We’ve narrowed down our choices of retirement location and although we’re leaning more heavily toward one, it feels like a game of Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe.
The crazy thing is, a couple of these places hadn’t even been on our radar until recently.
In the beginning, we spent a lot of time looking at cost of living. Then we put more focused toward taxes. We then began looking at climate and recreation. Then one day I realized that we weren’t asking some very important questions.
- What about the political climate?
- What about religion?
- What about cultural opportunities for our girls?
When we quit putting as much focus on cost of living and taxes, we began to realize that some of the locations just weren’t a good fit for our family. Yes, some had a decent cost of living and tax benefits for retirees, but those are only two reasons to consider a specific location. What good would it do us to be saving money, but wanting to constantly escape? If that was the criteria, we should just stay put.
Once we looked at all the factors we needed to take into consideration, places we wanted to live became places we simply wanted to visit from time-to-time. Other places fell off the list because affordability is still a big factor, but suddenly places we had never even looked at made the list.
In my last post I talked about having connections. Those connections can be so valuable when you’re in the process of trying to make such a huge life-changing decision, so I took advantage of those connections and began asking questions. The end result was unexpected and at the same time, very exciting.
Our girls know what areas are under consideration. Little Miss doesn’t understand and as long as she is with us, she’s good. Miss Teen is ready to make the move. Miss Pre-Teen has made it very clear she doesn’t want to move. We also know that Miss Pre-Teen always needs time to digest a potential change. Since then, she has been on-line looking at houses, so she is definitely digesting and trying to decide if she’s on board or not.
Nothing is carved in stone. We could learn something that steers us a different direction, but for now, we are focused on one area in particular. It’s not an area that is completely unfamiliar to us, but it’s also not a place we’ve spent time visiting. Yet, the more we learn, the more we want to pack up and go.
worldofweeks 