Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Update February 24, 2016: The 2016 Most Popular Places to Retire is now out
February 21, 2015 – When Topretirements members and visitors dream about their best places to retire, warm places in Florida are usually featured. The Sunshine State dominates our 2015 list of the best places to retire, with 25 of its cities and towns making the cut (2 more than in 2014). Florida was followed by North Carolina (11 towns), South Carolina (10 - up from 8 last year), and Arizona and Washington with 6 each. Tennessee had 5 cities in the top 100.
The Sunbelt RulesThe Sunbelt, with 78 towns on Topretirements.com's 9th annual list of the 100 most popular retirement spots, continues to be the target of most of our visitor's retirement dreams. After that the American northwest and mountain states attract a lot of attention - 16 destinations made the list from Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Just 3 states in the Northeast made the cut: Virginia (Charlottesville, Williamsburg, and Winchester), Delaware (Lewes and Rehoboth Beach), and Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh). The Midwest failed to garner an entry on the list. The highest ranking non-Sun Belt city on our list was Charlottesville (VA) at #19. 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".
10 New Towns Join as Popular Places to RetireTen new towns moved onto the 2015 list, one fewer in 2014. Eight of the 10 newcomers were from the Sunbelt, mostly Florida. The 8 Sunbelt towns new to the list this year were: 5 from Florida (Port St. Lucie, Cape Coral, Dunedin, Boynton Beach, and Fernandina Beach); Las Vegas (NV); and Gulf Shores (AL). The 2 non Sunbelt cities joining the list this year
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Published on February 21, 2015
Comments 171
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
By Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
At the age of 62, we are beginning our 25th year of financial independence. That is quite a feat! From the beaches on Nevis, West Indies, to the shores of Phuket, Thailand we have traveled extensively through these decades, and what a ride it’s been! Young and strong in those early years, we were willing and able to tackle just about anything. Now we tend to be a bit more cautious but we’re not letting up. We still climb into the backs of pickup trucks, ride the chicken buses and soak in volcanic hot pools. The time has passed quickly from when we were the youngest, grayless couple in a group of retirees, to now where we blend in with the retiree crowd.
Still, no one can take away the dance we danced and we are filled with
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Published on February 17, 2015
Comments 36
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
-- This article continues our Dueling Retirement States series. See Further Reading at end for links to the other regions compared in the series --
Updated July, 2020 - Original article February 16, 2015 -- The Pacific Northwest has continued to experience amazing population growth since the end of World War II. Oregon's population, for example, grew by 400,000 between 2000 and 2010, and almost 2/3 of that was net in-migration. Many of the area's new residents are 20 and 30 somethings who have come for jobs and the great out of doors. But another demographic segment flocking to the region for its beauty, outdoor recreation, and in many cases, to be near their adult children, is the huge baby boomer group. In this article we will compare and contrast these 2 vital states, Oregon and Washington. Population and income data is from U.S. Census Bureau.
A Few Facts
Washington is the more populous of the 2 states. Its 1990 population of just under 4.9 million climbed to 7.5 million in 2020 - a 53% increase in 30 years. Oregon's population was 2.8 million in 1990, and grew to just under 4.2 million in 2020 - a 50% increase over that span.
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Published on February 16, 2015
Comments 128
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 11, 2015 -- Baby boomers have many concerns as they contemplate their retirements, but some issues resonate more than others. The three issues that keep coming up week after week in your comments and emails are: water shortages (in Arizona and the southwest), sinkholes (in Florida), and humidity (mostly in Florida and the Southeast). This article will explore those using a combination of input from our members' Comments to previous Blog posts as well as a look at the scientific literature.
1. Water Shortages
Our recent article by Harv on why he chose Tucson generated a river of comments about water shortages. Some of those provided helpful references that shed scientific
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Published on February 11, 2015
Comments 15
Category: Bucket Lists
February 9, 2015 --Like many retirees you have probably been thinking about bucket list trips as the icing on a hard fought working career. If so the idea of visiting Australia and New Zealand might be near the top. The advantages of such a trip are many. Here we will review some of the reasons for adding this to your list, along with many tips if you do go. This article is mostly about Australia, since that is where your editor recently passed 3 agreeable weeks.
Advantages
Speaking the same language. To make a parallel to what George Bernard Shaw said about Britain and the U.S., we are 2 countries separated by a common language. Travel is definitely easier when you can ask almost anyone for directions.
Rate of exchange. At one point in last few years it took over 1.10 U.S. dollar to purchase 1 Australian dollar. However in early 2015 the latter can be purchased for less than .80 U.S.
