The 10 Worst States for Retirees

MarketWatch lists the 10 worst states for retirees as follows:

• Illinois
• California
• New York
• Rhode Island
• New Jersey
• Ohio
• Wisconsin
• Massachusetts
• Connecticut
• Nevada

These ten were rated the worst by the website TopRetirements.com based on three criteria:  fiscal health, taxation, and climate.

Ha! It's a "bad states" list that Michigan finally didn't end up on!!!! ;-)

Hold on, not so fast. Michigan was listed as one of the ten most troubled states. Then again, that alone didn't make it a top 10 loser for retirement. Must have been the great weather that kept it out of the cellar. Yeah, right.

Just another piece making the point that where you live has a big impact on your finances -- even when you're no longer working.

I'm not sure what we'll do when we retire -- stay here or move. I do know several retirees who have moved on, mostly to warmer weather states with little to no state income tax. Hmmmmmm........now I'm thinking.....

Comments

[JM]

I am not sure why they are citing high unemployment as a negating factor for retirement in certain states (they mention it explicitly when they discuss Ohio). Aren't you going to be retired anyway? ;) High taxes and poor government fiscal health I can understand...

[Old Limey]

Fiscal health - Taxation - Climate

I agree that California has high income and sales taxes but our property taxes are very low indeed if you have owned your home 30 years or more because of the enactment of Prop. 13 in 1976.
I also agree that the state of California is going to have a hard time balancing its budget without making huge cuts in many benefits and hiking some taxes.
However I would rate the climate where I live in the Santa Clara Valley right up there with some of the best and healthiest places to live in the whole world.

We bought our home in 1977, retired in 1992, and have lived in California since 1960 so from our point of view everything is great and we couldn't be happier.

The article is really only relevant for people that are planning on relocating when they retire. In their cases they would really be hurting if they moved to California from a state that has low property values and low taxes. For those individuals its a question of choice - the question they need to answer is, would they prefer feeling wealthier in an undesirable location or poorer in a desirable location.

[Santos]

The White Elephant in the room: Most of these are blue states (with a couple of purple thrown in).

[Santos]

By the way, I've lived in 4 of these 10 states so I have personal evidence that they deserve the spots. I couldn't leave fast enough ;-)

[MBTN]

I am scratching my head about how Nevada cracked the top 10. The climate is warm and dry. No state income tax. Yes, the real estate bust hit Nevada hard but that just means that the cost of living is cheaper now.

[Eric]

Florida here I come! :P

[BD]

Seconding what Santos said.
Also, I've lived in California most of my life, and it was the WORST state I've ever lived in. High crime, high traffic, high illegal alien count, high taxes (income and sales), unaffordable housing (even the rent is high!), and overall awful experience. If you're lower-income living in any larger city in California, any affordable housing is in a foreign barrio, full of drugs and crime and neighbors that never spoke a lick of English. It was HORRIBLE.

Maybe the super-rich like California, but for someone who is in the lower bracket of life, it was a miserable place to be.

[JM]

I've lived in 3 of these states and currently live in one of them now. We are trying to get out of this state as soon as possible once my husband's transfer is finalized. And that transfer is to one of those 3 states- my favorite of the 3. ;) We plan on living there in the long-term, but we actually plan to retire in a foreign country (where half of my husband's family lives) if it is fiscally possible.

[Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey]

Just was curious...do you know which state was picked as the best state to retire in?

[Old Limey]

BD is correct. You need plenty of money to enjoy a wonderful retirement.
It's all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION, wherever you can find it and is the reason I stayed put after retiring from a 32 year career at Lockheed/Martin.

In our town of 102K population, 44 miles south of San Francisco, in California, we have:
1) A wonderful year round climate - with NO snow, ice, fog, tornadoes, hurricanes or thunderstorms.
2) But with - Low humidity, temperatures average 70deg in Summer and 50deg in Winter, 300+ days of sunshine and 15 inches of rain/year.
3) A crime rate less than half the national average in almost every category.
4) Population mix 85%(White and Asian), 2%(Black), 13%(Hispanic and others).
5) Average annual family income $70K, Average home price $500K.
6) City owned Silicon Valley Power company with rates far below the state average.
7) It used to be famous for its Apricots, Prunes, Cherries, and canneries but now its fame centers around companies such as HP, Intel, Applied Materials, Sun Microsystems, NVIDIA & Agilent.

[FMF]

Jacob --

Great places to retire:

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2010/08/great-places-to-retire-in-the-us.html

Best states to retire in:

http://www.money-rates.com/news/10-best-states-for-retirement.htm

[Kay Lynn @ Bucksome Boomer]

We live in California and are seriously considering moving to Florida in retirement (at least most of the year). We own a home here, but I don't want to have to deal with a reverse mortgage like my husband's parents.

[Concojones]

Being from Europe, I always wonder how Americans can just "retire to a different state", leaving all your (long-time) friends and family behind.