Lots of Retirement Location Choices...

by Janet C
(Minnesota)

My partner and I spent long evenings, and many quiet mornings trying to decide which State we would prefer for our retirement. We listed many attributes both negative and positive as we began our search for our perfect retirement home. We listed our priorities. Taxes, mean income, crime, climate, and even the states historical perspective on human rights.

Would we choose a state heavily populated, maybe one of this nations big cities? Or would we find again the joy of nature, and the peace of a small community we had enjoyed when first married?

Did we actually know anything about the major States that draw retirees like Arizona or Florida? How about those like Idaho State, or Arkansas with fine fishing, low prices, and low taxes? Or maybe we could just settle into one of the farming communities of Iowa or Kansas.

We quickly dismissed the hub bub of California and figured Nevada would be reserved for a get away from our new home as retirees.

As we processed the many attributes of each state and were thankful we only had fifty to choose from we found ourselves alive in these discussions. It brought back to our relationship the thing lost for a little while, dreaming and planning.

Not since dreaming of our first home or planning for our first child had we experienced so many magic moments of sharing.

The joy and adventure we felt in discovering and choosing became then a goal we set for our partnership in the coming years. Did we need to make any permanent choices? Or could we keep dreaming, keep choosing, keep living this adventure?

So we chose not to choose a retirement destination. We instead chose to continue to dream, to continue to hope, and to enjoy change as we went.

First we will retire to Minnesota which offers so many tax advantages and good prices to retirees. We will profit our new retirement there and will remake a home for another set of retirees to take our place.

Then we will move on to Arkansas where it is said maybe the red dirt of Georgia actually began it all.

Retirement is not an end. It is a beginning of renewal.

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