I finally decided to retire at 70.

[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.