Originally Posted by mikepwagner

Having watched a lot of people move to NC (where I live) to retire, be very careful to check out that the services that you might need are in fact available.

It's great to be affluent and healthy in a low-tax southern state. If either of those change, life can be not so good.

The eastern part of NC - to which my parents retired - is pretty much in a "race to the bottom" against 3rd world countries as far as wages, taxes, and services go.

As I prepare for retirement myself, I am more concerned about quality of life issues than low taxes. For example: When I can no longer drive, how am I going to get around this city? When I (or a loved one) need a rehab center, what do those look like? Can I get to/from medical facilities without a car?

New Bern - at least when my parents lived there - was littered with empty "dream houses" built by folks who moved here and built the house they had always dreamed. And many of them go to live in the dream house for 2-3 years.

Just my thoughts ...