Thinking Retirement? Where You Retire Matters

WalletHub, RetirementLiving and MoneyRates all track retirement. They all have different ideas on what states are the best to spend golden years and which are the worst.

The interpretation of how budget, health, safety and quality of life apply to retirement in which states can be confusing. So MSN Money studied the retirement surveys from all three, averaged the totals and came up with a list that takes what all three do into account.

The lower the score the better and the worst score is 150.

Five PIA Western Alliance states — New Mexico, Oregon, California, Washington and Alaska — are in the top-10 worst states to retire. The PIA Western Alliance state of Nevada ranks number 25.

1. New Mexico — score 133: The PIA Western Alliance state’s retirement account distributions, Social Security and payouts from pensions are all taxed. Sales tax in New Mexico is high and crime against property is very high.

Nursing homes are also very expensive.

2. Illinois — score 132: Taxes are a big deal in Illinois. The average family pays close to 40% more in local and state taxes than the national average. Property taxes are also quite high and average about $5,000 a year.

3. New York — score 130: High taxes and hard to find, and expensive housing, is the main reason New York is not somewhere most people will want to retire.

4. Oregon — score 125: Lots of people immigrating into this PIA Western Alliance state from other states have pushed the cost of living in Oregon to the level of those just a bit higher on the list. They are the PIA Western Alliance states of California and Alaska and Hawaii.

The retirement income generated is taxed at the highest rate in the nation. Tax credits for seniors are available, though.

5. California — score 118: California is the second most expensive state in the union in which to live. Only Hawaii is more expensive. Almost all forms of retirement income are taxed. It also has one of the highest income tax rates in the country. The sales tax is very high, too.

And then there are the wildfires.

6. Alaska — score 112: One clue as to why it’s a bad place to retire is the number of retirees in Alaska. The state has the second lowest percentage of retiree in the U.S. No income tax and no sales tax isn’t much of an attraction for seniors, either.

It’s just too cold, property crime is very high and the cost of groceries and other items are also very, very high.

7. Washington — score 107: Lots to see and do in the PIA Western Alliance state of Washington but in-home care services are higher in Washington than any state in the country. Housing is also exceptionally expensive with the average home costing $478,000.

8. Rhode Island — score 105

9. New Jersey — score 104

10. Maryland — score 102

11. Louisiana — score 101

12. Maine — score 99

13. Kansas — score 93

14. Connecticut — score 90

14. Colorado (tie) — score 90

16. Texas — score 88

17. Georgia — score 85

18. Hawaii —score 84,

19. Wisconsin (tie) — score 82

19. Vermont (tie) — score 82

21. Nebraska (tie) — score 82

22. Mississippi — score 81

23. Tennessee — score 80

24. Michigan — score 79

25. Nevada — score 77 (tie with Massachusetts): No state income tax and low property taxes don’t matter much when you consider the high price of purchasing a home. Also, Nevada has higher than average crimes rates.

Nevada also has a low number of physicians for the size of its population.

Source link: MSN Money