[Loony Singer]

We’ve been retired for a decade or so. Here are a few thoughts on the OP’s topic. (1) after retiring, we moved to the Lake, which remains our primary residence. We have family in MA and it was important for us to stay close to them. (2) originally, we were planning to use the proceeds from selling our MA house to buy something in coastal FL. But my practical wife talked me out of that. She pointed out that then we would then have to worry about weather problems in two properties when living at the other. So we are in NH about 10 months a year and rent in FL for the other two. It has worked well for us. (3) if you’re looking for warmth, the weather between northern FL and southern FL varies quite a bit. We’ve seen freezing temps when visiting friends in Jacksonville. We rent near Sarasota, and the highs can be in the upper fifties in late January. We have relatives on Sanibel and they’re usually about 10 degrees warmer. (4) Look at the Interstate Highway map. I-95 draws most folks from the Northeast, and they tend to go to the Atlantic side of FL. I-75, on the other hand, draws snowbirds from the Midwest and Canada, so they mostly go to the Gulf Coast. These are generalities of course. But we think that this results in the Gulf Coast being a bit more laid back (or sleepy, depending on your preference).