America’s Most Expensive Places to Retire
Category: Active adult communities
May 8, 2019 — Chances are you aren’t looking for the most expensive place to retire. Most people are looking for the opposite, a 55+ or active community where they can retire and stretch their savings and social security into a comfortable retirement. But just for fun, here’s a look at where we might retire if we were to suddenly join the ranks of the 1%. Which one would you pick?
We looked around in researching this article and were amazed at how little good information there is on the ritziest places to retire. 55places.com had an article on the topic, but the communities on its list barely approached the mid-range of pricing. The same can be said for a very similar list put out by ThinkAdvisor.com. Our list is by no means complete, but we think it is a lot better. If you know of a super-expensive retirement community, please suggest it in the Comments section below.
Comments on "America’s Most Expensive Places to Retire"
Jana Harrison says:
I would LOVE to hear from your readers if anyone is living in one of the above retirement places. Just curious is there are people in the 1% who subscribe to this blog!
Diane says:
Check out Indian River County in Florida.....home of Vero Beach, John's Island, Windsor, etc. etc....many exclusive communities on the Indian River and the ocean ......mansions as high as 35 million
Admin says:
Bob was kind enough to send us some recent real estate listings. The most expensive ones in the Naples Florida Weekly were in the communities of Port Royal ($9 million to $13.2 million), followed by Old Naples ($8.8 million), and Grey Oaks (from $6.2 million). Coquina Sand, the Moorings, and Banyan Island at Grey Oaks also had some multi-million $ listings.
Gerry says:
This is real fine living, affordable to afew.
Admin says:
Here are some more luxury communities:
Windsor in Vero Beach
Orchid Island Golf and Beach Club
Loblolly in Hobe Sound
Brenda Anderson says:
Thanks for this
Jan Culllinane says:
I play tennis at Spruce Creek (away match, Spruce Creek is not my home court), and although the houses with the attached hangars are expensive (basically huge garages), the regular houses are nice, but not out-of-this world expensive. Here's a link to houses in the community:
https://www.sprucecreekproperties.com/all-properties-for-sale-in-spruce-creek
They do have a cute restaurant right on the runway where we eat lunches after our matches.
It is an attractive community.
Jan Cullinane, author, The Single Woman's Guide to Retirement (AARP)
uncle al says:
hello Jana....does the top 5% count ? I'm there.....through the years I've learned it's who you live with, not necessarily where you live. You can live in the most expensive community around, but if the residents are buttholes, it means nothing....
Admin says:
Another community on this list, although not specifically a retirement community (it is open to all ages) is The Ford Plantation in Savannah, GA. Caters to the 1% of the 1%.
Larry says:
Ford Plantation certainly qualifies. I specialize in Southeast Region golf communities and I might add to the list all The Cliffs Communities in the Carolinas, Brier's Creek outside Charleston (very small community with excellent golf course), Daniel Island (membership in high five figures, homes starting around $700K), the single-home (not townhome) sections of Kiawah Island with private club membership around $100K, Frederica on the Georgia coast, and a number of mountain communities in western North Carolina.