Retirement is that stage of life where you have unlimited discretionary time to do whatever you choose… as long as you have the resources and ability. It’s a time of opportunity where you can restructure your life to pursue interests and grow in ways you simply did not have time for or just set aside—perhaps for 40 years or longer. Think of retirement as the time of your life when you can be or become the person you want to be.
Before you dive into WHERE to retire, it’s important to first consider what you want retirement to look like (how you’ll be spending your time). This requires some foundational work: that you reflect on who you are and which interests you want to pursue.
Reflecting on this will help you recognize what is important to you, who you want to engage life with and what you want to fill your life. Your retirement lifestyle and where you choose to live will naturally flow from this.
When you’re ready to work through the process where to retire, there are 6 Primary RetirePLACEment™ Criteria to consider—important points to consider about your retirement location.
- Connection to Meaningful People
- Quality of Life
- Cost of Living
- Weather
- Healthcare
- Proximity to Secondary Resources
The order provided is generally the priority list in descending order of importance for most people. Some Criteria will be essential for your retirement destination and others irrelevant, depending on your specific circumstances. Also, different decision strategies will be used for the various Criteria.
Connection to Meaningful People
Ultimately, who we share our lives with is the most important consideration. This could mean making no changes in our residence, downsizing and staying in the area, or moving to a neighboring area, state or region that is “not too far away.” Typically, the core family is at the top of the list of meaningful people. If parents are alive, this could be a serious consideration, but often from the standpoint of obligation and necessity when parents need assistance or support. This can limit individuals from feeling free to move out of an area.
On a more positive note, being near the children—and especially the grandchildren—is a stronger consideration. It could be tricky to decide which child or children to be closer to and how the other RetirePLACEment™ Criteria tie in when there are multiple children living in different parts of the country.
Earl and Carol lived most of their married life in Delaware, 20 minutes from Carol’s parents. When their daughter moved to Texas and had their first grandchild, they were faced with the tough decision of continuing to live near Carol’s now aged parents, who were still independent and very established, or to move to Texas near their daughter’s family. It was a very difficult decision for Carol, but not surprisingly the draw of a grandchild won out. Carol and Earl will visit her parents periodically and monitor their need for support from a distance and keep open an invitation to move to Texas.
Be very aware there is the possibility that your children might move after you have relocated. You don’t want to move to a place where you will not be happy living, should the children move, then have to move again, perhaps chasing your children around the country.
Louise and Jim made a mistake when they moved to Orlando figuring their children’s families would come to visit them and the nearby amusement parks, but it rarely happened. After a few years they came to realize they were alone and moved back to reestablish the proximity to family.
Quality of Life
This is where the concept of Personhood–who you are and what you enjoy–comes into play. There are as many ways to define quality of life as there are people: multiple aspects of culture, history, outdoors, sports and entertainment, restaurants, religious considerations and the many things to do.
Quality of Life is highly subjective and countless tradeoffs exist between what different location option offer. It is important to be discerning and realistic about which Quality of Life specifics realty matter. Consider which activities and experiences you will actually engage in and how often, and how much more enjoyable and meaningful options will be, as well as what you may be giving up when selecting a particular option. Be careful to not romanticize Quality of Life measures that are somewhat meaningful but not truly important and you expect may become an indispensable component of your retirement lifestyle.
Lou and Sharon purchased property in New Mexico and have been planning on building their dream home and moving there for over eight years. They still have not done it, primarily because the scenic beauty of the area was not a motivating enough of a Quality-of-Life measure to move 2000 miles and disconnect from the life they are currently living and know.
Cost of Living
Of all the RetirePLACEment™ Criteria this one will have the greatest variation in priority among retirees. The reason for this is simply the more income and assets you have, the less relevant finances become. The biggest savings in cost of living between states is in the areas of property taxes, state income tax and sales tax, and insurance costs (which could also vary significantly within states that have great disparities in the risk of flooding due coastlines and other bodies of water).
