Best State to retire??

jbmonkey said:
why's staying in California that was good for your life, raising family and employment and such not good enough for retirement? not criticizing, just dont understand?
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No offense taken - fair question.

Answer: $

I’m a State Peace Officer - just patrol, not the ladder climbing pseudo-rich kind.

While it’s not huge, my retirement is pretty sweet in that I can retire at 50, and then do something else while collecting a pension.

That would have been ok until home prices started to skyrocket.

I’d always planned to retire with a little piece of property somewhere in CA, and I love it here for the most part, but with blackrock buying up single family homes to rent back out to us and raising home prices, and interest rates so high, I might not be able to afford anything more than a cabin on a 1/4 acre lot far away from services and mild weather.

I’m still hoping to end up here, it’s just finding the right balance for my family and I.
 
scdub said:
No offense taken - fair question.

Answer: $

I’m a State Peace Officer - just patrol, not the ladder climbing pseudo-rich kind.

While it’s not huge, my retirement is pretty sweet in that I can retire at 50, and then do something else while collecting a pension.

That would have been ok until home prices started to skyrocket.

I’d always planned to retire with a little piece of property somewhere in CA, and I love it here for the most part, but with blackrock buying up single family homes to rent back out to us and raising home prices, and interest rates so high, I might not be able to afford anything more than a cabin on a 1/4 acre lot far away from services and mild weather.

I’m still hoping to end up here, it’s just finding the right balance for my family and I.
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thank you. makes sense.
 
DocJD said:
Welp , best know if you have coverage or can otherwise afford to pay .
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scdub said:
No offense taken - fair question.

Answer: $

I’m a State Peace Officer - just patrol, not the ladder climbing pseudo-rich kind.

While it’s not huge, my retirement is pretty sweet in that I can retire at 50, and then do something else while collecting a pension.

That would have been ok until home prices started to skyrocket.

I’d always planned to retire with a little piece of property somewhere in CA, and I love it here for the most part, but with blackrock buying up single family homes to rent back out to us and raising home prices, and interest rates so high, I might not be able to afford anything more than a cabin on a 1/4 acre lot far away from services and mild weather.

I’m still hoping to end up here, it’s just finding the right balance for my family and I.
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I read recently that major insurance companies plan to abandon the home insurance market in CA .

Combination of very high building costs , high risk for fire etc , and state controlled insurance rates .

Average cost to build a new home , not including the land , over a million $, IIRC .

If we moved there , I'd have to rent an old used outhouse , out in the boondocks .

No wonder the homelessness . :(
 
DocJD said:
No wonder the homelessness . :(
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and HIPPIES............
fukn-hippies-eric.gif
 
I would personally go to either Texas (self explanatory) or Utah as my top picks. Beautiful nature, climate and sightseeing in both states and very relaxed attitudes towards carrying knives (as well as anything else, really). Arizona is also fairly laid back as far as I know, though maybe not quite as much as Texas and Utah (it’s a blue state, so I guess “discretion” applies). Other states like Georgia and Tennessee are also very relaxed about knives. If you want to go to a colder/northern state New Hampshire is very chill for knife owners (especially for a North-eastern state) and Pennsylvania has recently repealed its ban on automatics and has overall relaxed its laws on both owning and carrying (although, being such changes fairly recent, most people are not gonna be as comfortable with knives as those in the states previously mentioned, and the officers are likely going to be fairly ignorant on the newer legislations, at least for a while). Florida is also a very good option, if you’re willing to put up with the climate, thumb sized cockroaches, pythons, alligators and Floridians.
 
I loved Texas for the people, food, fishing, hunting, motorcycle riding, watching deer, exotics, turkeys and hogs but I hated the heat, humidity and bugs.

Montana and Idaho are beautiful but home prices have exploded. Elk are just majestic.

Alaska is pretty awesome for us. We have a comfortable home in town across from a nice park and close to thousands of acres of forest. We have a remote off grid cabin 2 hrs north on 240 acres bordered by state land and has lots of critters. No plan to ever leave, but if we did leave it would most likely be rural TN to be closer to some family and shorter winters.

There are lots of great places.
 
I’ve lived in southern CA all my life, except for the mid-‘80s to ‘93, when I lived in Taiwan. I’m 60 now. Just an observation…I’m one of the relatively few people I know here who were actually born in CA. My parents were also born in CA, and all of my relatives live here. Whenever I see posts by people from various states saying how Californians are this and that, I always wonder if those Californians they’re talking about are actually native-born Californians, or the seeming majority of Californians who originally moved here from other states. Most of the people I know who were born in CA do not fit the common, stereotypical image that many on knIfe-related forums seem to have.

