Is There Any Place Where It’s Safe to Retire?
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
August 3, 2025 — People give a lot of thought to where they are going to retire. Some of the factors they usually consider are climate (e.g.; warm winters), cost of living, tax burden, leisure activities, proximity to friends and family, crime rates, transportation, and quality and availability of health care. But as anyone following the news knows, there is a new factor that a thoughtful retiree should consider – losing your home (or your life!) from an environmental or climate disaster.
There is hardly enough room to list all of the environmental disasters we have seen in the U.S. in the past few years. There were 26 disasters in the U.S. last year that caused more than $1 billion in damages for a total of $113 biliion. Many occured in some of the most popular retirement spots in America, places where no one ever dreamed these things would happen. Those include floods in Asheville and the Texas Hill country, hurricanes in Florida, tornados in many parts of the U.S., wildfires in California, volcanoes in Hawaii, drought in the West. It seems like we are seeing one hundred year storms every few years, and the problems keep getting more severe.
So what can you do to find a safe retirement spot?
The New York Times put out a comprehensive section on this topic on July 13: “Where to Call Home”. It doesn’t appear to be available online, but you can find it in a library. It provides interesting guidance to help with what will be one of the most important financial decisions in your life, where to live when you retire. By doing your homework, you can do a lot to mitigate the risks of an environmental calamity ruining your finances, and causing untold disruptions to your life.
Comments on "Is There Any Place Where It’s Safe to Retire?"
John says:
Is it possible for you to print the New York Times article here I don’t have access to a library.
Bruceb says:
What is safe nowadays? Just like any life decision, there are trade-offs. I have been reading many articles and comments here, and it seems everyone is searching for some panacea of benefits and feels overwhelmed when nothing is out there. Maybe instead of perfect, people should seek out less bad locations where they are or adapt in place if they can. I know everyone is sold on the idea of moving in regirement, but the majority if people do not. They age in place or in their current area. There are risks everywhere, so manage the risks you have and if you cant then get out. There is no best place in my experiences /research. Every option has worts be it taxes, politics, over populated areas or other costs. The real issues are to identify what can or are willing to do you do and then just adapt as best you can.
AL says:
It’s fascinating that the US has a land mass of over three and a half million square miles and yet most of it is becoming as unlivable as it is unaffordable. Regardless, the majority of retirees tend to stay where they have the strongest sentimental connection no matter the consequences.
John says:
The nytimes article doesn’t seem to be online. There must be a library somewhere in your area that you could and ask if you could pay to have a copy made .