Best places to retire

It is amazing to me the number of times the 'Best Places to Retire' surfaces. Most seem to concentrate on what I view as vacation locations when in all honesty the best place to live in retirement is where you have the strongest family/social ties. All the fancy golf clubs, cheap taxes and the like are do not replace people who care about whether or not you are alive, and if alive how well you are doing.

My $0.02.
 
Brat said:
It is amazing to me the number of times the 'Best Places to Retire' surfaces. Most seem to concentrate on what I view as vacation locations when in all honesty the best place to live in retirement is where you have the strongest family/social ties. All the fancy golf clubs, cheap taxes and the like are do not replace people who care about whether or not you are alive, and if alive how well you are doing.

My $0.02.
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Got a point. BUT......lol. I need cost efficient, warm/hot climates and less stress.
 
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Go for it, where ever it is, but keep in mind that nirvana may not really be the best place to retire late in life.
 
Been working and living overseas on 3 different continents for the last 15 years, and speak 3 languages. Trust me - nothing beats the USA (although Australia sure is nice - aside from the cost of living).
 
Brat said:
It is amazing to me the number of times the 'Best Places to Retire' surfaces. Most seem to concentrate on what I view as vacation locations when in all honesty the best place to live in retirement is where you have the strongest family/social ties. All the fancy golf clubs, cheap taxes and the like are do not replace people who care about whether or not you are alive, and if alive how well you are doing.

My $0.02.
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Yes. I think it is such a popular topic to write about because it doesn't take much knowledge or skill and fills up emply space quickly.
 
W2R said:
Hey, Huntsville is a terrific place! It was #2 on our list, when we were planning to relocate. Alabama has a great tax structure for retirees, as I recall, and "Rocket City" has plenty of scientists, engineers, things to do, U. Alabama at Huntsville, lovely and varied architecture, and so much more.
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Bammer will be my retirement state - I had just assumed it was much like neighboring (and current home) Georgia. (The income tax rate is similar...)

Where does one find out about retirees tax treatment by state?
 
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mmgoebe said:
Been working and living overseas on 3 different continents for the last 15 years, and speak 3 languages. Trust me - nothing beats the USA (although Australia sure is nice - aside from the cost of living).
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Are you counting Strang as one of your languages? :D

I have a little mud on my boots, too, and do not disagree with you at all. Our first choice is to stay where we are (Bellingham, Washington).

I am compelled to have a Plan B, however, since realizing about 15 years ago that we were not going to have enough money to retire in safety, much less comfort in the US. Since then, our circumstances have improved, costs elsewhere have risen, and I am finding that age is going to shut us out of many of the foreign health care arrangements I had been investigating (age limits seldom come up in such discussions until you get there :(). Expatriation is still an option but the choices are more limited than they were in the beginning. With luck, we won't be forced to go anywhere.
 
That Kiplinger's piece is a nice one. Thanks!

And I agree, you want to retire where you feel comfortable, not where some guy filling magazine space thinks is a good one. And being near the things that make you feel comfortable, be that friends, family, golf, temperate climate, etc, is the most important consideration of all.

I remember all those John D. MacDonald novels about folks moving to Florida when they retire from up North somewhere, and wandering around town trying to tell people they used to be somebody, back home, but in Florida they were just some more old people. That always struck me as sad.
 
REWahoo said:
Kiplinger.com
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Kiplinger is probably the best site, but I've found this one helpful also once you've narrowed down the choices Taxes by State. It's interesting that the states with no income tax are not necessarily the lowest (tax) cost when all is said and done due to other taxes, various income deductions, etc.
Many people planning to retire use the presence or absence of a state income tax as a litmus test for a retirement destination. This is a serious miscalculation since higher sales and property taxes can more than offset the lack of a state income tax. The lack of a state income tax doesn’t necessarily ensure a low total tax burden.

