Thinking of Retiring to New Hampshire or Vermont

[RichZ]

Anyone who has been following my thread on sciaticia knows of my medical troubles. (Sorry in advance for typos, I'm still pretty stoned on pain meds) My other trouble is that my household is just my wife and me. Our kids are long gone, and have no interest in our farm, having been born and raised on Long Island. We're quickly finding out, that even at our reduced state, our little 10 acre farm is too much for one person to handle. We bought the farm to become a commercial goat farm. I've posted before on how the economy killed our once successful operation,, and we're now down to about a dozen pet goats and about 15 pet sheep, a llama, an alpaca and 2 pet horses, plus a flock of free range chickens for eggs.

I plan on keeping my day job for another 5 years, and then retire. The plan was to retire to become full time goat farmers, and in fact, my wife left her job early to run the farm. But the economy killed that. So we're thinking of eventually selling our little farm and possibly moving to New Hampshire or Vermont. We want something one of us can maintain if neccessary. We'll have no more livestock other than our 4 dogs and 2 cats. We want at least an acre or 2 or land that will need little or no maintenance, possibly woods with some water, a creek or pond. This place is my life's dream, but it kills me to see my wife struggle while I recuperate. I've helped so many neighbors when they have had trouble, but no one is coming to my door to help. Does anyone have any ideas of nice towns to look at? I'd like any experiences good or bad, anything will be helpful. I don't want to go into this cold, and the TBN braintrust has been the best resource that I know of.

We want a small one floor house that will be easy to maintain. I'm 57 with a terrible back, and my wife is 58 also with a bad back. We don't want to move back to the suburbs where we came from, but we just can't keep this up.

So what do you think of the cost of living, property taxes, weather, and anything else you can think of. We live in Cambridge, NY, so the weather willl probably be the same. Neither of us enjoys the heat, so we don't want to move to the south. We've been thinking that we might save money living in New Hampshire or Vermont. We love both states, as they're very similar to where we live now. If the cost of living hadn't gotten so high in NY, we'd try to figure something out to stay here, but without our dairy goat income, we're having a rough time, and even maintaining this place while I'm recovering is tough.

Thanks for any help or advice.

 

[toy]

Would it be possible for you to let the live stock go for the time being until you are on your feet again and just do bare minimum upkeep on the land except where your house is? You could keep the house and the size yard you want going, considering your health at the moment, and then when you get to feeling better then spread back out. Any way you go I wish you the best.

 

[Western]

Would it be possible for you to let the live stock go for the time being until you are on your feet again and just do bare minimum upkeep on the land except where your house is? You could keep the house and the size yard you want going, considering your health at the moment, and then when you get to feeling better then spread back out. Any way you go I wish you the best.

X's 2 if it's possible, or try to hang on and hopefully the economy gets somewhat better for selling. Hard to say though not being in your shoes.

Wonder if you could contact the Boy/Girl scout troop in your area, they may need to "earn" some badges doing farm work?? That would be good for them and you guy's. Just a thought.

 

[Dmace]

Does anyone have any ideas of nice towns to look at? I'd like any experiences good or bad, anything will be helpful. I don't want to go into this cold, and the TBN braintrust has been the best resource that I know of.

For NH living, the Lakes Region is tough to beat. Plenty of lakes and mountains yet less than an hour south to cities like Portsmouth, Manchester and Concord with plenty of shopping. Also an hour north will bring you to large conservation parks with thousands of acres of untouched land for scenic drives or hiking.
Depending on the town, tax rates are lowest in New England (my town is $11.69 per $1000 vs. Cambridge, NY at around $24.48 per $1000) and there is NO sales tax and NO income tax (NY is around 3.5% income tax). A big trend I noticed lately that we have been building is retirement communities. They have really been taken off around here with single story homes with garages for 55+ and all the maintenance is taken care for you.
Here's a small listing of some: NH 55+ Retirement Communities Homes in NH, Best Towns to Retire in NH (New Hampshire), Retirement Communities in NH - SmallTownRetirement.com.

 

[forgeblast]

I drove though most of vt to get a wood stove, its amazing land. Really beautiful, If I didn't live where I do now; I would be in VT.
Lots of rural areas and many farms selling directly to consumers. I dont know how bad the winters are but summer seemed like it was perfect.
I drove up 22a to I-89. I would think anything off of 22a, outside the major cities would be perfect.

 

[Carl_NH]

Rich,

As Derek said NH has some nice areas - low real estate taxes in some towns. The seacoast is nice but taxes tend to be higher except for New Castle but houses there are $$$. When on a fixed income after buying housing the local taxes are probably the biggest consideration.

The tax rate is set based on services - police, fire, water, trash, schools, etc.

There are several towns in the Sunapee region with low taxes, also near Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical center for care purposes, then also along the CT river north/south of Lebanon would not be bad - find a place on the river, or small stream should be doable.


This would put you about an hour to Manchester NH give or take, then if you still go to Long Island I91 is not a long drive south too.

Attached is a tax rate table from 2006 - its out of date but at least gives you a perspective.

Carl

 

[dave1949]

A big trend I noticed lately that we have been building is retirement communities. They have really been taken off around here with single story homes with garages for 55+ and all the maintenance is taken care for you.

I thought about recommending condos or similar. It could be hard to find ones that will accept 4 dogs and two cats.

There is a building/development market, I think, for the type of situation the OP is looking for. Green space, pets, rural setting, maybe a garden plot to use, get rid of most of the typical condo rules, without it being over the top and expensive. A planned community type of thing that makes sense for retired people looking for a more rural life style.
Dave.

 

[Piston]

I agree that the Lakes Region of NH is a nice area. I'm too young to retire now but my wife and I will be moving up there in a couple years and plan on being there for the rest of our lives. We're not into the hot and humid either, and the MA income tax is killing me.

As a side note, I personally would never move somewhere just based on tax rates and such, however it is certainly a great advantage if you find a place you like, and it happens to have a good tax rate.

 

[Transit]

Keep in mind that you have medical needs now and to come. Are the resources their if and when you need them?

 

[RichZ]

Thanks for the info guys.

Transit, you really hit on my main concern. Here in NY I can get the best medical care in the world. I just had back surgery by a world class spinal surgeon. My hospital (Saratoga Hospital) was like a resort. My wife said that if we stayed in a hotel with a room half as nice as my private (no extra charge) room in that hospital, she'd be thrilled. Is medical care in New Hampshire that advanced? My research hasn't gotten that far yet.