Cost of Living is most important for those who have a high Cost of Living and are considering moving to a less expensive area. If you “can afford” to live where you are and you are enjoying it, there is “no reason” to move. Or you just might not be able to make ends meet living where you are on a fixed income. Even if you could afford to live where you currently are, go through a process of assessing how much more you “Quality of Life” you could purchase (such as entertainment, travel and other discretionary items) by moving to an area with a lower Cost of Living.
Rick and Sherry were 10 years into retirement with enough Social Security and retirement income that they could easily afford their primary residence and their home in the mountains. Over time, the snow-related winter activities in the mountains did not hold out the same enjoyment and Quality of Life they once did, and they were looking for a change. Eventually, their high Cost of Living combined with how they viewed Qualify of Life differently as they got older prompted them to sell both homes and move to their dream home in Florida. Their favorite, cost-free winter activity is walking along the beach.
Weather
Weather is an important Quality of Life consideration, but it is considered its own category because it has the potential of being “knockout” Criterion; many retirement destinations are eliminated outright strictly due to the weather. Standards such as “I hate snow” or “I can’t take the heat” will eliminate huge geographic areas as viable retirement destinations. Within acceptable weather conditions, tradeoffs do occur.
Allen and Brendon preferred to live in cooler mountains of Tennessee but decided to live near a lake in Alabama where it was much warmer. The positive benefits they felt Alabama offered outweighed the negative, warmer climate. Unlike the less favorable warmer weather of their retirement destination, Jorge and Nancy “don’t like warm weather” and would reject “living down South” solely because of the weather, despite “having family there.” They bought a home in upstate New York where they will eventually retire.
Healthcare
The importance of this Criterion is directly related to your health. The more health issues you have—particularly serious ones—the more important healthcare is; the fewer health issues, the less important it is—to the point of healthcare being potentially being irrelevant to retirement location decision if you are in “perfect health.” Healthcare considerations could include environmental (the need for low humidity for arthritis or low pollen for asthma) as well as accessibility to medical professionals and facilities to treat health conditions you may have. Heath conditions could be a reason to stay away from a destination or could be a factor forcing you from your home.
Sammi absolutely loved living in Hawaii, but volcanic dust created a serious pulmonary condition that necessitated she move. She settled on the East Coast based on her physician’s advice to live in a coastal community and the quality of medical care available in the new city and world class care in major cities just a few hours away.
Proximity to Secondary Resources
Sometimes it’s not essential to have certain resources “in your backyard” but just having relatively easy accessibility to these secondary interests is adequate as long as they are not “too far away.” These typically include recreational opportunities, activities or facilities that are enjoyable but not essential. These include whatever it is you may want to take advantage of periodically but not so often that travelling to access them becomes too limiting. Examples may include natural resources such as the beach or skiing, or metropolitan areas that offer cultural and entertainment opportunities as well as facilities like airports or government services—things that you may enjoy a few times a year or perhaps more often, but are not so important that you want to do them very frequently. Some of them you could even “do without.” Items in this Category are related to Quality of Life but they are somewhat geographically distant from your destination.
Annette built a successful travel agency serving retirees in Delaware. Although the state does not have a major airport it has accessibility to several international airports and cruise ship ports within a few hours’ drive that make it possible for retirees to access airports and ports for cruises a few hours away. Her travel clients who moved to Delaware are able to enjoy traveling with only the minor inconvenience of a few hours of travel to arrive at their place of departure.
Researching Destination Options
It is always good to gather information but be wary that “Best Places to Retire” lists are unhelpful if the criteria used for rankings does not align with the specific needs and interests’ criteria you value. The most effective approach to select a retirement destination—which may include staying where you are—is to start by gathering broad ideas about deciding on retirement destinations and asking others about their experiences. From there, process the data based on who you are and what your interests are—your Personhood. Be thoughtful and careful not to make a mistake and have to repeat the process or perhaps even move back, as moving is emotionally draining and expensive. And that is why any move may have to clear an exceptional hurdle of “dealing with moving” which causes more people than care to, to just stay where they are and not venture to experience all life can be in retirement.
