We are relocating to Washington state - 30 miles outside Seattle - from Southern California. My husband is already here and I am retiring at the end of the year but needing to work in state in CA. Both our sons live in WA about 15 miles from where we will be. We have no family in this country so being near them makes sense. If they move (highly doubtful) we shall reassess. We bought a small one bedroom condo as the payment will be like rent with no real amenities the HOA is lower than most. The place is great with one downfall on 3rd floor no elevator so we may need to reassess again as we get older (67/70). My parents retired to Mexico as my Mom was from there and they enjoyed having family but they later regretted not being near us and their grandkids. We visited a lot and they stayed with us for months at a time including when my Mom had cancer. Once she had dementia and they lived in a home there it was harder to visit though the cost and care made it wonderful. We shall see how this goes but I am excited to live in a new place - perhaps a little more country than what I am used to but close enough to the city.
We thought we were doing the right thing by prepaying with Neptune in Georgia. We just asked for a refund and received just a bit over half as they overcharge for a box and cards. Literally $1k each. Big mistake on our part. We moved back to California to find out Neptune was sued by California state for overcharging and not refunding and if we had purchased here we'd be refunded all. They had years where they have made money by investing what we paid. Anyway, we want to be cremated and perhaps when I retire we will look into it again but very skittish now.
Comments
We are relocating to Washington state - 30 miles outside Seattle - from Southern California. My husband is already here and I am retiring at the end of the year but needing to work in state in CA. Both our sons live in WA about 15 miles from where we will be. We have no family in this country so being near them makes sense. If they move (highly doubtful) we shall reassess. We bought a small one bedroom condo as the payment will be like rent with no real amenities the HOA is lower than most. The place is great with one downfall on 3rd floor no elevator so we may need to reassess again as we get older (67/70). My parents retired to Mexico as my Mom was from there and they enjoyed having family but they later regretted not being near us and their grandkids. We visited a lot and they stayed with us for months at a time including when my Mom had cancer. Once she had dementia and they lived in a home there it was harder to visit though the cost and care made it wonderful. We shall see how this goes but I am excited to live in a new place - perhaps a little more country than what I am used to but close enough to the city.
Post: Let’s revisit the pros and cons of relocating upon retirement
Link to comment from August 2, 2025
We thought we were doing the right thing by prepaying with Neptune in Georgia. We just asked for a refund and received just a bit over half as they overcharge for a box and cards. Literally $1k each. Big mistake on our part. We moved back to California to find out Neptune was sued by California state for overcharging and not refunding and if we had purchased here we'd be refunded all. They had years where they have made money by investing what we paid. Anyway, we want to be cremated and perhaps when I retire we will look into it again but very skittish now.
Post: Signing up for pre-planned funeral services: Is it worth it?
Link to comment from July 27, 2024