Disagree on Retiring in Florida (grandparents, beach, weather, moving)
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I retired in April 2020 at FRA of 66. My husband will be able to retire at FRA in 2 years. We have talked about moving to Florida from our current home in Tehachapi, CA. We love Tehachapi for the peaceful atmosphere and four seasons, but are tired of the taxes and crazy rules in CA. My daughters and families live in Fl, one in Indialantic and one in West Melborne, and my son and family in CA.
We have talked about moving for FL for two years and now my husband is balking due to risk of hurricanes, humidity, and close neighbors. We live on 1.4 acres and do not have neighbors. I would like to be close to my kids and grandkids and start pulling out of my 401k in a state with no state taxes.
This has become quite a bone of contention. Your thoughts on resolving a conflict in retirement plans and on retiring in FL are very much appreciated.
I retired in April 2020 at FRA of 66. My husband will be able to retire at FRA in 2 years. We have talked about moving to Florida from our current home in Tehachapi, CA. We love Tehachapi for the peaceful atmosphere and four seasons, but are tired of the taxes and crazy rules in CA. My daughters and families live in Fl and my son and family in CA.
We have talked about moving for FL for two years and now my husband is balking due to risk of hurricanes, humidity, and close neighbors. We live on 1.4 acres and do not have neighbors. I would like to be close to my kids and grandkids and start pulling out of my 401k in a state with no state taxes.
This has become quite a bone of contention. Your thoughts on resolving a conflict in retirement plans and on retiring in FL are very much appreciated.
Best,
Reddog53
I'm both familiar with Florida and Tehachapi. They couldn't be more polar opposites. If you enjoy the mountain views, dry air, 4 mild seasons that are very different, you or especially your husband will hate Florida.
Tehachapi is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places in So Cal. Count your blessings.
I retired in April 2020 at FRA of 66. My husband will be able to retire at FRA in 2 years. We have talked about moving to Florida from our current home in Tehachapi, CA. We love Tehachapi for the peaceful atmosphere and four seasons, but are tired of the taxes and crazy rules in CA. My daughters and families live in Fl and my son and family in CA.
We have talked about moving for FL for two years and now my husband is balking due to risk of hurricanes, humidity, and close neighbors. We live on 1.4 acres and do not have neighbors. I would like to be close to my kids and grandkids and start pulling out of my 401k in a state with no state taxes.
This has become quite a bone of contention. Your thoughts on resolving a conflict in retirement plans and on retiring in FL are very much appreciated.
Best,
Reddog53
I "get" the taxes and crazy rules. I also understand your husband's balking at hurricanes, especially since we just had a few, even though they did not affect Florida, this time. I agree with the "no state taxes" as I live in a state with no state taxes. My husband also did not want to leave our 12 acres in the country in our former state.
All that being said, you still have 2 years before you can make a permanent decision anyway. Two years can make a difference in wants and desires and even circumstances. Kids get older and don't want or need grandparents anymore. Your daughter(s) could move their families away from Florida for many reasons. I found us a home in a subdivision on a cul-de-sac that was on a lot that had a rain basin on one side, so never any neighbors there, and the neighbors on the other side were situated on an angle away from us due to our pie shaped lot due to the cul-de-sac. So they were not on top of us either. We knew what we wanted and we looked for it until we found it.
You both need to continue discussions about where to retire. Circumstances led us to where we ended up, and I love our new home state. We had discussed where to retire to in the distant past but never decided until circumstances decided for us. It will work out if you begin your discussions and search now.
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I retired in April 2020 at FRA of 66. My husband will be able to retire at FRA in 2 years. We have talked about moving to Florida from our current home in Tehachapi, CA. We love Tehachapi for the peaceful atmosphere and four seasons, but are tired of the taxes and crazy rules in CA. My daughters and families live in Fl and my son and family in CA.
We have talked about moving for FL for two years and now my husband is balking due to risk of hurricanes, humidity, and close neighbors. We live on 1.4 acres and do not have neighbors. I would like to be close to my kids and grandkids and start pulling out of my 401k in a state with no state taxes.
This has become quite a bone of contention. Your thoughts on resolving a conflict in retirement plans and on retiring in FL are very much appreciated.
Best,
Reddog53
Where in Florida? My in-laws moved to Sarasota 30 years ago from the Chicago area. They are on the intercoastal waterway and hurricanes have never been a problem there. Humid, yes. I plan to spend a couple months each year there once my wife reaches retirement (in a year).
I retired in April 2020 at FRA of 66. My husband will be able to retire at FRA in 2 years. We have talked about moving to Florida from our current home in Tehachapi, CA. We love Tehachapi for the peaceful atmosphere and four seasons, but are tired of the taxes and crazy rules in CA. My daughters and families live in Fl and my son and family in CA.
We have talked about moving for FL for two years and now my husband is balking due to risk of hurricanes, humidity, and close neighbors. We live on 1.4 acres and do not have neighbors. I would like to be close to my kids and grandkids and start pulling out of my 401k in a state with no state taxes.
This has become quite a bone of contention. Your thoughts on resolving a conflict in retirement plans and on retiring in FL are very much appreciated.
Best,
Reddog53
There are many places in FL with 1+ AC land and hurricanes are not as prevalent as some make them out to be. But it is not like FL or CA are the only choices - you can get low humidity and/or 4 seasons in a low tax state in NV or AZ.
