Florida, Arizona Among Best States To Retire According to New Study

2018's best and worst states to retire in

Finding the perfect spot to retire is one of the last big decisions people have to make. After spending decades working for the man, people look forward to a relaxing retirement. 

However, according to a recent survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, workers are feeling far less confident about their retirement plans as they grow older. According to the survey, one in three workers said they didn't feel confident enough that they will have enough money to retire comfortably. 

That's led to people working longer - a recent Gallup poll showed that workers in 2018 plan to retire at 66 on average. That's six years longer than workers thought they'd be working in 1995. 

If you're getting ready to retire soon, there are a lot of factors going into whether or not you'll have the best quality of life. One strategy experts suggest in extending your retirement, is by relocating to an area where your dollar can go a lot farther without changing your lifestyle too much. That's why WalletHub compared the retiree-friendliness of more than 180 U.S. cities across 46 key metrics. 

Some of the factors WalletHub examined included how tax-friendly the city and state was to retirees, availability of recreational activities, and average cost of medical care.

For example, as beautiful as California is, it turns out the Golden State is not a great place for people to spend their golden years. Four cities in California, including Fresno, Modesto, Bakersfield, and Stockton, were all ranked as some of the worst places in the nation to spend your retirement. One of the biggest concerns near-retirees had was the high cost of living and expense of using in-home care services.

On the other hand, Florida retained its title as one of the most popular places to retire with four cities ranking in the top ten of best cities. Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami were highly ranked thanks to their affordability (no income tax in Florida), high amount of activities, and a high overall quality of life. 

Martin Hopkins, the president of Hopkins Investment Management LLC says one of the biggest mistakes people make when planning for their retirement is becoming too conservative with your investments as they approach retirement.  

"Going conservative in their retirement portfolio allocation as they head to retirement. They elect target date funds based on date of their retirement and these funds become very conservative as one gets closer to their target date," Hopkins said. "The reality is that they will likely live a further 20 to 30 years after retirement and they should still have at least 60% in stock in the early days of retirement depending on their risk tolerance."

Hopkins also said that retirees should plan on living til at least 90 when planning out their retirement. 

"Conservative planning is to assume you will live long. You know the saying – “you don’t want too much life at the end of your money!" 


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