Vernita Patterson
What Is It About Georgia? Maybe The ...
What Is It About Georgia? Maybe The Peaches?
Vernita Patterson
Delaware, ...
Delaware, Will You Be The One?
Vernita Patterson
I'm Retiring and Relocating to California

I’m Retired And Relocating to California

When I was a little girl, I always wanted to visit Hollywood, California that is.  I wanted to be a movie star and live the lavished life. My life has been lavished but not in the way I thought that I wanted as a little girl. I am an educator and think of myself as a movie star. In 2013 I was able to go to Hollywood California and I have gone every year since. Now that I am Retired&Lovinit, the San Diego California is one of the cities that I am thinking about relocating to.

This is the first of the ten places that I will be researching and writing about in my bi-weekly blog series’ “Retiring Soon? Where Will You Relocate?” First I will consider how I want to live, compare the places that will best facilitate my desired lifestyle and then I will choose a place. The place that I choose needs to be near the beach, I don’t have to be on the beach I just want to see it often. The weather needs to be warm most of the year. I need affordable housing, low crime, low taxes and no state tax on my pension. My new city must be near a major airport hub, because I like to travel. Now I know that won’t get all of my must-haves, but I will use this list as the main basis for determining the best place for me.

California is a large state with more than thirty-eight million residents. Yes, California’s cost of living is higher than average in the United States. However, there are several affordable places to live on a retirement income in California. For example, Redding which is in Northern California and Eureka, which is near beaches. But of course I would want to live in San Diego or the Los Angeles area. These areas are among the most expensive places to live, but can be affordable for some retirees.

I fell in love with Coronado, California three years in a row. I would love to relocate there. Coronado Island is a resort city located in San Diego County. The population is over 30,000. Coronado Island is known for its beautiful beaches that sparkle. Crime is lower than the national average. Coronado Island has that small town vibe. There is a Starbucks, but there are also Mom & Pop shops. I found the people to be friendly. Coronado Island has stunning views of the San Diego skyline. The scenery is beautiful and the architecture of the buildings is fantastic! I was definitely sad when it was time to go.

 The weather in Coronado Island is great. The average temperature is 66 degrees. The annual low is 59.2 degrees and the annual high is 72.8 degrees. No snow and the annual amount of rain are 9.49 inches. The air conditioner is needed some parts of the year and a light jacket the other part of the year.Okay, I have just told you about all of the good qualities of Coronado Island and my reasons for moving there.  

 Yes, California cost of living is higher than average in the United States. However, there are affordable places to live on a retirement income in California. For example, Redding and Eureka are two, but neither is where I want to live. So I will not mention them again. The average rent in San Diego County for a two-bedroom two-bathroom apartment is $2400 with many good amenities. I was able to find a 1000 square-foot two-bedroom two-bathroom apartment with a nice size deck for $1620 in San Diego City. No, none of these include gas and electric. If I wanted to buy there are several affordable active adult communities from low $200’s to high $800’s. I don’t think that I would buy if I decided to relocate here.

 The state of California taxes pensions but not tax Social Security. The state of California has the fourth largest tax burden behind New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Coronado sales tax is 8%; this is a combination of state, county and city tax. The state of California sales tax is 6.25%.

The question is, would the love of the small town, beautiful beaches and wonderful top the high cost of living? Oh, I forgot San Diego does not have a major hub airport; I would have to fly into LA then to my destination. Great medical facilities were not on my must-have list it should have been. As you get older you definitely want to be near great medical facilities. San Diego has great medical facilities.

 Leaving the West coast and on to the East coast.  Time to research the next place on my list, Delaware. Check back in two weeks to see what I have to say about relocating to Delaware. 

I'm Retiring and Relocating to California
Vernita Patterson
...

California Here I Come

 

My Significant Other (SO) and I took our annual trip to San Diego, California. I love going to San Diego, California! But I do not like flying for five and a half hours, but that is the quickest way to get there. My SO son moved out there a few years ago. We go every August to visit him.

 

My SO is a Coast Guard veteran and he flies for free. He had to drive to Washington DC from Philadelphia. There he took a flight to Las Vegas. He spent the night in Las Vegas. He then took Greyhound Bus to San Diego. That was his free flight. Sometimes he gets a straight flight, sometimes he doesn’t. For him it is about saving money not too much about convenience. It is about convenience for me.

