I just wish it wasn’t so bloody hot for about 6 months out of the year. Otherwise, we have great medical care here, decent infrastructure, good restaurants, a Costco business center, and an international airport. 
How is your water supply if Lake Meade goes dry?
Andy
Georgia and Texas both have a higher % of residents of Asian descent than Arizona does. If your stereotypes were correct, I suspect people would be inclined to move elsewhere.
They won’t let Lake Mead go dry. I read something that they’ll shut off the tap, so to speak, to prevent that. Because otherwise the hydroelectric generators would have to shut off.
We also have Lake Roosevelt, and wells. But I am expecting restrictions to be implemented at some point. I just read that NV -I think- has outlawed grass. We may have to follow suit.
Perhaps Asians specifically, but both GA and TX are whiter than AZ. I just checked the stats. Whites are the largest minority, but they are not a majority as of 2020. About 57% here are non-white. I see miscegenous couples all the time here.
As I said, I’m sure there are great places in all those states. I just don’t know where they are, and where the KKK are prevalent (and the tiki-torch marchers, and such). Yes, the KKK is everywhere. But their birthplace is in the deep South.
Plus I understand the humidity sucks.
We also have Lake Roosevelt, and wells. But I am expecting restrictions to be implemented at some point. I just read that NV -I think- has outlawed grass. We may have to follow suit. - 1pg
Outlawing grass. LOL. That only kicks the can down the road. If they actually want to solve the problem, they would outlaw population growth. Cancelling grass will be offset by population growth in a month, a year, not sure when but it certainly will before too long. After that what do you cancel?
But population growth is somehow sacred to politicians. We must grow so that we have the tax revenue to build new infrastructure to accommodate all the growth we are experiencing. Circular logic.
poorguy, you ever looked next door in New Mexico? Some very nice options there, depending on what you’re looking for.
The Count has suggested NM. It’s not as hot, for sure. I’ve only ever been once (to visit the El Morro NP, and check out Ramah which I had heard good things about).
Certainly worth further consideration. We’d have to be nearing a major city for medical, though. In Ramah you’re out in the boonies. Lovely, but the nearest hospital is on Native land, I believe. And they’ll helicopter you from there to ABQ.
Yeah…specifically “non-functional grass”.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/drought-stricken-nevada-…
I guess that was primarily to exempt golf courses.
Oregon is one of the few places I know of that limits growth. At least the county where Portland is. But it is a moving cap, not an absolute cap. It moves every so often. Unless they changed it (I read about it several years ago…they issue building permits on one side of a line, but not the other…if no place is available on the one side, you can’t build).
Nevada relies on the Colorado River. At least southern NV does. Due to climate change, the snowpack in the Rockies is less and less, so the meltwater that drains into the Colorado is less and less. UT, NV, CA, and AZ all have straws in that river.
Population growth combined with drought (which has been going on for at least 10 years in AZ) isn’t a good situation.
1poorguy
Hawaii is definitely not “just a place.” At least it wasn’t when I first went there about 10 years after statehood. After six years, I had to move to England, as special opportunities were opening to me there. I keep in touch with friends in Hawaii by email and they say that Oahu has about 10 times the population than it did in the old days. Lots more construction and congestion and traffic and crime and homelessness. The other islands might retain some of the original vibes though. It could well be
true: Maui no ka oi.
culcha
Hawaii is definitely not “just a place.” At least it wasn’t when I first went there about 10 years after statehood. After six years, I had to move to England, as special opportunities were opening to me there. I keep in touch with friends in Hawaii by email and they say that Oahu has about 10 times the population than it did in the old days. Lots more construction and congestion and traffic and crime and homelessness. The other islands might retain some of the original vibes though. It could well be
true: Maui no ka oi.
Oahu is my least favorite Hawaiian island.
PSU
However, I’ve traveled HI extensively. Oahu is very crowded. There are still wild places, but Honolulu is sprawled.
Kaua’i, Mau’i, and the Big Island are all developed, but they seem less city-like than Oahu. At least to me. My favorite is the Big Island, especially the Kona side.
People are still generally friendly, though there seems to be a push-back against tourism. Probably because tourists show up and think they have the right to trash everything.
I bet it was wonderful after statehood. Alas, before I was born. First time I went was early 2000s when I was nearly 40. At least for me, it was an attitude adjustment. There was something inherently calming about the place. I came back to the mainland, to my job, and was like “yeah, take it easy, I’m doin’ it”. Approached my job without letting it stress me out. I still find it calming to return.
I still wear aloha shirts a lot. I doubt I’ll ever wear a tie again (not that I wore one often anyway).
1poorguy (just happens to be wearing aloha swim shorts at this moment)
1poorguy: “Perhaps Asians specifically, but both GA and TX are whiter than AZ. I just checked the stats. Whites are the largest minority, but they are not a majority as of 2020. About 57% here are non-white.”
