I'm turning 63 next week.  I retired at age 55 and haven't yet applied for SS due to the tax and medical insurance problems it causes.
I don't think it will be politically possible to screw people out of SS, but I do expect a "Haircut" for those above a certain income level.
I'm pretty sure I won't exceed that level.
Sorry to read you must leave due to health concerns. Sorry that we have not had a chance to meet on the BI.
I looked into going back to WA state( no state income tax) Great medical, but all things added up it is cheaper to stay on the big island.
We actually have pretty good medical here.  Most people that have exceptional needs jump on a plane.  One of my neighbors
recently sent wife and sick daughter to Boston for three months for very special treatment for the kid. Community and family
came together to help them.

The problem is not so much the quality of the healthcare, it is the scarcity of doctors and hospitals nearby and the ability to see someone within a few days is just not there yet. My wife's medical issues can degrade quickly and visits to emergency get old real fast. But if the emergency room is 1.5 hour drive from my house, then that causes a problem as well for her. Even with the fine healthcare they have here, they misdiagnosed her in the emergency room in the morning and we were back a few hours later where they finally figured it out. Both times she had to be transported by ambulance. The nearest ambulance out there is 45 minutes away with an hour to an hour and a half drive to the hospital. Even with the ambulance only a few minutes away here, she almost died. I won't let that happen again. Preventative is the best way, but I am not a doctor and if I had known I could have helped prevent her from almost dying the first time. If something happens again and I don't recognize the symptoms a long ambulance trip can mean disaster. That is the real reason we decided not to move there. We cannot afford to buy close to town. So it looks like our best plan is to find an area that is close to medical facilities on the mainland.

The problem is not so much the quality of the healthcare, it is the scarcity of doctors and hospitals nearby and the ability to see someone within a few days is just not there yet. My wife's medical issues can degrade quickly and visits to emergency get old real fast. But if the emergency room is 1.5 hour drive from my house, then that causes a problem as well for her. Even with the fine healthcare they have here, they misdiagnosed her in the emergency room in the morning and we were back a few hours later where they finally figured it out. Both times she had to be transported by ambulance. The nearest ambulance out there is 45 minutes away with an hour to an hour and a half drive to the hospital. Even with the ambulance only a few minutes away here, she almost died. I won't let that happen again. Preventative is the best way, but I am not a doctor and if I had known I could have helped prevent her from almost dying the first time. If something happens again and I don't recognize the symptoms a long ambulance trip can mean disaster. That is the real reason we decided not to move there. We cannot afford to buy close to town. So it looks like our best plan is to find an area that is close to medical facilities on the mainland.

This is a very Oahu centrist site so most people don't appreciate your  words about your remoteness on the BI.  Good luck.
All things being equal I'd suggest Houston above the flood plain.

This is a very Oahu centrist site so most people don't appreciate your  words about your remoteness on the BI.  Good luck.
All things being equal I'd suggest Houston above the flood plain.

I’m sad we won’t have that beer we talked about. But I have to do the right thing for my wife.

We were talking about Flagstaff and surrounding area which is up in elevation and cooler. Next choice might be somewhere in NV or TX. I like Austin but I hear it it turning progressive. I am actually liking some areas of south Utah. But we’ll see. We have lot’s of time to look around and decide what we want to do.

I’m sad we won’t have that beer we talked about. But I have to do the right thing for my wife.

We were talking about Flagstaff and surrounding area which is up in elevation and cooler. Next choice might be somewhere in NV or TX. I like Austin but I hear it it turning progressive. I am actually liking some areas of south Utah.

Last week I saw a 3/2 house, 1600 sq ft on 40.5 acres in Flagstaff area for $162k.  Off grid.  Only drawback is water has to be trucked in, but there are water haulers available, like on the BI.  Flagstaff gets too cold for me.  What I plan to do after my oldest Rottweiler dies, she is 10, is rent and not buy, a place on the mainland.  I saw 2/1 vacation rental apartments in Kingman AZ for $585 a month.  That way I have the freedom to move whenever I want.  Using vacation rentals, other than my clothes, car and a few personal items, I won’t need to own anything else.   Talked the wife into that idea, as long as we come back to Hawaii every 2 months and stay here a month.  I plan to move to different parts of the country during the most pleasant times of the year, as long as it is a state that I can legally CCW.

I like Austin but I hear it it turning progressive.

"Turning"?

