Where to retire?

[onlyraw]

But remember…. Very few places have wonderful weather all year round … yes it gets cold and snowy in the north during the winter…. But it gets beastly hot  and humid in the south east in the summer (and just Really hot in the southwest in the summer)

I think Phoenix had - what over 140 days over 100 degrees in 2024???

so think about what you prefer… or which you find worse 

best to visit places … at different times of year- before you move 

[Erik62]

8 hours ago, PozBearWI said:

I live in Wisconsin, love it myself but discourage anyone from considering it.

Talk about OFFICIAL DISCOURAGEMENT. Have been out all day & FINISHED the day with a coffee milkshake & some fruit at local grocery, 2.5km from home. I can get home 3 ways & it is 10min max. Took me 58min & 42 sec, to get home. Our council is PLANNING a 50 odd thousand pop increase BUT have they done any traffic planning 😭😱😱??? NO. 58mins for about 2.5km 😨😨😨😨. 

[phillygwm]

15 hours ago, hntnhole said:

Do you detest Old Man Winter?  Here in Ft. L., we just wrapped up a week of "Winter" - temps in the 40's overnight, highs in the upper 60's/low 70's daytimes.  That's it.  Plus, we can do outside horticulture all year long (if you like that kind of thing - most don't however). 

I loved Chicago - but I detested the winters, and I have no regrets.  Had all the great stuff about living in a great City, and pleased with where I live now.  

I usually tolerate winter, though I don't love it.  OTOH, I'm not a fan of July in South Florida, either.  

I just had this conversation with a friend.  I'm probably not retiring for a couple years, unless someone wants to give me a nice severance package 🙂  That's still early 60's, though.  I have a HS friend who moved to Puerto Vallarta and loves it.  BUT he speaks reasonable Spanish.  You can probably survive on English in a resort city but the home language is helpful.

If I were ever to relocate, it would be somewhere I could maintain a higher standard of living.  I never thought about it too seriously, just sort of like how people who aren't looking to move peruse real estate listings for fun.  But given the political environment, while I'm not panicking, I'm thinking about it slightly more than I did a year ago.

Edited February 5 by phillygwm

[hntnhole]

14 hours ago, onlyraw said:

best to visit places … at different times of year- before you move

I agree, when possible, and that would apply in any situation.  Some would find it an expensive proposition though, unless a guy really enjoys road-trips and a lot of time in the car.  

[hntnhole]

5 hours ago, phillygwm said:

Puerto Vallarta

Yes, my other half and I went a number of times, and it was fun.  That said, I haven't been back for quite a while, and I hear things are very different there now.  I remember this old Spanish lady walking up and down the beaches with tons of those loud, colorful thin, filmy "wraps" calling 'how many - how many" over and over and over.  I think I still have a couple somewhere ...

But !!!  There were some stunningly beautiful Spanish boys with very hungry Holes too ... Mauricio's restaurant was First Class, but a long taxi ride from Blue Chairs (I wonder if it's still there).  There were also guys on the beach with long coils of rope, which (once you paid, of course) they'd put you in a harness-like contraption, call (on a phone) a speedboat (with a 455 in it), waiting out in the bay, the speedboat would roar to life, and you'd be yanked into the air and soar out over the bay.  That was cool !!! 

[PozBearWI]

We actually built a place in Costa Rica as retirement was approaching.  And while a lot of lovely things exist, it is no longer the relatively inexpensive crime free place it was.  We closed on its sale Jan 2020 glad we left.  

Wisconsin is home.  It has been for most of my life.  I'm siding with Dorothy on this one...  🙂

[SubOhioBttm]

5 minutes ago, PozBearWI said:

We actually built a place in Costa Rica as retirement was approaching.  And while a lot of lovely things exist, it is no longer the relatively inexpensive crime free place it was.  We closed on its sale Jan 2020 glad we left.  

Wisconsin is home.  It has been for most of my life.  I'm siding with Dorothy on this one...  🙂

Man, I love Costa Rica. Sorry to hear that it's changed that much. I was kind of thinking a nice place to retire. 

[hntnhole]

2 hours ago, PozBearWI said:

We actually built a place in Costa Rica

We went there on vacation many years go - we both thought it was lovely there.  I too am sorry to hear that things have changed so much.  But, nothing stays the same forever.  

[PozBearWI]

When we started the Costa Rica venture I could get round trip airfare from Ohare to SanJose CR, tax included, for $188.  For that first year buying, closing on and starting development of our five acres of jungle paradise I went every other week for a long weekend.  

[phillygwm]

6 hours ago, hntnhole said:

Yes, my other half and I went a number of times, and it was fun. 

Friends and I were on a cruise a few years ago and I made it a point to meet up with my friend for lunch on the beach.  He told me all the places to get laid but I was only there for the day and I was with friends, so it just didn't lend itself to the opportunity.  I liked it, but it was a fraction of day; not enough to decide to spend my life there 🙂

[SomewhereonNeptune]

On 2/4/2025 at 3:37 PM, hntnhole said:

Here in Ft. L., we just wrapped up a week of "Winter" - temps in the 40's overnight, highs in the upper 60's/low 70's daytimes.  That's it.  Plus, we can do outside horticulture all year long (if you like that kind of thing - most don't however). 

