Have you or do you plan to move away from DMV in retirement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have moved to the Portland, Maine area and couldn't be happier. Do not miss the swamp one bit.

My model for a happy retirement is friend who downsized their big DMV suburban house, bought a condo in DC near their daughter + a house in Maine. Spend winters here, summers there, bouncing back and forth as they need/want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH and I have always talked about moving "somewhere warmer" in retirement. His preference, not mine. We visited FL multiple times, checking out different areas each time. Came to the conclusion FL is not for us. DH is 66 and 10 yrs ago I think we thought he would have retired right around now, but he was promoted to SES a couple of years ago, and he enjoys his job, and a lot of the folks we have watched retire seem relatively miserable, so he's still working and no plans to retire in the near future. I'm younger than he is by quite a bit, and can't imagine ever not having a job, but I can do my work from anywhere.

I like the idea of going west -- Sedona, Taos, that kind of vibe, but those areas are expensive, and one of the reasons we'd move is to lower expenses. So -- I don't know. I very much thought we would have figured this out by now. If it were up to me, we'd just sell our house and move to our second, much smaller, home on the Shenandoah River and live there -- but DH has this need for "warmer." He truly hates winter. You know what I hate? Having no idea where I'm going to end up living. But that's marriage -- a series of compromises.

I can tell you what I wouldn't do under any circumstances -- move to my "hometown." No thanks. It's cold there anyway, so DH wouldn't do it.

Have your DH look up where heat trends are going and the next heat wave in the DMV remind him that "warmer" in winter means unbearable summer --and sometimes spring and fall too in these places. I used to want to move somewhere warmer too but after experiencing what extreme heat feels like and seeing the predictions going up--no more. I'll stay temperate and maybe just plan an airbnb month somewhere warm each winter.

He knows this, lol. Thanks for the deep insight though.

Of course he knows it, but I have to say for myself it wasn't until I viscerally experienced that I had a hard time breathing on an extreme heat day that I no longer had a desire to seek warmth in retirement. We know a lot of things, but it often takes a lot to get them to sink in.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, everywhere we would be interested in living is HCOL. We'll see where the kids end up.

DH will probably never retire. At the very least we'll move out of Bethesda to a less expensive home.

[Anonymous]

I’m interested in going to a college town. Maybe Durham.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I plan to move to somewhere in the Rockies once I have f u money. I’d keep a simple condo along Conn Ave or Wisconsin Ave for when I come back for the shoulder months

That was what I wanted to do too, but my understanding is that since Bowser introduced the housing vouchers and ruined the age in place retirement communities along Conn and Wisconsin, I think those days are over.

[Anonymous]

My wife and I have lived in Eastern Loudoun County for almost 25 years and we really like it. Neither of us like a hot climate, so we probably won't move any further south than we are now. If we decide to downsize, we might consider a condo or townhouse in Reston. We like the Town Center and go there a lot, and we can maintain the relationships we already have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have moved to the Portland, Maine area and couldn't be happier. Do not miss the swamp one bit.

What are your winters like??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I plan to move to somewhere in the Rockies once I have f u money. I’d keep a simple condo along Conn Ave or Wisconsin Ave for when I come back for the shoulder months

That was what I wanted to do too, but my understanding is that since Bowser introduced the housing vouchers and ruined the age in place retirement communities along Conn and Wisconsin, I think those days are over.

How do I find out what Bowser did to the age in place retirement communities? Looks like she has a "Safe at Home" program?

[Anonymous]

We plan to stay in Arlington and hope our two kids will be nearby. We've lived here for 30 and 40 years respectively and have lots of dear friends and love our community. House will be paid off so that will help with the high COLA. We're hoping to buy a ski condo in UT or CO so will spend some time out there in Winter and Summer too. There's no scenario in which we move back to either of our hometowns or to FL. I'm also hoping to spend a good chunk of time in Europe each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I plan to move to somewhere in the Rockies once I have f u money. I’d keep a simple condo along Conn Ave or Wisconsin Ave for when I come back for the shoulder months

That was what I wanted to do too, but my understanding is that since Bowser introduced the housing vouchers and ruined the age in place retirement communities along Conn and Wisconsin, I think those days are over.

Condo in North Bethesda at Grosvenor?

They have studios-1 brs-2brs.

High condo fees though.

[Anonymous]

We will want to travel extensively for a couple of years in retirement, maybe stay 2-3 months in Europe, some in Asia, eventually hope to settle near one of our kids.

I feel you need family nearby (max 45 mins away), it will be easier for our kids help out during our old age and for us to help out a bit when they have kids. Celebrate festivals and occasions together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Florida and other places have gotten very expensive last 4 years. To the point moving at 67 makes little sense.

My brother bought a place in Florida for 550k in 2018 but did not sell his NY house till 2023 which he got 1.1 million.

Today his Florida place is now worth 1.1 million. A doubling of price.

At this point it would make more sense for me to keep my DMV house and buy a two bedroom condo in an older building for 300k cash.

Not to mention that many FL homes have astronomical insurance costs or are uninsurable at any price with no end in sight.

He bought in a non flood zone a few miles from beach. So insurance not an issue. But to be honest I visited him in summer and had to leave crack of Dawn to get parking at beach or ride a bike 5 miles, so no free ride.

Florida every mile from beach gets hotter and hotter

[Anonymous]

DEI or as I call it, Didn’t Earn It ruined affordable options near their home for retirees.

Back around 1992 the town I used to live in of all SFHs that was already rising in prices parents were worried kids could not afford to buy in town they grew up in and retiree parents were sitting in large homes they did not need but no where in town to downsize too. They converted an old school in town near train and stores and parks to this wonderful 65 and older apartment building below market guaranteed for life available to current town residents over 65. Idea was they sell home or give to kids and frees up all those empty bedrooms. You know five bedroom houses with an empty Nestor.

It lasted five years before being sued as being racist and inequitable. They won and poor people other towns and illegals flooded in and over last 20 years has become a slum and people in town still have no where to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have moved to the Portland, Maine area and couldn't be happier. Do not miss the swamp one bit.

What are your winters like??

Some snow, some cold, fine on the whol.

Climate change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if I'd be happy moving back to my hometown after being in the DMV for 2+ decades. Most of my friends in my hometown also left, so we'd mostly, but not entirely, be starting over socially. Part of me thinks that could be a good thing to have a fresh start. Also, while we know a lot of people in the DMV, we really don't socialize all that much, so we don't really see them that often anyway.

In an ideal world, maybe we'd have two places, but the point of moving away would be largely financial since cost of living is definitely better where I grew up.

Would love to hear about others' experiences with this.

DH and I made all the right sacrifices earlier in life so that we could afford remain in the DMV area during retirement. Understand that not everyone can possess this level of clairvoyance and purity of thought, but this has worked well for us.