It has been the San Fagsicko of Texas for quite a while now from what i have read..

"Turning"?

It has been the San Fagsicko of Texas for quite a while now from what i have read..

I have not been there for 18 years. Shows you how much I know.

Last week I saw a 3/2 house, 1600 sq ft on 40.5 acres in Flagstaff area for $162k.  Off grid.  Only drawback is water has to be trucked in, but there are water haulers available, like on the BI.  Flagstaff gets too cold for me.  What I plan to do after my oldest Rottweiler dies, she is 10, is rent and not buy, a place on the mainland.  I saw 2/1 vacation rental apartments in Kingman AZ for $585 a month.  That way I have the freedom to move whenever I want.  Using vacation rentals, other than my clothes, car and a few personal items, I won’t need to own anything else.   Talked the wife into that idea, as long as we come back to Hawaii every 2 months and stay here a month.  I plan to move to different parts of the country during the most pleasant times of the year, as long as it is a state that I can legally CCW.

Being off grid/trucking in water is preferable. I think Flagstaff might be too cold for me as well. But I don’t want to live in the heat anymore. I have never lived anywhere it snows before. So it will be a new experience for me. It is still a mild winter there, so we’ll see. After your earlier comments I looked into Kingman and I think it will be too hot for my taste. But again, we’ll see. With my wife being somewhat disabled I need to provide her a more stable living environment for her. Moving around, or as I say, being dynamic or fluid is not an option at this point. But your new lifestyle sounds like fun to me. We once talked seriously about selling everything and living the mobile lifestyle.

I have never been able to CCW in my lifetime. So again, it will be a new experience for me. That is why I am only considering states that allow me to as well.

This is a very Oahu centrist site so most people don't appreciate your  words about your remoteness on the BI.  Good luck.
All things being equal I'd suggest Houston above the flood plain.

Houston? Not sure how long it’s even since you lived there, but from what I’ve heard from a good friend, it’s mostly a $hithole. He’s a detective now with Houston PS, so his opinion probably doesn’t mean much to you. His wife is an EMT, so maybe they’ve seen the worst parts of life there. They live just outside the “bad areas”, so maybe that’s where one must look. He’s lived there most of his life and would move if it wasn’t for his family (family business still there).

Houston? Not sure how long it’s even since you lived there, but from what I’ve heard from a good friend, it’s mostly a $hithole. He’s a detective now with Houston PS, so his opinion probably doesn’t mean much to you. His wife is an EMT, so maybe they’ve seen the worst parts of life there. They live just outside the “bad areas”, so maybe that’s where one must look. He’s lived there most of his life and would move if it wasn’t for his family (family business still there).

Most of Houston is a sewer,  I did not like the weather. But if you stay in the suburbs it is OK.
Excellent medical facilities is why I recommended it.   If I were to have to relocate to the mainland
I'd go back to WA state, probably around Ilwaco, but most people could not handle the weather.
WA is a shall issue state, but they are becoming more like Hawaii with stupid gun laws being
passed by the population of a single city, Seattle, that rules the entire state( sound familiar?)

Most of Houston is a sewer,  I did not like the weather. But if you stay in the suburbs it is OK.
Excellent medical facilities is why I recommended it.   If I were to have to relocate to the mainland
I'd go back to WA state, probably around Ilwaco, but most people could not handle the weather.
WA is a shall issue state, but they are becoming more like Hawaii with stupid gun laws being
passed by the population of a single city, Seattle, that rules the entire state( sound familiar?)

I used to live in Seattle and then eventually up in Lynnwood and Everett. Ilwaco seems pretty far out there and away from medical. When I was in college, I lived on Pill Hill. Maybe a block away from Providence and others like Harborview were super close.

I’ve only been back once since I moved back to HI, but yeah, Seattle I had very much changed, and not for what I see as the better in many regards.

I used to live in Seattle and then eventually up in Lynnwood and Everett. Ilwaco seems pretty far out there and away from medical. When I was in college, I lived on Pill Hill. Maybe a block away from Providence and others like Harborview were super close.

I’ve only been back once since I moved back to HI, but yeah, Seattle I had very much changed, and not for what I see as the better in many regards.

Sounds you were at Seattle U?  I went there for a year or so.  Then you migrated to Boeing
Everett or Fluke.
Ilwaco is out there but close to Portland and not really that far from Seattle's  Pill Hill.
You are right Seattle has not changed for the better.
Have a good weekend!

