The best cities for your retirement. If you envision your retirement as a long-term vacation, youâll probably head for a place that offers plenty of sunshine and recreation. But keep in mind that your post-career period might stretch into a few decades. Some of the best skiing in the world can be found in Spanish ski resorts in the mountain regions. The beaches of Spain are just as popular as the mountains. Baby boomer retirees have many spots from which to choose when deciding where to settle in Spain. The best cities for your retirementIf you envision your retirement as a long-term vacation, youâll probably head for a place that offers plenty of sunshine and recreation. But keep in mind that your post-career period might stretch into a few decades. So, when choosing a city for your retirement, you need to know what it offers beyond the golf course. Whatâs the quality of health care? What about the tax rate and cost of living, factors that will figure mightily in making your money last throughout your retirement years? To come up with our recommendations for the best retirement cities, we scored nearly 200 U.S. cities for crime, climate and financial factors, in addition to health care and the ease of getting around on foot. The best cities to retire tend to offer natural attractions, good weather, a wealth of cultural options and a host of other amenities retirees might look for. No city is perfect for every retiree. You might love Civil War re-enactments and not care about other recreation. Maybe youâre an avid hiker who wants mild temperatures and scenic trails, or a boater who lives for surf and waterways. While most people think of Florida and Arizona as top retirement spots, our list includes many cities in the Southeast and the Midwest. All offer unique advantages that can add to a rich and fulfilling retirement. In several cases, we noticed that neighboring cities achieved nearly the same score since they were drawing from the same regional statistics. In those cases, we ranked them together as a combined area. ADVISER SEARCH: Find a financial adviser today. Sources: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; HealthView Services; Gallup-Healthways; Council for Community and Economic Research; FBI; Tax Foundation; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; WalkScore.com; Western States Arts Federation State tax issues we look at include state income taxation of pension or Social Security income, existence of a state estate/inheritance tax and existence of a state income tax. Six places on this list sit in states without a state income tax. They are Jacksonville, Largo, San Marcos, Vancouver, Venice, Fla.; and Wenatchee. But beware: These states often make up for this with higher sales and real estate taxes, which can fall disproportionately harder on seniors than income levies. Our list, of course, is about not only living affordably, but living well. So we look at a raft of quality of life indicators, both positive and negative. For example, we use the rate of violent crime (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) for individual jurisdictions as compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to eliminate cities with over-the-top carnage. And we look for places that support healthy aging, ruling out those that are way below the national average when it comes to physicians per capita or air quality. We also take note of the latest Milken Institute report on âBest Cities for Successful Aging.â The study ranks 352 metropolitan areas using such factors as wellness, health care, transportation and economics. While we consider a high Milken ranking a plus, a lower score, in and or itself, doesn't exclude a place from our list. (If it did, there would be no Florida picks on our list.) We also weigh attributes that foster an active--and hence healthier-- retirement. One is Walkscore.com ratings for walkability, that is, how easy it is to shop and get to places on foot. Top marks go to Bluffton, S.C.; Boone, Lexington, Madison, Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City. Another attribute is bikeability, places that encourage use of bicycles through dedicated lanes and other measures. Drawing data from a number of sources, high grades go to Colorado Springs, Fargo, Lincoln and Salt Lake City. Still another lifestyle factor we consider is a city's rank for volunteering--an activity that is playing a growing role in Boomers' search for a meaningful retirement. This is based on data compiled for the Corporation for National and Community Service. For this list, we donât rate our picks on intangible qualities like culture and scenic attributes. But they don't hurt. Notably, 11 cities on the list are college towns, which usually means they offer added cultural and educational opportunities. These places are: Athens (University of Georgia), Boone (Appalachian State University), Columbia (University of Missouri), Iowa City (University of Iowa), Lexington (University of Kentucky, Transylvania University), Lincoln (University of Nebraska), Madison (University of Wisconsin), Pittsburgh (Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Chatham University), Raleigh (North Carolina State University, Shaw University), Salt Lake City (University of Utah), and San Marcos (Texas State University) Hp officejet pro 6960 manual download. A majority of the 25 are graced with water or mountain environments. They include Asheville, Bella Vista, Bluffton, Boone, Colorado Springs, Jacksonville, Largo, Madison, Roanoke, Salt Lake City, Vancouver, Venice and Wenatchee. If a retirement with a view is high on your priority list, check out the Forbes list of 25 Great Scenic Places To Retire.
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