Drawbacks to Retiring in Montana

Many think Montana is one of the best places for seniors to retire. From its wide-open spaces to the availability of health care, planning your retirement in Montana can be a sound decision. However, before selling your house and packing up all of your possessions, consider some of the drawbacks to retiring in the Treasure State.

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It Can Be Expensive - It doesn't help that no place in Montana appears on either the AARP's or Caring.com's lists of inexpensive places to live or retire. Overall, according to Sperling's Best Places, Montana's cost of living in 2014 was 6.9 percent higher than the national average, and Bankrate rated Montana as the 27th best state in cost of living.
You May Feel Isolated -  At an overall population density of less than 7 people per square mile, it's easy to go days without seeing people you don't already know. Even the "next town over," which may be where you need to go to take advantage of some service a retiree needs, can be a multiple-hour drive. Montana is for the self sufficient.

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It's Not for the Inactive  - Although there are museums, galleries, and entertainment venues for those living a more sedantary lifestyle, Montana's life is built around the great outdoors. Enticements to vist or move to Montana are built around skiing, hiking, mountain biking, stream fishing. "No Montana home would be complete, it seems, without hiking boots, skis and fishing poles," according to MarketWatch.
The Weather Can Be Extreme. - "The joke often goes there are two seasons here: winter and August," MarketWatch says. On average, Montana weather doesn't look bad. Climate data for the northern ski resort of Whitefish shows an average high temperature of 53 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 31 F. However, in December and January, the high doesn't even crack 30 F. and the lows are in the teens from December through February. In July and August, expect 30-degree temperature swings over the course of the day. Weather variations in the bigger cities to the south are a bit milder.