40's? 40's!? Ha! We would have loved that where it got down to a record on the Gulf Coast a couple nights: Officially below freezing. Which in Florida only means one thing: Watch for frozen Iguanas and Geckos falling from trees. And my pussy spending the day burrowing into anything warm.  🤣 (For clarity, he's a male Tabby cat that thinks his name is "No!")

[SomewhereonNeptune]

17 hours ago, phillygwm said:

I usually tolerate winter, though I don't love it.  OTOH, I'm not a fan of July in South Florida, either.  

I just had this conversation with a friend.  I'm probably not retiring for a couple years, unless someone wants to give me a nice severance package 🙂  That's still early 60's, though.  I have a HS friend who moved to Puerto Vallarta and loves it.  BUT he speaks reasonable Spanish.  You can probably survive on English in a resort city but the home language is helpful.

If I were ever to relocate, it would be somewhere I could maintain a higher standard of living.  I never thought about it too seriously, just sort of like how people who aren't looking to move peruse real estate listings for fun.  But given the political environment, while I'm not panicking, I'm thinking about it slightly more than I did a year ago.

I hate to sound like everyone else, but you somewhat adjust to summer weather in Florida. It's still hot, sure. But you realize in some ways it's better than the frigid cold I endured in both NY and Philly. And we don't get the storms with 3 feet of snow. A couple other things make it more tolerable:

1. Air Conditioning. Everyone tends to live in it during the worst of summer. 
2. Timing your tasks. We do things earlier and later in the day to avoid mid-day sweltering. I'll never be the guy on the links in the middle of the day. Did it once and that was once too many.
3. Everyone (almost) has a pool. And ceiling fans. And ceiling fans at the pool. 
4. Beaching it. It's a good 10 degrees cooler by the water than it is further inland, plus you get the breeze off the water. 

Those help here, but a good 10 minutes outdoors in August and you've lost some water weight. It's better than the Philippines in the same months, which I've done without air conditioning when staying with friends. That's more brutal. And keep in mind that Philly in summer isn't that much different.

[SomewhereonNeptune]

On 2/4/2025 at 9:16 PM, onlyraw said:

I think Phoenix had - what over 140 days over 100 degrees in 2024???

"But it's a dry heat." 🤣 (So's an oven)

[SomewhereonNeptune]

On 10/11/2024 at 4:48 PM, Poz50something said:

I would like to thank the akash (the sky) for the fact that hubs and I  didn’t move to Chiangmai in the North of Thailand before he died. I got the distinct feeling that, when our mortgage came up for renewal in March 2018, he would have sold our condo, and at the cheapest price ever just to wash his hands of it, even though I was half owner, and would have kicked up a fuss about not making repairs so we could get top dollar. 

Even more thankful that we hadn’t actually made the transition to Thailand. It’s already heart-rendering enough to lose a spouse; it’s even more anguishing to be confronted by a spouse who didn’t prepare for his demise. Greg just couldn’t be bothered to make his will. How do I know? Coz I fucking chased him for it, but he connived his way out of making his will because he wanted to leave something to his son and the condo was the only thing he had of value. I can’t fathom how I would have managed in a country where I would’ve been a long-term retiree, not even a permanent resident. 

Thanks for the perspectives. Two countries are popping up on my list if I liquidate here and pick up for there. Philippines is one, though not Metro Manila, because I know people there. So I'd have a support structure. Thailand is the other, and I've heard great things about it but I need to hear more.

Can you share your perspectives on having visited and whether a semi-adventurous traveler could have or make a life there? Would love to hear them if you want to DM.

[phillygwm]

6 hours ago, SomewhereonNeptune said:

Those help here, but a good 10 minutes outdoors in August and you've lost some water weight. It's better than the Philippines in the same months, which I've done without air conditioning when staying with friends. That's more brutal. And keep in mind that Philly in summer isn't that much different.

I'd agree.  I don't like either extreme.  As I've gotten older, I just try to stay inside when it's super hot or cold.  As for the snow, I live in a HOA where they shovel the common areas so I'm responsible for maybe 15 feet from my door to the sidewalk.  

I tend to be an inertia kind of guy so it won't surprise me if I stay here, or at least in the general area, through retirement.  But it's fun to think about other possibilities.

6 hours ago, SomewhereonNeptune said:

Thanks for the perspectives. Two countries are popping up on my list if I liquidate here and pick up for there. Philippines is one, though not Metro Manila, because I know people there. So I'd have a support structure. Thailand is the other, and I've heard great things about it but I need to hear more.

I've only spent a few 2 week vacations in Thailand (a friend had a long distance BF.)  I recall it being hotter than hell.  It was a great value, especially at the time when the Baht was very weak.  

Language can be an issue there.  People spoke enough broken English for me to get by but that was in the touristy areas.  Also the government doesn't seem to be especially stable.  I was never there for the demonstrations/coups, but there seem to be a fair amount.  Similar to the US, there's a split between city and rural areas.