Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Downtown Sarasota
Updated March, 2020 (originally published February, 2014) -- All of us have our biases. And, even with the best of intentions, we probably hold our share of stereotypes too. Not just about the rest of humanity, but also food, cars, brands of soda and beer, sports teams, movie stars, and yes - places to retire too. Just as being close-minded about people gets in the way of appreciating them as individuals, dismissing places out of hand could get in the way of finding your retirement town.
Biases and Stereotypes about PlacesLet's first discuss the various types of biases that we have heard people bring up at Topretirements. For each one we will name
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Published on February 17, 2014
Comments 65
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 10, 2014. You’ve probably seen lots of different kinds of lists of the "best places to retire" by now. Those include the likes of: the most affordable places to retire, the most tax-friendly states, and best retirement towns for the arts. Plus there are the best places to retire for.... biking, golf, culture, bookstores etc. So, get ready for yet another sub-category - the best places to retire for livability.
Livability means many things to different people. So although this is our list of 10 great places to retire for livability, your own personal list might be quite different. To help you work on your own list we have tried to identify some of the key factors that make living in a community a pleasure. You might want to add, or subtract your own
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Published on February 10, 2014
Comments 45
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 28, 2014 -- Here in part 2 of this series we profile the winners of 5 more categories of great places to retire year round, along with the
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Published on January 28, 2014
Comments 38
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 14, 2014 -- People who can retire in 2 places have some wonderful choices. They have plenty of great warm wintertime towns in Arizona and Florida to choose from. And for the summertime portion of the year there is almost and endless list of interesting retirement towns. But the situation that most people face - not having enough resources to manage two separate homes, or not wanting to manage the complications of that dual living style - is more difficult. This 2 part series will profile 10 great places to retire year round, along with the
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Published on January 13, 2014
Comments 91
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 16, 2013 -- A while back we wrote an article about retirement in the great American Southwest - "Retirement 101: A Guide to Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah". Recently the comments to this article were rejuvenated when member Mike T volunteered to add comments from his experiences looking for his best place to retire in the region. Ultimately he and his wife settled in Green Valley (AZ), where they have lived for the past 14 years. Mike is a former writer; he not only has a great eye for details but he succeeds in that most difficult of tasks, providing a balanced view. Here we provide a roundup of his recent posts to the original article (we made some minor edits to make it flow into a single article), along with some of the member questions to him from the Comments section of that post. Thanks so much Mike for taking the time to share your thoughts - your insights are incredible!
Mike T: We looked all over Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico in a four year search in most
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Published on December 16, 2013
Comments 11
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 3, 2013 -- We received this question from a member recently and thought it was worth publishing, along with our answer.
Q: Have decided that I want to soon retire to FL but unsure about finding a place to live near one of the coasts or in the interior, such as the Orlando and Ocala areas. Am hearing lots of scary stories about the costs of homeowners and flood insurance if living near the coast, but part
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Published on December 3, 2013
Comments 67
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Nov. 18, 2013 -- Everybody nearing retirement should have their own criteria for choosing a place to retire. For many, it's warm weather. Plenty of others want to be close to family, culture, or a favorite kind of recreation. Taxes on retirement income and distributions are often a key consideration. But for the millions of baby boomers whose meager savings are paired with tiny 401(k)s and social security benefits, finding an affordable place to live is consideration #1. This article provides a list of the most affordable places to retire in the USA, sliced
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Published on November 18, 2013
Comments 18
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
November 5, 2013 -- Note: See the 2018 counterpoint to this article: "Five Reasons Why You Might Not Like a Small Town Retirement". Moving to a small town for retirement is a frequent dream for many baby boomers. After battling urban traffic and/or the hassles of suburban living during your working days, the thought of living in a Norman Rockwell-like community might seem like a relaxing alternative. In this article we will give you 5 good reasons why a small town retirement is a good idea, with an example for each. And for good measure we've included 5 more picks for great small towns at the end of this article. Obviously there are a lot more, so please
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Published on November 5, 2013
Comments 25
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Updated July 21, 2015 (original article was July, 2013. This is part of a series on "Affordable Places to Retire", see Further Reading at end for more.)
-- Finding an affordable place to live in retirement has become a real necessity for today’s retirees. That’s because about half of them say they are worried they won’t have enough money for a comfortable retirement. There are plenty of "best places to retire" sites that offer to help. But would you actually want to live somewhere just because it's cheap? Here is a list of 10 affordable place to retire - communities so nice you might actually want to retire there!
For the record, the NAR reports of the national median to be $205,200 in 1st Q 2015, while Zillow reported $179,000 in mid 2015. Since information on affordable places to retire was a top request in one of our member surveys - Downsizing, Renting, Affordability Dominate..., here we go - "10 Affordable Places to Retire Where You Might Actually Want to Live".
Criteria
In developing this list we decided to adopt some fairly strict
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Published on July 23, 2013
Comments 270
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
July 1, 2013 -- Note: Earlier this spring we asked our members for their ideas for future article subjects. We received some terrific suggestions (see "Downsizing, Renting, Affordability Dominate Your Suggestions"). This article is the second we've written on those suggestions; the first was "12 Steps to Downsizing Success".
Many people’s retirement dream features an escape from winter, made possible by timely moves south and north to avoid brutal climate extremes. For those who can swing it, snowbirding makes for a great lifestyle, although it does complicate the task of finding the best place to retire. That’s because snowbirds not only have to decide where to go to escape the winter chill, but they have to pair that with the best choice to spend the summer. Along the way, some discover unexpected local highlights—like a pay n play casino that caters to part-time residents—adding a fun twist to their seasonal getaways. There is a further complication as well: which location lets them experience the charms of autumn or spring to best advantage. This article will explore some of the key considerations for deciding your ideal winter and summer locations, as well as recommend some of our top snowbird pairings. We also encourage our members to use the Comments section to share their ideas on what makes for the best snowbird choices for living in 2 places.
People who live in the midwest, northeastern U.S., or eastern Canada generally have the strongest desire for the snowbirding retirement lifestyle, since that option provides an escape from
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Published on July 1, 2013
Comments 91
