IMO, I would not use Boston as a benchmark. Boston has a HUGE population of graduate students that can skew the picture. These folks technically reside in Boston and tough it out on graduate stipends but they will get out as soon as they find a real job.
Yes…and a lot of those grad students or even docs and post docs…share their apartments with as many as the town will allow to keep costs under control.
My point is…perhaps it would be a good idea to double those numbers in the above thread in terms of actually being able to live comfortably on a lower budget…in these towns.
Housing costs are high in Madison and the surrounding communities. Medical care is top-notch, for the most part. The county is mostly blue. There are lots of activities and many neighborhoods are walkable. Public transportation is meh.
It’s easy enough to do the cost-of-living comparison using a higher annual income. I just did $50K because that’s the default on the particular online tool I used, and because if I’m not mistaken the OP indicated that s/he lived in the Boston area and expected to have limited income in retirement, so I surmised current income is probably not high. All that could be wrong, of course. But for those who want to see a comparison based on $100K in Boston, it looks like this:
Ann Arbor $71,984
Madison $64,509
Bloomington $54,915
Iowa City $59,623
Lexington $54,091
Athens $53,914
Tuscaloosa $55,974
Gainesville $55,268
Oxford $56,092
Eugene $65,333
Generally speaking, the Midwest and South are going to be cheaper than the East and West Coasts. Major college towns in the Midwest and South are often more expensive than surrounding areas of their respective states, but still much less than the Coasts, and the college towns are more educated, more literate, more diverse, with more arts and high-culture offerings, often better medical care, and many other advantages over the surrounding areas. And yes, generally more liberal, if that matters to you.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-43308729
get on your bike, forget walkability.
If you think in red state versus blue state terms, I have generally found I won’t want to spend any significant amount of time with you. No matter if you view yourself as red or blue.
This thread is the low budget retirement thread. As such, seems to me that using Boston as a benchmark doesn’t make sense for this thread. Though as the “middle class” definition on this board tends to be shifted high, maybe the “low budget” retirement budget skews high as well here.
Again, the OP is “from the Boston area,” so using Boston as the benchmark for the OP makes eminent sense because the OP is looking for someplace cheaper than the OP’s present location… It may not make sense for you given your present location. If not, then do your own cost-of-living comparison using your own current location as the benchmark. Geez, this isn’t that hard, people.
If you want bikeability, Madison has it, at least for 8 months or so of the year, when the ice is off the roads and paths. Living in a bike and walk friendly place decreases car expenses substantially. Though the need for a winter escape to a warm climate adds additional expense.
Columbia Missouri is a great place to live with all the activity of the university and having excellent medical care. Living close to excellent physicians and hospitals is very important as we grow older.
When we travel lots of retired folks are driving uber or lift.
I see retired folks driving school buses too. But at some point in the future (no one is sure when) auto drive vehicles may well reduce the need for uber/lift and school bus drivers. Will also give older people freedom though who would otherwise be unable to be mobile.
OP asked about “those who expect to have $50K or less annually in retirement.” It seems to me that it’s entirely fair to use 50k in Boston as an initial reference point. The list of lower average COL cities @bclintonk first gave shows examples of where OP’s 50k would go further than what she knows where she now is and what she’s *projecting. * I know it informed me, and I’m in that general geo area.
The talk of 250k homes and thousands in property taxes doesn’t really reflect the way OP thinks her income needs to stretch. The fact that it’s hard to live decently in Boston on 50k or 4k/month IS the point.
And OP didn’t just ask where it’s cheaper, but had a few other bullets on her wish list, to tailor where she might research.
Thanks @bclintonk for the newer cost comparison.
I live in the northeast also, and unless I move quite far afield of where I live…it’s not going to be a “low budget” retirement area. I’d love to love in Boston…no need for two cars…maybe no need to own a car at all. Lots of things within walking distance in certain areas. But the cost of rent alone is high. So are taxes. So is the general cost of living. I will say…excellent hospitals and public transportation…and excellent convenient airport. And lots to do…but pricey!
We have looked at condos downtown…and they are totally out of our price range. And our retirement income will be well above the mean.
I was at a retirement planning seminars at work yesterday, and the the guy said for HCOL areas you probably need 70-80% of pre-retirement income (with other parameters, of course). He mentioned Huntsville Alabama and Albuquerque, NM as a step down, cost-wise.
Not as related to this thread, but he also said he doesn’t recommend LTC insurance as much as he used to, and that’s mostly because of the cost.
A letter to the editor in our local paper talked about growing out of state retiree communities in Southern Utah - specifically St. George and Cedar City. Author said they are beautiful and about 40% less cost of living compare to Southern California.
OP here again… @bclintonk I found the list of comparative cities at the Boston $50K price point quite interesting… thanks for posting!
I am very happy for all of you who have no preference between a Blue state or a Red state vibe.
Sorry, I can’t find it, but where’s the link to the article on what $50k in Boston translates to in other cities? Thfanks.
No link. The info is in post 197.
@bclintonk, could you please post the link for the numbers on how much $50k in Boston buys? That would be interesting to play around with.
Here’s an article: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/us-cities-where-you-can-live-comfortably-on-less-than-50000-a-year-2017-4
@bclintonk never posted on what $50,000 would buy in Boston @HImom.
She posted comparison INCOMES to other cities based on a $50,000 income in Boston.