Where to retire???

Based on what I saw on TV last night, "The End of Days"... about what the chances are of which catastrophe happening to the earth, look for someplace high up away from low lying coastlines which will disappear very quickly as the ice caps melt... goodbye FL.  The number one pick by all the scientists was global warming... the other contestants were: major volcanic eruptions, meteors, genetically engineered plagues, nuclear war (by accident)...

They were all in agreement that man, with all our incredible knowledge and technology, will do himself in because we are so insensitive to what we do to the earth and our atmosphere.  I think the Native Americans had the right idea...

artistrver said:

Based on what I saw on TV last night, "The End of Days"... about what the chances are of which catastrophe happening to the earth, look for someplace high up away from low lying coastlines which will disappear very quickly as the ice caps melt... goodbye FL.? The number one pick by all the scientists was global warming... the other contestants were: major volcanic eruptions, meteors, genetically engineered plagues, nuclear war (by accident)...

They were all in agreement that man, with all our incredible knowledge and technology, will do himself in because we are so insensitive to what we do to the earth and our atmosphere.? I think the Native Americans had the right idea...

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I live in remote Colorado at 6200' elevation so I'm pretty much safe from anything except nuclear winter or meteors. And you're right, we're not very good custodians of the earth we were given.

I don?t worry about any of that stuff.

I live in Idaho. Nobody knows where this is. We?re kind of a frontier state. We are just entering the 20th Century. We do have TV and internet available. We know about them, but they don?t know about us. I'm retired, in the best place for that.

Like, when they do the weather, the weather forecaster stands in front of Idaho, describing weather in the midwest and then the east. Then she turns around and stands in front of Idaho while describing the weather on the west coast. Idaho doesn?t even show up on the map.

Hey folks! We?re behind the weather forecaster! We don?t know what the weather is going to be, here, tomorrow! Comet coming? Nobody tells us!

Seriously bad politics, here. Liberals and conservatives at each other?s throats, all the time. Liberals want to tell everyone about Idaho, so they?ll come and spend money. Conservatives want them to keep their &%80@$ mouths shut! Don?t want no stinking Kalifornians, here! They don?t get along, at all!

Everyone here packs a gun. (Frontier, y? know.) Vice President Cheney was here, last week. He packs a shotgun! Everybody keeps an eye on him! News media didn?t pick it up. They said he was ?at an undisclosed location.? When he?s not here, hunting, he?s over in Wyoming, up in the hills, fishing, with some of our family and friends. That is also an ?undisclosed location.?

If a comet hits the earth, we aren?t going to know about it. The news caster will be standing in front of Idaho. If it hits Idaho, the rest of you aren?t going to know about it.

Ice age? Global warming? World war or biological catastropy? Get into your RV and drive yourself to behind the talking head, on TV, and you?ll be fine. Great place to retire!

Ray D.

Am I going to get kicked out, now?

Ray D - RFLMHO.

Of course, I drive through Idaho all the time on my way to Oregon so I know where the talking head is.

BernieD said:

We j.... are happy to return to our 105? dry heat.

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That's how we felt when we recently got back from the UK where they were having record temps and high humidity. Even 113 in Northern CA felt good.

Ray:

I know where Idaho is and I love it there.  You could practically winter and summer comfortably in that one state alone, as it has the greatest range of climate and geology compared to any of the other states due to its great breadth from north to south.  My best friend lives in McCall Idaho, and my favorite place to rest is Lava Hot Springs Idaho.  and this past week we just cruised through the northern tip on our way to Spokane where we are at the moment.  I loved the roadways that winded along the Ponderay River.  Please excuse my Americanized spelling but did not want to have to look it up.  ;D

If I were to vote for the prettiest state in the Union it would indeed be Idaho.

I just knew Wendy would have to brag about her Death Valley summertime living heheh!

And Ray, I don;t find Arizona expensive at all.  remember I lived all my life on the east coast in the MD-DC-VA area until I began fulltiming last year.  Arizona is a real cheapie compared to the east coast.  My official residence is Montana, but am only there a month or two in the summer.

And Shayne, we are only a month away from golfing with you in October.  Have they published their re-seeding schedule yet?

It's all been reseeded and they been working on it every day.  Hardly any players cause right now they are the highest priced around here.  Keith and Kyle golfed last week somewhere around here and for $10 for 18 and cart furnished.

