Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
May 21, 2013 -- The heck with what all the so called "experts" think with their fancy best places to retire lists - you've told us what's most important - where YOU think those places are. So thanks to the more than 130 members who took the time to answer our recent survey - "Tell us where you think the best place to retire is, and why". Your answers are always so rich with details and interesting reasons! It was fun to look at your choices and understand your reasons for selecting them.
We will do our best to summarize and make sense of the amazing data you so generously provided. While we should caution that 130 responses do not make for a statistically reliable sample. On the other hand, your rich comments do provide some deep insights and solid indications of regional preferences.
Conclusions
1. Best Regions. No surprise, the South and the West are by far considered to have better places to retire than
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Published on May 21, 2013
Comments 82
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
May 6, 2013 — Like we did in 2012, it is time again to ask our members to share their retirement plans. But we would like to ask the question in a little different way. Specifically, where do you think is the best place to retire, based on what you know now. When we asked a similar question last time ("Where are you thinking about retiring") the results were incredible - you provided over 700 thoughtful responses. Our new question is a little different - you can either answer where you intend to live in retirement, or where you would retire if you could. We are anxious to see what you all say!
For our part, we promise to analyze and
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Published on May 6, 2013
Comments 153
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
March 19, 2013 -- We were pleasantly surprised by the high ranking our members gave to walkability in our retirement preferences poll of a few weeks ago (See full report in "Our Members Speak"). So that in turn gave us the idea of providing a list of 10 towns where walkability is excellent -- but are also swell places to retire.
Our criteria
If you research "most walkable towns and cities" on the Internet you will find a number of results - but almost all of the lists have the same cities on them. Yes, New York (rated #1 most walkable large city by walkscore.com at 85), Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and San Francisco are great cities for walking. But, because they are expensive and congested, they will only appeal
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Published on March 18, 2013
Comments 50
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 18, 2013 – Note: Our 2017 list of "The 100 Most Popular Places to Retire" is now out.
With warmer winters and generally lower taxes, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that baby boomers think the Sunbelt has the best places to retire. Topretirements.com has just published its 7th annual list of the 100 most popular retirement spots, and it shows clear proof that the Sunbelt's retirement popularity continues -- 76 of the 100 top positions are held by towns in the Sunbelt. Florida dominates the list of best places to retire, taking 25 of the cities and towns (1 less than in 2012), followed by North Carolina (11), Arizona (9), and South Carolina (8). California, Tennessee had 6 cities each in the top 100. The highest ranking non-Sun Belt city on our list was Portland (OR) at #14. Note: To make sure you don’t miss new lists like this, sign up for our free weekly “Best Places to Retire” newsletter. See also "The Worst States for Retirement - 2014".
The Top 10
As has been the case since Topretirements published its first
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Published on February 18, 2013
Comments 623
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 15, 2012 -- One of the most frequent Comments/questions on this site is: "We're thinking about retiring in (name of city). Does anyone know what it's like to retire there". You will often see that type of question among the amazing member comments made on the "Tell Us Where You Are Going to Retire" story we wrote about a year ago, where 691 Comments have been made (so far).
"LS", one of our members, recently suggested that we put all the references in one place so folks can answer their own questions. So here goes in what we are hoping becomes a team project: we will assemble all the references by category we can come up with, and you add yours in the Comments section. We'll go in and add the best of yours to the article to make it even more comprehensive!
Before we even begin, let us
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Published on January 15, 2013
Comments 27
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 9, 2012 -- Our search for the towns that offer the best amenities to retirees has turned up some fascinating possibilities. One really nice thing we learned right away is that there are many communities that offer impressive amenities. Some towns are great for one type of amenity, such as golf, tennis, or culture. Others are more balanced, offering an array of facilities and opportunities.
This is Part 2 of our series on Amenities. The first came out 2 weeks ago, ("10 Best Amenities that Make for a Best Place to Retire"). Many thanks to the readers who provided comments and suggestions to that post.
It would be highly subjective and a bit reckless
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Published on December 9, 2012
Comments 6
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
November 27, 2012 -- There are plenty of the Best Places to Retire lists (including the ones we publish) for this or that. But what does make a town a great place to retire? Weather, location, taxes - those are some of the essential factors. But just as key are the amenities that a town offers to its residents. If done right, even a town with a crummy location or climate can make itself attractive to retirees. This article launches a two part series on what the most innovative and forward-thinking towns are doing to make themselves more attractive to baby boomers. This installment lists our Top 10 Municipal Retirement Amenities; Part 2 provides our list of
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Published on November 27, 2012
Comments 47
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
November 8, 2012 -- Weather is a critical input in the retirement happiness quotient for most people. Back in September we provided a list of resources where members could research the best weather conditions to fit their personal tastes. This month we've taken a different approach -- we've selected the top 10 places to retire based on our own weather criteria. And because there are lots of good choices, we've also included a few honorable mentions. Note that although our choices are numbered 1 - 10, the choices are so subjective it is better to view them as all good choices rather than one is better than another. This article was prepared in cooperation with WSJ MarketWatch, who published a beautiful slideshow version of the 10 Best Places to Retire for the Weather.
The places on this list all offer good
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Published on November 8, 2012
Comments 43
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
September 4, 2012 -- Weather and climate are important considerations for most people when they think about where they might retire. For some folks, as we have learned, humidity is a four letter word. Winter cold is a scourge for many, while others feel the same way about dust and allergens. Other weather considerations are rain, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, lightning, ice storms, snow, number of days of sunshine. Not exactly weather related, but earthquakes are an issue to worry about too. This short article will provide you with some resources to research the weather wherever you might be considering retiring, so you can make the best
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Published on September 4, 2012
Comments 2
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
August 14, 2012 -- We're as guilty as any other website - we just loving creating "Best of" lists about various aspects of retirement. And occasionally we like to poke fun at some of the "best" lists other groups come up with. But this past week saw a new list on the "Best Cities for Successful Aging" that is so fact based that it is hard to criticize. The Milken Institute, a West Coast think tank, has provided by far the most carefully researched and multi-dimensional study we have seen.
The Milken Institute came up with 2 different lists for its Best Cities for Successful Aging Index - Best Large Metros and Best Small Metros. There are 100 "best" metros on each. To develop the lists Milken sorted the Metros on 8 major
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Published on August 14, 2012
Comments 58