I just checked my SSA account on their website and it appears that SSA payments should be a good deal for me if I live another 5 years.  I am 68 and started collecting in June 2014.  I put $192983 in SSA payments during my working years.  At the end of this month, I will have received  $102171 in SSA payments.  My wife, age 62, just started collecting in August.  She didn’t work much so her payment on her work record is only $304, but they added spousal benefits off my income of an additional $532, so she gets $836 a month.

Unfortunately for you Gen X and Millennials guys, us Baby Boomers will suck SS dry before you get to collect much, if any, SSA payments.  Sorry.

Inspector and anyone else who can collect, do it now is my advice.

I just checked my SSA account on their website and it appears that SSA payments should be a good deal for me if I live another 5 years.  I am 68 and started collecting in June 2014.  I put $192983 in SSA payments during my working years.  At the end of this month, I will have received  $102171 in SSA payments.  My wife, age 62, just started collecting in August.  She didn’t work much so her payment on her work record is only $304, but they added spousal benefits off my income of an additional $532, so she gets $836 a month.

Unfortunately for you Gen X and Millennials guys, us Baby Boomers will suck SS dry before you get to collect much, if any, SSA payments.  Sorry.

Inspector and anyone else who can collect, do it now is my advice.

So next range day, all the baby booomers will give 1 box ammo to us genXers.   

Good luck Zippz trying to get this past AARP.  People think the NRA is a powrful lobbying group, those people clearly don’t know AARP. 

Inspector and anyone else who can collect, do it now is my advice.

I agree with this 100%. I can’t start for another year+ but as soon as I become 62 I will start. I read somewhere that in 2022 the system will undergo some changes for those who have not started collecting yet. So my starting in 2020 is a defensive move so those changes don’t affect me. I’m very near the end of what is considered a baby boomer. I believe the changes coming in 2022 are designed to effect the Gen Xer’s and beyond.

Besides, I want the ability to retire if I so decide to. My body is telling me sooner rather than later.

This is a very Oahu centrist site so most people don't appreciate your  words about your remoteness on the BI.  Good luck.
All things being equal I'd suggest Houston above the flood plain.

TX is not off the table for us. We are still discussing. The only real downside I see about TX is the high property taxes. I get that there is no state sales tax and that between the two taxes I pay something similar here. It just is much more apparent when you have to write that big check once or twice a year.

My wife and I also discussed CO and NM. I told her that CO is not necessarily gun friendly state. She said then CO is out. Considering she is not a fan of my gun hobby, she knows how much it means to me so she supports me. So NM is also a possiblilty. I think right now AZ is our top choice with TX and UT coming in a close second.

Thanks!

So next range day, all the baby booomers will give 1 box ammo to us genXers.   

Being off grid/trucking in water is preferable. I think Flagstaff might be too cold for me as well. But I don’t want to live in the heat anymore. I have never lived anywhere it snows before. So it will be a new experience for me. It is still a mild winter there, so we’ll see. After your earlier comments I looked into Kingman and I think it will be too hot for my taste. But again, we’ll see. With my wife being somewhat disabled I need to provide her a more stable living environment for her. Moving around, or as I say, being dynamic or fluid is not an option at this point. But your new lifestyle sounds like fun to me. We once talked seriously about selling everything and living the mobile lifestyle.

I have never been able to CCW in my lifetime. So again, it will be a new experience for me. That is why I am only considering states that allow me to as well.

Take a look at Prescott, AZ. Really nice, has all the amenities, VERY VERY pro 2nd AND Ruger is located there! Been seriously considering a permanent move there. Spent 3 months there after I retired and hated to leave. 

Take a look at Prescott, AZ. Really nice, has all the amenities, VERY VERY pro 2nd AND Ruger is located there! Been seriously considering a permanent move there. Spent 3 months there after I retired and hated to leave. 

Have a former co-worker lives in Prescott and he loves it.  Almost too close to Phoenix if the balloon goes up, but the place sounds well armed.

I periodically mention it to my wife, who is adamant about no more moves across the ocean.  Tell her she may end up here by herself if she does not want me living in the bush to avoid a gun-grab.

TX is not off the table for us.

Luckily for us, I spent a few weeks north of Dallas working at E-Systems in the middle of summer.

That was enough to convince me I could not tolerate that climate.   Different parts of Tx might be better, but I know from my brother that Houston is far worse.

Dallas area was bad as Florida but without an ocean.