A list of the best places to retire is always subjective. For many, the best place to retire is where your family and friends are — and the tax rates of another state don’t really enter into it.
However, it’s fair to say that some places are better to spend your golden years than others. Objectively, not accounting for where your kids live, the best places to retire are regions where it is safe and where your money can go farther.
MoneyRates.com just released its annual “Best and Worst States for Retirement” list. The site ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using its own specific formula.
Here’s the methodology for ranking the best places to retire, according to the folks at MoneyRates:
- Senior population. By looking at both the current proportion of seniors and the growth rate of that population segment, this study accounted not just for how many of their peers seniors can expect to find in different states, but also how well each state is attracting older residents.
- Economics. This took into account taxes, cost of living and unemployment, to measure whether a state was affordable and had a thriving economy.
- Crime. This category took into account both violent and property crime.
- Weather. MoneyRates.com looked at a combination of temperature, precipitation and hours of sunshine to measure how pleasant each state’s climate was.
- Senior life expectancy. How long a state’s residents typically live after age 65 reflects on both the healthiness of the state’s environment and the level of medical care available.
Based on the above criteria, these are the best places to retire:
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Idaho
- Florida
- Vermont
As for the worst places to retire, they are:
- Alaska
- Louisiana
- Tennessee
- Illinois
- Nevada
The full analysis, an explanation of the rankings and the full 50-state breakdown is available on MoneyRates.com.
Jeff Reeves is the editor of InvestorPlace.com and the author of The Frugal Investor’s Guide to Finding Great Stocks. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Write him at editor@investorplace.com or follow him on Twitter via @JeffReevesIP.
