Vince Lupo
Whatever
I've heard that Panama is a popular place: http://internationalliving.com/2014/01/panama-worlds-best-retirement-haven-2014/
My wife and I have considered New Mexico as an option, though likely not Albuquerque. Still trying to figure out which area there (I like Silver City and Farmington). Maybe those of you who do live in NM can shed some light here, but two of the things that make me a bit nervous about moving there is the high per capita crime rate and the seemingly rampant drug problems (mind you I live near Baltimore, so go figure).
I've been out there 5 times and have planned to make trips there every year because I love it so much. The Land of Enchantment, to be sure, but I'm still a bit concerned about those two issues.
My wife and I have considered New Mexico as an option, though likely not Albuquerque. Still trying to figure out which area there (I like Silver City and Farmington). Maybe those of you who do live in NM can shed some light here, but two of the things that make me a bit nervous about moving there is the high per capita crime rate and the seemingly rampant drug problems (mind you I live near Baltimore, so go figure).
I've been out there 5 times and have planned to make trips there every year because I love it so much. The Land of Enchantment, to be sure, but I'm still a bit concerned about those two issues.
anerjee
Well-known
I'm far from retirement either by age or by capital, but I wonder would it not matter where your family and friends are when you retire? Or is this talk all about a second home?
leicapixie
Well-known
The good news and the bad news.
Retirement usually means being old!
Old folks have things going wrong, medically.
I am one of them..
I live in Toronto, with OHIP,almost full medical coverage.
I am minutes from a hospital, my doctor, cardiologist, pharmacy.
It's a nightmare if and it will happen, that one needs attention!
Sure I travel regularly to South Africa, with lots of expensive insurance.
Johannesburg and Durban have first rate services.
Be prepared to pay ahead, need your insurance company to allow many things before proceeding, even a bad cold!
I am so proud as a Canadian.
No way do i wanna live elsewhere.
Visit yes, live NO.
Retirement usually means being old!
Old folks have things going wrong, medically.
I am one of them..
I live in Toronto, with OHIP,almost full medical coverage.
I am minutes from a hospital, my doctor, cardiologist, pharmacy.
It's a nightmare if and it will happen, that one needs attention!
Sure I travel regularly to South Africa, with lots of expensive insurance.
Johannesburg and Durban have first rate services.
Be prepared to pay ahead, need your insurance company to allow many things before proceeding, even a bad cold!
I am so proud as a Canadian.
No way do i wanna live elsewhere.
Visit yes, live NO.
besk
Well-known
Maybe you should come down to SC in the spring to Myrtle Beach along
with all of the other Canadians to see what it is like.
with all of the other Canadians to see what it is like.
oltimer
Well-known
I am happy you are enforcing a wee bit more for Frank to Digest. I could not get coverage from any Insurance carrier once I told them that I had 11 colonoscopy's since 1989. Yes once (1 time) polups were removed they totally refused any coverage. I could have lied, but it would come out when needed, and than payment denied. Good/quality full coverage is almost hard to get, and you must be careful on the contract language!
Vince Lupo
Whatever
All very good points. I've considered moving back to Canada for this very reason. Likely not Toronto though. Ottawa maybe - lovely city. But could I stomach the winters......
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Not so much. If you've moved about all your life, as I have, they'll be scattered all over the place: Clydeside, London, Delhi, Los Angeles, Bath, Bristol, Dharamsala, Arles, Paris...
Cheers,
R.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Vince,
I lived in New Mexico for a year and a half back during the Cold War when Ronald Regan was President. While working at the National Lab in Los Alamos, I lived in the Santa Fe National Forest in a two bedroom log cabin that cost me $400.00 a month to rent. The community was called La Cueva and comprised 80 mailboxes on the side of the highway. The area was so remote that if I needed gas or groceries I would have to drive 47 miles to Los Alamos, but I was also only an hours drive from either Santa Fe or Albiqueque. Where I lived I got no television reception, but what natural beauty.
When I was there much of the crime was home break ins, although there were also gun fights just like in the old days of the wild-wild west. My neighbor recommended getting a gun because where we lived you were kinda on your own, and there was only one Sheriff for the whole county. A lot of alcohol related crime. The drug problems in Albiqueque were not prevalent at that time.
Cal
willie_901
Veteran
At the moment Austin TX could be in my not-to-distant future. The winter weather is wonderful. Summer is another story.
I'll do my best to Keep Austin Weird. (A t-shirt slogan used for decades to support local small business,)
Besides, I can shoot on the same streets Winograd shot in downtown Austin.
I'll do my best to Keep Austin Weird. (A t-shirt slogan used for decades to support local small business,)
Besides, I can shoot on the same streets Winograd shot in downtown Austin.
zauhar
Veteran
Cal, you bring up the critical point that remote, rural areas often have a higher crime rate than urban centers, a fact that people pining for a 'peaceful life in the woods' like to ignore (or are simply ignorant of).
