I finally decided to retire at 70.

[lunatica]

I was going to just keep on working well into my 70s, but I realized I could be really free to do whatever I want. I have no family left, but I think they would all be supporting me if I retire.

So l’m leaving California after working in UC Berkeley because it’s simply too expensive and I’m going to New Mexico. I’m an artist and that’s what I want to do. Just to do it and with no plans to sell any, although I’m good enough to have sold it in the past and have been commissioned a few times.

Does anyone have experience or live there who can tell me about life there? I would like to know about life there. I love the Bay Area, especially for the wealth of diversity it has. I want to love it there too.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. DU is my cyber family. I have always gotten more out of you guys than I could possibly ever give back.

[Lifelong Protester]

1. Good luck! And enjoy your retirement.

[lunatica]

9. I already am enjoying it!

I’ve already done a couple of art pieces.

[lunasun]

2. Good Luck ! Congrats on your retirement

[lunatica]

5. Thanks!

I am going to enjoy myself. I already started the day after I retired.

[wasupaloopa]

3. I retired at 70. Two years ago. I dont know much about New Mexico.

We moved to the mountains from the Central Coast of CA.

We had 20 acres and horses and five years later we missed the Coast.

We moved back to the Coast and glad we did.

[lunatica]

6. I know Ill miss the coast

But all up and down the Pacific real estate is too expensive in the places I liked. And it’s only me and my cat.

[snacker]

4. Happy Retirement!

Can't help you with information about New Mexico, but just wanted to send best wishes to you. Good luck!

[lunatica]

7. Thanks. I feel quite liberated just not having to go to work.

[Skittles]

8. I.....dream of that day

yes I do

[lunatica]

10. I dont know why I waited so long.

I haven’t had a single regret yet. And as time goes on every day I feel a little More free.

[Skittles]

42. I have heard that from a few people who retired

including my brother

[Hekate]

11. I hear Taos, NM is an artist's colony and spiritual, so you could start researching that...

Best of luck!

[lunatica]

14. I have been researching both Taos and Santa Fe

For that reason. Some real estate is affordable, and Albuquerque isn’t too far away from them.

[pepperbear]

82. Beware the Taos hum..

Apparently the town is plagued with an incessant 60 cycle tone. Seriously.

[lunatica]

83. I have read about it.

Very mysterious

[GP6971]

12. Retiring in 8 months

Only been to SE New Mexico, but loved it. Seemed very tranquil.

[lunatica]

16. One of the ladies I worked with who also just retired

Says it really is the land of enchantment.

The Bay Area is great but the sky there has almost no clouds. I’m hoping NM has interesting skies.

[Binkie The Clown]

13. I was totally burned out and retired at 62. In the 10 years since I've never regretted it.

Just stay busy and interested in the world, and you;ll be happy too.

[lunatica]

18. Being interested in life is what kept me sane all this time.

DU is a major part of that.

[dawg day]

15. Taos and Santa Fe are both wonderful

In between them is the area Georgia O'Keefe painted.

Lots of artists and artist collectives there.

And of course, NM is a blue state.


The different parts of NM are quite different, so you might consider a driving trip along I-40 from west to east, and then down to I-10 east to west. If you're a painter, however, you'll probably finding the Taos area quite fulfilling.

[lunatica]

19. Many years ago my mother and I drove all over NM for a vacation

It stayed with me.

[bluecollar2]

17. I retired last year...

Don't miss punching a clock at all...

[lunatica]

20. I hope life is good for you now

Just being unchained is pure freedom sometimes!

[bluecollar2]

21. Moved down to Florida from Texas o take care of my mother

I love the desert.

I'll take that over swamps.

[Demonaut]

22. Questa and and Arroyo Hondo, my ancestral home

[lunatica]

24. Tell me more

Should I look them up as potential places to live? What part of the state are they in?

