Thread: Where would you retire?

Originally Posted by Iwannafish

Always an option. Stay right here and just pull a boat all over the country till I get to old to fish. Would definitely be cheapest!

Sounds like a fine idea to me. Fish wherever the weather is best.

I lived in Illinois just across the river from St. Louis. I sold out in May 2014 and retired by Ky Lake near Paris, Tn. We like the area, taxes are reasonable, I'm 15 minutes or less from 5 boat ramps and were close enough to the family to still visit them when we want.

Just went to Paris recently, but we liked Lexington better. Both good retirement areas for sure.

zi love Mountain home Arkansas area as well as west Arkansas on Beaver Lake near Rogers, ark,,, Beautiful clear lakes, fishing and very nice quaint towns with lots of shopping, jobs and newly developed housing,,,a
Place that is growing fast,,, opertunity for young with great paying jobs and things to do for even us geezers, like fishing and hunting...hard to find a place anymore without dealing with too much tourism... i grew up on Cape Cod and if it weren't for a few pieces of land left, from conservation efforts,I believe it would have sank years ago from over population..

As another option, when my wife and I retired (Lexington, SC) we sold our house, put everything in storage(that we did not sell or give away) and we traveled full time for 5 years in our Motor home. We flew home to visit our kids if we were cross country, or we stayed in an RV park if we were in the area. We visited relatives and friends all across the USA choosing the best season to be there. We spent a month on the Oregon coast during Salmon season(October) fishing with a close friend who lives there.
My one regret is that I was not on Crappie.com then. Had I been, I would have made as many of the state gatherings as possible, spending a week or two at each location.
My DIL contacted stage 4 terminal cancer and we cut short our travels to come home and help our son with the children (8 and 10).
We sold our RV in 2012, having enjoyed that life style for 15 years, but only 5 in the true life style of a full timer. I can tell you from first hand experience, if you have a house somewhere to deal with and worry about when you are gone, it is a whole different experience than being truly free to wonder at will and follow the sun. We made many great friends along the way that we still see every year or so. Just really wish I had known all the great folks on here then. I might still be out there in that case.
As far as recommending a town, I recently fished a small reservoir in the upstate of SC and discovered the wonderful small town of Abbeville SC. it is a really neat small town, close to several good lakes and an hour from major cities. The old homes in the town are stunningly beautiful and highly affordable in today's market.
Our children were here in Lexington which is why we stayed here.

PS
People were always asking how we afforded all the gas the RV used. First of all we did not travel everyday. We spent 3 months in the Rio Grand Valley the first winter at a wonderful park in south Texas. But even with the gas cost, it was a heck of a lot less expensive than keeping up a house. Probably 1/3 the cost of a home with related expenses such as taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.

Need to make sure a man has some small natural lakes or impoundments that are not flood control within a short drive.Having a boat in a slip on a big reservoir is the cats meow.But those dang flood control lakes get messed up sometimes.Need a small boat and some lakes to fill in plus gives you a break from the big water and a plan B. A pretty good fishing lake or two with nice scenery and a 9.9 restriction is a must for me. Just need to get away from all the hustle and bustle at times. Throw in a couple nice rivers and a 100,000 acres of huntable timber close around....now we're talking.

Originally Posted by doggone

Need to make sure a man has some small natural lakes or impoundments that are not flood control within a short drive.Having a boat in a slip on a big reservoir is the cats meow.But those dang flood control lakes get messed up sometimes.Need a small boat and some lakes to fill in plus gives you a break from the big water and a plan B. A pretty good fishing lake or two with nice scenery and a 9.9 restriction is a must for me. Just need to get away from all the hustle and bustle at times. Throw in a couple nice rivers and a 100,000 acres of huntable timber close around....now we're talking.

I agree on the small lake small boat thing. Of all the boats I've owned, this is the one I most regret selling and may yet get another.

I'm 47, working international offshore and the way the price of oil is and nobody is doing any drilling I think now is a good point to retire but I just had a daughter start college. I'm planing now on downsizing find a spot on a lake or river. I want something simple likewa potable cabin running on solar power but have grid power for back up plan. Just my two cents, planning ahead.