Have two co-workers who are actively planning to relocate once they retire - one in 2 years, one in 3 years - to live in the same city as their children & grandchildren. That city is over a thousand miles away from where they current live. Don't quite understand the concept of uprooting yourselves from a life to start all over again. Hear from people that have relocated for work reasons that it becomes more difficult to make friends and establish oneself in a new community. Choosing to do so is something I find strange.

And those children and grandchildren have busy lives of their own, so they are not going to be all about making sure the parent(s) are settled and adjusting well; nor should they be. Given the mobility of people and families these days, what happens when those children are transferred to another location or receive another job offer - do you follow them again?

Of course, I do understand if there are financial reasons for moving in with children - would certainly never be my first choice, so I am doing all the planning/saving/investing I can to make sure I never get there......