The Retire and Relocate Thread™

[byke]

Kiplingers Personal Finance Magazine (August 2022) listed Visalia as one of the 7 standout places to retire - not sure if I can agree but in the spring of this year we checked it out as our son had to relocate there for a job. We found it actually to be a pleasant place but I don't think I can cope with the 100 degree plus temps they had for more than a month

Just randomly dropped a street view and this is where it landed. Yeah, that's pretty much how I remember it.

 

[Climber]

If you're going to pick a town in the area, I'd suggest Friant, CA.

 

[ScottRNelson]

If you're going to pick a town in the area, I'd suggest Friant, CA.

Go a little further and you could be in Oakhurst. That has to be a great place to live if you like to ride all types of motorcycles. I think Downieville is also in that category, but it's more remote.

 

[Climber]

Oakhurst is a great place to live, I lived there for 2 years.

However, most of the houses are among trees, and while they didn't burn 2 years ago it was a close thing.

Friant is not among the woods, but it's at the reservoir and houses are very nice and less expensive than in Fresno and have great views.

 

[Turbongr]

Go Bozeman, MT

Personally, I'd go to SLC or Denver.

I just did 10 years in Denver and would recommend Bozeman over Den. Denver is a shithole and it's just getting more and more shitholee.
Riding there sucks. Big time. It's at least an hour to any decent roads. The winters are getting less rough for riding but Feb-Sept you're looking at 90+ averages. People in Colorado drive very aggressively. I knew lane splitting wasn't legal but figured it wouldn't be a big deal to occasionally wind through traffic. Wrong. They WILL attempt to cut you off, open their door and basically do anything to make sure you don't get past them.
Oddly I bought a Miata while I was there (loved it) and they had the same reaction to it as well. When I had my jeep all love. Got the Miata and people are flipping me off left and right, cutting me off, not letting me merge etc etc.

TLDR: Denver is not rider, or Miata, friendly

 

[littlebeast]

I envied the heck out of my buddy who moved to Foresthill a couple of years ago. Acres galore, workshop and sheds on top of the nice house. Then he told me he pays $4200/year for wildfire insurance.

Guess which town just got mandatory evacuation orders from the Mosquito fire.

Asked him if he needed help moving his workshop out (he makes custom knives for a living) and he was like "nah, I'm insured, if it burns it's just an excuse to buy a new mill and new tools". Fucking guy...

i dunno - lemme guess.

speaking of foresthill - there is a common saying down the hill (auburn, etc.) ‘only in foresthill’ - and everyone loves to tell you their ‘only in foresthill’ stories lol. according to them - it’s where all the crazy people live. recently heard one related to a craftsman that apparently has a large workshop (what he makes in there was not included in the story), but apparently this dude called our pest guy out - said he was being eaten alive by mosquitoes (no relation to the fire). wanted someone to come out and take care of it. pest guy says he arrives, knocks several times at the house, no answer. walks around it - hears machinery running, walks over to the shop - door is open, walks in and sees the dude running a machine. he says the dude was buck naked. dude notices him, shuts the machine down and starts bitching about his mosquito problem. pest guy says all sorts of thoughts went through his head about the potential for serious injury, but he said he did ask the dude if he considered that he might be overexposing himself to the insects.

your buddy?

 

[Grissom]

^^^

 

[Akira-R]

When i went to Denver in 2000, people were staring at me on the drive from the airport ( I was a passenger). Apparently it was because i wasn't blond hair and blue eyed.

I get to my company's XMas party and all my non white coworkers there said they never leave the house because of that.

I'm sure it's better now, but back then when i was roaming around the Denver/Broomfield area, it sure was nothing but blond hair and blue eyes everywhere.

Also I kept going south when wanting to go north. Stupid mountains on the wrong side.

 

[OldMadBrit]

I have been with Kaiser for forty plus years, and my experience has been quite different. When I went to the doctor with a lump in my throat, 25 years ago, I was instantly sent to head and neck surgery, diagnosed with cancer, and operated on within a week. They did an ablation that corrected my heart rhythm. They operated on my neck two years ago, a seven hour, $700k operation that fused five vertebrae and pretty much fixed crippling nerve pain.

I'm friends with both my ENT surgeon and my spinal surgeon, both great guys. I have had so many good Kaiser experiences I have lost track.

My experience with Kaiser is that if you're going there looking for sympathy or an antibiotic for the flu, you won't get either. Every time I have had a procedure I have been amazed at the care and consideration shown me.

This has been my experience as well. Absolutely fantastic care for various sports injuries and stella care for my run-in with pancreatic cancer. Same for my wife, mom, dad and sister.
I just went on Medicare so took the opportunity to come out of Kaiser. So far I'm really not impressed with the alternatives, so I'm probably going to hop back on board.