New Mexico is a beautiful state (I say that based on my one visit), but it has one of the highest per capita crime rates of any US state.
That would not deter me from living there, I would just bring my gun!
Randy
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Randy,
There was a guy I worked with in the Lab who had to pull a gun to protect his wife from being gang-raped by 5 guys while in the Santa Fe National Forest. His wife was very pretty.
Also there was a full blown feud going on, but it was between two scientists who who worked at Los Alamos that Lived in this kinda upscale gated community in The Santa Fe National Forest.
Life could be kinda edgy because one is so alone, and you really have to depend on yourself. Understand that if you stopped on the side of the road where I lived to take in the beauty that any car would stop to see if you were alright.
I found the lack of pollution energizing, even though I was living at 7,000 feet of altitude. I learned when I returned to New York how coping with pollution makes you tired and causes fatigue. Understand that Albiqueque has a smog inversion layer. Only one area code for the whole state and a population of about 2 million.
Cal
nikonosguy
Well-known
i think you'd do well in mogadishu or somalia, Frank -- kinda like memphis, sans the whimsy
x-ray
Veteran
I was going to say North Carolina. You have the choice of the mountains & beaches. Only time it gets really really cold is when one of those blasted Artic Canadian fronts slides down. But 15deg F, probably isn't cold to you.
East Tennessee where I live has the same mountains and many lakes. We don't have the coast but Charleston SC is only 5 hours away. The difference in NC and TN is we have no income tax. Cost of housing is lower here than Asheville. Asheville's cost of living has risen sharply in the past few years.
rfaspen
[insert pithy phrase here]
I too lived in New Mexico for a while. I love the land. Love the underpopulation. Not so sure about some of the people there, or their ideas.
My wife and I lived in Las Cruces. I don't recommend it for retirement. We got married in Cloudcroft, a mountain community in the Sacramento Mtn. Range. A lovely place with a "winter" of light snow and low temps, but its nice in summer and the landscape is beautiful. You can drive east to the Permian Basin and take in the enormous oil/gas presence and Chihuahuan desert. A little south is Carlsbad and the famous caverns. If you're a caver (such as I am) it is a very good place to be. A little north and you're in Roswell. I've looked for aliens but found none of the extraterrestrial type. If you're a storm chaser, this is an area that gets beautiful thunderstorms and sort of frequent tornados. Drive to the west and you'll end up in Alamagordo where they have big "sky parties" where amateur astronomers from all over the world come and share telescope time. Just west of Alamagordo is White Sands National Park. It really is a special place. The best photography there is very early morning and late evening. If you live only 30-40 minutes away, its easy to loiter there and get your shots. To the north is the Apache community of Riudoso, where you can immerse yourself in "the culture of the horse". And gamble too I think. Not my thing though. A great mix of Mexican and American cultures if you want to experience that. Or you can surround yourself in true "old western" rancher/cowboy culture if you wish. Or you can experience Native American culture. There's a fun counter-culture spread out through New Mexico that seems to integrate rather well. You'll find the UFO types in Roswell (they have a museum there).
Crime is definitely in NM. I used to live in southern California though, and experienced more crime there than anywhere else in the U.S. I never felt terribly unsafe in NM, but I have lived in the rural western N. America most all of my life and know what to avoid/do.
Silver City is a well-known retirement destination. That's in the southwest part of the state. It can get hot there, but if you're a birdwatcher you will be in heaven. Among the most diverse avifauna in the U.S. (including Hawaii and the Aleutians). I find it too close to some ultra-conservative, neo-nazi communities for my taste though. I can visit, but I don't think I'd live there.
The best medical care is found at the population centers: ABQ, Santa Fe, Las Cruces. Alamagordo has medical infrastructure because of its proximity to so many military sites (Holloman AFB, Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile Range). One reason why Cloudcroft seems feasible.
Oh, and you can see some spectacular missile tests at WSMTR. I once watched a missile interception test that was kind of neat (not that I'm into war machinery, but you just have to awe at what you see). They close Hwy 70 that goes through the range whenever there's a test. I worked in eastern NM when I lived in Las Cruces so went through there almost daily for a while.
Oh, and I forgot to mention the highest elevation golf course in the world is in Cloudcroft....in case that interests you.
And you definitely need to get a gun. Just so you fit in if nothing else. You don't actually have to use it if you don't want, but make sure folks see it over your fireplace (or whatever). Part of the culture, kind of like Montana.