States raise revenue in many ways including sales taxes, excise taxes, license taxes, income taxes, intangible taxes, property taxes, estate taxes and inheritance taxes. Depending on where you live, you may end up paying all of them or just a few.
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I remember all those John D. MacDonald novels about folks moving to Florida when they retire from up North somewhere, and wandering around town trying to tell people they used to be somebody, back home, but in Florida they were just some more old people. That always struck me as sad.
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I never was anybody in the first place. :LOL: And I have already lived in Florida. :cool:
 
Sarah in SC said:
:D You two! :D

It is the "Wednesday-waiting-behind-the-old-people-at-Publix" that totally does me in, and I don't even live in Florida! Senior discount day, dontcha know!
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I hope when Im old, I dont slowly pull out a check book to pay for my purchase. I would hate to be a victim of " slow checker line rage" out in the parking lot. :) I dont think the taxes will make or break for me in the retirement location I choose (housing costs and HI will have a greater impact to me) as other costs or lack of costs do wind up counterbalancing the income taxes. That being said, I was a surprised that Arizona is not really that tax friendly to out of state pensioners. The have had so many retirees move there over the years, I just assumed it was. Maybe I can use that as an excuse with my SO to win her over to NV, as that is really my preference.
 
Brat said:
It is amazing to me the number of times the 'Best Places to Retire' surfaces. Most seem to concentrate on what I view as vacation locations when in all honesty the best place to live in retirement is where you have the strongest family/social ties. All the fancy golf clubs, cheap taxes and the like are do not replace people who care about whether or not you are alive, and if alive how well you are doing.
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But this is, like everything else that goes into the "best places" discussions, a personal assessment of your own priorities. There is no one best place for all people. What is best for one might seem like Hell for another.
 
Sarah in SC said:
It is the "Wednesday-waiting-behind-the-old-people-at-Publix" that totally does me in, and I don't even live in Florida! Senior discount day, dontcha know!
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Yeah, and slowly going through the change purse to produce exact change.

Oh, and holding up the line buying several different types of lottery tickets. I really wish convenience stores had an "express lane" where there were no sales of lottery tickets.
 
Lets not be too hard on the old folks. After all, we hope to be them someday ... and some of us already are.

That said, as one whose town often looks like it were one giant senior care facility, the worst isn't the cashier line or inside the supermarket (although they are pretty high up on the list), it's the Publix parking lot.
 
I'll need to add this to my total state tax spreadsheet. What's up with AL & GA?
 

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Sarah in SC said:
That Kiplinger's piece is a nice one. Thanks!
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+1 I hadn't seen that one and it provides a lot of information in a nice format. Thanks!

Sarah in SC said:
And I agree, you want to retire where you feel comfortable, not where some guy filling magazine space thinks is a good one. And being near the things that make you feel comfortable, be that friends, family, golf, temperate climate, etc, is the most important consideration of all.
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Family is very important to many people, although it isn't a top criterion for us. Also, we were surprised to find that the topography and layout of a town was a Big Deal to us. We didn't realize that until we visited the three towns that sounded nicest on the internet. I think it is important to spend some time in a prospective retirement location to make sure one hasn't forgotten some criterion or other.

Sarah in SC said:
I remember all those John D. MacDonald novels about folks moving to Florida when they retire from up North somewhere, and wandering around town trying to tell people they used to be somebody, back home, but in Florida they were just some more old people. That always struck me as sad.
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So true.
 
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Midpack said:
I'll need to add this to my total state tax spreadsheet. What's up with AL & GA?
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We don't like it when people have too much fun.

Even though alcohol is pretty expensive here in AL (and the selection quite limited), you can afford to pay a bit more for it since the rest is pretty cheap.

Also worth nothing that AL imposes sales taxes on everything, including groceries.

Nonetheless, I will be moving to California shortly and my state income tax bill alone will triple... I've had it good in AL.
 
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And for those with more sophisticated tastes. ;)

Alaska is just downright unsociable (this and beer too)! But winter there makes up for it...
 

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Ah hah! The tax difference explains why the "two-buck chuck" wine in California becomes "three-buck chuck" in my state.
 
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