[Demonaut]

63. Very close to Taos, a bit unknown for me, only visited once but very affordable

Arroyo Hondo became a hippie commune back in the sixties, many are still there

[BaileyBill]

23. Taos is gorgeous.

Have a friend from San Antonio who works out of the O'Keefe studio at times and loves it there. Good Luck!

[lunatica]

25. Ive been looking into Taos very seriously

[UTUSN]

26. Wonderful wonderful news! I only wish it were sooner

I've been retired 17 years, was somebody who committed to the job as a vocation and people said that if I hit the lottery would keep working, but when the day came I never looked back. I am so happy for you!

[lunatica]

30. Thanks for being on my side!

I count on it. So far so good. I retired on January 2nd. I haven’t missed it or felt bad at all.

[Laffy Kat]

27. Both Taos and Santa Fee are lovely.

And there are a lot of smaller art communities between the two. Sounds like you'd fit right in. Congratulations.

[lunatica]

31. Im thinking that too

Strangely enough it isn’t artists I want to be around as much as wanting to be around their artwork so somewhere between them might be just the ticket.

[Laffy Kat]

34. Not sure about real estate prices in that area.

But surely in-between would be less expensive than SF or Taos. When I was visiting that area, and this was many years ago, it seemed like there were little art galleries and studios everywhere and some were in the middle of nowhere. You'd probably love it. Plus where there's art, there are progressive-minded souls.

[lunatica]

35. Exactly!

That’s been my experience

[Renew Deal]

28. Congrats

And good luck with your retirement.

[SharonAnn]

29. Taos, NM

[GoneOffShore]

32. Enjoy it.

We're doing much the same.
Selling our house in Philadelphia. And we have an apartment in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Applying for long stay visas, and getting out of Dodge.
Had a little bit more than enough of the good ole' US of A.

[BadgerMom]

33. Happy retirement, lunatica.

My husband is 69 and newly retired, although he would like some contract work in his field which is technology. I decided to respond because we, too, are planning to leave California (Thousand Oaks) for New Mexico (Santa Fe). As with any big move, there's some trepidation, but, in our experience (we've moved for career reasons 10 times since 1980), living in a new place is rewarding and enriching.

Our daughter received a BS from UCSB, an MS from Berkeley and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She was hired at a Santa Fe startup as she finished her dissertation. We've been visiting her and her husband there since they arrived in 2016. We're really looking forward to living there even though we adore all parts of California. The people we've met have settled there from all over. There is a thriving arts community. Certainly many transplants are baby boomers, but it's not a retirement community. (We lived in Miami Beach from 1986 to 1988. That was like a retirement community.) Another plus? New Mexico is mostly blue! The current Republican governor's term ends this year.

Travel safely! Maybe we'll meet in Santa Fe.

[lunatica]

36. Thanks for your response

You make me feel even better about my choice!

[cally]

37. Another Californian thinking of NM and other areas

I’m just wondering if I will miss the coast too much since I have lived here all my life. Also somewhat concerned about NM crime. The rates are very high but don’t really know what that means when you live there

I’m considering moving to Philadelphia. Going to visit soon. We could live in the city and have access to Amtrak to travel the East Coast.

[lunatica]

54. Well good luck to you on your choice too

I found the winters too cold in the Northeast but you might think they’re not bad. The spaces are not wide open like they are in the West, and that became a factor for me. I love traveling by Amtrak and might try it in NM to see what it’s like. If not I also enjoy driving a lot.

[Olafjoy]

38. Congratulations

Have a co-worker who grew up in Albuquerque and he says Santa Fe or Taos would be great. He doesn’t love Albuquerque.
If you decide on Taos or SF, Just like NorCal, when choosing your new home have some space for guests. You will have visitors!! Congratulations on a job well done and enjoy your retirement.

[lunatica]

71. Santa Fe and Taos sound like just the ticket

After reading all the comments I think I might just love living there.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

39. I live in Santa Fe.

Moved here nearly ten years ago after a divorce. Moving here was an excellent decision for me. I'm currently 69, stopped working about four years ago and have a lovely life.

