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February 15, 2016 at 12:33 AM
If you’re already struggling to save enough for retirement, you might want a heads-up on places where you’ll continue to struggle once you do retire.
Thanks to WalletHub, we’ve got a list of the 10 places in the country you’d be well advised to reconsider before choosing to spend your retirement years there.
WalletHub looked at all 50 states and the District of Columbia, considering all sorts of elements that go into making a state a pleasant place to live.
Factored into this list are such considerations as cost of living, of course, but some less tangible advantages/disadvantages too.
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If you love museums, art galleries, or the theater, for instance, you’ll either be miserable at their absence or spend more than you intended getting to such destinations in other states.
Then there’s the question of how many doctors, dentists, and the like are nearby. If there aren’t enough located close enough to where you’re living, that could present problems too.
Whether because of the crime rate, the air and water quality, the amount your retirement income will be taxed, or the potential for jobs for seniors in the area, you might want to look elsewhere before deciding on one of these 10 locations.
Here they are, from 10th worst to number-one worst state in which to retire:
10. Maryland
Bring your wallets if you move to Maryland, where your tax bill will run 11 percent higher than the national average.
One reason for that is the state’s income tax, for which it ranked 49th in the country.
The state only ranked 38th on quality of life (those intangibles like theaters and museums), and 30th on health care — not exactly a sterling recommendation. Kind of a high price to pay…
9. Alaska
When it comes to high costs of living, Alaska is right up (or down) there, occupying the 48th slot — just a tad better than New York.
It has the second highest annual cost of in-home services — definitely not a good thing for seniors — and the lowest percentage of the population aged 65 or older.
In its defense, apparently a lot of those seniors are working; Alaska has the highest percentage of those aged 65 or older who are employed, and it got top place in WalletHub’s “Taxpayer” ranking, with the tax bill running a whopping 47 percent below the national average.
8. New York
It probably wouldn’t surprise anyone that New York has the second highest property crime rate in the country.
What might surprise you is that it’s tied for fifth longest life expectancy.
Since it’s tied for first place for most theaters per capita, and occupies first place all by itself for the most museums per capita, retirees will have plenty to occupy their time.
If they can afford it, that is — New York has the third highest adjusted cost of living in the country.
7. West Virginia
Tied at 49th lowest in the country is West Virginia’s life expectancy.
If you don’t plan on a long retirement, maybe you won’t care…
Ironically, the state ranks third highest in the percentage of its population aged 65 or older. Must be a lot of people moving in.
But apparently they’re not working, since the state has the lowest percentage in the nation of employed people aged 65 or older. And when it comes to intangibles, it has the third lowest number of museums per capita.
In its favor, the state is tied for second-lowest annual cost of in-home services in the country.
