Iowa...where I was born, raised, live and all children and grandbabies are here. I would miss our 4 seasons also! Would travel to lots of other places, but couldn't go far from the beautiful state of Iowa.

Claudia

Texas. No personal income taxes. Great weather. 4 hospitals listed in the top 100 in the US. The medical school in Dallas has 4 (four) Nobel prize winning research doctors! just for example - as you get older, your health gets less uncertain.
Cheaper cost of living than many other places. Minus points - no mountains, but has beaches. Lots of churches, art museums, trains, planes and anything else you need or want. Lots of cheap land still available.

Pretty much us here in NW Missouri. We talked about moving...we loved Georgia when we lived there. But our kids, well our daughters anyway, are within 20 minutes of us. Our son lives about 4 hours away but talks of moving closer.
Would hate to have a house payment again, so unless we win the lottery, we will stay here. If I had my druthers, I would druther be in northern Georgia!

I would either go to CO or NM... beautiful scenery, nice weather, healthy life-styles... *sigh*...

We had NO plans on retiring to FL. We visited a few areas and fell in love with a lifestyle here in The Villages. I suggest you visit where you think you are interested. We love Tennessee and thought we would end up there, but after 2 days of driving on hilly, curving roads - yes, with beautiful scenery- we decided our first choice wasn't right for us. After moving to FL we went on a trip west and we stopped in Boulder CO and I could live there! Enjoy checking out different areas!!

P S Florida does not have State income tax and property taxes are low.

We plan to RV around the country for awhile, staying about 6 months each in some states/regions to live in their beauty. After that we'll probably come back home to southeast Tennessee, if that's where our daughters are living. We hope to remain close to them & their families til the end.

If I could, I'd move to one of the Atlanta suburbs. My reasons: 4 nice seasons, no hurricanes, an airline hub, and good medical care. Plus some good quilt shops.

Love all your responses so far....keep them coming. My family is in Germany and retiring there is out of question, just too expensive. My husband's family is in N.C. but we both are not in love with that state. Our daughter is in California and our son is back in school and will move wherever he will find a job. Like I said, we still have some time and keep exploring all these options.

In my opinion, you need to prioritize what you enjoy.

Top of my list is an urban area because I like having lots of activities around me, lots of choices within a short drive away, great emergency and hospital care, choice of doctors, etc. I've seen many couples retire to lake cabins, but that is absolutely not my dream for retirement. I don't want to grow old in isolation. I want to be near colleges and universities where I can audit classes, attend theater and musical events, and where I can meet regularly with other quilters (and where there are several quilt shops within driving distance!). I also want top-notch computer and other media connections with the rest of the world.

Next priority for me is family. There's just no substitute for being close to family and friends. So, I would choose an urban area near family.

Third priority for me is climate. If I had a choice, a climate similar to that of Tennessee would be my choice, with Costa Rica a possible second choice. Have been to Florida and it's just too hot and humid for me. However, my urban/family priority pretty much rules out lower priority choices involving climate, taxes, etc.

So, my advice is to decide what's most important to you in terms of everyday life. Are you rural or urban? Do you want to be near family? Do you want a college or university nearby? Weather? For me, anyway, taxes are last on the list of priorities. If everything else is perfect, taxes would not ruin it for me.