Santa Fe has a reputation, especially among those who live in Albuquerque, of being too expensive for anyone to live in. Not true. Not true at all. I moved here from Overland Park, KS, which is considered by those who live in nearby Kansas City, MO, to be too expensive for anyone to live in. Sigh. The rent on my first apartment here was exactly what I'd have spent in OP for a comparable place. I have since bought a small townhouse. About 900 square feet, two bedrooms, two baths, three skylights.

If you're selling a home you'll be making out like a bandit. And if you've been renting all along, even in Santa Fe you'll be giddy at the comparatively low rents.

This is a gorgeous state. I still haven't explored it properly.

If it is possible for you to spend at least a couple of weeks in more than one part of this state, do so. Otherwise, do a bunch of research on line and figure out what's best.

I think you will need to keep firmly in mind how relatively unpopulated this state is, and how far you can be from anything. If you wind up in Albuquerque you'll be in a big city with all the amenities of a big city. Santa Fe is about a 45 minute drive north. It's pretty small, population maybe 75,000, and even though it's the state capitol, it's still a small city. Limited restaurants. Big box stores are half the size, maybe even smaller, than their counterparts in ABQ. But because this is such a small city our night skies are AMAZING! Really. I love it here.

Taos is beautiful. Driving north from the Plaza is one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. If east coast developers ever saw that landscape it would be completely filled with condominiums in a hearbeat. But Taos is very much off the beaten track. Its population is under 6,000. So to do any serious shopping you must go to Santa Fe or Albuquerque, although at this point in your life you're not doing that much shopping, I know. However, depending on what you are like, you might feel isolated there.

The other thing to keep firmly in mind is that if you live in Albuquerque or north, you'll be at higher altitude. ABQ is about 5,000 feet and Santa Fe comes in at 7,000 feet, and Taos the same or a bit more. Personally, I love living at altitude. Every time I visit family in the Kansas City area for the first day or two the air feels thick and heavy. The thing is, some people, especially us older folks, can have a hard time adjusting to altitude. But if your health is good, if you don't smoke, don't have other kinds of breathing/lung problems, you'll do just fine.

The culture here is very distinct. Very Hispanic. Native American presence is strong. I happen to like that, even though there are drawbacks. Here in Santa Fe it seems as though a lot of people are related to each other, and sometimes us outsiders get left outside. There's also a remarkable amount of corruption, which never fails to astonish me. Several years ago the Sheriff of Santa Fe County was caught selling county equipment on ebay. In another scandal a man falsified his credentials to get hired as school superintendent in a school in northern NM, and the main person doing the hiring was his uncle. Drunk driving is a huge problem. I have never before lived in a state where drunk drivers regularly get on the interstate going in the wrong direction and kill people. Oh, and it's not at all uncommon to see someone arrested on his 7th or 12th DWI. Or someone who served time for a drunk driving accident that killed someone, to kill another person in a new drunk driving accident.

Do NOT take that as a caution to stay away. Because this is a wonderful state in very many ways. As I said above, I moved here after a divorce. I'd already been here several times taking summer programs at St. John's College. I also grew up partially in Tucson, so I was familiar with the desert Southwest. Also, some of the older parts of this city are a lot like Tucson was in 1962 when I first moved there.

This city, Santa Fe, has museums, many art galleries, adequate restaurants, a decent number of brew pubs, and a reasonably lively cultural scene. We have the Opera. We have a bunch of small live theaters.

Did I mention the glorious night skies?

[lunatica]

68. Your description is very compelling!

With a bit of experience it may be just the place I’m yearning for. I don’t need an exciting night life.

It’s funny that you should mention the skies because that happens to be an important factor for me. Here in the Bay Area I truly miss the excitement of ever changing skies, both during the day and at night. It tends towards very clear blue skies so I’ve always felt I shouldn’t complain. My wish is to have a view that includes lots of changing clouds which would also create spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

I guess it’s the artist in me that just wants to finally bust out at last.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

72. This city only claims 300 days of sunshine a year,

but I doubt there are as many as 20 days a year with no sunshine at all. I think maybe that 300 is the days with no clouds at all. In reality, there are enough random clouds to make spectacular sunsets much of the time.