My wife and I lived in Las Cruces. I don't recommend it for retirement. We got married in Cloudcroft, a mountain community in the Sacramento Mtn. Range. A lovely place with a "winter" of light snow and low temps, but its nice in summer and the landscape is beautiful. You can drive east to the Permian Basin and take in the enormous oil/gas presence and Chihuahuan desert. A little south is Carlsbad and the famous caverns. If you're a caver (such as I am) it is a very good place to be. A little north and you're in Roswell. I've looked for aliens but found none of the extraterrestrial type. If you're a storm chaser, this is an area that gets beautiful thunderstorms and sort of frequent tornados. Drive to the west and you'll end up in Alamagordo where they have big "sky parties" where amateur astronomers from all over the world come and share telescope time. Just west of Alamagordo is White Sands National Park. It really is a special place. The best photography there is very early morning and late evening. If you live only 30-40 minutes away, its easy to loiter there and get your shots. To the north is the Apache community of Riudoso, where you can immerse yourself in "the culture of the horse". And gamble too I think. Not my thing though. A great mix of Mexican and American cultures if you want to experience that. Or you can surround yourself in true "old western" rancher/cowboy culture if you wish. Or you can experience Native American culture. There's a fun counter-culture spread out through New Mexico that seems to integrate rather well. You'll find the UFO types in Roswell (they have a museum there).
Crime is definitely in NM. I used to live in southern California though, and experienced more crime there than anywhere else in the U.S. I never felt terribly unsafe in NM, but I have lived in the rural western N. America most all of my life and know what to avoid/do.
Silver City is a well-known retirement destination. That's in the southwest part of the state. It can get hot there, but if you're a birdwatcher you will be in heaven. Among the most diverse avifauna in the U.S. (including Hawaii and the Aleutians). I find it too close to some ultra-conservative, neo-nazi communities for my taste though. I can visit, but I don't think I'd live there.
The best medical care is found at the population centers: ABQ, Santa Fe, Las Cruces. Alamagordo has medical infrastructure because of its proximity to so many military sites (Holloman AFB, Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile Range). One reason why Cloudcroft seems feasible.
Oh, and you can see some spectacular missile tests at WSMTR. I once watched a missile interception test that was kind of neat (not that I'm into war machinery, but you just have to awe at what you see). They close Hwy 70 that goes through the range whenever there's a test. I worked in eastern NM when I lived in Las Cruces so went through there almost daily for a while.
Oh, and I forgot to mention the highest elevation golf course in the world is in Cloudcroft....in case that interests you.
And you definitely need to get a gun. Just so you fit in if nothing else. You don't actually have to use it if you don't want, but make sure folks see it over your fireplace (or whatever). Part of the culture, kind of like Montana.
SuperUJ
Well-known
This thread enlightens me just like this article did a couple of years ago. When I read it, I was glad that I had already chosen a profession that is on the right side of life expectancy. My goal is to retire at or before 60. I spoke to actuaries who work for insurance companies and learned that they do expect an average good health person retiring at the age of 60 out lives those who retire at 65. With this thread, knowing ahead of time the pros and cons of different places for retirees, especially through the eyes of photographers is a huge plus. You guys just made my job (in the next 10+ years) to convince my indecisive wife (an economist by training, a risk analyst by profession) on where to retire easier.
John
John
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Dear Randy,
Is this true outside the (heavily armed, notoriously individualistic, idiosyncratically policed) USA? I freely accept that you can get much lower population densities in the USA than in most of Europe, but as far as I know -- and national news in France is pretty reliable -- areas such as the Pyrenees are not hotbeds of murder, rape or even burglary.
You may of course have better knowledge of the subject than I.
Cheers,
R.
Vics
Veteran
I lived in the British Virgin Islands from '88 through '91 and LOVED it! Maybe take a look at Virgin Gorda.
Virgin Gorda, The Baths by Victor Ross, on Flickr
Virgin Gorda, The Baths by Victor Ross, on Flickr
skibeerr
Well-known
We decided, after our indenture in OZ, to go and finish our active life in Belgium and retire to Portugal.
France is a good second though more expensive and we will be regarded as 'Les petit Belges'.
France is a good second though more expensive and we will be regarded as 'Les petit Belges'.
Vince Lupo
Whatever
Great info, thanks! Forgot about Roswell -- that's actually a pretty good place to be too, if you can get past all the UFO stuff. They have some really beautiful houses in the historic district. I'd also heard that Carlsbad was very nice, but my wife doesn't want to live down in that area. Mesilla was our first choice, but it's just a small community on the outskirts of Cruces. What about Cruces didn't you like?
zauhar
Veteran
Sorry Roger, I was speaking only of the Land of the Free, Home of the Totally F-cked Up. Although I am not totally sure about Canada, I suspect in the woods there I would be mostly worried about non-homo sapiens wildlife. In your neck of the woods, I wouldn't worry at all.
Randy