Where Should You Retire

Where Should You Retire

This is a question I get all the time, and a super fun blog to write.  Being I live and work in the tri-state region it is a question clients ask all the time.  Should I stay in Delaware or move to Pennsylvania (or vice versa).  Should I move to Florida or somewhere else? 

Good news, I am here to answer all those fun questions.  I will preface I cannot take credit for this study as Wallethub did a great job rating different criteria and coming up with a general retirement state score.  I will spend a few minutes however discussing the findings.

Below is a link to the study:

The Study

The Worst:

What were the 5 worst states to retire in?  New Mexico, Washington, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Kentucky came in last for the worst retirement states.  The three main areas that they rank to come up with their score are affordability, quality of life, and health care.

Parsing this out a little the worst states for affordability are New Jersey, New York, Washington, Massachusetts, and Hawaii (although let’s face it I’d move there tomorrow). 

The worst 5 for quality of life are Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi; while the worst 5 for health care are Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and West Virginia. 

The Best:

Now if we look at this through rose-colored glasses what are the best states to live in according to the lovely folks at Wallethub?  The Sunshine State came in at 1 and ranks like this, Florida, Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming, and you heard it here first South Dakota! 

Breaking this by the main three categories affordability ranks Wyoming, Florida, Alabama, Delaware (what what), and Nevada.  Quality of life ranks Maine, Florida, Wyoming, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.  Finally, health care ranks Minnesota, Massachusetts, Colorado, South Dakota (who knew), and California.

Random Thoughts:

I have a lot of random thoughts running around my head thus I’ll share them now.  Florida coming in first doesn’t overly shock me, although every crazy news story always starts with “Florida man” and then followed by some bizzarro news.  That said the weather is perfect for those retirement bones, no state tax, and very favorable estate tax laws.  I guess it speaks to why so many people, including my own beautiful mother, choose to retire there. 

One of the big questions we get is Delaware or Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania ranks right out of the top 5 at number 6 while Delaware ranks only 2 spots down at 8.  I know this doesn’t help guide many people making the decision between the two, but I can tell you it seems to depend on what is your most important factor.  Delaware crushes on affordability coming in at number 4 vs. 22 for Pennsylvania.  However, the quality of life for Pennsylvania comes in at 5 vs 35 for Delaware.  Healthcare is close enough and easy to hop state lines that I don’t think should weigh in on your decision.

I also know we have lots of clients in the New Jersey area, and they come in at 45 on the list.  Now, I wouldn’t let these rankings be the tail that wags the dog.  However, I do think it can help you think through what the right place for you is to retire too.  There are so many other factors like activities, where your kids or grandkids live, and the social scene that may prove more important in determining the right area for you and your beloved.  Guess said differently it is a good exercise to determine what is most important to you in deciding where you spend the bulk of your golden years. 

In conclusion, I hope you found this study eye-opening and at very least a fun discussion piece.  I find studies like this can help provide a foundation for a constructive discussion on your retirement.  Hope you enjoyed the study as much as I did and as always stay wealthy, healthy, and happy!