Just my opinion ....
where to retire??? NOT New England.? Yes its beautiful with the change of seasons, leaves are beautiful in the fall.? BUT.... summer is too short in fact I hate to say it but here we are in august and its already time to start thinking about how much wood to buy for the winter ahead!!? I believe New England is best described as having 2 months of summer (maybe) and 4 months of winter (at least) and the rest--- catch as catch can!!? COLD, WET, MUDDY, COLD, DAMP.
I'm ready for 300 days of sun (or more) So I've been told its New Mexico or Arizona.? I guess that's my plan and I'm sticking to it
Lori

rubysamm said:

I'm ready for 300 days of sun (or more) So I've been told its New Mexico or Arizona.? I guess that's my plan and I'm sticking to it
Lori

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Most of Colorado and Utah would also qualify in the 300 days of sun category.

Smoky: Yes, you can, almost, spend the year here, by changing altitude, from as low as 2,000 feet to as high as 6,000 in some of the mountain passes. You can camp, almost anywhere. You can change by moving north or south, all in one state and only a couple hundred miles, like one day of driving. It gets down below freezing, a few days a year in Boise, and occasionally but rarely goes below zero. It can go to the 90s in the mountains, but rarely. Climate is dry, in the entire state. It doesn't rain, here, much. Low humidity, year round. Rarely over 30%.

I grew up, for a few years during WWII in Flagstaff. Loved the Grand Canyon. Loved Oak Creek canyon. Gotta go back one of these days just to dip my toes in the Oak Creek and look at the beautiful trees and wildlife. No people there, hardly at all!

Love McCall! Go there frequently. Peaceful and beautiful. Mountains and highways to get there a bit of a challenge, but very enjoyable, at the slow pace you have to follow, to get there from here. Also, love Stanley, Challis, and Salmon. Not going there anytime soon, as that is all on fire, at this time.

Northern Idaho is stunningly beautiful, and sparsely settled. Now that the Nazis are gone, gets better press. By that, I mean no press!

Ray D.

Ray D said:

Loved Oak Creek canyon. Gotta go back one of these days just to dip my toes in the Oak Creek and look at the beautiful trees and wildlife. No people there, hardly at all!

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Ray, Don't go back to Oak  Creek Canyon if you're expecting "no people"....unfortunately, it's been 'found' by people. It's still a lovely place but quiet and unpopulated, it's not.

Wendy:

Oak Creek Populated?


AAARRgghhh!

Ray

Sad but true, especially compared to WWII. People really do have to quit giving away their favorite secret places.....why would any fisherman tell someone about his favorite fishing hole???

Smoky said:

I don;t find Arizona expensive at all.  remember I lived all my life on the east coast in the MD-DC-VA area until I began fulltiming last year.  Arizona is a real cheapie compared to the east coast.  My official residence is Montana,.......

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Smoky,

You say "Arizona is a real cheapie"....then why aren't you a resident of Arizona? For one thing the license plates for your MH would cost you enough to pay for the fuel to drive to Alaska. And that's is every year!!! Did you buy your MH in Arizona? What would the sales tax have been. Arizona is not cheap.

If I were to vote for the prettiest state in the Union it would indeed be Idaho.

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It is obvious you need to attend the Moab rally and see southern Utah Smoky.  Think you would change your mind.

Snowbird.  The secret of cheap living is NOT to become an official resident of AZ.  I winter there 7 months a year, the max months AZ will allow without requiring registration.  I took delivery of the motorhome in Maryland as a Montana resident, thus no sales tax and about $400 for registration.  The trick to cheap living in AZ is to avoid official residency and only own vehicles you bought out of state.  Other than golf carts.  I think my golf cart registration was something like $15.

Smoky said:

Snowbird.  The secret of cheap living is NOT to become an official resident of AZ.  I winter there 7 months a year, the max months AZ will allow without requiring registration.  I took delivery of the motorhome in Maryland as a Montana resident, thus no sales tax and about $400 for registration.  The trick to cheap living in AZ is to avoid official residency and only own vehicles you bought out of state.  Other than golf carts.  I think my golf cart registration was something like $15.

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I understand, but the topic of this thread is "Where to retire" and you made the statement that Arizona is cheap. YOU didn't RETIRE here. You just spend some time here. IMHO Arizona is NOT a cheap place to retire.

