Moving to retire near adult children?

[Anonymous]

My kids have grown up with grandparents literally around the corner. It’s priceless! But with that said, we chose to move close to them when the kids were little and didn’t ask them to uproot themselves. I have a family member who married someone from another country. Her parents missed her terribly and so they decided to move to the US to be closer to their daughter and grandkids. After a few years they returned to their home country because the reality was the grandkids had busy schedules and they didn’t have as much time together as they’d imagined and they missed the family and friends back home. That’s an extreme example though since it involved a very long distance move. My aunt and uncle did move to live closer to their adult kids and grandkids but they still lived 2 hours apart. They chose their community because they felt there would be more retirees and cultural opportunities than the rural community their kids lived in. It worked out well as they made lots of friends, it was a lower COL area and they could see their kids/grandkids regularly vs 3-4x a year. Just be sure you will be happy beyond the time you spend with your adult children/grandchildren. And be certain they plan to stay put. We know of a few grandparents who moved to be closer only to find their children later wanted to relocate for better job opportunities a few years later.