Becoming Tennesseans

I know a lot of you have heard the scuttlebutt of Kathy and I moving to Tennessee.  Well, we have done it!  We are now residents of Hohenwald, TN.  The most asked question is, “Why Tennessee?”  and certainly, “Why Hohenwald?”.  It all starts when we realized that there is no chance of retiring in New Hampshire from a financial standpoint.  Everything is more difficult and more expensive living there.  Property taxes and the hard winter weather are the biggest factors.  The freedom to live as you please here is one of the major reasons for wanting rural Tennessee.

Several years ago we became aware of the tax structure in TN.  The far majority of taxes is collected from a sales tax.  At retirement age we have very little need to purchase for our lifestyle.  In fact we want to cut back on the size of our home and the need for income.  The weather in TN is ideal for us.  We spent several years traveling here at different seasons.  All in all Tennessee was a no-brainer.  Hohenwald, local people asked us, “Why on Earth did you move to Hohenwald?”  With our mail order business we could have gone anywhere in America.  We travel with our own income.  Tennessee, however, is centrally located to the places I travel to teach. 

It seems that most people move to Eastern Tennessee near the mountains and the population.  It being the fastest growing part of Tennessee it was just what Kathy and I want to escape.  We searched TN for water we could own and Hohenwald eventually floated to the top.  Real estate is affordable.  The lifestyle is slower.  The people are friendly.  The topography is that of Southern New Hampshire, not too flat but hilly.  It is more logging country than farming.  The town is the county seat which means it has some stability to its economic base.  There is a clear sense of entrepreneurship.  Small businesses are everywhere.  People seem satisfied to work hard for a living.  Getting rich is not on the minds of most people.  Sports seem to be the entertainment pastime.  Of course I was thrilled to find that there was a racetrack in town and cars as powerful as mine doing frightful things.  We found the water we were looking for.  Five ponds on eleven acres.  Our decision was made.

Moving In

We expected to build at the 5 ponds so we looked for costs to build a home and our business location.    We became aware of the vacant stores in town and decided to purchase one and refurbish it rather than build on our property.  With the prospect of building at a time when we should be retiring we decided that maybe we should purchase if we saw the perfect walk-in home.  Then of course we found it!  A small house on a perfectly groomed 3 acres with a fish pond in the back and a  large garage beside it.  It took us about 12 hours before we purchased it.  We moved in the first of this year and started rebuilding our shop.  The shop is now 95% completed.  We have a little basket shop and showroom in the front and a warehouse and shipping in the back.  We have moved most of our inventory here which filled a railroad car and u-haul truck.  Now we have only to go back to New Hampshire and move my woodshop and all our personal property.  We are taking our time with the front, planning on opening in June.  And so here we are.