 

[ScottRNelson]

I just went on Medicare so took the opportunity to come out of Kaiser. So far I'm really not impressed with the alternatives, so I'm probably going to hop back on board.

We didn't like who we first went with, since there is no Kaiser where I live now. But we switched to United Health Care and they have been excellent, at least for those of us on Medicare.

 

[OldMadBrit]

I have been looking at this question for the last 20 years. I had always just assumed that we would cash in our CA property and retire somewhere else.

I effectively started my retirement in 2019. Since then, we have added a ton of places to the already massive list of "somewhere else's" both in the US and overseas that we have looked at as alternatives.

To my utter amazement we are staying put. I am currently planning a big extension to my garage for my toys and some decent updates to our house.

Some of the key realizations:
1) as a boomer, it took me a while to realize that most of the places that looked to be great options 10 years ago are now filling up with retired boomers and who the fcuk wants to be surrounded by boomers
2) the climate here is just about the best in the world arty
3) 3 racetracks, thousands of miles of moto-worthy roads, hiking, camping, windsurfing and sailing all close by arty
4) the climate arty
5) Its either way too hot, way too cold, way too humid or all 3, for half the year everywhere else
6) most of the whining moaning wingnuts in my neighborhood moved out to somewhere else full of other whining moaning wing nuts
7) did I mention the climate?

But last and absolutely not least, in all my years of looking for somewhere else, I have never, not once, not even a tiny little bit, been disappointed to arrive home.

 

[gixxerjeff]

I'll chime in with my defense of Kaiser. They saved my life in 2011 when my appendix burst. I really shouldn't be here. I owe it all to them.
https://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=382722

 

[bikeama]

I have been looking at this question for the last 20 years. I had always just assumed that we would cash in our CA property and retire somewhere else.

I effectively started my retirement in 2019. Since then, we have added a ton of places to the already massive list of "somewhere else's" both in the US and overseas that we have looked at as alternatives.

To my utter amazement we are staying put. I am currently planning a big extension to my garage for my toys and some decent updates to our house.

Some of the key realizations:
1) as a boomer, it took me a while to realize that most of the places that looked to be great options 10 years ago are now filling up with retired boomers and who the fcuk wants to be surrounded by boomers
2) the climate here is just about the best in the world arty
3) 3 racetracks, thousands of miles of moto-worthy roads, hiking, camping, windsurfing and sailing all close by arty
4) the climate arty
5) Its either way too hot, way too cold, way too humid or all 3, for half the year everywhere else
6) most of the whining moaning wingnuts in my neighborhood moved out to somewhere else full of other whining moaning wing nuts
7) did I mention the climate?

But last and absolutely not least, in all my years of looking for somewhere else, I have never, not once, not even a tiny little bit, been disappointed to arrive home.

What OldMadBrit said. I like riding my bike all year long. I don't like snow and ice, and I hate humidity.

 

[ichabodnt650]

We left the bay area for Merced County, just 100 miles away. Housing was cheaper and was initially appealing. Had a quaint small town vibe, folks knew one another and were more welcoming than in a big city.

Then we saw down sides, and there were too many.
• The air quality sucked. Smog from 7 million people's cars blew inland and stagnated over the San Joaquin Valley.
• Hot +100°F summer and thule fog until lunch time in winter
• People expected you to be Christian
• Must ride two hours to start a fun moto ride and must ride another two hours after the fun ended
• Health care required long travel to a big city. More care necessary as we aged
• Nonexistent local job market
• Houses may be cheap, but so are local wages. We could afford to buy in with Bay Area cash, but must (and did) sell at a loss to leave
• No access to good restaurants, theater, concert, culture nearby. Must drive back to the Bay Area for that.
• Gangs and homeless are just as prevalent there as in the Bay Area

After a decade, we moved back. Renting an apartment now. Loving the moto community, the marine climate, access to fine restaurants, Kaiser, and free to move to a different rental unit whenever some unpleasant tenant move in too close. The congestion here sucks, but overall, I wouldn't want leave again. I came here in 1977 and plan to draw my last breath here.

 

[Mike95060]

We left the bay area for Merced County, just 100 miles away. Housing was cheaper and was initially appealing. Had a quaint small town vibe, folks knew one another and were more welcoming than in a big city.