Also for others reading this.....If you get a paying job of any kind in Arizona you have 30 days to change your residency to Arizona. The state is driving some of the national construction companies crazy. Example.....company ABC wins a contract to build a new road from point A to point B. Estimated time to compleat job we'll say will be  a year and a half. Company ABC sends some of their employees in to run the job. Now the company's home office is in (pick a state), the employees are residents of that same state. Their families are there, they own property there, they're registered to vote there. Arizona is making those employees become residents of Arizona if they are here more than 30 days. The state is taking down out of state license plate numbers at construction sites and if those plate numbers show up on the list after 30 days the owner is given a ticket.

I'm not sure but I think I read somewhere that Arizona also shortened the max stay before you need to change your residency. Maybe someone else knows for sure what the max time is now.

I worked in AZ for 20 years before I retired.? I have to tell you that it was irritating seeing the same cars every day on the freeways and in our company parking lot, sometimes for years, with out of state license plates.? I bet if those same folks had been able to get their plates cheaper in AZ, they would have made the switch immediately.? I was kind of happy to see them crack down on it.? A big offender was the rental cars companies with thousands of cars stationed in AZ, but licensed in Florida.? ?

LOL Snowbird.  Well, where the heck did I retire to then?  Beats me!  Certainly not my official state of residence which is Montana.  This year I was only there 5 weeks.  These are always fascinating questions for full-timers.  Loved by no state, but free as a bird and having great fun!!

You don't have to be an official resident of a state in order to retire to it, I don't think.  In my mind I retired to Arizona and spend some time traveling elsewhere.  I spend most of the year retired in Arizona, maybe that is how I should have put it?  New Yorkers are often the same way.  Some remain NY residents but spend more time retired in Florida.

7 months is the time limit for being in AZ.  Our RV Park posts that notice.  It was recently change to 7 months from a longer period.  There was an effort to make it 6 months but that was shot down.  Mainly due to the power of the economy effect coming from all the retirees who would leave. 

Interesting about the 30 day job limit.  Does that include part time employment?  My wife and I were considering getting some part time employment while in AZ. 

I wonder what the purpose of the state is on that.  If, for example, you worked 7 months in AZ but where a MT resident, you would STILL have to pay the AZ state income tax for the months you worked there.  They might want to think twice before losing that tax revenue.

For 20 years I lived in Maryland but worked in Wash DC.  That was 12 months a year.  Crazy world we live in.  Somehow I think Az is going to have a very hard time enforcing that rule.

Smoky said:

LOL Snowbird.  Well, where the heck did I retire to then?  Beats me!  Certainly not my official state of residence which is Montana.  This year I was only there 5 weeks.  These are always fascinating questions for full-timers.  Loved by no state, but free as a bird and having great fun!!

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IMHO, yes you did retire to Montana. That is your legal residence now. Your vehicles are registered there, your drivers license is from there and you vote there. You may not spend much time there but IMO that's where you retired to.

You don't have to be an official resident of a state in order to retire to it, I don't think.  In my mind I retired to Arizona and spend some time traveling elsewhere.  I spend most of the year retired in Arizona, maybe that is how I should have put it?

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If you retired to Arizona then why didn't you become a resident and register your vehicles here?

7 months is the time limit for being in AZ.  Our RV Park posts that notice.  It was recently change to 7 months from a longer period.  There was an effort to make it 6 months but that was shot down.  Mainly due to the power of the economy effect coming from all the retirees who would leave. 

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OK, I remember they changed it but couldn't remember what they changed it to.

Interesting about the 30 day job limit.  Does that include part time employment?  My wife and I were considering getting some part time employment while in AZ.

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My understanding is yes. But I would call the DMV and check before I did anything. 

I wonder what the purpose of the state is on that.

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MONEY

If, for example, you worked 7 months in AZ but where a MT resident, you would STILL have to pay the AZ state income tax for the months you worked there.  They might want to think twice before losing that tax revenue.

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What tax revenue would they give up? They still get the income tax plus they get the vehicle registration and driver license fees.

For 20 years I lived in Maryland but worked in Wash DC.  That was 12 months a year.  Crazy world we live in.  Somehow I think Az is going to have a very hard time enforcing that rule.

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Their state, their rules.