What to Consider in Relocating After Retirement

Auto Date Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

“The best time to start thinking about your retirement is before the boss does.” Author Unknown

A Del Webb survey in 2004 revealed that 55% of baby boomers intend to move at retirement. Let’s look at a few factors in considering retirement and relocation.

First, if you’re contemplating retirement, you may have aging parents to consider. What is their health like? What other family and professional resources are needed or are available to assist them? If you have a daughter in Cincinnati and a son and his family in Atlanta, you may not feel tied to Loudoun County at retirement. If your children and grandchildren are in Northern Virginia, staying near this area may be more desirable.

With finances you want to look at your income from social security, pensions, and retirement savings along with the equity in your home. You may want to consult a financial planner to help you determine whether your retirement income can sustain your current lifestyle. Will you want or need a part-time job? The good news is that the cost of living generally is going to be lower for most other places.

Would certain locations help you to maintain your health and an active lifestyle? Do you or your spouse currently have health issues? Would living near a university hospital or top-flight healthcare facility be a strong consideration?

When considering where to retire, most people are going to start their list of potentials with places they’ve lived, vacation spots, communities where family members live, or where friends have moved. Giving thought to the topic on your next vacation or family visit is a worthwhile exercise. Can we see ourselves living here? What would we gain by moving here? Keep in mind: a place that’s great to vacation to in July may be unbearable for you for any number of reasons in January.

If we move, how accessible will our new location be to family and friends? I know of a couple who moved from the Chicago area to South Carolina only to find that those cherished visits from grandchildren were infrequent. For some of you, fewer visits from relatives may be exactly what you’re looking for! In this couple’s case they wound up moving back.
What do you want in retirement? Are you looking for recreation- golf, tennis, boating, etc.? Or are volunteer opportunites what you seek? Would you like to start a business? Do you want dining, shopping, and entertainment convenience? Perhaps being near a college campus and its activities would be important to you. Maybe a small town would provide the pace of life you’ve dreamed of.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007 at 11:53 pm and is filed under General, Issues to Consider. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “What to Consider in Relocating After Retirement”

  1. Gene Warren Says:
    February 7th, 2007 at 4:36 pm

    I think Del Webb’s claim that 55% of baby boomers intend to move at retirement is a little misleading. Wile the statement may be technically correct, most people will move only a few miles (less than 50) from their current residence. Traditionally, only about 10% of retirees moved out of their state or region after retiring. Baby boomers have always been more mobile than their parents, and thus I estimate that as many as 20% to 25% of the baby boomers may relocate upon retiring.

    While not as large as Del Webb’s percent, the number of retirees who will relocate is still amazing. In 2006 there were about 36 million people in the US age 65 or better. If 10% of them relocated after retiring then there currently about 3.6 million retirees who moved to a new state or region. On the other hand, in 2006 there were about 76 million baby boomers still alive. If only 20% of them relocated to a new state or region after retirement, it will mean 15.2 million of them will be moving. Put another way, we can expect about 4 times as many relocating retirees in the next 25 years as there are today.

  2. admin Says:
    February 9th, 2007 at 5:05 pm

    I do think it’s interesting what Gene is pointing out. I know Del Webb has a community just a few miles from where I live and may be positioning themselves for exactly this kind of movement near large metropolitan areas.

    Gene Warren, a founding member and President of Thomas, Warren + Associates, has thirty-three years experience as a professional economist. During the first half of his career he held faculty appointments in Economics and Management Science at several major research universities. Dr. Warren also held a research appointment at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) where he served as Senior Economist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

    Since founding Thomas, Warren + Associates, he has also become a one of the nation’s leading experts in the economics of retirement. His work in this area has been used to shape both state and local policies affecting retirees, and is used by communities to position themselves as retirement destinations. As a result, he is a sought after speaker on economic issues relating to retirement.

    The Thomas, Warren + Associates web site can be found at http://www.twaaconsulting.com.

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