What is your data source.
First one I found disagrees - https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/states-by-race
Regards, JAFO
Good catch. I went back and realized I gave the birth stats. Not the current population stats. My bad.
Though births may foretell the future.
Honolulu is sprawled.
Honolulu is densely populated, to be sure, but not so much sprawled. I can (and do!) walk from Waikiki to deserted mountain trails that run through the forest and past waterfalls. I routinely bike from “town” to some of the most awe-inspiring spots on earth. Most of the island is wilderness, and the windward side is stunningly beautiful. People visit Waikiki with maybe a quick trip into Chinatown and think they know Oahu.
Even Waikiki, where I live for half the year, has its charms. I hang out at places that people spend thousands of dollars to visit for a few days in their lives. Live music under the stars for the price of a beer, every night. I’m out in the ocean at least four days out of every week when I’m there. The view from my outrigger canoe of Waikiki with the mountains behind it and a rainbow overhead never gets old.
Boulder City Nv has a cap on growth also.
http://bouldercitycommunityalliance.com/growth-ordinance/
But yes the whole Colorado system is in jeopardy. They really need to build a water pipe from the Mississippi to the Colorado river and this would alleviate floods on the Mississippi and put more water in the Colorado. This could be accomplished by building a catch basin lake and pumping the water out but only during flooding season.
Andy
There is always something positive about a place if you choose to look.
You’ve never been to Mississippi, I take it.
I've been to Mississippi numerous times, and I have found at least one thing that I really enjoy doing every time I go there. And that would be packing my bags and leaving.Outlawing grass. LOL. That only kicks the can down the road. If they actually want to solve the problem, they would outlaw population growth. Cancelling grass will be offset by population growth in a month, a year, not sure when but it certainly will before too long. After that what do you cancel?
Believe it or not, domestic indoor water in Las Vegas is treated and pumped back into Lake Meade. Domestic outdoor water is the single biggest consumer of water in Las Vegas, so it makes sense to target that first.
I did part of this with some MYGAs to cover the first 4-5 years.
I would point out that an alternative to MYGAs that also covers a several year period by providing specific amounts in each year would be to buy target date corporate bond ETFs, like IBDN - 2022; IBDO - 2023; IBDP - 2024; etc. iShares also has target date ETFs for muni bonds, Treasuries, and high yield corporate bonds, so you can get most any flavor you want. All of the bonds in the ETF are set to mature in the target year, and when all of the bonds have matured, the principal is disbursed to the shareholders. As long as you don’t pay above par, and you hold to maturity, you will basically get your principal back (minus any defaults, which are likely going to be mostly in the high yield ETF). In the mean time, you will get cash flow from the interest the bonds pay. Average YTM for the corporate funds varies from 2.14% for the 2022 fund to 4.51% for the 2031 fund, and the expense ratio is 0.10% a year.
If you need to sell before maturity, it’s quite easy to sell these - just like any other ETF. Yes, if the rates have gone up, you will probably suffer some principal loss vs. holding to maturity. But if you had to sell MYGAs early, I suspect that the surrender fees would just as bad, if not worse.
AJ
How have you been preparing to retire? How long has that process been? It sounds like you have not taken the leap yet.
I have been looking into it for a few years have had the idea that I should do it by mid-decade. In the past few years, my stock investments have done well and extremely well the past 2 years or so I thought. A big chunk of the gain from these past 2 years have evaporated. I had some thoughts in early 2021 of changing the composition of my portfolio moving to more income producing and ‘stable’ stocks from a portfolio that has been mostly growth oriented. Those went up fast but went down even faster over the past 6 months.
I did that but not to any large extent so I still have a portfolio biased towards high growth.
I am wondering how I would manage and react if I were retired in these past 2 years. I suffered a now 50% drop from the Nov 2021 highs, and I don’t know how much more drop there will be.
How are you handling such a drop?
How are the retirees handle such a drop?
We don’t want to miss the come back but that could happen this year? next year? the year after? and meanwhile it is still dropping.
I have bought a bit but I have very limited funds and I cannot keep on buying. The problem is I think there is a lot of money on the sideline but it is not moving in a this time.
Sure this should be a short time problem. But it could be quite long 1,2 or 3 years?
tj
I had some thoughts in early 2021 of changing the composition of my portfolio moving to more income producing and ‘stable’ stocks…
Income is good in that it allows you to ignore down markets, assuming you have enough income to provide for your day to day expenses. However, depending on when you take SS and pensions, early retirement can be a golden time to realize capital gains. We are retired and recently sold a rental property that was taxed at a seriously low capital gains rate. A lack of ordinary income can be wonderful for realizing profits with low taxation. This website allows you to play with the ordinary/CG income to visualize how you get taxed on it. Not all dividends from stocks are taxed as CG.
https://engaging-data.com/tax-brackets/
There can be real tax freedom in avoiding income producing stocks.
IP