 I use Expedia.com to book my trips. I recommend booking your hotel and flight together, it is usually cheaper. I booked my flight in February because I only needed a flight. My round trip flight cost $357.39. I flew out of Philadelphia on an American non-stop flight to San Diego. My SO picked me up in a rented car. I flew Jet Blue on my return flight. I flew to Boston, sat there for three hours and then on to Philadelphia. I won’t do that again, trying to save money. My time is worth much more. The flight going was freezing cold. The return flight was much better. But why is my departure gate always at the end of the airport? The gates at my terminal were numbered 1-26, and my gate was 26.

 I prefer to have my car at the airport, that way I do not have to wait for anyone to pick me up. There is a bus that takes you to every terminal and picks you up at every terminal on your return trip. The cost is $11 for every 24 hours. I was gone eight

days, but was charged for 9, because it was past the 24-hour mark when I picked up my car. Costing a total $99, I was not happy with that.

 

We stayed at the Military Lodge on one of the Navy bases.  There is

more than one Lodge on this base. I did not take any pictures on the base. The last time I tried to take pictures on the base a MP got out of his car and came up to me. He said that I could not take pictures, so I do not take pictures on the base!

 

It is now 10:30 AM in California and time for breakfast. We went to Coronado Island. Coronado Island is beautiful with a small town vibe. We ate breakfast at a fifty-style restaurant. There were jute boxes with music from the fifties, the waitresses wore aprons and they made milk shakes the old way.  You could sit at the booths or sit at the counter. They used a cash register from the fifties. The food was delicious. Their coffee is ten cents on Wednesdays with military ID.

We took a road trip to Los Angeles. We stayed two nights at the Los Angeles Air Force Inn in San Pedro. Our room was really a one-bedroom apartment.  It had a queen-sized bed with a walk in closet, a fully equipped kitchen, a separate bathroom, a living room, two televisions with cable, free Wi-Fi and a beautiful breeze.

We ate at the famous San Pedro Fish Market and Restaurant. They catch, clean and cook the fish right there. I had the best Mango Margarita. It was Fleet Week in San Pedro, so there were plenty of sailors and ships to see. We drove to downtown Los Angeles and took in the sights. On the way back to San Pedro we drove through Watts and Compton.

San Diego and Coronado had beautiful weather. I absolutely loved the vibe. The houses looked beautiful on the outside. However, it is expensive to live in San Diego and more expensive in Coronado compared to other places. If your retirement income can handle the expenses of San Diego and/or Coronado, this would be a great place to relocate. The weather is gorgeous and the water views are fantastic. I would love to move here but I prefer to spend my retirement income on other things.

We had a great time! Oh, we did spend time with my SO’s son. We took him out to eat several times. Well, until next year!

California Here I Come!!!
Vernita Patterson
Would You Like To Go To Niagara Falls?
Would You Like To Go To Niagara Falls?

Why Florida? Why not Florida?

When most people think of retirement living they think of Florida.  That is why Florida is on my list. What is so terrific about retiring in Florida? There are many things that Florida offers the retired person.  Florida is the farthest southeast state of the United States. Florida has the Atlantic Ocean on the east side and the Gulf of Mexico on the west side. Florida has one hundred miles of beaches.

 Orlando and Miami are popular tourist attractions. Disney World and other amusement parks are located in Orlando, Florida.  Miami is known for great beaches and hot nightlife.  There are so many cities in Florida that are ideal for retirement. Palm Coast, Bonita Springs, Punta Gordo, Palm Coast, Winter Haven and Ormond Beach are a few cities that attract retirees.  In this post, the third of my series, I will discuss Jacksonville Beach, Florida as the maybe spot for my retirement relocation.

Jacksonville Beach is a city that is located on the Atlantic coast, east of Jacksonville, Florida. Jacksonville Beach maintains it’s own municipal government separate from Jacksonville, Florida. Jacksonville Beach has its own city manager, city council and mayor. Jacksonville Beach is the largest town in the Jacksonville Beaches community. Anheuser Busch Brewery is located in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jacksonville airport is not a major hub. Which means flying to another airport to travel out of the country.

Jacksonville Beach, Florida meets a lot of my relocation must haves. Jacksonville Beach has great weather year round. However, the weather can be very humid and hot.  Florida is also known for having damaging hurricanes. Some of the hurricanes have required that the residents evacuate. If you own your home the mandated Flood Insurance is sky high and that is an expense that can hurt my pension dollars. Jacksonville Beach has been known to get hit with hurricanes every twenty to forty years. In 2016, Hurricane Mathew brought massive flooding to Jacksonville Beach. But I don’t think that I want to deal with hurricanes.  I like the idea of year-round warm weather and no snow. Florida, great weather but severe hurricanes.