Then we saw down sides, and there were too many.
• The air quality sucked. Smog from 7 million people's cars blew inland and stagnated over the San Joaquin Valley.
• Hot +100°F summer and thule fog until lunch time in winter
• People expected you to be Christian
• Must ride two hours to start a fun moto ride and must ride another two hours after the fun ended
• Health care required long travel to a big city. More care necessary as we aged
• Nonexistent local job market
• Houses may be cheap, but so are local wages. We could afford to buy in with Bay Area cash, but must (and did) sell at a loss to leave
• No access to good restaurants, theater, concert, culture nearby. Must drive back to the Bay Area for that.
• Gangs and homeless are just as prevalent there as in the Bay Area

After a decade, we moved back. Renting an apartment now. Loving the moto community, the marine climate, access to fine restaurants, Kaiser, and free to move to a different rental unit whenever some unpleasant tenant move in too close. The congestion here sucks, but overall, I wouldn't want leave again. I came here in 1977 and plan to draw my last breath here.

Dude, this is like almost my exact experience. NJ-->Santa Cruz-->New Mexico-->Santa Cruz!

I don't think any one place is "perfect" Ya just gotta find what works for you.

 

[Ridley]

I would love to retire to Montana but recently have been thinking about returning home to New Mexico. Specifically Taos. All 4 seasons, world class skiing, lots and lots of mountains, awesome trout streams, hunting, not a lot of people and green chili. I really do miss the cultural and architectural influences of pueblos in northern NM. I realize not many people on this board think very highly of NM, it certainly has its fair share of problems but it’s where I grew up and is where my heart is. The only bad thing about my plan is we have to wait until my daughter graduates high school…she turns 10 in October so eight more years.

 

[Mike95060]

I would love to retire to Montana but recently have been thinking about returning home to New Mexico. Specifically Taos. All 4 seasons, world class skiing, lots and lots of mountains, awesome trout streams, hunting, not a lot of people and green chili. I really do miss the cultural and architectural influences of pueblos in northern NM. I realize not many people on this board think very highly of NM, it certainly has its fair share of problems but it’s where I grew up and is where my heart is. The only bad thing about my plan is we have to wait until my daughter graduates high school…she turns 10 in October so eight more years.

Abiquiu is gorgeous! It was the lack of opportunity for my kids I was worried about. High school in Espanola......mmm. The BLM land and hunting there is second to none but, I'm not that much of a hunter. I also really like splitting wood so a few cords of dead and down hauled out was my idea of a good day. I can see the area fitting a lot of folks for retirement. Being close to medical services might be tricky but not impossible. We were an hour minimum from ANYTHING so our situation was a bit extreme. I worked in Los Alamos and the drive was a lot. I would never say New Mexico is a bad place. Just not one I could live. I encourage anyone to visit though. It is unique and beautiful.

 

[Jammer]

I think your perspective of Kaiser depends upon what ails you. They are great for families, joint replacement and obvious conditions that are simple to diagnose and treat.

But dont be the unicorn in the herd. My wife had an apperantly tough to diagnose condition in the 80's and each doctor would prescribe something new to add to the pile of meds she took. After collapsing in pain at home, she was admitted to the Hayward Kaiser through the ER. The first doctor she saw said "you're on enough meds to kill a horse" and was immediately taken off 90% of the meds. She collapsed again once released and was told by the ER dr that "we don't admit patients for a tummy ache". I was the one who determined that she had a rare allergy to Toradol, a med she had been on for years and all of her intestinal pain resolved in days.

There are many more horry stories about Kaiser withholding treatment to save money. Apparently, dead people are much eaiser on the bottom line than alive ones.

 

[Dubbington]

By the time I retire I think most places that are affordable and desirable will be gone.

Franklin, Tn and Brentwood, Tn were on my list but have doubled in price. Still with no state income tax and 2a friendly it's an option.

I just recently looked into Tulsa, Oklohoma and am intrigued. Turns out a friend from high school is major restauranteur there with a top 10 pizza joint.

My buddy is checking out Fort Collin, Co in a week. He doesn't want wife to work and can't live/work in Santa Barbara on 1 income.

Our issue is the wife works for John Muir which is only east bay and she's doing well. So unless an offer we can't refuse pops up somewhere, I dont see us leaving.

My parents are also 68, local, so are my sisters and nieces/nephew. Wife's fam is in Indio.

I kind of feel stuck really and don't like the idea of buying something in the $1.7m range to stay in the east bay nor sell my townhouse we are renting out to buy something, losing that rental income and an asset.

 

[byke]

Kaiser told my mom her stomach was bloated because she was fat. It went on for a few months until she went to the emergency room when it became unbearable. She had cancer and died a month later. The cute hipster trend of medical personnel's disgust for overweight people robbed our family of a small window where she was strong enough for surgery and a chance to fight it.