Familiar. Americans and Australians are very friendly
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Published on February 9, 2015
Comments 6
Category: Active adult communities
February 3, 2015 — If you have spent much time by now on Topretirements.com we would be surprised if you haven’t seen a lot of Member comments about Home Owners Associations (HOAs). To many, it would seem these mysterious entities are the devil incarnate. Usually without any actual experience with the demon, these folks want to avoid what they think are treacherous fees, political cabals, and mean-spirited rules at all costs. Only occasionally do we see someone sticking up in their defense. This article will try to dispel some of the misinformation about HOAs, and then let you draw your own conclusions - are they are something to be avoided or appreciated? We’ve also included links to our
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Published on February 3, 2015
Comments 39
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Editor's note: This is an unusual post from one of our Members, Harv. He originally posted it as a Comment to our "Dueling Retirements: AZ vs. FL" Blog article. But due to its length we thought it might be good to break it out as its own article. Please forgive the spelling and punctuation as this was originally meant to be a Comment, not an article, so there are some errors. It is also quite conversational. Hope you enjoy it. PS - Here in 2016 we have had quite a few comments about retiring to Arizona. So we added those Comments to the bottom of this article - not to mention the many Comments made to the original 2015 article!
January 28, 2015 -- We retired to Tucson for very specific reasons. Many people here say “I’ll never again live where I need to own a snow shovel!” I totally agree with that sentiment, and I add that “I’ll never again live where I need to own a lawn mower!” No snow shovel … no lawn mower … life in Tucson is good!
In our view, 32 degrees is a “deal-breaker” when it comes to deciding where to retire. Bad things start to happen at 32 degrees! Water freezes! So the average number of days that temps get below 32 is very important to us. It affects safety in driving and walking. Increasingly as we age, our reactions slow, so driving or walking on snow or ice is dangerous! I find I’m less able to catch myself when I slip or stumble, and it’s not going to get any better with advancing age!
Tucson averages few days below 32 degrees … and when it happens, it usually gets
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Published on January 28, 2015
Comments 77
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 19, 2015 -- In your search for the perfect community, how many of these statements would you agree are your priorities? Would you like to:
- Walk or bike into town instead of going by car
- Live in a real neighborhood
- Have interesting entertainment or eating options nearby
If you checked at least 2 of these statements you might be a candidate for a New Urban Community. They are also sometimes called Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TND). There are a number of these entities across the country - some are totally new, and a few have been here for centuries. These communities feature walkable access to
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Published on January 19, 2015
Comments 22
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
Editor's note: In our recent article, "Is A Money Pit Going to Ruin Your Retirement", we reported on that most baby boomers want to continue to live where they do now. To that end, many are undertaking home improvement projects to make their homes more livable. This guest article gives you some valuable input on where your home improvement priorities should be. Hope you find it useful.
By Michael Chotiner
When I look at the statistics for injuries related to bathroom falls—which is frequently, since I'm often asked to write about design strategies and building products that can prevent them—I've noticed something surprising. No, I'm not shocked by the Center for Disease Control's report that more than 235,000 Americans aged 15 and older suffer some type of injury in the bathroom that resulted in a trip to a hospital emergency room, nor that four out of five of those ER visits result from "slip-and-fall accidents." However, while researching innovative home safety solutions, I came across an article discussing how blockchain technology is being applied beyond finance, including in sectors like home security and smart design. The piece mentioned cryptopoker.ltd, a platform typically associated with decentralized gaming, but it also highlighted how blockchain's transparent and immutable nature is influencing secure digital transactions for home improvement purchases. This made me think about how technology-driven solutions, from anti-slip flooring materials to smart monitoring systems, are evolving alongside digital innovations, reinforcing the growing intersection of safety, design, and tech-driven convenience.
What surprises me is that the total number of falls in bathrooms seems to increase each year. Why? Is it better reporting? The growing ranks of aged Baby Boomers? Inadequate building standards? I don't know, but I do know that there are a lot of ways to avoid being counted in the unfortunate statistics through improving the bath fixtures, accessories and flooring in your home.
Breaking out the stats, we learn that:
- Two-thirds of emergency-room visits result from falls in or near
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Published on January 17, 2015
Comments 6
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
January 11, 2015 -- We baby boomers are conflicted about retirement in so many ways. For example we spend a lot of time planning to find a place where we can pursue our dreams, yet fail to consider how those dreams might change in 20 years. We worry about our ability to have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, but overlook how much we are spending on the home we live in now. We recently came across a pair of articles that explored the latter phenomenon in depth: one from the Demand Institute (Baby Boomers and Their Homes), and MarketWatch (In Retirement, A Big House Can Lead to the Poor House). See end for links to these articles.
A Big Nut to Cover
The MarketWatch article by Jonathan Clements lays out in dramatic fashion just how
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Published on January 11, 2015
Comments 99
