^ @CT1417, Dang!!! Some of those are truly surprises.
ETA: I have to go read my NYT before I get talked into canceling my subscription (climate change denier allegations, but I’m not convinced yet). So, according to the NYT, DW has to figure out a way to become an LLC to her employer, we have to avoid Connecticut, and figure out a way to survive in Florida? I think I will wait this one out. :))
ETA: heck, according to WalletHub, I may as well stay in NJ.
WA is ranked 16th, so we are in a good spot for now, as long as there are no state income tax. Maybe I will even live long enough to ride the new light rail… 
@IxnayBob — I cancelled home delivery of both papers for a while, because I was reading so much more on line than in print, but found I missed home delivery, so they accumulate again.
If you click through to the original Wallet Hub article, you can sort by each criteria. CT is not looking good!
Here’s the link to the Wallethub article
https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■/edu/best-and-worst-states-to-retire/18592/
Lots to argue about in their methodology, but kind of fun.
@cbreeze Thanks for sharing the article, I could definitely relate to much of it.
@ixnaybob The espresso it a great example although I don’t think I will ever evolve even to that level! I feel like I am throwing caution to the wind if I pay and extra 50 cents on something at the grocery store rather drive across town where I know it is cheaper!
For some reason I just have a deep rooted psychological inability to enjoy spending money, so @doschicos the answer to what makes me happy when it comes to spending money is pretty much nothing. I definitely do plan to help my kids post college however, as you suggest. I am working hard to loosen up with them a bit right now.
@planner03, I understand. I was the guy, back in the day, who would remember that he had not returned the video to Blockbuster, get out of bed, get dressed, drive his car there and back, get undressed, get back in bed, and spend an additional few minutes getting back to sleep. All to “save,” what, $2? Of course, I hadn’t added in the depreciation, fuel, wear and tear, etc. on the vehicle, which means I might well have cost myself more than $2, plus some lost sleep.
I’m ashamed to say that it took my wife’s income escalating to make me do the math; I am years behind the reality. And, it’s contagious. My wife is more frugal than she should be, and so is one of our kids (the other one has money issues of an entirely different flavor, but I think that’s related to immaturity, so I’m hoping it resolves on its own).
I think back to my parents, for whom I wished that they’d spend their last penny on their last day. Fwiw, my father/step-mother came close, and my mother spent her last penny a few years before. When I jokingly tell my kids that I’m spending their inheritance on my Tesla, I’m really not kidding. They honestly get more enjoyment out of seeing me in love with a car than they would enjoy inheriting the money, knowing full well that there will be a good bit left for them regardless.
As distorted thinking goes, being frugal isn’t the worst example; being a spendthrift is much worse. Being realistic in assessing what you have, what you can afford, what brings you pleasure, what isn’t necessary, etc., is a difficult goal to achieve.
LOL - DH wanted to return a video “on the way to the hospital” after my water broke with the first baby. It was a few miles of detour, at night in the winter. I said NO. (I had been sure he would not get charged for the extra days. He was charged… but so be it.)
Now that’s a thrifty guy, funny!
When the labor pains started coming fast with our first baby, my husband drove SOOOO slow to the hospital. We were in the country at night, nobody on the roads. He usually drives way too fast, and this time he was well below the speed limit. I think he was going overboard to remain calm, until I started yelling, “Jesus, now you decide to drive slowly, hurry up!”
Actually, he is not an especially thrifty guy. I think he just thought it made sense to get it done before we shifted into gear as new parents. My labor pains had not yet started, so he thought his suggestion was reasonable. It has been a fun family story ever since.
My water broke in the middle of the night & we drove 30 minutes to drop our dogs off at the folks house, not wanting our neighbors to be disturbed and assuming the first labor would be long. By the time we got to the hospital, I was regretting that decision!
That wallethub article is interesting but has some strange results. I’m not sure weather is weighted nearly high enough. And they counting “highest % of workforce aged 65 and over” as a plus, but… why? On the theory that it will be easier to get a job if I want/need one? Seems to me it’s a negative if a lot of people over 65 need a job. And why is “Share of Population Aged 65 & Older” a positive? I’ve spent time in Boca Raton… I don’t think it’s a positive. 
The 15 highest ranked states for health care are comprised of 11 of the 18 worst states for affordability, only 2 are in the top 25. The 15 highest ranked states for quality of life are comprised of 11 of the 19 worst states for affordability, only 3 are in the top 25. I guess you pay for the good things of life.
And poor Rhode Island… they are so far behind every other state it seems like a mistake.
Yes, why would that be important, to have a high percentage of elderly? Because you’re only going to hang out with elderly people and do elderly things? And why would it be a good thing if a large percentage of elderly work? Maybe they have a vision that elderly people only work because they want to, because of the pure joy of it, as opposed to having to. I don’t think its a good thing to highly rate a place where there are many impoverished, struggling elderly people.
And some of the top states being Wyoming, South Dakota and Iowa? I guess they never visited there in the winter! They should rate weather as a far higher priority, because who cares about museums if it’s too cold to go outside.
A couple of days ago, it was in the twenties and snowing in Wyoming. IN LATE APRIL!!
D1 lived in Wyoming for a couple of years. One day it was almost 30 degrees BELOW ZERO. No. Just, no no no.
^^See, that would be something that I couldn’t overlook, it would be top priority. I know there are some beautiful places and cost of living is reasonable, but it seems every time I go to Wyoming, I’m dealing with high gusty winds, cold and snow. Man oh man, those winds! I can see if you have a winter place to go to, how it could be lovely, but that was not part of the parameters.
30 degrees below zero??? No way.
Sorry, I have a very narrow comfort zone for ambient temperatures. Even if I bundle up in high tech gear, I can get cold.
Today, we went to a baby’s 1st birthday party (a big deal). It was at a country club and it about mid-70s. I wore a thermal undershirt and sweater, plus an open crocheted sweater vest with long thermal bottoms under a floor-length skirt with ballet flats. I was perfectly comfortable and NOT hot at all.
I would not be a good candidate for living anywhere with temp extremes. I get hives if it’s too hot OR too cold!
Today sun peeked from behind the clouds… We could see the Olympics and a sliver of the lake off the rotten deck. When we fix it, it will be so awesome. If we live that long. Not a bad place to retire.
The key is knowing which factors are important to YOU. Rankings will give helpful info / datapoints. But in the end, there is no ideal place that suits every couple and budget. We’ll likely stay put because we like CO, and one of our kids settled here. (Luckily the weather suits us too - the 300 days of sunshine help mitigate the winters).
CO is AWESOME. I would not move.
Hmmmm…weather IS something to consider when retiring, however, we will stay put in MN even though we have brutal winters and terrible taxes. Both of our Ds have settled here so I think we are here for the rest of our lives since I want to be around future grandkids. Our summers here are wonderful and we have a lake home so another perfect reason to stay here. We will probably go someplace warm January through March.
Spending money:
We did travel with our kids every year. Most of our vacations were beach vacations rotating through Florida, Bahamas and various places in Mexico but we also traversed the US, too. While we are savers we also spent on making memories together.
I have mentioned up thread that I am more nervous about spending money now that H is probably within 2-3 years of retiring. Everything is paid off and we have assurances that we have more than enough put away to live very comfortably for the next 30 years. I am driving H crazy as I keep running calculators and keep asking him to pull out all of our old financial records to figure out how much we spent every year so we won’t be surprised in the future. H “thinks” he will retire in the next few years but has recently admitted it will be hard to walk away from a well paying job that he enjoys and where he gets to play golf and entertain customers that he likes. I think he has started to question what he would actually do every day if he wasn’t working and having to pay for his own golf! 