Should I sell my Denver home and move to a cheaper city when I retire?

If you own a home in Denver and you're thinking about retirement, selling and moving to a lower-cost market is one of the most practical wealth moves available to you right now. Denver home values have held up well, and the equity sitting in that property is real, spendable money that most families never actually plan around. The question isn't whether you can do it. The question is whether you have a clear plan for what comes after. Most people I talk to have thought about where they want to go but haven't worked backward from that destination to figure out what the sale actually has to fund. Assisted living in a new city, family proximity, health access, property taxes in that new state — these are the numbers that determine whether a geographic move actually improves your financial picture or just moves the pressure somewhere new. The equity in your Denver home is only as powerful as the plan you build around it. Steady, practical thinking before the sale closes is what separates a smart retirement move from a stressful one. The timing matters too. Waiting until a health event forces the decision is the one scenario where families consistently get the worst outcome, financially and emotionally. Making a clear choice from a position of stability, not urgency, is the whole game. If you're a Denver homeowner thinking about this in the next one to three years — have you actually run the numbers on what your monthly life would look like in the city you're considering, including what you'd do with the proceeds from your sale here?