I’ll retire with a military pension and want to move to a bicycle-friendly, beer-loving place — so where should I go?

Marketwatch ^ | Sept. 16, 2020 | Silvia Ascarelli

[nickcarraway]

Dear MarketWatch,

I have five years until I retire. I have a nest egg of $1 million and will also have a monthly military pension of approximately $6,000, and Social Security on top of that.

I like cycling 60 miles a day and want to retire in a place that is known for good, safe cycling. I hate hot humid weather and don’t want a lot of snow. I love craft beer. And I would prefer a place with limited or no income tax on a military pension.

Where should I retire? Fort Collins, Colorado, and Asheville, N.C., seem like good places, but the cost of living in Fort Collins seems above average, and I am told Asheville has a lack of housing.

What other places should I consider and how do they compare with the two locations already mentioned? My wife likes the sound of “the Hill County in Texas,” but she knows the heat is bad.

Dear Charles,

The Fort Collins and Asheville areas sound lovely. And popular places tend to be more expensive — that’s just the reality of supply and demand. If that’s where you want to be, the trade-off might be as simple as a smaller house/condo/rental.

You also could seek cheaper housing a bit further from these two cities — Greeley, Colo. (don’t believe everything about the smell), or Hendersonville, N.C. (recommended here), for example. Or what about Raleigh-Durham, with the American Tobacco Trail as the trail network’s spine? You’d have to accept more humidity with that one, however.

I started my search by looking at the League of American Bicyclists’ bicycle-friendly communities. Five, including Fort Collins, are platinum. Housing in only one is cheaper than Fort Collins, but I don’t think you’ll appreciate the snow in Madison, Wis. I ruled out Davis, Calif.,

[KC Burke]

A First Sgt with over 20 gets above 5k

[Don Corleone]

Santiago, Chile

[Jolla]

San Diego, Pacific Beach area, Crown Point on Mission Bay specifically, perfect weather, tons of flat bike trails around bay and along ocean

[wildbill]

Check into San Antonio, Texas. No snow, hill country for bike rides, veterans hospitals par excellance and a few special condos for miliatary retirees are available near bases and px priviledged.

[CodeJockey]

Asheville is the Austin, TX of NC. Too many moon-bats.

Raleigh-Durham, with the American Tobacco Trail as the trail network’s spine?

Durham NC? You must have not done your homework yet. The American Tobacco trail is prime for assaults, muggings and an occasional rape.

There a some smaller towns away from the big cesspool cities that are fine, Apex for example.

[willyd]

portugal

[Night Hides Not]

Bavaria!

Here the beer is the best in the world and plentiful and so, God help us, are the pestilential bicyclists.

Allow me to sing the praises of just about any town along the Mosel River. I lived in Traben-Trarbach during my tour in Germany.

The land is flat along the river, plenty of room for biking enthusiasts. The Konigsbacher brewery is about an hour's drive away, I fondly remember their restaurant on the premises, served bock beer year round. Nice view of the Rhine, drive by the Lorelei on the way home, with a stop in Bacharach.

[Night Hides Not]

Chief or Lt Col are in that range, easy.

Won't disagree with you, there. My last job on active duty was a Headquarters Battery Cdr at Fort Bliss. A group of retired field grades met a few times a month for breakfast, at my dining facility.

Damn, they were a pain in the ass. They thought they were still on active duty, and made life miserable for my cooks. They'd go bitching to my boss, the Battalion Cdr, when they thought the service wasn't good enough for them. They never came to me, the pricks.

[Svartalfiar]

I'm confused.. Is this you posting your submission? Or did you just find this article and randomly post it?

If it's actually you, far north of Dallas (Frisco, McKinney, Plano, Colony, etc) are all pretty nice and upcoming growth areas. If you're retiring and don't care, you can go even farther and get out into the country-ish areas and a decent acreage. Several good size parks for riding, plus a Lake.

Also, far east of Dallas (Rockwall) is a nice area, decently close to Lakewood, one of the best breweries you can find. New one, Siren Rock, is currently being built in downtown Rockwall. And, it's decently close to the Lake Saucer, one of the best beer bars I've ever been to. Almost as good as Strangeways, but that's too far to easily drive. Saucer may not have as weird/unheard of selection, but lots more pretty serving ladies! Same parking lot as Bass Pro, not a Cabela's, but they're the same company now. There's a couple trails in the area, basic ones around the public park's pond, or more forested ones near the lake. Or, you're pretty close to being out of the city, so there's that, too!

[wita]

O-4 with 22 so I must be thinking numbers associated more with my era as I retired in ‘87, and the chart left me wondering if it reflected time in grade or time in service, as I believe the last number on top was 8 which appeared to to be unrelated to reality. At any rate, I’m grateful I was able to retire as not everyone who serves is afforded the opportunity, and I was payed well for doing what I loved.

[wita]

Plus, earning a retirement is a breeze. Why don’t you sign up?

I’d have to read your mind to know for sure if there wasn’t some /s hiding in that statement.

[wita]

Gratitude. some have it some don’t. When it came to food, pay, and maintenance of airplanes, officers who understood, knew who to be grateful for. Those worker bees wearing fatigues with stripes on their sleeves.

[wita]

See my 170

[wita]

The last really bad storm was winter storm Atlas.

https://www.weather.gov/unr/2013-10-03_05

Leaves were still on the trees, which badly damaged most trees in the area, and the heavy rain followed by freeze and blizzard conditions killed tens of thousands of sheep, cattle, and horses in Oct 2013.

[Arones]

It is sarcasm. After 28 years I retired with a pension AND a broken eye socket, knee surgery, and two back surgeries. My wife had to change jobs every 2-3 years over that period. My kids got to change schools just as often. Personal items were lost, appliances broke, and family memorabilia were shattered during moves. We were apart for many of those 28 years.

But yeah, if someone thinks it’s easy money, I invite them to physically and mentally qualify and earn that easy pension.

[wita]

Thanks for the response, and congratulation on a successful
28 years despite the challenges.