[TygrBright]

40. Anything in particular you want to know?

DM me if you like. We're in Santa Fe.

Love it here, but it's way different from the Bay Area!

encouragingly,
Bright

[SomethingNew]

41. Santa Fe is one of the greatest cities in the country.

I'd move there in a heartbeat if it could support what I do.

[lunatica]

69. I suspect I may feel just like you about Santa Fe

I want to get a place that will become home.

[marlakay]

43. Wish you the best!

My advice, rent for a year before you buy. Make sure its what you want. Being alone you have no one but yourself to decide what feels best to you.

We moved from bay area to mountains in WA for ten years. I loved it, would have stayed but hubby hated the snow and small town.

Then we tried ocean northern CA for two years, too much rain.

Just moved to Medford, OR in September and we both love it.

We bought and sold in all those places, realtors made out!

I have a friend I grew up with in Napa that lives in Santa Fe, loves it there. Its high up in elevation so you would have to get used to snow. I loved it, didn’t ski, but I snow shoed and just loved sitting with my hot brandy watching it fall.

I don’t miss working at all. Enjoy!

[Hulk]

49. DEFINITELY DONT BUY FOR A YEAR OR MORE...

I realize real estate has been going up, but you’ll regret giving the real estate agents 6-7% every time you pull up stakes. RENT for awhile anyway. You could even take your time while renting and maybe snag a place you’ve investigated prior to jumping in to an area you may decide to leave after a year or two.

[lunatica]

58. Thats excellent advice

And well worth taking since what I’m looking for is a place where I’ll love to live. It would be terrible to spend the last part of my life in a place I don’t like. Ugh!

[Hulk]

74. Rent...or possibly even consider AirBnB long term rental, if you have trouble finding something else

I WILL return to San Miguel. My wife is from there, and she really is having a hard time with not finding the "American dream" (myth). I will be glad to return. I just hate seeing every cent I have fly out the window each month for heat, electric, rent, car ins, etc. It's depressing. There we can buy a piece of land...rent a home to live in while we save and slowly build on our plot in the next 5+ years. Eventually we can move in and give up the rental.

She's not buying it...at the moment.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

73. The city of Santa Fe does not get all that much snow.

And most of the time it is all gone by noon, because the sun comes back out and melts/evaporates it. The Santa Fe ski basin is over 10,000 feet. In fact, we have not had any significant snow in the city this winter, but I can look out across my back yard at the Sangre de Cristo mountains and at the moment there's a decent amount of snow on the peaks. So moving here does not require getting used to snow in any real way.

What you do have to get used to is the altitude. I personally love it. However, several years ago I spent two weeks in the Taos ski valley, above 10,000 feet, and I could absolutely tell the difference between 7,000 and 10,000 feet.

[marlakay]

78. We knew a couple that had condo in ski area

They said Santa Fe so I assumed. Should know better, lol.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

79. Ahhh. The ski area is about 3,000 feet

higher which makes a big difference.

I moved here ten years ago now, and apparently the city finally got around to purchasing some snow plows only a few years earlier than that. It's the Denver Theory of Snow Removal: Wait for the sun to come out. Not such a good idea in a large metropolis (and we lived in the Denver area for a couple of years so I know) and not good on the major streets that we have. Snow removal here is semi-adequate, and still depends a lot on sunshine.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

44. Congrats!! And enjoy your new life!! (Wish I could retire.)

[tenderfoot]

45. Enjoy!

[Hulk]

46. Many folks head south of the border...and Im one of them.

If you have a monthly income of $3000+ a month, I and thousands of other Americans, Canadians and other nationalities have fallen in love with the Mexican life and the wonderful people.