I think everyone should be wherever they are happiest, if they are able to. We’re all different. Personally, I plan to stay where I am, if I can. There is no guarantee I’d be happier anywhere else. But wherever you personally can thrive is the best place. Only speaking for myself, if I moved to another state, for example, so I could get a CCW permit, there is no guarantee that I would thrive more, be happier living there, or even fit in any better there than where I am right now.

Jim
 
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y53p said:
I would personally go to either Texas (self explanatory) or Utah as my top picks. Beautiful nature, climate and sightseeing in both states and very relaxed attitudes towards carrying knives (as well as anything else, really). Arizona is also fairly laid back as far as I know, though maybe not quite as much as Texas and Utah (it’s a blue state, so I guess “discretion” applies). Other states like Georgia and Tennessee are also very relaxed about knives. If you want to go to a colder/northern state New Hampshire is very chill for knife owners (especially for a North-eastern state) and Pennsylvania has recently repealed its ban on automatics and has overall relaxed its laws on both owning and carrying (although, being such changes fairly recent, most people are not gonna be as comfortable with knives as those in the states previously mentioned, and the officers are likely going to be fairly ignorant on the newer legislations, at least for a while). Florida is also a very good option, if you’re willing to put up with the climate, thumb sized cockroaches, pythons, alligators and Floridians.
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I've been considering New Hampshire for a while, but I'm worried that the surrounding Commie States (esp. Mass and Vermont) will move in and change Everything.
 
scdub said:
Hey People,

I’m getting close to retirement and have had a vague idea of eventually moving to Washington State from my home State of CA - primarily because I have some family and friends living there and I could probably afford a nicer house/property in WA than in CA.

Well that’s what I WAS thinking anyway until today when I finally thought to look into the knife laws in WA.

In a nutshell, they sound pretty lame if you like to carry knives - even compared to CA. 🙁

My wife grew up in Indiana and she’s done with snow, so that narrows the field a bit. I’d also like to stay closer to the West coast if possible because my son is likely to stay in CA for awhile at least.

So I’m curious: What knife friendly State(s) would you suggest I look into and why?
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I would not be the least concerned about knife laws in Washington state. Our gun and knife laws may seem strange and strict, but the unreasonable ones are not at all enforced. No one is ever going to stop you and check to see the blade length of your knife, even though I believe it is 3" in both Seattle and Tacoma. Concealed carry permits are very easy to get, and require no training. Our state is a very odd mixture of loud people getting unreasonable laws passed, and quieter people who get to live the lives they want. I can have a vegetable garden in my front yard, and do basically anything I want on my property, even though there are laws that prohibit various things - none enforced. Conversely, when I lived in Atlanta before moving here, my HOA told me exactly what species of tree I was allowed to plant in my yard, and complained when I did not remove flowers that they considered out of season.

I retired in Washington State over ten years ago - my choice was made based on the weather and easy access to mountains, the ocean and rivers.

Edited to add: our state is controlled by the major cities, but go anywhere else, especially out toward Bremerton, or the Eastern side of the state, and I think you'll be very impressed by the quality of life and the attitude of the people.
 
runscott said:
I would not be the least concerned about knife laws in Washington state. Our gun and knife laws may seem strange and strict, but the unreasonable ones are not at all enforced. No one is ever going to stop you and check to see the blade length of your knife, even though I believe it is 3" in both Seattle and Tacoma. Concealed carry permits are very easy to get, and require no training. Our state is a very odd mixture of loud people getting unreasonable laws passed, and quieter people who get to live the lives they want. I can have a vegetable garden in my front yard, and do basically anything I want on my property, even though there are laws that prohibit various things - none enforced. Conversely, when I lived in Atlanta before moving here, my HOA told me exactly what species of tree I was allowed to plant in my yard, and complained when I did not remove flowers that they considered out of season.

I retired in Washington State over ten years ago - my choice was made based on the weather and easy access to mountains, the ocean and rivers.

Edited to add: our state is controlled by the major cities, but go anywhere else, especially out toward Bremerton, or the Eastern side of the state, and I think you'll be very impressed by the quality of life and the attitude of the people.
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Really good and useful post. I wanted to be on or near the coast and had kind of written the West Coast off.
 
Just wanted to comment about access to places. When I lived in TX, MT, and ID I think I took the road system for granted. It was easy to take a trip and be in other states if wanting a change in scenery. Living in AK really makes you appreciate that.
 
MattinLA said:
Really good and useful post. I wanted to be on or near the coast and had kind of written the West Coast off.
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Glad it helped. I spent yesterday morning fishing the Westport jetty (nada), then hung out along the boardwalk enjoying the ocean and the sun, had some of the best fish and chips ever, then picked up some ling cod and halibut to smoke today. I might go hike around Mount Ranier tomorrow.

The life out here is really hard to beat.
 
Hmmm, So right now it's between WA and NH. West Coast scenery is hard to beat, but "Live Free or Die" is the Ultimate. I'll have to check both🍺🍺
 
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