After all the years of hard work, work stress, you get a handshake and a nice farewell with cake. You call it retirement from service and it will be time to find a peaceful haven or a permanent vacation. While in service, most of us long for this day. We will keep wondering when that day is going to come but not too often do we give a thought to where we want to retire. A study reveals that over 47 percent of Americans want to relocate to another place after retirement. Warmer climates tend to attract people. Add a beach bungalow, a cottage in the middle of green meadows or the foothills of snow-capped mountains, nothing like it!
Life is not just that but a lot more to consider before you make that decision or find that one perfect place to settle down after retirement. That’s when your health starts to deteriorate, your income through salary ceases or reduces, physical strength reduces, and a lot more. So, your savings should last longer, availability of medical care should be easy, and safety and security should be at your disposal. The cost of living, weather, healthcare facilities, crime rates, taxes, and cultural amenities are a few things among social security and the overall well-being of a senior citizen that one must consider while picking a place to settle down.
Factors to consider while choosing states
Our list of 10 best states for retirement has been adjudged based on a few things we considered were of utmost importance. They are as follows:
Affordability
This includes adjusted the cost of living, general tax-friendliness, tax-friendliness on pensions & social security income, an annual cost of in-home services, and an annual cost of adult day health care.
Quality of life
This includes the proportion of the population aged 65 and older in that area, elderly-friendly labor market, the proportion of the population aged 65 and older below the poverty level, access to public transportation, and mildness of weather. This also includes museums per capita, theaters per capita, golf courses per capita, access to adult volunteer activities, violent-crime rate, property-crime rate, quality of elder-abuse protections, air quality, and drinking-water quality.
Healthcare
This includes family and general physicians per capita, dentists per capita, nurses per capita, healthcare facilities per capita, quality of public hospitals, emotional health, and a share of the senior population with health insurance, with good or better health, with a disability (who are physically active), full weight, life expectancy, and lastly the death rate for the population aged 65 and older.
Best states for seniors
Based on the above considerations, we have made a list of 10 best states for retirement in the USA.
Idaho
The cost of living is pretty low, and the crime rates are relatively low too. This state scores high in the overall well-being of seniors. This state offers retirees safety and affordability.
Wisconsin
The low temperatures in the winters here can be brutal. But then, the state still scores high for providing overall well-being for the seniors by providing excellent health care quality and a low cost of living. The dollars saved up for retirement would go a long way.
South Dakota
Although the weather sees both the extremes of having the requirements of a snowsuit and a swimsuit in a year, this state is one of the cheapest to live in due to the lack of a state income tax. There is an overall lower burden of taxes, cheaper cost of living and better overall well-being for the seniors.
Massachusetts
Though the winters can be harsh and the overall cost-of-living is on the higher side, Massachusetts scores better when it comes to offering good quality of life for the retirees with quality healthcare facilities and lower crime rates. Also, there is a lot of history and culture to keep the retirees motivated with a lot of fun activities.
Virginia
This state is a ‘yes’ when you look at the cost of living, safety, and the weather altogether. With affordable prices and relatively low crime rates, this state comes as a complete package of great weather all the year round. Its beautiful geography with the Shenandoah Valley summers, the cherry blossoms in the spring, and the Atlantic beaches in summer is quite ideal for seniors.
Minnesota
Keeping the harsh winters aside, this state is great with quality health care, low costs of living, and safety in its cities.
Iowa State
The cost of living is low compared to the national average. For example, you can buy a nice house for $131,000. This is way below the national average of $250,000. The healthcare quality is good, and the crime rates are relatively low.
Maine
The health care system in the state is graded the best in the nation. Also, this state has the second highest number of seniors (those above the age of 65). Hence, the presence of other seniors eases the retirees to find people and make friends who are of similar age group and keep themselves occupied in get-togethers, parties, and so on. The state is also known for having relatively lower crime rates.
Florida and Arizona
And 10. We saved the best for the last. Florida and Arizona come at the first and second positions respectively. The facilities offered include the following: a decent cost of living, lower crime rate, tax-friendliness on pensions and social security income, and a high number of healthcare facilities. Other facilities include easy access to public transportation, excellent weather, some golf courses, and museums along with many other cultural opportunities. These are considered as the best places for retirees as these states provide almost everything that a good retired life requires.