Retirement with RA
Ok let me shake things up a bit here. Lots of talk about pain, mixed diagnoses etc...so lets talk about something a bit less serious. I am a male who has been diagnosed about a year ago and I'm looking at retirement in about 3 years. I'm trying to keep working full-time until the magic day. My original plan was for a small town somewhere but now I'm having to give serious consideration to the medical services available and most small towns are not great when it comes to RA knowledge & treatment. I currently live in N. Pennsylvania where the winters are BRUTAL..on me and my joints. I am getting out of this frozen wasteland when the time comes....but to where? Those of you here who have contemplated retirement....what things did you consider? Climate? Medical care? Nearness to family? I've heard about how the desert SW is supposed to be good for arthritis but the desert isn't for me! If YOU had most of the country to consider moving too, where would you go and why?
Steve, all the questions you ask have been burning in my mind for several years. Being near good docs and family are priorities but I've also considered weather and cost of living. The southern states are becoming immigration magnets for jobs, cost of living, and warmer climates. But I'm not sure I could take the summer heat and humidity.
My RA and other medical conditions have forced me into retirement six years early. Besides climate, family and medical care, stretching funds is my biggest concern. For now I'm staying where I am because I have done so much to my home to accommodate my condition. I hate to be a downer but you need to consider that you might not be able to work as long as you think you will. At that point it is physically harder and more expensive to move. I'm just grateful that I will be able to buy health insurance when cobra runs out.
I like living in NV = no state income tax, and I just like the attitude of the west better! But it sure is expensive where we are! Looking at smaller areas in southern NV, like Laughlin, where costs are lower, for retirement. Close to decent medical care and great weather. Just across the CO river is Bullhead City, AZ, even lower costs there.
