15 worst states for retirement: 2016

June 28, 2016 by WalletHub Report

Retirement might be the end of the line, but it doesn’t have to be the end of financial security or life satisfaction. For many of us, our primary concern with retirement is timing, which often coincides with the age at which we become eligible to receive Social Security or pension benefits. Hopefully the choice will be ours and not dictated by our circumstances — the unfortunate case for nearly a third of non-retirees who haven’t put away a single penny for retirement, though not necessarily through any fault of their own.

But in addition to when you want to retire, you might want to ask yourself where. That can be an awfully difficult question to answer if you haven’t adequately planned — or been able to plan — for the rest of your life. Even in the most affordable areas of the U.S., retirees often cannot rely on their Social Security or pension checks alone to cover all of their living expenses. Social Security benefits increase progressively with local inflation, but they replace only about 40 percent of the amount you earned if you were an average worker, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

If retirement is still a big question mark for you because of finances, we recommend you consider relocating to a retirement-friendly state — one that will let you keep more money in your pocket without drastically modifying your lifestyle. WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 24 key metrics to help you find that permanent, and affordable, place to call home when you’re ready to leave the workforce. Of course, affordability shouldn’t be your only priority in retirement, which is why our analysis also explores health-related factors and overall quality of life. Scroll down for the results, additional expert commentary and a detailed methodology.

Ask the Experts

Choosing a place to settle for retirement requires careful consideration of various factors such as your finances, health and how you plan to spend your time. For advice on such matters, we turned to a panel of experts in fields such as aging and taxes. Click HERE for experts’ profiles to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:

1. What is the most common mistake that retirees make when choosing where to settle?
2. What are some tips for living on a fixed income in retirement?
3. Should states work to attract retirees? What are the pros and cons to having a large retiree population?
4. Should retirees be exempt from certain state and local taxes?

Methodology

In order to identify the most retirement-friendly states, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) Affordability, 2) Quality of Life and 3) Health Care.

First, we compiled 24 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was given a value between 0 and 100, wherein 100 is the best value for that metric and 0 is the worst.

We then calculated the overall score for each state and finally ranked them using the weighted average across all metrics.

Affordability – Total Points: 40

• Adjusted Cost of Living: Double Weight (~17.78 Points)
• WalletHub “Taxpayer” Ranking: Full Weight (~8.89 Points)
• Friendliness of Taxation on Pensions & Social Security Income: Full Weight (~8.89 Points)
• Annual Cost of In-Home Services: Half Weight (~4.44 Points)

Quality of Life – Total Points: 30

• Percentage of the Population Aged 65 & Older: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Elderly-Friendly Labor Market: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• WalletHub “Mild Weather” Ranking: Double Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Number of Museums per Capita (measured by the square root of the population): Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Number of Theaters per Capita (measured by the square root of the population): Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Number of Music Venues per Capita (measured by the square root of the population): Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Number of Golf Courses Capita (measured by the square root of the population): Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Availability of Adult Volunteer Activities: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Violent-Crime Rate: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Property-Crime Rate: Full Weight (~2.50 Points)
• Air Quality: Half Weight (~1.25 Points)
• Drinking-Water Quality (percentage of population potentially exposed to water exceeding a violation limit): Half Weight (~1.25 Points)

Health Care – Total Points: 30

• Number of Family and General Physicians per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)
• Number of Dentists per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)
• Number of Nurses per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)
• Number of Health-Care Facilities per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)
• Public-Hospitals Ranking: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)
• Emotional Health: Half Weight (~2.00 Points)
• Life Expectancy: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)
• Death Rate for People Aged 65 & Older: Full Weight (~4.00 Points)

Sources: Data used to create these rankings were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Retirement Living Information Center, the Genworth Financial, the United Health Foundation, the County Health Rankings, Measure of America, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Charity Navigator, Gallup Healthways, GolfLink.com and WalletHub research.

Originally posted at: : https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-to-retire/18592/

Originally Posted at WalletHub on June 28, 2016 by WalletHub Report.