We love to ski but are struggling even with a $1 million house budget — what’s an affordable ski town where we can retire?
Originally published on MarketWatch on Feb. 20, 2021
Dear MarketWatch, My wife and I are both federal employees and will retire in a few years with total (combined) pensions of around $10,000 a month. Our nest egg for retirement (TSP plus savings) will be another $2 million or so. Social Security will kick in on top of that.
We both love skiing and ski towns, but also lakes with forest running and mountain biking trails. It seems hard to find affordable ski towns that aren’t too touristy with good lakes and water sports nearby. We’d prefer not to be too far from a “real” city to get our urban fix, when needed. We have $200,000 available for a down payment. That would put a house budget at around $1 million. We’ve looked at Park City — it’s pricey these days. Aspen Valley is way out of reach, as is Breckenridge. East Coast skiing is icy and unpredictable. Places like Whitefish (in Montana) or Crested Butte (in Colorado) are nice but remote and hard to get to. Same with Durango. New Mexico lacks the lake options (ie, Santa Fe, Taos). Lake Tahoe is congested and full of casinos and second homes. I feel like we must be missing something. Any ideas? Thanks! Dillon
