Best places to retire?

Plumber1

Tito's, Tacos and Trails
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May 27, 2019
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3,622
Location
San Ramon, CA
So I have about 2 - 3 years until I fully retire. Considering getting out of Northern CA, don't get me wrong I love this place, close to the oceans, Monterey, Pebble Beach, Half Moon Bay. A few hours to Lake Tahoe, the Rubicon and Fordyce Trails. 1 hour to Napa and Sonoma Wine Country. And there is the great weather.

Also San Francisco with its wonderful homeless population, and too much 🌈

BUT

Our Governor ( Your next President ) is a jackass, too many liberals, too many restrictions, anti-gun, anti-American.
High taxes our sales tax right now are 8.75% and nearby cities are at 10.75%, and we have state income taxes.

So where can I move to that has mild winters no snow no Wisconsin, Alaska, mild summers so Arizona is out, Florida is too humid. I know picky picky 😄

Would love to be on the water either a lake or river and near golf, and a place where I can fly 🇺🇲 and feel like a true american

. So where can I go help me out
 
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I have come to the conclusion you really need 2 ... and to make it feasible for the long term they need to be relatively close to eachother. Something like Southern AZ and Flagstaff or Show low...

Or Parker and Winnemucca...

While CA still has many nice choices to winter / summer, as a state it continues to make choices that make long term happiness unrealistic. Your new $20/hr min wage oughta do wonders for the small mom and pops businesses 🤦‍♂️


Take care, Rob
 
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Minnesota: Oh, you betcha, yeah!

20240409_003243.jpg
 
So I have about 2 - 3 years until I fully retire. Considering getting out of Northern CA, don't get me wrong I love this place, close to the oceans, Monterey, Pebble Beach, Half Moon Bay. A few hours to Lake Tahoe, the Rubicon and Fordyce Trails. 1 hour to Napa and Sonoma Wine Country. And there is the great weather.

Also San Francisco with its wonderful homeless population, and too much 🌈

BUT

Our Governor ( Your next President ) is a jackass, too many liberals, too many restrictions, anti-gun, anti-American.
High taxes our sales tax right now are 8.75% and nearby cities are at 10.75%, and we have state income taxes.

So where can I move to that has mild winters no snow no Wisconsin, Alaska, mild summers so Arizona is out, Florida is too humid. I know picky picky 😄

Would love to be on the water either a lake or river and near golf, and a place where I can fly 🇺🇲 and feel like a true american

. So where can I go help me out

North Central AL., NE Alabama, East TN.

Plenty of good lakes and lots of golf.

Come on over, I need help keeping @AndyG in line!!!!!
 
Unfortunately, there just is no replacing the California climate. We ended up in Florida - its too fucking hot for about 5 months of the year, the rest of the time its fairly similar to the Monterey Bay area. Freest state in the Union.
 
I have been in Florida for thirty five years, and have made a lot of money. I am thinking about selling both houses and heading to Alabama. Florida is expensive and has got progressivly hotter each summer. Alabama has some good houses with property for under $250,000
 
I have been in Florida for thirty five years, and have made a lot of money. I am thinking about selling both houses and heading to Alabama. Florida is expensive and has got progressivly hotter each summer. Alabama has some good houses with property for under $250,000

Drove through your area Sunday.

Florida is a great place but there are too many people and no matter what we did or where we went we were always waiting for something. Judging by all the development it’s going to get worse.

If you can retire relatively close to a beach and not need to do anything it’d be great.
 
All the varoius guides still claim that Florida is the best retirement state. Low taxes, good climate, and good health care. I get the high humidity and don't like it either. We have been looking in Georgia for about a year and the real estate market is so messed up we can't find a house that is acceptable. Now looking in the FL panhandle, which is less humid than the rest of FL, but does get smacked by the odd hurricane. We have driven through TN and AL many times and like both of those states, too. Anything north of 35 degrees latitude is going to be too cold in winter (30 years in south TX has thinned out my blood!). South Carolina is also nice and we are looking there too, but the beach is way too expensive. Like you, I would love to be on or near a beach. A brother lived in Destin for a while when he was in theAF and we visited him; it was the best beach I have ever seen. Good luck with your search!
 
