It's out of the question for most people

It's not just a little bit more expensive to move to CA.  For those living in other parts of the country, CA stands for high living costs. The money saved from not buying winter coats and not turning on AC? The most expensive thing is housing. Compared with buying a more expensive house, these spending are trivial.

I definitely don't want to move to west coast. To me, the best place to live now and in the future is always where I live now : Fayetteville,  NC. Because my house is paid off.  Buying another house 10 times more expensive to live for retirement is just ridiculous, unless you want to cut off most of your net worth.