Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February , 2022 -- Depending where you live, you might be familiar with the concept of a Chautauqua community, those seasonal assemblies dedicated to four pillars: the arts, education, recreation, and religion. As such they offer the perfect snowbird retirement for people who love culture.
Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were part of an adult education and social movement in the United States that brought speakers, teachers, musicians, showmen, preachers, and specialists of the day to communities. Lakeside Chautauqua on the shores of Lake Erie was the first assembly in 1873, followed the next year by the Chautauqua Institute on western New York's Chautauqua Lake. Although at one point there were several hundred Chautauquas, these two are among the few independent Chautauquas that persist in the 21st century. The drawback to a Chautauqua retirement is that they are seasonal - after summer ends you need to find a place to live the rest of the year.
For culture loving people - you can't beat a Chautauqua retirement
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Published on February 27, 2022
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 21, 2022 - Two demographics are more likely to move than any other. The group with the highest tendency to migrate is highest is young adults, who tend to move in search in jobs and fortune. At retirement age (commonly around 65), there is another big spike in migration. Although both groups have a propensity to move, the places where they move tend to be very different, according to Brookings.edu.
Studies of net migration show what areas of the country are experiencing the greatest population growth. But looking at the big picture alone does not tell the whole story about who is moving where. Census data shows that the top regional magnets for young adults (ages 25-34) are very different from regions that are attracting baby boomers (ages 55 and older).
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Published on February 20, 2022
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 26, 2022 -- A while back one of our Members asked if we could come up with a list of more unusual places to retire. As he reminded us, not everyone is looking to retire in a place that is famous, or where there are warm winters and gentle beaches. Many folks, like the couple we met this summer in Maine, relish the prospect of a morning snowshoe hike, chopping wood, or taking off in the ATV. Here is a list of unusual, and interesting places that might make them happy. Almost all are in colder climes, starting with the first one! We suspect you won't have heard of most of these off the beaten path choices before.
Homer, Alaska. Up here on the Kenai Peninsula life is pretty great, especially if you don't mind cold winters. There is sensational fishing and boating from one of the most beautiful spots anywhere. The Spit, a 4.5 mile glacial moraine that juts into Kachemak Bay, is Homer's seasonal center. It is crowded with docks, restaurants, stores, and charter outfits for fishing and adventuring.
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Published on January 25, 2022
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 12, 2022 -- Every year we have fun coming up with a list of the very "Best Places to Retire". This list is meant to highlight retirement towns that represent exceptionally great places to retire, as measured by Member and visitor interest at Topretirements. As wonderful as these towns might be, the one where you can be happy in retirement is your best place!
To develop our 2022 list we consulted our visitor logs to find out the 20 retirement towns in the U.S. whose reviews were visited the most at Topretirements. Many of the winners were predictable, they get named to the top 10 or 20 every year, but there were several other big surprises. The hope is the list will spark some ideas for you to consider in the quest for your best place to retire. Home prices in many of these towns are above the national median, reflecting their desirability, but a surprising number offer relative bargains. Although 11 states had towns in the top 20, Arizona, Florida, and Tennessee tied for the most cities on the list with 3 each. Congratulations to all these cities and towns!
20 Best of the Best Places to Retire
Popularity on this site, as measured by online visits by our Members, was the most important criteria. On that basis, here are the most captivating places to retire in all of the U.S.
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Published on January 11, 2022
Comments 20
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 23, 2021 -- More people retired in 2021 than in previous years, probably because Covid pushed them into early retirement. Some 50% of people over age 55 were retired this year, up by 2 percentage points. All things being equal, that should have meant a spike in the number of people who moved for retirement, but that didn’t happen. Quite to the contrary, the number of retirees who moved in 2021 dropped to 226,000—roughly 43% fewer than in the year previous. It’s also the lowest number of American retirees in the last five years!
These and many other interesting stats are courtesy of a "2021 Study: Where Americans Moved to Retire in 2021" commissioned by Hire a Helper using US Census Data.
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Published on December 23, 2021
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 15, 2021 -- The reality is most people don't want to retire too far away from where they live now. The tug of familiar friends, relatives, and institutions can be very strong for some, even more powerful than wanting to be in a warmer climate. Yet their current abode might have become expensive, crowded, or taxing enough to make them think about moving to a new city or town in the same region. In this article we will explore some of the nearby possibilities for a retiree who lives in or near the New York City Metro or suburbs. For that matter, residents of New Jersey and southern New England might like these alternatives as well.
Obviously if one moves less than 500 miles away the climate is not going to be too much different. But the cost of living, the livability index, and the tax situation could change dramatically. The 10 places to retire mentioned here are just a few possibilities, they barely scratch the surface of the very livable retirement choices that won't require you to move too far from where you live now.
In state
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Published on December 15, 2021
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 13, 2021 -- Thanks to everyone who answered last week's one question, instant poll on retirement location happiness. The bottom line is that the majority of people responding are happy with their choice of a place to retire. A certain minority is less satisfied, or had to move more than once. The results are shown below.
Taking out the 24 people answering who haven't yet retired, 58% of respondents said they were perfectly happy with their choice - they apparently found their best place to retire. Of those, 42% had moved and 16% did not change locations in retirement. Another 22% were "moderately happy" with their location. Almost 20% said they either moved a second time, or wished they had moved somewhere else. The answer that we hoped to see a small percentage for, "moderately unhappy", was just that, only about 6%.
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Published on December 12, 2021
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
We are curious – how happy are you with your decision where to retire? If we get a good response to this we will have a quick survey letting people tell us where they retired and how and what they like about it. Thanks for participating – you will see…
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Published on December 6, 2021
Comments 12
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 1, 2021 -- Last week in "Slanted Best Places to Retire List" we reported on the US News list of best places to retire. The creators of that one seemed to have not realized that the Mississippi is not the western border of the U.S. Many of the picks made there came in for strong criticism from our Members. This week we are happy to report on a better list of best places, one you can create yourself.
The NY Times just published an article with the headline, "Is Texas the New California". Its author, a Californian, was very surprised to find that after taking a quiz designed by the newspaper, 7 of the top picks were in the Lone Star State. They found that on characteristics like more space for your money, racial diversity, and school quality, Texas had some of the highest ranking places to live in America. Although the quiz is geared towards people of all ages, it can be tailored to reflect the priorities of people in retirement. That is, in our opinion, the best thing about this quiz - it takes into account individual priorities rather than those of the authors.
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Published on November 30, 2021
Comments 25
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
November 26, 2021 -- When it comes to lists of Best Places to Retire, one of the most consistent and "best" sources is US News. Their lists usually make sense, and rarely include bizarre choices in North Dakota or other places that don't take into account that most retirees looking to relocate want to move to somewhere where winter temperatures are warm. While their new Best Places for 2021-2022 lists uphold their sterling reputation for the most part, the fact that they left off the entire western half of the country seems like a very serious omission.
Florida came out on top on both of their new lists this year - "Best Places" and "Most Affordable Places to Retire". The Sunshine State garnered 8 of 10 spots on the Best Places to Retire list, and with 4 of the Most Affordable selections. Two of those Florida cities, Daytona Beach and Pensacola, made it onto both lists.
How they were chosen, along with our quibbles
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Published on November 26, 2021
Comments 12
