the 10 worst states to retire in, etc

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

from Yahoo today:
The 10 Worst States for Retirees in 2012 - Yahoo! Finance
#1 Connecticut
#2 Illinois
#3 Rhode Island
#4 Vermont
#5 Massachusetts
#6 New Jersey
#7 Minnesota
#8 New York
#9 Maine
#10 Wisconsin

Tax-friendly states for retirees:
Tax-Friendly States for Retirees Photos | Tax-Friendly States for Retirees Pictures - Yahoo! Finance
#1 Alaska
#2 Wyoming
#3 Michigan
#4 Pennsylvania
#5 Colorado
(They forgot to put the names of the states in the article. )

 

[Chuckanut]

They left Arkansas off the list of the Ten Best states. No doubt the people who already live there are very happy about that!

 

[nun]

I'd argue that this is an equally valid list of the best states to retire in. Of course it's totally irrelevant on a case by case basis, much like the original list.

List of U.S. states by life expectancy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Taxes do not tell the whole story.

There are some states I will always avoid. Arkansas is one. West Virginia is another. Also NJ and most of Mississippi. Uncertain about OK, but wary.

The USA is a strange place. Many citizens have no idea how strange. It is impossible to explain to a foreigner.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Interesting list, nun. Thanks.

Consider that the data also reflects people either moving there to retire or not moving away to retire.

 

[aldo]

Tis a privilege to live in Colorado

 

[ohyes]

There are some states I will always avoid. Arkansas is one. West Virginia is another. Also NJ and most of Mississippi. Uncertain about OK, but wary.



Being from Arkansas, that stings just a bit, but totally understand MS. As we say in AR, Thank God for Mississipi.

I was sorry to see Maine on the list; we have ties to the state and it is on our semi-short list.

 

[Major Tom]

Taxes do not tell the whole story.

There are some states I will always avoid. Arkansas is one. West Virginia is another. Also NJ and most of Mississippi. Uncertain about OK, but wary.

The USA is a strange place. Many citizens have no idea how strange. It is impossible to explain to a foreigner.

As someone who has now lived in the US for 25 years and never been outside California, Nevada and Oregon (with the exception of 15 minutes in Arizona and a week's vacation in Hawaii), you have really piqued my curiosity. Guess I really need to get that RV I want, and start traveling.

 

[Mulligan]

I'd argue that this is an equally valid list of the best states to retire in. Of course it's totally irrelevant on a case by case basis, much like the original list.

List of U.S. states by life expectancy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I agree its case by case. Of course cost of living is more important than just taxes, as Im sure everyone knows. Illinois is considered a bad place tax wise, but for me, I would save thousands on income tax living there as they exempt state income tax on public pensions.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

No offense intended, ohyes, to Arkansas or any other state or the people who live there. I am just not comfortable there. I would not be welcome.

I might include TN in that list, but I do know a couple of places I could get along in.

I have a friend in OK who worked for a while in Seattle and hated it. (We really do not have much in common outside of a love of our little corner of engineering, but we have that.)

I remember that the Terhorsts said that Louisiana was the foreign-est country they had ever been in. I loved LA, but it illustrates the (let's call it) 'diversity' of the US. I was more at home in Denmark than half the states I have lived in.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Go for it, Major Tom! The US is an amazing country. Some of it is just too amazing for me.

 

[JakeBrake]

Taxes do not tell the whole story.

There are some states I will always avoid. Arkansas is one. West Virginia is another. Also NJ and most of Mississippi. Uncertain about OK, but wary.

The USA is a strange place. Many citizens have no idea how strange. It is impossible to explain to a foreigner.

As a sixth generation Mississippian with no plans to move I am curious as to which part of Mississippi you find to be up to your standards?

 

[Major Tom]

Go for it, Major Tom! The US is an amazing country. Some of it is just too amazing for me.

Yes, I really need to. I've been feeling the urge to break out and explore this country a bit more

 

[W2R]

Yes, I really need to. I've been feeling the urge to break out and explore this country a bit more

There is SO much more to the U.S. than the west coast! Whether you like the rest a lot or not so much, still you have a wonderful adventure in store, IMO. Not that I have seen every state yet, but those I have seen are magnificent.

 

[donheff]

There are some states I will always avoid. Arkansas is one. West Virginia is another. Also NJ and most of Mississippi. Uncertain about OK, but wary.

you have really piqued my curiosity. Guess I really need to get that RV I want, and start traveling.

No offense intended, ohyes, to Arkansas or any other state or the people who live there. I am just not comfortable there. I would not be welcome.

I might include TN in that list, but I do know a couple of places I could get along in.

You piqued my curiosity too. Can you expand on what would make you uncomfortable about these areas? There are a lot of places I wouldn't want to live and I can imagine neighborhoods I couldn't live in but I have always found some people I find copacetic pretty much everywhere I go -- and I am one of those awful secular humanist, east coast, liberals. Even among people who are almost polar opposites of me I find a lot to like (in most, not all) if I don't push religion and politics.

 

[REWahoo]

Even among people who are almost polar opposites of me I find a lot to like (in most, not all) if I don't push religion and politics.

++1

 

[Dawg52]

Originally Posted by donheff
Even among people who are almost polar opposites of me I find a lot to like (in most, not all) if I don't push religion and politics.

++1

I knew I could count on you two as friends.

 

[Midpack]

As we all know, these lists vary wildly. If you don't like one of them, you can probably find another you do like. Most of them just pick some arbitrary or incomplete criteria, and spit out results. The top ten best and worst places to retire is unique to each of us. I actually declined a job offer in Ft Smith about 20 years ago, but AK is just too hot and too far from a major body of water for us, but just our criteria...

And there are lots of amazing places that we love to visit, but we wouldn't want to live in many of them (often weather) and can't afford others (Nantucket would be nice, but it would take a 25% WR).

 

[MichaelB]

As someone who has now lived in the US for 25 years and never been outside California, Nevada and Oregon (with the exception of 15 minutes in Arizona and a week's vacation in Hawaii), you have really piqued my curiosity. Guess I really need to get that RV I want, and start traveling.

The US is an amazing country to travel and get to know. Everywhere I've been I've met nice people and eaten tasty food, without exception.

 

[Midpack]

Even among people who are almost polar opposites of me I find a lot to like (in most, not all) if I don't push religion and politics.

+2. Though it takes two who don't push to make it work...

 

[REWahoo]

I knew I could count on you two as friends.

I know you're on meds, but I don't think there is any cure for what you're suffering from...

 

[travelover]

I'm not sure if this list took into account that Michigan will now start taxing pensions, which may have made it more attractive in the past.

 

[james7]

The USA is a strange place. Many citizens have no idea how strange. It is impossible to explain to a foreigner.

You summed it up very well!!

How did Pennsylvania ever get on the list? Possibly because retiree pensions and SS are not taxed by PA? I would think that one of the most important critera researchers would look at is property taxes because it is a fixed expense one must pay to stay in their home. Newly built McMansions on acre lots in the most beautiful countryside one has ever seen, in the exurbs of Philly, and the property taxes on a $400,000 to $500,000 home are between $10,000 and $12,000 a year!! This is just one example of the outrageous taxes and charges local governments burden PA residents with. Even a local government employee at a small town municipal building told me recently, "Pennsylvania is the state of taxes".

 

[MichaelB]

The USA is a strange place. Many citizens have no idea how strange. It is impossible to explain to a foreigner.

+1

It is easier, and better, to experience than explain the US.

 

[Bestwifeever]

The US is like a lot of mini countries (although many of the states are bigger than a lot of countries!).

I have always heard that Mississippi is a good place to retire to because the meds are plentiful there