Western N.C., met many that had moved there from FL. Less humid, less bugs.
People on this Forum also like Eastern Tennessee. We were considering visiting Hendersonville, N.C. South of Asheville, N.C. from the Olympic Peninsula where many Californians, Alaskans retire, especially in the town of Sequim (Skwim).
Bruce, my late husband, needed to be near medical facilities, as disabled we wanted to be near places to drive, see southern, eastern states.
Keep Posting, reading Posts, Lots of information here as well as knowledgeable, caring folks on this Thread.
2008, when we did visit Franklin, N.C., flew into Atlanta,at the suggestion of a Poster and stay at a B and B in town, also his suggestion, after another Poster made an inquiry about Franklin. He and his wife rented cabins out a ways from Franklin. We enjoyed dinner in town with them and friends at a local restaurant.
I retired in April 2020 at FRA of 66. My husband will be able to retire at FRA in 2 years. We have talked about moving to Florida from our current home in Tehachapi, CA. We love Tehachapi for the peaceful atmosphere and four seasons, but are tired of the taxes and crazy rules in CA. My daughters and families live in Fl, one in Indialantic and one in West Melborne, and my son and family in CA.
We have talked about moving for FL for two years and now my husband is balking due to risk of hurricanes, humidity, and close neighbors. We live on 1.4 acres and do not have neighbors. I would like to be close to my kids and grandkids and start pulling out of my 401k in a state with no state taxes.
This has become quite a bone of contention. Your thoughts on resolving a conflict in retirement plans and on retiring in FL are very much appreciated.
Best,
Reddog53
Weather conditions such as temperature, rainfall amounts, humidity, seasonal changes, etc certainly play a part in most people's decision as to where to live in retirement, but they're not the ONLY consideration for most people. It's my opinion that what a person plans to actually DO in retirement and the availability of desirable activities is far more important than just the weather.
During a person's working career, their employment often dictates where they live, so they just make the best of weekends to do family activities, keep the house maintained, etc. However, once you retire, you've got all day every day to do whatever you want. Quite often, people don't really think much about what they're going to do in retirement. They assume that just not having to go to work is all the activity or fun that they need, but after a year or two of doing nothing, many become bored. That's because they failed to PLAN for what they would do.
I know that after a year or two of my early retirement, I got bored just doing the same old same old in my original location. So, just for the heck of it, my wife and I decided to take a trip to Florida for one month and explore some of the retirement communities and the activities. That's all it took for us. We bought a place in Florida 6 months later. Sometimes you just don't know what you're missing until you actually check it out.
I would suggest spending at least a month in Florida (or anywhere you may be considering moving to) before deciding whether it's for you or not. For me and my wife, the activities and the great weather 8 months per year outweighed the heat and humidity of the other 4 months. Besides, many places get hot and humid in the summer. And we don't have to shovel snow in Florida.
I retired in April 2020 at FRA of 66. My husband will be able to retire at FRA in 2 years. We have talked about moving to Florida from our current home in Tehachapi, CA. We love Tehachapi for the peaceful atmosphere and four seasons, but are tired of the taxes and crazy rules in CA. My daughters and families live in Fl, one in Indialantic and one in West Melborne, and my son and family in CA.
We have talked about moving for FL for two years and now my husband is balking due to risk of hurricanes, humidity, and close neighbors. We live on 1.4 acres and do not have neighbors. I would like to be close to my kids and grandkids and start pulling out of my 401k in a state with no state taxes.
This has become quite a bone of contention. Your thoughts on resolving a conflict in retirement plans and on retiring in FL are very much appreciated.
Best,
Reddog53
My first thought is that moving to a place for retirement where there is not total agreement by both that it is where they want to be is just asking for problems.
As for Florida, I lived for 25 years in Vero Beach, just below Melbourne and another 24 years in the Orlando area. Hurricanes can be a problem, you just don't know when. I went through two in Vero Beach and one direct hit and two fringes in Orlando. My sister lost her home in Vero Beach to Frances and Jeanne in 2004. But they are survivable with the right structure and preparation; just an unpleasant experience.
To get something to compare to your lot in California will be expensive unless you go kind of out in the boonies. Homeowner's insurance will be expensive, especially if you are near the ocean/Indian River. And it will be hot and humid for a lot of the year. And it seems to only be getting more that way. I can remember as a kid seeing frost every year and in 1977 we actually had snow in Vero Beach. Those days are long gone. Now the new reality is running the A/C on Christmas/New Years.
That being said, if I was forced to move back to Florida, The Melbourne/Vero Beach area is the only place I would go.
My husband wouldn't move to Florida for all the tea in China. He would like to retire in Maine and I hate cold weather! I hate cold weather so much I began fretting about snow before October.
We have been going back and forth on this issue for three or four years.
We have decided to live in Maine in summer and keep our options open for winter. As of now, our kids are in Virginia/DC, so we will rent a small house in Virginia. Once we leave NY, our property taxes will drop dramatically. The monthly rent for a house in Virginia will cost less than our monthly NY property taxes (isn't that sad!). At the same time, we will also purchase a small house in Maine.
We may stay in Virginia (depending on where the kids are) or begin to travel in winter to warm areas like New Mexico, Texas, Arizona or go to Italy.
We are choosing NOT to make a final, permanent decision. Honestly, at some point, we will wind up in assisted living by the kids. No decision made at the beginning of retirement is all that permanent anyway.
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