A big draw to Florida for the retired is that Florida does not have state income tax. Florida will not tax my pension or Social Security. Florida property taxes are considered reasonable. There is no inheritance or estate taxes. Florida state sales tax is 6%, which is not a lot to me.  In New Jersey, where I live, the sales tax is much higher as well as New Jersey’s real estate tax.

The cost of living is less than average for the United States. I was able to find several three-bedroom three-bathroom apartments and house rentals in Jacksonville Beach with an average rent of $1200. This included washer/dryer, a pool, close to the beach, air-conditioning, dishwasher and at-least 1200 square feet. There were some rentals that cost more, but some were reasonable.  I’m comparing these rates to those of the city that I live in. It all depends on location and amenities.

Florida crime rate is one of the highest in the United States. Florida’s crime rate ranks forty-five out of the fifty states. But there are several cities in Florida where the crime rate is below the national average. Jacksonville Beach crime rate is higher than the national average. Low crime is one of my must-haves.  Of course the cities in Florida that have low crime rates aren’t the ones that I am interested in.

I have decided to eliminate Florida from the list.  Even though Florida offers many of my must-haves. The weather is nice all year, no snow, no tax on my pension, affordable living and many beaches.  I chose Jacksonville Beach, but the crime rate is too high.  Jacksonville Beach has hurricanes, massive flooding and a high crime rate. The heat is too hot; I would have to spend most of the day inside with the air conditioner. I will keep California and Delaware on the list.  

Make sure that you come back in two weeks to see what Georgia offers and to see how many of my must-haves Georgia has.

Thank You for stopping by.

 

 

Delaware, Will You Be The One?

Deciding where to relocate after retirement has been difficult. Looking for the place that meets my needs regarding climate, tax structure, environment, nearness to a major airport, cost of living and crime level.  In my last post I discussed relocating to the San Diego area of California. Although the San Diego area of California met some of my criteria it did not meet all of my needs.

 In this post I will discuss the second state on my list, Delaware. Delaware is nicknamed “The First State”, because it was the first of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution. Delaware is a small Mid-Atlantic state. Delaware shares boarders with Philadelaphia PA, South New Jersey, Maryland on the north and south of Delaware. Delaware has three counties, New Castle in the north, Kent is central and Sussex in the southern part of Delaware. Delaware has almost 250 miles of coastline and 350 of shoreline. If you have read the other posts of my series, you will remember that being near the beach is one of my relocation must haves. 

Rehoboth Beach

I am looking at Sussex County in Delaware because it meets several of my must haves for relocation. Sussex County has the mildest climate in Delaware State.  Sussex County houses Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach, Lewes and other beach towns that are known as great summer getaways. Some beach areas are more popular than others. I will be looking at the towns near the less populated beach areas.

 The average temperature is around 84 degrees in July, 78 degrees in September and 40 degrees in December. Sussex County has been known to get 15 inches of snow in the winter. Snow is pretty but I don’t enjoy it like I did when I was a kid. And since I am retired so Snow Days does not mean no work for me. That means that Sussex County does not have year round warm weather. That knocks out one of my must haves.

 Delaware has no state sales tax, although there are some localities that do have sales tax.  Delaware has one of the lowest property tax rates in the country. If you are sixty-five or older you get a credit equal to half of the school property tax. No taxes on Social Security. Pensions and 401K are taxed the same as the Feds taxes it. If you are sixty or older you are entitled to an exclusion of up to $12,500. The cost of living is higher than the United States average. Property tax is one of the lowest in the country. 

I was actually able to find a 1350 square foot three bedrooms and three-bath apartment for $995. I did not get a chance to go see what it looked like and talk to the residents.  Most of the three bedroom apartments were around $1200.  When I narrow my choices down to three places to relocate to I will go and look at what the housing looks like. I love these prices. My rent now is higher than that for two bedrooms with one bath and under 1000 square feet.

 Delaware is driving distance from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania where my family and close friends reside. I love to travel. Delaware does not have a major hub airport. I would have to drive about forty-five minutes to Philadelphia or a little further to Baltimore/Washington Airport. Since I love to travel so this would be a problem. One of my must haves is to be near a major hub airport.

 Sussex County, Delaware meets many of my criteria for relocation. I have looked at several cities that I did discuss here. However, there are some important ones that it does not meet. I have looked at several cities that I did not discuss here. That is because I am not sure I will definitely have to go there to see, if Delaware becomes one of the top three places.

As I conduct my research I do not think that I will find one place that meets all of my must haves. But we will continue on. I hope that this post was helpful to you. See you in two weeks when I discuss relocating to Florida. That should be interesting!