The worst places in the U.S. to retire

Slideshow September 11, 2023 at 11:06 PM

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A July 2023 report from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) showed retirement is looking a bit grim for most of those in Gen X – who are currently in their 40s and 50s and comprise about 20% of the U.S. population. For this generation, there is a wide discrepancy between the retirement savings of top earners and those who earn the least. The top quartile of earners have retirement savings around $250,000 on average, while the bottom half of Gen X households have between an average of $200 to $4,290 saved. NIRS found only 14% of GenXers are covered by a defined benefit plan, and just over half participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. The cost of living in an area relative to your savings is certainly something to consider when choosing where to spend your retirement, but it isn't the only factor to take into account. Most choose to stay put in their golden years, but according to a Census Bureau report, about 6.2% of Americans over 65 moved each year from 2015 to 2019. Seniors who choose to move tend to be renters with lower incomes who live alone, and according to the American Planning Association, the most common reasons these people move are to be closer to family, to live in a better neighborhood and to reduce their housing costs. Recently, Bankrate crunched the numbers to find out how the U.S. states rank when it comes to their friendliness to retirees. These rankings were determined by combining weighted data on affordability (40%), overall well-being (25%), quality and cost of healthcare (20%), weather (10%) and crime rate (5%). All of those factors considered, Bankrate's top-ranked states for retirees are: