Retirement Plans and Dreams

[Lihu]

30 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

I guess when you live 45 minutes from Santa Fe it loses it luster, I never have understood why people like it there. They have one good restaurant and one nice golf course. You can have the rest of it, just a bunch of overpriced art studios. 😜

And  there’s a requirement for lots of Air BB during the Christmas season. It’s a destination for where to do Christmas. 😊

When I played that one golf course, I nearly froze my butt off, literally. Can’t complain about PoP except for my own ineptitude. 🤪

Agree with the overpriced art studios, but my wife and daughter both love art. My son and I looked at some sculptures and though to ourselves that we’d see those before at a salvage yard 😂

 

It was that unsaid stare we both gave to each work...😂😂😂

[DaveP043]

Just to chime in, I'm (hopefully) within just a couple of years of retirement.  My wife and I tentatively plan to relocate to the Pinehurst/Southern Pines area.  We both play golf, and there's obviously plenty of golf in the region.  Many of the members at various golf clubs have retired from elsewhere, so they tend to be more welcoming than I've seen at stable clubs in non-retirement areas.  The weather is warmer than we have near DC, and play generally is possible almost year round.  Housing costs are relatively low, compared to the Washington DC suburbs, there's good health care, good grocery shopping, and lots of good restaurants.  Its only about an hour drive to a pretty good airport in Raleigh, and a little over two hours to a good big airport in Charlotte.  

An interesting bit of information we found in talking to residents in Pinehurst, many initially retired to Florida from more northern states.  After a while, they ended up moving partway back north to NC, for a variety of reasons.  They like more hills, they got tired of the summer heat, whatever, and now they've become "halfbacks".

[RemyM]

21 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

Just to chime in, I'm (hopefully) within just a couple of years of retirement.  My wife and I tentatively plan to relocate to the Pinehurst/Southern Pines area.  We both play golf, and there's obviously plenty of golf in the region.  Many of the members at various golf clubs have retired from elsewhere, so they tend to be more welcoming than I've seen at stable clubs in non-retirement areas.  The weather is warmer than we have near DC, and play generally is possible almost year round.  Housing costs are relatively low, compared to the Washington DC suburbs, there's good health care, good grocery shopping, and lots of good restaurants.  Its only about an hour drive to a pretty good airport in Raleigh, and a little over two hours to a good big airport in Charlotte.  

An interesting bit of information we found in talking to residents in Pinehurst, many initially retired to Florida from more northern states.  After a while, they ended up moving partway back north to NC, for a variety of reasons.  They like more hills, they got tired of the summer heat, whatever, and now they've become "halfbacks".

That is my future too.  Could be as soon as two years but could be up to six years.  Took my my wife down last year, I had been before on golf trips without her, and she really liked it too.  We are still working out the details as she would like to keep the house here and that changes everything.  My buddy went down with his wife in separate trip last year and they bought a lot on Course 9 before they left.

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, RemyM said:

That is my future too.  Could be as soon as two years but could be up to six years.  Took my my wife down last year, I had been before on golf trips without her, and she really liked it too.  We are still working out the details as she would like to keep the house here and that changes everything.  My buddy went down with his wife in separate trip last year and they bought a lot on Course 9 before they left.

We have owned a condo at Talamore for 10 years now, and have been going down once or twice a year for that long.  We also have friends who have moved from Virginia, one couple with a house on #1, another with a house on #9.  We've seen a little more of the "Pinehurst resident" lifestyle than many golf-trippers do, and we're still interested.  One positive thing is that, since many of the residents are retired (meaning not exactly young), there's a continual churn in the housing market, always lots of homes available.  

[boogielicious]

2 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

We have owned a condo at Talamore for 10 years now, and have been going down once or twice a year for that long.  We also have friends who have moved from Virginia, one couple with a house on #1, another with a house on #9.  We've seen a little more of the "Pinehurst resident" lifestyle than many golf-trippers do, and we're still interested.  One positive thing is that, since many of the residents are retired (meaning not exactly young), there's a continual churn in the housing market, always lots of homes available.  