I have been in Florida for thirty five years, and have made a lot of money. I am thinking about selling both houses and heading to Alabama. Florida is expensive and has got progressivly hotter each summer. Alabama has some good houses with property for under $250,000

Luckily the $250,000 is not an issue until you start to add another one $1,000,000 to it now your talking better be super nice
 
Thailand - super cheap, love Americans
(Many US mercenaries and State Dept employees)

Islands off Venezuala
(Many State Dept employees and EXPATs)

Sorry, but Im also an Intelligence veteran and the country is goin to hell in a handbasket. Post 9-11 the Uniparty is collapsing us. Not a good place to raise “whitey bad” hetero kids anymore. Our forefathers fled their failing nations to start over…..its coming again. We are globohomo infiltrated beyond repair

Ive considered southern Alabama close to Fl panhandle, Georgia, Arizona, but Ill be damned if the countrys “Blue Wave” isnt gobbling up red states and destroying our culture and identity faster then I can plan our future. They are after our children full throttle. Gotta make a decision, and I still have 15 years to go….but bleak outlook

The entire west is almost all blue…..asked me if that was ever possible 25 years ago Id have scoffed

Keep in mind the US industry of Sickcare is by design to suck everything out of you. It is far from affordable and getting worse as theh socialize all the illegals onto your backs
 
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All the varoius guides still claim that Florida is the best retirement state. Low taxes, good climate, and good health care. I get the high humidity and don't like it either. We have been looking in Georgia for about a year and the real estate market is so messed up we can't find a house that is acceptable. Now looking in the FL panhandle, which is less humid than the rest of FL, but does get smacked by the odd hurricane. We have driven through TN and AL many times and like both of those states, too. Anything north of 35 degrees latitude is going to be too cold in winter (30 years in south TX has thinned out my blood!). South Carolina is also nice and we are looking there too, but the beach is way too expensive. Like you, I would love to be on or near a beach. A brother lived in Destin for a while when he was in theAF and we visited him; it was the best beach I have ever seen. Good luck with your search!

Where in SC have you looked, we are thinking the conrad/Blufton area? For $900K i can get a big, newer house in a golf community with taxes way under $5K. House cost is not my issue but, on going fees like taxes, HOA are the ones i can't control. If I can keep those to around $6Kyear I would still be $10K ahead of where I am now in NY.
 
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Where in SC have you looked, we are thinking the conrad/Blufton area? For $900K i can get a big, newer house in a golf community with taxes way under $5K. House cost is not my issue but, on going fees like taxes, HOA are the ones i can't control. If I can keep those to around $6Kyear I would still be $10K ahead of where I am now in NY.

There are some pretty houses in that area, but it looks like reclaimed swamp land to me. https://riskfactor.com/city/bluffton-sc/4507210_fsid/flood
I was looking a little further north and inland. Close enough to get the breeze, but not right on the coast.
 
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Stay AWAY from HOAs

I took over one to fix the fukkery and left it after 3 years because its by design setup to have too much control, and you will lose

With full support of my homeownership we tried to dismantle the HOA and rezone, village zoning wont allow for it. Its a racket and a controlling intetest in your asset

Most are unqualified to run their own budget but with a few votes and zero qualifications run an HOA budget piss poorly
 
Stay AWAY from HOAs

I took over one to fix the fukkery and left it after 3 years because its by design setup to have too much control, and you will lose

With full support of my homeownership we tried to dismantle the HOA and rezone, village zoning wont allow for it. Its a racket and a controlling intetest in your asset

I understand that, some are not so restrictive. I am just getting sick of maintaining everything especially the pool.
 
Re HOAs, be aware that a lot of smaller cities and towns, the local government takes over the role of the HOA. I didn't know this until one day I was putting up a TV antenna and a local LEO stopped and asked me what I was doing. I bit my tongue and said I was erecting an antenna. He asked to see my permit. I repled, Say what?! He told me that I need a city permit to make any changes to my property's appearance. That's when I started looking for a new house.
 
Villages, towns, etc have always had that authority
Its just not enforced everywhere

By zoning an HOA they simply mitigate that responsibility to someone else, and collect the taxes and profit with less involvement. Hence…HOA is desirable for villages and want more of them

Courts also just defer to HOA so that is another liability to be aware of
 
Re HOAs, be aware that a lot of smaller cities and towns, the local government takes over the role of the HOA. I didn't know this until one day I was putting up a TV antenna and a local LEO stopped and asked me what I was doing. I bit my tongue and said I was erecting an antenna. He asked to see my permit. I repled, Say what?! He told me that I need a city permit to make any changes to my property's appearance. That's when I started looking for a new house.

I wonder what the chances are of putting a lift in the garage???