tom, Dennis and Jamie all live close (though unfortunately I've only gotten to meet with them once at Tom's party.. though we hope to see them again)

---
My recommendation... travel a bit to the places you are considering and then make up your mind... but my vote is up this way.

Lawrence

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 18, 2016 3:20 pm 
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Location: Minnesota
Fairmont, MN. In the southern MN farmlands. Fairmont is a beautiful little town with 5 lakes, an opera house, great schools and people. Real estate is about as cheap as it gets and it was listed once in a big magazine as a retirement destination. We have the Mayo Clinic and hospital in town, low crime, interesting weather and easy living. There are larger college towns within 55 miles and the Twin Cities are only 2 hours away.

Good luck finding a future home.

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 18, 2016 5:26 pm 
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Location: Mountain City, Texas
Monte, I was reluctant to chime in here because San Diego is not a 'cheap' area to live in....but....I'm not rich and I have lived &thrived here for 30 years. San Diego has the largest Woodworking Association in America http://www.sdfwa.org/ (if not the world) mainly due to the climate which is absolutely balmy 350 days of the year. I work in my small shop just about every day with no heater nor air conditioner. We have more exciting & fun things to do in the immediate area than anywhere else in the world IMHO. The mountains are 40 minutes away and the desert is just beyond that. All of my extended family come here yearly for vacation so I get to see everyone regularly.
I like what Lawrence had to say about the PNW area he chose to settle in but we have just about everything he described except the 20 inches of rain per year. I moved here from the 'Houston' that ZULU described and have only gone back to visit 3 times in 30 years....that humidity is the clencher for me....it makes heat hotter and cold colder. I did live in San Angelo, Texas (as did Lawrence) and can say that it is a cheaper place to live with a dry climate....but it cannot compete with San Diego.
Whatever you are looking for...you can find it here....but you get what you pay for.
good luck....and let us know what you decide!

Don


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:45 am 
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Location: Eagle, ID US of A
Well, not that I want another transplant, but at least you're not a Californian :D , but Boise could use another woodworker. If you'd like a smaller mid-size city, Boise is a great choice. Especially if you like the outdoors. So much to do, hiking, biking, lots of water, hunting........ you get the idea. I love western Washington, but way too much rain for me. Cost of living pretty decent in Boise and the people are really nice. They actually speak to strangers on the street. Weird, huh? Northern Idaho is also a great place to live, although the weather is a little more harsh, but nothing like Chicago or Seattle. Good luck in your search. And contact me if you're looking for a nice house on 1 1/4 acres with a really good shop. I'm going to be downsizing this year. Unfortunately I was in a car wreck 5 years ago and even after surgery and physical therapy I still haven't healed up so I'm going to have to give up the woodworking, so the shop and big lot are going to have to go. I've found another hobby, metal detecting which I really have enjoyed, but not sure my neck is going to hold up to that either.


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