Should You Move To Be Near Your Kids and Grandkids in Retirement?

Saving money on should move near kids does not have to be complicated. We rounded up the essentials so you can spend less and skip the guesswork.

Key Takeaways

• More than half of older households already live within 10 miles of an adult child, and research from the University of Wisconsin found that...
• It’s becoming a grandparent.
• That pull is real, and there’s good evidence that acting on it pays off.

More than half of older households already live within 10 miles of an adult child, and research from the University of Wisconsin found that what typically tips people into moving closer isn’t retiring itself. It’s becoming a grandparent.

That pull is real, and there’s good evidence that acting on it pays off. There’s also real money on the line, because a move built mostly on emotion can cost you in ways that don’t show up until you’ve sold the house, signed the papers, and unpacked the boxes.

The Case for Being Close

Financial expert Wes Moss, who has spent years researching what separates happy retirees from unhappy ones, argues that proximity to family deserves as much weight as any of the financial questions.

“Retirees should treat geography as a core part of their happiness plan, not an afterthought, and that means making a serious effort to live near at least half of their adult kids and grandkids. In my research, retirees who live ‘near or close’ to at least 50% of their children are roughly five times more likely to be happy than those who don’t, and in real life client conversations I’ve seen that play out over and over again.”

That’s the upside, and it’s worth taking seriously. The trick is capturing it without undercutting the savings that have to last the rest of your life.

Rent Before You Purchase

This is money expert Clark Howard’s number one rule for anyone considering a retirement move, and it’s the single best way to keep an emotional decision from turning into an expensive one.

“One of my key rules is you should always rent first for six months, a year or even two years if you’re thinking about relocating for retirement,” Clark says. “If it turns out that you don’t like it, at least you’re not all-in owning a home that you’ve now got to get rid of.”

A weekend visit tells you almost nothing about what it’s like to actually live somewhere. A rental does. You’ll learn the traffic, the weather you didn’t expect, how far the good hospital really is, and whether you like the area when there isn’t a holiday or a birthday on the calendar.

You’ll also find out how the new closeness feels in practice. Some families thrive on daily drop-ins. Others discover that ten minutes apart surfaces tensions that 600 miles kept quiet.

Renting first costs you some money in the short run. Buying the wrong house in the wrong place and having to unwind it costs a lot more.

Check What the Move Does to Your Taxes

A move across state lines can quietly reshape your retirement budget. If you’re leaving a state with no income tax, like Florida or Texas, for one that taxes retirement income, that’s real money out of your pocket every year for the rest of your life.

Look at how the new state treats Social Security, pensions, and withdrawals from your retirement accounts. Compare property tax rates, which can swing wildly even between neighboring counties. Factor in the difference in home prices, insurance, and the everyday cost of living. A house that looks comparable on paper can come with a property tax bill double what you’re paying now. Add it all up before you fall for a kitchen.

Don’t Blow Up Your Retirement Plan To Shorten the Drive

The goal is to see your family more, not to spend down your savings faster than you planned. Watch for a few traps:

• Overpaying for a home just because it’s on the right street.
• Taking on a mortgage in your 70s when you’d been close to owning outright.
• Moving to a higher cost-of-living area without adjusting your spending plan to match.

Any of these can shave years off how long your money lasts. Your nest egg has to support you for the rest of your life, including the part where you may need to pay for help. A move that puts that at risk doesn’t actually make you closer to your family. It makes you more dependent on them.

Build a Life There, Not Just an Orbit Around Your Family

Your kids have their own jobs, friends, school pickups, and weekends that fill up fast. If they become your entire social world, you’ll feel it, and so will they.

People with their own community ties tend to report higher life satisfaction than those who lean soley on family for connection. So treat the move as a chance to build something of your own. Find a place to volunteer, a group to join, a part-time gig if you want one, neighbors you actually talk to. It takes the pressure off your kids and it gives you a reason to be there that doesn’t depend on whether they’re free on a given Tuesday.

Your Kids Can Move, and They Probably Can’t Promise They Won’t

This is the part people skip. You can plant yourself three minutes from your daughter’s front door, and then her spouse gets a job offer in another state two years later. It happens constantly. Only about 14% of workers are fully remote, so most adults still follow their paychecks wherever they go.

You can’t ask your kids to turn down a promotion or a better life because you bought a condo nearby. So don’t make a permanent, expensive decision on the assumption that they’ll stay put. Proximity is worth a lot, but if the move only makes sense as long as they never leave, it’s a shaky move.

Don’t Ignore the Boring Practical Stuff

Switching states means finding new doctors and checking whether your Medicare Advantage plan even works in the new area. Original Medicare travels with you anywhere in the country, but Advantage plans run on local networks, so a move can mean rebuilding your whole care team or switching plans during the right enrollment window. Look at how close you’d be to a good hospital, not just to your daughter’s house.

Think about the move itself, too. Selling, hiring movers, and getting set up in a new place adds up to thousands of dollars that come straight out of savings. Build that into the math.

What It All Comes Back To

Run the numbers, rent before you purchase, and protect the nest egg. Then keep Wes’s bottom line in front of you, because the reason for all of it is the part that spreadsheets can’t measure.

“Living nearby doesn’t mean moving into the basement or living on top of each other, but it does mean being close enough to show up for ballgames, school plays, quick dinners, and those everyday moments that become the memories retirees value most. When families ignore this and scatter without a plan, the financial side of retirement might still work, but the happiness side typically doesn’t, so I strongly encourage parents to weigh proximity to their kids and grandkids as heavily as taxes, housing, or weather when they choose where to live.”

The post Should You Move To Be Near Your Kids and Grandkids in Retirement? appeared first on Clark Howard.

Final Thoughts

Before you check out, double-check should move near kids against current offers and any coupons you can stack. Small habits like this add up to real savings over a year.

Originally published at clark.com.