Just waiting for them to die off eh?

[SteveH]

I live in Canada and retired early. My wife rarely golfs but I have the bug bad and have only played about 10 years. Living in Alberta meant a 5 month season and my wife didn't want to spend winters in Arizona so we compromised on Vancouver Island.  Golf is not as pleasant in the winter but I still enjoy playing anyway. 10 rounds already in January this year and last year managed well over 150 rounds.  I don't play every day....that's why there's fishing, lol

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

Just waiting for them to die off eh?

Yeah, ya gotta wait, killing them off is still frowned upon.  

[RemyM]

9 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

We have owned a condo at Talamore for 10 years now, and have been going down once or twice a year for that long.  We also have friends who have moved from Virginia, one couple with a house on #1, another with a house on #9.  We've seen a little more of the "Pinehurst resident" lifestyle than many golf-trippers do, and we're still interested.  One positive thing is that, since many of the residents are retired (meaning not exactly young), there's a continual churn in the housing market, always lots of homes available.  

If I could drive there in 5 hours I would own something there now too, but a 10 hour drive is a bit much for how I would like to use it and flying and renting a car adds too much cost for multiple trips a year. I assume you have it in the rental pool the rest of the year.  We did the resort for our first trip after the back to back opens but have stayed at Talmore or Mid South every other time.  Planning on going to the Senior Women's Open in May at Pine Needles.  Hoping my pro qualifies again this year, but my wife would be happy to just see Laura Davies.

[Mr Puddle]

On 1/18/2019 at 5:00 PM, NM Golf said:

So I am seven years from my pension and my wife and I have begun discussing retirement plans. We live in New Mexico, but my wife’s entire family lives in Michigan; once the kids are gone she would like to move closer to her family. That being said I am certainly not living out my golden years freezing my ass off in Michigan in the winter. My entire life I have had the luxury of playing golf 365 days a year, I am certainly not giving that up once I have the time to take full advantage of it. So we have come to a compromise, summers in Michigan and winters some place warm, maybe Florida.

Are there any snow bunnies out there that do this? Anyone else planning this in their future? I realize it’s a ways off, but it’s never too early to plan your retirement.

I would like to know the good and the bad of this type of lifestyle before I actually fully agree to move her to Michigan. I am not a winter person, I hate snow, ice, all winter sports, and I have never owned a pair of long underwear in my life. It is a complete deal breaker for me to get stuck anywhere cold. 

I retired at 57 and then took up golf, I am now 61. I play golf (weather permitting) 5 days a week, albeit many rounds are only 9 holes, I ten go to the pub for a few hours in the afternoon. My wife goes to the gym, and does other stuff that women do (not sure really). This is my tip, and it is a BIG ONE. After spending 40 hours a week at work, and then being in a situation where you are with the old woman all day, it will drive you absolutely crazy. You need to plan your retirement so you spend as little time as possible with her, otherwise you will end up suicidal. 

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, Mr Puddle said:

This is my tip, and it is a BIG ONE. After spending 40 hours a week at work, and then being in a situation where you are with the old woman all day, it will drive you absolutely crazy. You need to plan your retirement so you spend as little time as possible with her, otherwise you will end up suicidal. 

Ha Ha...So true.    That's why it is important to have a life away from work.  

[NM Golf]

11 hours ago, Mr Puddle said:

I retired at 57 and then took up golf, I am now 61. I play golf (weather permitting) 5 days a week, albeit many rounds are only 9 holes, I ten go to the pub for a few hours in the afternoon. My wife goes to the gym, and does other stuff that women do (not sure really). This is my tip, and it is a BIG ONE. After spending 40 hours a week at work, and then being in a situation where you are with the old woman all day, it will drive you absolutely crazy. You need to plan your retirement so you spend as little time as possible with her, otherwise you will end up suicidal. 

