How to Pick the Best Place to Retire

If you’re interested in relocating when you retire, there are a wide variety of books and online resources that can help you find and research a new location that meet your wants, needs and budget. Here are several to help you get started.

Where to Retire?

If you’re at the beginning of your search, a good starting point is to take the “Find Your Best Place” retirement quiz at Sperling’s Best Places. This free quiz asks 10-questions on your preferences such as climate, recreation, community size and more, and suggests possible destinations that match your answers. MarketWatch also has a new matchmaking tool called, “Where’s the best place for me to retire?” at.

Media resources like U.S. News & World Report, Kiplinger’s, Forbes and Money Magazine also publish “best places to retire” lists on their websites each year. And be sure you check out Milken’s Best Cities for Successful Aging, which ranks 381 U.S. metropolitan areas based on factors that are important to older adults.

You should also consider getting a copy of America’s 100 Best Places to Retire (the sixth edition book; $25 at Amazon.com) that looks at a range of destinations, and groups some in categories like best college towns, mountain towns, undiscovered towns and main street towns.

Once you find a few areas that interest you, your next step is research them. Here are some important areas you need to investigate.

Cost of Living

Can you afford to live comfortably in the location where you want to retire? Numbeo.com and BestPlaces.net offer tools to compare the cost of living from your current location to where you would like to move. They compare housing costs, food, utilities, transportation and more.

Taxes

Some states are more tax friendly than others. If you’re planning to move to another state, Kiplinger’s has a tax guide for retirees that lets you find and compare taxes state-by-state. It covers income taxes, sales tax, taxes on retirement income, Social Security benefits taxes, property taxes, and inheritance and estate taxes.

Crime Rate

To evaluate how safe a community or area is, websites like AreaVibes.com provide crime data for certain localities.

Climate

To research the climate in the areas you are considering, Sperling’s Best Places is again a great resource that offers a climate/weather compare tool.

Healthcare

Does the area you want to relocate to have easy access to good healthcare? To locate and research doctors and hospitals in a new area, use Medicare’s compare tool. Also see Healthgrades.com, which provides detailed information on U.S. hospitals and doctors.

Transportation

If you plan to travel much, or expect frequent visits from your kids or grandkids, convenient access to an airport or train station is a nice advantage. You should also investigate alternative transportation options since most retirees give up driving in their eighties. To do this visit RidesInSight.org, a free website that provides information about senior transportation options in local communities throughout the U.S.

Once you have narrowed your choices down to two or three, spend a couple weeks in each location at different times of the year so you can get a feel for the seasonal weather changes, and so you can carefully weigh the pros and cons of living there. You may find that you like the area more as a vacation spot than as a year-round residence. It’s also a good idea to rent for a year before buying a home or making a commitment to a retirement community.

Jim Miller publishes the Savvy Senior, a nationally syndicated column that offers advice for Boomers and Seniors.