I moved to San Miguel de Allende 14+ years ago, and lived there for five years before returning to my home in the Portland, Oregon area for the past 8 years. We are about ready to head back. I can’t afford the rising rents, utilities and the other expense of the USA on my half pension and SS check. I’m happy to return, but I’m having a hard time convincing my wife we have little choice financially...and it is as safe and comfortable as the PNW, and the weather is absolutely great. San Miguel happens to be the “New York City of Mexico”, but I’m open to finding less tourist/expensive places to live as well.

New Mexico is beautiful, but I can’t afford nor care to be around dRumpf buffoons and gun nuts any longer. My kids and grandkids are here, but they can always visit, and so can I.

I would recommend doing a little research on living abroad. I knew no Spanish when I first went to Mexico, but I can handle myself well enough now...and in many cities the language isn’t a real barrier anyway. Many artist chose to live south of the border. I’m one of them. So many choices. House swaps...South America, Europe, etc, etc. don’t be afraid to explore. You won’t regret it. USA is no longer #1, and probably never was.

[lunatica]

55. Im an American citizen but I grew up in Mexico

Was there from the time I was 2 years old and left when I was 28. I’ve thought long and hard about returning there. Mostly I lived in Mexico City and have always felt it was home. I’ve looked into living there and in Cuernavaca and Guadalajara. I even looked into Panama. But at my age I’m hesitant because I live alone and I wonder if that’s not such a great idea as I get older. It isn’t an easy decision. If I were part of a couple I would feel
more confident.

I hope you can return there. It’s a beautiful country with a wonderful culture! My childhood heart will always be there.

[iluvtennis]

47. Happy Retirement...enjoy this special time in life...I can't wait to join you.

[dobleremolque]

48. Check out Las Vegas ... the New Mexico one.....

Not as artsy as Santa Fe or Taos, but getting there. Way cheaper, too. Right on the geophysical dividing line between the mountains and the high plains. My father grew up there, my grandparents are buried there. Have toyed with the idea of moving there myself when I retire from Tucson.

[Hulk]

50. If you dont mind 117 degrees summers...

Am here now. Have thought about it, and it’s pleasant now...but come June, July and August it’s a furnace outside.

[dobleremolque]

51. Las Vegas, New Mexico....easily confused...

It's never gotten above 99° F in Las Vegas, NM, since it's at 6,500 ft. elevation.

A town of about 15,000, it's the home of New Mexico Highlands University. Founded while it was part of Mexico, it used to be two separate municipalities ... Old Town, laid out around a classic Mexican plaza; and New Town, formed after the gringos came with the railroad.

It's 65 miles east of Santa Fe, and about 120 miles east of Albuquerque on Interstate-25. You can go hike the pine-clad mountains in the morning and watch herds of pronghorn antelope grazing on the prairie in the afternoon.

[lunatica]

56. I started looking into it

But thought it might be too small for me, but you make it sound very nice. I’ll try driving there and taking a look at it. Landscape is one of the big factors for me.

I also like university towns. I loved working with students and Faculty and like being among young people.

[Hulk]

75. I was referring to Nevada...but that wasn't your suggestion?

I guess I didn't grasp that there was a Las Vegas, NM. I just returned from Las Vegas, NV, and my wife was all excited about moving there. But EVERY Lyft driver we spoke with mentioned the searing hot summers.

Ninety-nine is hot...but not 117. It got up to 100+ a few times this past summer here in Portland, Oregon. I do not like that at all. Hope that isn't a common occurrence now.

[akbacchus_BC]

52. Enjoy your retirement and you will certainly find your new home interesting.

Why don't you want to sell your art?

[lunatica]

59. Its not that I dont want to sell it

I’ve sold it before, and I’ve been commissioned more than a few times. It’s that selling it is no longer anything I expect or want.

Of course I wouldn’t be averse to having shows and selling it, but that doesn’t hold any allure for me anymore. I happen to be in that perfect place in my life where I have a modest income after years of work and don’t need to sell my art in order to live. I had to live to 70 and work many years, but I’m there. It’s even more liberating psychologically than the retirement is, and that’s liberating all by itself!

