Seriously, where is the best place to retire?

[Bodyman]

Never thought,...

I never thought that shooting off the back porch was a dream that might be common.

The huge house is not on my list though - just a small cabin. I'd rather have the space outside.

Now a big garage, that might be on the short list, ...

[Vern Humphrey]

In 1969 I bought 160 acres south of Mountain View, Arkansas, with a creek running through it and a very nice fishing/swimming hole. In 1999 I built a nice Victorian farm house on the property, put in pasture, a pond and a stable.

You can get land and homes fairly reasonable here. We have good medical care -- a local hospital affiliated with two large hospitals in larger towns nearby. Arkansas is a Constitutional Carry state, and no one blinks to see a gun on your belt.

Search for "Land in Mountain View, AR."

[barretcreek]

One thing you better get through your head is 'do as the Romans do'. Go vacation in a few places winter and summer and see if the local habits suit you. Realtor was showing a house in a somewhat more isolated community when the wife asked 'what's that?'. 'That' was a euro mount 6x6 elk on the end of a barn. 'Do people hunt here? Do they own guns?' Yup, this is the Rockies. They went elsewhere.
You might want to check voter registration trends in the last couple of election cycles. Conservatives build nice, safe well run communities lefties move to after they foul their nest and need a fresh one to destroy. Which has been going on here for the decades I've resided. Even the old time Dems are complaining about the Kommiefornia Krazies and their wackjob ideas. Lefties tried to pass an 'empty house tax'. Here's the choice: if you own a house which is not your primary residence for voting and tax purposes, either rent it out to a deserving local socialist drug addict ski bum mountain biker when you are not here or pay Xthousand dollars to the 'affordable housing' fund. To build 3br/2bath sfr for people who don't want the stress of earning the kind of money it takes to buy a house here.
Closed on a house 1 April 2020. Probably gone up 20%, maybe more.

Nice place Vern.

[Mark in Ottawa]

This may be a surprise but several years ago when I was on a Caribbean cruise we took a train / bus excursion along the Panama Canal. Our guide told us that a lot of Americans were now retiring in Panama. He said that it was far les expensive to live there than in the USA and that the medical care was excellent and cheap. We never made it into Panama City itself but were in a town across the bay and could see the skyline. The guide told us that there was a lot of new apartment construction going on and that the almost complete tower that we could see was 103 stories tall so that there was going to be a fairly good selection of living accommodation.

[Johnny P]

A place where you have no close neighbors, but no more than 30 minutes from a large city with excellent health care facilities.

[RED]

Vern is right. Northeast Arkansas and central Missouri have a lot going for it. I bought 60 acres in 1995 in central MO, it was a strip of land 400? wide and 1 mile long, covered in brush and trees but still close to the to the excellent U of M hospital and Columbia VA hospital.

What we did in 1995 was sell everything we had collected in 30 years of marriage and moved into a furnished apartment. It took nearly a year to find the property and we built a 1,440 square foot ranch home with a 36?X24? shop. The hunting was great and I had a 150 yd range that I could shoot from the patio.

In 2015 my wife died and I sold out for double the original cost. I miss the hunting but miss my private range more. The key is finding land then making your dream become a reality.

[Bodyman]

I think I have to explore some more.

Johnny P pretty much summed up the problem, with a view!

Becoming an Ex-pat adds a whole new list of variables to the equation, but I have thought about it, Mark. I spent a week down in Panama and absolutely loved it. We rented a flat that was owned by an ex-pat US retired couple from New Orleans. The place was just around the corner from their President's official residence in Cosco Viejo and whole area just oozed history. Security in that area was tight and visible and most of the street corners had an officer/soldier armed with a submachine gun. Some of the girls were alarmed by this but I felt right at ease - who would try anything. I was comfortable enough that I would walk the streets at sunrise by myself with a hot cup of their amazingly wonderful coffee. There are tons of plusses for Panama like the influences really are from all directions and it has more of an international feel, and yet they speak a good bit of English and the people were wonderful. They also use dollars which do go further, the healthcare system is supposed to be on par with the U.S., and they drive on the correct side of the road (exceedingly badly but usually the correct side, ...), and, ... it is also below the hurricane zone. The downside is that it rains half the year - a lot - and when it is hot it is Texas/Florida kinda hot. Were I running solo I might go a good bit further down this road and explore a few other locations but for now I think it is limited to the States here.

Arkansas and Missouri has been suggested to me several times so I am going to have to check that area out better, as well as eastern Tennessee/Kentucky which is popular lately (maybe a bit too much). There seems to be a sweet swath a few states wide across the whole country from about Asheville, North Carolina to Durango, Colorado or so and then up the Rockies - I am just going to have to explore some more to narrow it down a bit better.

What I would like to avoid is what one younger retired couple I know did - they thought they had it all figured out when fell in love with Key West after they vacationed there a few times, so with plenty of money on their side they pulled up stakes and refurb'd/built their dream place there. A few short years later they are selling it all and moving out west somewhere, ... I don't think I will ever have enough money or energy to do that so I'd like to just do it once and I don't mind if it takes a few years. Honestly, as strange as it sounds, I started on the house design with the kitchen and have a good idea of what I want there. The rest of the house will be suggested by the location and whether it is a rehab or new build, and right now it is more what that kitchen window is going to be looking out on.

Loving the input - thanks everyone - keep it coming!

[Allen]

I don't see how anyone could be happy living in a building with no yard (condo) unless need be when we become older and immobile but if/when that time comes we could still pee off the balcony of the 103rd floor condo that Mark mentioned in Panama City. Still, no one would see you and there might just be some "green people" living below collecting rain water (save the planet) that would be receiving your "gift".

I personally find it hard for someone to think about moving unless things have really changed for the worse. Guess it all depends upon where and how we were raised, who our friends are, who our family was and who still lives close to us. I would never consider moving from "home" here along the Gulf Coast where I was born as well as my mother 100 years ago. Sure, we have hurricanes, tornado's, heat, humidity, Mexican's, mosquitoes, liberal yankee tourist, rain (all the time), and so forth but I could write a book on the benefits of living here.

I doubt you would be happy in a blue state so that narrows it down pretty good, I know it would for me, unless you stay out of the cities. My sister once bought a house in Grand Isle, NY and liked it. Pictures of the rural area looked nice, but it wasn't home, so she didn't stay there long.

I have found in my limited travels that people in rural areas are humans most everywhere and act like them. I'm speaking positively here as in friendly and caring when you get to know them. It's mostly the chit that has collected in our cities that needs to be flushed.