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Originally posted by miamizsun:
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Originally posted by Strawberri:
I'm in the Military and scheduled to retire in two years. My wife and I are doing our research on where to settle down. We have eliminated her hometown in Michigan and she really likes the Shoals. She just doesn’t believe that there is enough to offer.
Your wife is correct. I've studied quite a bit about quality of life in retirement, it is part of my job. If you're considering the Shoals and aren't positively 100% sure, do more research. I grew up there, have family there, but I won't be retiring there.
I'm not being negative about the area, I'm just pointing out that there are much better places to retire. Listen to your wife and be objective, you'll be much happier for it.
You can start here.
I whole heartedly agree with Miamizsun! I too was born and raised in the Shoals area, moved away for a time, and have twice returned in a vain attempt to "go back home". Unfortunately, I've discovered that for me, there is no going home. I've lived away too long, in too many exciting places that had so many more interesting and fun things to do than just eat, boat, play golf and go to the movies or roam around the mall. When you boil it down, that's pretty much all there is to do in the Shoals and you can't even do two of them year round so that leaves eating, movies and mall crawling during the cold months. Sound boring yet?
Yes, the cost of living is low, but the reason for this is there are NO jobs, unless you want to learn welding or work on an assembly line. I still have the majority of my family in the Shoals, but like miamizsun, my husband and I won't be retiring there. We are looking further south, to just below the Florida panhandle on the Gulf side near Panama City or maybe Ft. Walton Beach. There are a couple of Air Force bases there which we can visit for commisary and BX privileges and lots of things to do year round.
I would encourage you to pay attention to your wife and continue to consider other options. A large part of me will always be attached to the Shoals because it was where I spent the first 21 years of my life, but the area is slowly dying and I don't want to die along with it.