What to Look for when You Are Ready to Retire and Move

My husband is ready to retire and we have been contemplating making major changes in our lives, one being moving to another part of the country. For two people who have never lived more than 20 miles from their childhood homes, this is a huge undertaking that requires lots of thought and planning. Even though it will be several years before we make this move (I still have about five or six years left before I can retire), we are laying the groundwork now.

This past summer my husband and I started looking at property in Sharp County, Arkansas. Over the past 20 years, some of our vacation time has been spent there, where my younger sister resides. She has lived in Arkansas most of her life, and has made our vacations there enjoyable and fun. Coming from the bustling St. Louis area, this rural area of Arkansas offers a laid back lifestyle that some people only dream about living and that is one reason why we are considering moving there. However, wanting a slower lifestyle is not the only thing one needs to consider when making this type of move.

At first, we just talked about the area with my sister and her husband and drove around looking at different areas. We soon realized we had more questions than my sister could not answer, so at our next visit she put us in touch with a friend of hers who is a realtor. The realtor was very helpful, taking us on a tour of the area, while answering our many questions. She showed us lots in small towns, in the country, along rivers, and by lakes. We saw wooded lots, bare acreage and hilly property.

We asked her about property and personal property taxes. We asked about the churches in the area, where the nearest large city was located, we asked about area recreation, and about police and fire department service. We inquired about road service, as many roads in this area are not paved; only graded. We needed to know what the pet limit was within city limits and where the nearest veterinary was located. We wanted to know if there were any national banks in the area. We asked about where grocery stores were located and if the electric company was a co-op.

If we decide to move, it will hopefully, be our last, so the most important thing we needed to know was about health care. How many doctors are in the area and where are they located? We also wanted to know where the nearest hospital was and about ambulance service. We inquired about local nursing home facilities, should the day came when we can no longer care for ourselves.

I never realized how many questions needed to be answered or decisions needed to be made when a person decides to retire and move to another location. It takes lots of thinking, planning and consideration.

Source: Personal Experience