Yes, retiring in order to spend more time with the missus is not the plan. I plan to retire like my father. He might be the busiest retired guy in the world. Before he had back surgery he played 5 times a week, worked at the golf course 3 times a week, and spent almost no time at home.

[RussUK]

Being but a youngster (or an old fart according to my 5yr old son!) i still have a while before retirement, providing i will still be able to!, however I had read an article saying one the best places to retire and play golf, outside of Florida, is Flagstaff Arizona.

Had a little look and i could see myself emigrating there (after a hefty lottery win). Temperature ok for my pasty skin and the scenery....my god its stunning.

[bkuehn1952]

7 hours ago, RussUK said:

I had read an article saying one the best places to retire and play golf ...is Flagstaff Arizona.

 

Be prepared for snowy winters.

[NM Golf]

7 hours ago, RussUK said:

Being but a youngster (or an old fart according to my 5yr old son!) i still have a while before retirement, providing i will still be able to!, however I had read an article saying one the best places to retire and play golf, outside of Florida, is Flagstaff Arizona.

Had a little look and i could see myself emigrating there (after a hefty lottery win). Temperature ok for my pasty skin and the scenery....my god its stunning.

While it is located in the warm state of Arizona, Flagstaff has pretty brutal winters. It's a beautiful place and my family and I vacation there with our camper every summer, but it's not uncommon for them to have frost delays well into April. Winter golf is non existent, although Phoenix is just a couple hours away. Below is a picture of Pine Canyon Golf Course in Flagstaff. That's the pro shop, pretty sure no one is teeing it up there for some time.

Edited January 28, 2019 by NM Golf

[RussUK]

17 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

While it is located in the warm state of Arizona, Flagstaff has pretty brutal winters. It's a beautiful place and my family and I vacation there with our camper every summer, but it's not uncommon for them to have frost delays well into April. Winter golf is non existent, although Phoenix is just a couple hours away. Below is a picture of Pine Canyon Golf Course in Flagstaff. That's the pro shop, pretty sure no one is teeing it up there for some time.

Could be a christmas card scene!

Heard the Pine Canyon community is pretty hard to get into, the houses do look nice though.

[FLOG4]

I retired 10 years ago. Did snowbird CT/FL for 2 years. When I retired I was just 50. I did set up a couple side deals...but for most part was retired. When we started the 2 house thing seemed great. But the costs were more than we had anticipated so CT house had to go. Meantime our 4 kids all got married and GB's started coming....After 7 years we had 8 Gran Kids and the wife had to visit often...As they are in CT/PA/NJ/VA we decided to move near our only daughter in VA. So we are one of those half wayers...Setting up a main residence in FL is very financially astute. FL has the system down for their residents. They abuse visitors with fees and tolls and taxes. But residents get Homestead subsidies , No payroll tax. And from N to S you can choose an area which has weather that varies. I look at Orlando meridian as the cut off of 3 seasons to 2 seasons. My hope is to make way back to FL once the Gran kids are older. 

[Lihu]

31 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

While it is located in the warm state of Arizona, Flagstaff has pretty brutal winters. It's a beautiful place and my family and I vacation there with our camper every summer, but it's not uncommon for them to have frost delays well into April. Winter golf is non existent, although Phoenix is just a couple hours away. Below is a picture of Pine Canyon Golf Course in Flagstaff. That's the pro shop, pretty sure no one is teeing it up there for some time.

That’s quite picturesque if you aren’t looking to play golf. 😁

There’s both kinds of skiing and boarding, snowshoeing, hiking, cycling, surfing, diving and just about anything else in between.

I enjoy many other sports throughout the year including shooting sports.

Not that I’m retired, yet. After, my last kid finishes College, or a few years thereafter?

[NM Golf]

24 minutes ago, RussUK said:

Heard the Pine Canyon community is pretty hard to get into, the houses do look nice though.

I don't know anything about that, but there are six golf courses in Flagstaff and only one of them is public. Not exactly a playground for the vacationing duffer, unless you know someone who can get you on.