Many have strong feelings politically, and that also does become a factor for many, as to what city/state they want to be in (and where they don’t want to be).
The pull from the grandchildren is strong, especially where the parents work FT in demanding careers and they want you to move nearby. Five grandchildren ages 6 months to 7 years. Fortunately, DD1/family live in a state we have lived in before, we have other relatives/friends there, and we can adapt. Key hurdle will be the efforts to sell and buy primary residence. What we give up - nicer climate (mild winter, nice spring and fall, not too hot summer), and mid-sized city with all the amenities we want (and we are close to everything important). New city is big (one of largest in US). Waiting for things to move forward in 2026 on DD1/SIL/family ‘permanence’ and for us to potentially move in 2027.
We know a lot of people in TN want to keep TN ‘a secret’. Nashville has grown incredibly fast.
I agree about some of the rankings being a bit ‘off’ but it at least gets a list of ideas going for people. Some experiences vary widely with being in a suburb/town of one of the listed cities too.
When talking about ‘minimizing taxes and expenses’, a gal moved from FL to AL because in AL, with her low income, she did not have to pay property taxes. She had a nest egg, paid for house. She moved about 4 years ago and is super happy. In FL, she could see that her funds were going to run out with the payment of property taxes and climbing COL.
I didn’t even bother to look at the list. We retired to a place with high taxes ( yes we knew) and cold, long winters ( yes we were aware). But I love it here. Less than 15 minutes from D, SIL and grandkids, lots to do, the kind of neighborhood I always wanted to live in, close to a major airport, great healthcare and I can walk to almost everything! It took a bit of time but I have made friends with an amazing group of women.
I’m very fortunate that I have options that others don’t.
A lot of people would not like to live where I do. I’m ok with that. But I’m not choosing my life based on someone else’s opinions/ priorities.
We made the decision to move ourselves from Boston to Scottsdale (#2 on that list) in ‘99 with an eye to retirement when property was half what it was in Boston. Scottsdale (everywhere in the Phoenix metro area) has become expensive but, if you’re already here, it doesn’t matter. Property taxes are ridiculously low, the dessert in bloom is beautiful, there’s plenty to do (and eat), and the weather is great nine months of the year. Except for the summer heat, no compelling reason to move. Scottsdale is also home to a major Mayo campus, the heart of several medical specialties and hospital systems, and AZ in general is a bastion of geriatric medicine, so I question the healthcare ranking (though that rank may be more accurate outside the immediate metro area).
But, I believe articles like these assume a person is looking to retire to a new location, so assuming a new COL is likely to be an important factor.
These lists are funny but when I disagree with the rankings, it does help me think about what I value. We live in a medium tax, high estate tax, cold winter climate, with what I think of as great health care and amenities. I would have been happier, I think, in the mountains or on the West Coast and don’t love New England winters. But, I do value the folks I see on a regular basis – my book group has three medical professors, a business school professor, an independent book store owner (who was a former lawyer and literature student), and a former government official. All really thoughtful interesting folk – and love talking to the venture capital and angel investors about new technologies and architects about their new buildings. I love the New England falls. I truly love that we live surrounded by nature.
Some of what I don’t get here can be remedied. We could go to Florida or South Carolina for the winter and could buy a warm weather place – the previous owners of our house owned a place in Key West. We do go hiking every year in the Canadian Rockies and visit ShawSon on the West Coast. I’d love to move to a place without an estate tax, but that would involve a major move (e.g., FL) or a minor one to colder weather (NH).
All other things equal, we are not leaving even if other places are more senior-friendly. ShawD move back from the West Coast to be near us. Hopefully, grandchildren will follow.
The only thing that would get us at this point to move are major shifts in the governance or political climate of the country. We have been moving toward a more powerful presidency and have seen an upsurge in antisemitism over the last few years. (If I were a Jew living in France, the UK or Australia, I would be thinking hard about leaving right now.) If we cross some thresholds in those dimensions, I think ShawWife and would move to her native Canada. It is by no means preordained that we will cross these thresholds and I hope we don’t. Not something I would ever want to do as a proud American.
I hear you about appreciating the intellectual environs! My gym (in Waltham!) had a dictionary at the desk in case anyone needed it…. And the greater Boston Jewish community is proud to have more Jewish schools than kosher restaurants, a unique situation across the world. But it’s not perfect!
I look at these rankings a bit like college rankings we all reviewed those many years ago. They each give you some data points and an exercise to determine what is important (academically, socially and financially). But for the most part, I’d think dismiss the numeric results as “rankings… schmankings” - just need to find best fit, affordable options.
I think the magazines that advertise rankings sell a lot of those issues, betting it’s their most popular publications. I must admit to getting sucked into buying a number of the college rankings issues I do remember a scandal not so far back about the college rankings, whereas they got the “reputation” score from contacting top administrators at colleges, who might have been bribed or sucked up to by some of those colleges. Or something like that.
I would take more stock from rankings that were more specifc. For example, they can declare a place to be low cost of living, but if in that state one must pay state taxes on pensions, 401K’s and Social Security, that could add a lot to the cost of living. Other places have huge cuts in property taxes for seniors, which can definitely add up. We can’t all be so lucky as @ChoatieMom to have purchased a place in paradise, before the real estate boom. Though I admit we got lucky buying our house in the Seattle area 20 years ago, we could have never afforded it now.