[honest.abe]

53. Taos would be my choice.

But its been a long time since i was there... back in the early 90s. I woyld spend some time traveling around there. You will find your place.

Congrats and good luck!

[lunatica]

57. Thanks!

[workinclasszero]

60. I'm glad you are able to do it

Good luck

[tavernier]

61. Ive tried three times to retire

but it just didn’t work for me. However at 71 I decided to give up 40 years of nursing to younger and quicker minds and hands, and sub as a lunch lady at the high school, 4 hours daily. It’s a pretty strenuous workout and they pay me, as opposed to my doling out gym fees. Free lunch and being around the kids, jokes and laughter, sure keeps me young, and being on sub status, I can take off for a trip or cruise whenever I want. They are always so appreciative of the extra help... guess I just love being needed.

Retire, but keep working at what you love.
Hope we get to see some of your art!!

[TheMastersNemesis]

62. Retired At 54. 20 Years Ago Now. Absolutely No Regrets.

[alittlelark]

64. Grew up in NM, lived in the Bay Area 25 years, back in NM....

What area are you thinking of moving to?

[lunatica]

67. Im thinking of north of Albuquerque

But I’m going to stay in Bosque Farms for a few months house sitting for a friend. It’s a great opportunity to look around. I’m really lucky to have this opportunity and I will take full advantage of it!

[GregD]

65. I used to live in Marin.

I moved to Siskiyou County in 2005 after living in the San Rafael area for over 30 years. I'm now in Mount Shasta, an hour south of the Oregon border. The community here is a split between lefties and a bunch of brutal hard-right conservatives. Candidly, it's hard to take some of the time.

In the San Rafael area (and certainly in Berkeley) the political mix is so left-aligned, it's hard to recognize what it's like in the rest of the country. In the Bay Area, the Republicans that I knew were moderates, and tended to be very quiet about their political leanings. Up here there is nothing subtle about their hatred for our beliefs. I have to bite my tongue a lot...

As you head for your next destination, be sure that you have carefully surveyed the political environment. Do you have friends there? Is there a community that you can bond with, in order to protect your connection with like-minded folks? Also, look at factors such as entertainment opportunities, or whatever is important to you. (The one restaurant here that had a bar and regularly featured live bands just closed.) I also miss the cultural diversity of the Bay Area. Awfully white up here, and I'm not talking about that snow that fell overnight.

I hope that you have connected with like-minded folks down there, and that you will find "family" in that new community where you will feel like you fit in and are not surrounded by a sea of rednecks.

Speaking of the sea, I miss the ocean air. It's pretty up here in the mountains, but a trip to the Oregon coast recently really resonated with me. Fresh seafood, salty air, moderate climate. It's become baking hot up here during the Summer, much warmer than when we arrived here.

I could go on and on. I miss the Bay Area - just don't miss the cost of housing.

[niyad]

66. congratulations on your decision, and much good luck to you in your move.

NM has some wonderfully progressive people, and some very beautiful areas. Haven't been there in years, so cannot tell you what it is like there these days.

[malaise]

70. Love it

Should have done it earlier.

Congrats

[RoadRunner]

76. Abiquiu

I retired three years ago and moved to Abiquiu, New Mexico. Large artists conclave about 40 miles north of Santa Fe, it was Georgia O'Keefs home. Beautiful country, friendly people. Don’t need air conditioning. If you want to see the landscape, go see the movie “Hostiles” which was made here.

[lunatica]

77. Thanks!

And I’ll definitely watch the movie Hostiles.

[csziggy]

80. My husband's uncle was a photographer in the Santa Fe area for decades

His widow just sold his house with the darkroom and moved into Santa Fe proper. Aside from the inspiring scenery with incredible light that he loved to photograph, the area was very welcoming to his art.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/life/features/ford-robbins---photographer-s-work-showcased-a-love/article_57e19ba7-df72-540b-a6fa-c5d416998a1b.html

[lunatica]

81. Thanks!

Photography is a unique form of art. I love it when it’s used as art.