Like you, we have some very good QOL ventures that cannot be duplicated, but we can get into some new ventures. Having regular time with the grandkids will fill up our time too.
The retirement ranking seems just as useless as websites creating a formula to rank colleges, if not more so. The ranking formula includes dozens of items, perhaps over 100, many of which are near irrelevant to persons reading. Almost any reader’s personal values would be completely different from the formula weightings, leading to a complete different list of desirable locations. Further problematic, the criteria used in the different weightings are often flawed.
For example, one of the most important listed criteria for me is mild weather, as it’s important to me that I can spend a lot of time outside all year round. “Mild weather” is given a 3% weighting in the formula. However, the cities ranked best in “mild weather” often aren’t the ones that have the weather I am looking for. For example, Scottsdale is given near perfect 3/100 ranking for mild weather (lower is better), while San Diego is given a mediocre 35/100, suggesting Scottsdale had far more mild weather than San Diego.
Scottsdale has average highs of 107F in July and highs of 100+ F 4 months of the year. San Diego has average high of 78 in August (hottest month) and comfortable temperatures all year round. They both average a similar low amount of precipitation. Scottsdale has some severe storms during monsoon season, more so than SD. How is Scottsdale weather more mild?
Interesting. I would say that San Diego has perfect weather year-round and that the summer temperatures in Scottsdale are way too high. Nothing mild about 107 degrees.
I’m sure that rank is based on some sort of averaging, not how hot it can get in AZ in the summer.
The average annual temperature in Scottsdale, Arizona is around 73.2 ∘F. The average annual high is about 85 ∘F and the average annual low is about 60 ∘F.
Average monthly temperatures in San Diego range from 57.3 °F in January to 72 °F in August. On average, 344 days a year are hotter than 60 °F, but only 25 days are hotter than 80 °F.
Maybe the lower SD temps keep it out of the “mild” range for purposes of this comparison?
3x weight – Chance of sunny day formula
1.5x weight – Difference between average monthly temperature and ideal monthly temperature
1.5x weight – Difference between average precipitation and ideal precipitation
…
If I understand correctly, the “mild weather” ranking uses an ideal average temperature of 72F (ignoring that people are more likely to be outside during daytime high than nighttime low during typical sleeping hours), which San Diego hits better than Scottsdale overall, particularly in summer. I am using weatherspark for these stats.
Hottest Month: Ideal = 72F
Scottsdale: High = 105F, Low = 82F, Average = 93F (21 degrees above ideal)
San Diego: High = 77F, Low = 68F, Average = 71F (1 degree below ideal)
Coldest Month: Ideal = 72F
Scottsdale: High = 66F, Low = 45F, Average = 54F (18 degrees below ideal)
San Diego: High = 65F, Low = 51F, Average = 57F (15 degrees below ideal)
Rather than temperature, San Diego’s problem is the other categories. For example, chance of sunny day is the highest weighted component of the “mild weather” ranking, with double the weight as temperature. According to Google AI, Scottsdale has more sunny days than any other city in the United States… well above San Diego. So Scottsdale has one of the most mild climates in the United States because it’s more important for a mild climate that summer days be sunny than be a non-sweltering temperature of <100F. This shows how distant the output of these formulas can be from what typical persons actually value.
We ‘know’ what we would be getting in San Antonio. Saying ‘hot’ and ‘sweltering’ is close to saying almost unbearable for those not used to it in summer months (just have little time spent outside). Other descriptors are ‘cool’, ‘comfortable’.
I value comfort. We leave AZ for ME from mid-May to end of October, so we enjoy an average “mild” temp of about 74 degrees year round. Problem solved.
ETA: But “yes” to @FallGirl ‘s comment below that “good weather is subjective.” I actually miss snow but that’s a non-starter for DH which is why we have to be back in AZ by Halloween. We hosted Thanksgiving in ME last year and it snowed heavily on T-day. I was loving it, DH not so much.
“ Good weather” is subjective. I live in a place where a 30 degree day in January will see lots of people outside being active.
A close friend of mine and I both moved after retirement. She went South, I went North. She is horrified that I walk to my yoga studio when it’s 25 degrees outside and I’m horrified she plays pickleball outside when it’s 90 degrees and humid.
LOL, reading this as I eat breakfast before my 7am indoor Pickleball. It’s 24 degrees, but NOT playing outside. (40 degrees is pretty much my lower limit. The gung ho, all winter banger players do report the balls can sometimes crack for them in the cold.) Definitely not yet used to that idea. I did cover up some flowers last night for the first time - I’m planning to take them inside if they survive, just had not had enough time to dig them out.
We often joke about our Colorado weather, which can be highly unpredictable… sometimes a bit of snow in May or Sept - “Very unpredictable. But we take our 300 days of annual sunshine any time they come.” I kid you not, part of the calculation about whether to go shovel the driveway (if not too deep) is how soon the sun/warmth will be coming back.
I do remember a scandal not so far back about the college rankings, whereas they got the “reputation” score from contacting top administrators at colleges, who might have been bribed or sucked up to by some of those colleges. Or something like that.
