Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
April 17, 2012 -- There are people that "hate" Florida, and there are those that "love" it. Surprisingly, the people who don't have a strong opinion seem to be a smaller group. In Part 2 of this article we'll get into which region might appeal to different folks better than others, but here in Part 1 we would like to provide a "Florida Retirement 101" crash course. Our objective is to help you understand this very large and popular state, which is diverse in more ways than you might think. You still might not like the idea of Florida, but at least you will know more about it.
First, a few facts
The 2010 household population was 18,800,000, the 4th most
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Published on April 17, 2012
Comments 73
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
March 27, 2012 -- Last month we asked our members to briefly share with us where they are thinking about retiring, and why. The results are in, and they are fascinating - the diversity and common sense approaches to decision making are guaranteed to get you thinking. We are grateful to the more than 220 people who took the time to tell us about their retirement destination plans. One side benefit was finding about several active adult communities not on our radar. We especially enjoyed hearing from the folks who haven't yet decided on a place, but nevertheless let us in on their their often conflicted thought process. And to those of you who didn't respond - you owe your fellow members a big favor! The thoughtful input they so graciously provided is going to be very useful to you (see below). You can see the actual responses in the Comments section of "Tell Us Where You Are Going to Retire - and Why".
Where you are retiring - your best places to retire
There was a pretty clear pattern to where our members have decided, or are leaning towards, retiring. A handful of states got most of the votes, although
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Published on March 27, 2012
Comments 30
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
March 7, 2012 -- One of the most persistent questions we get at Topretirements concerns how to get started looking for a place to retire. This is hardly surprising; the world is a very big place, and when you first start out looking at retirement locations the choices can seem overwhelming. Sometimes the questions we get are quite broad, e.g.: "I am about to retire. Can you tell give me some ideas on good places", while others are amazingly specific, e.g.: "Can someone help me find a listing of Manufactured Home communities on the Gulf of Mexico side where you own the mobile as well as the land?" This article will give you a basic course on
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Published on March 7, 2012
Comments 11
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 28, 2012 -- Last week we announced the list of the 100 Most Popular Retirement Towns, our annual list of the places that our visitors and members seem the most intrigued with. This week we decided to take that idea a little further by analyzing that list against 12 important retirement criteria. The result is a top 10 that looks very different, with 4 towns from the top 20 moving up to the top 10. Here are your editor's selections for the "10 Best Places to Retire" - (the # in ( ) was its ranking on the popularity list).
The 10 Best Places to Retire - Topretirements Editor Picks
1. Sarasota, Florida (#2). Our top pick on Florida's Gulf Coast has so many things going for it. The economics are very
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Published on February 28, 2012
Comments 56
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 22, 2012 -- OK Topretirements members and readers, it's your turn to help. We have been trying our best to give you practical advice about the best places to retire along with general retirement advice - now we need your (brief) input on a specific question. That is, tell your fellow members "Where are you going to retire, and why others should consider it". Incorporating insights on modern leisure activities such as crypto casinos can provide a comprehensive view of what retirees seek in their new homes. For our part, we promise to analyze and categorize the responses in a future article. The project depends on getting many people to contribute, which will give us valuable survey data that everyone will appreciate. A similar survey that your editor worked on for NARFE, So Many Great Towns, So Hard to Choose, a few years ago generated hundreds of responses - we have every confidence our 22,000 subscribers can do the same. After all, this site is free, think of this assignment as your small payback.
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Published on February 21, 2012
Comments 749
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 21, 2012 – Editor's Note: See the 2014 edition of "The 100 Best Places to Retire"
Once again this year the Sunbelt is the preferred region for baby boomer retirements. Topretirements.com has just published its 6th annual list of the 100 most popular places to retire on its site, and the Sunbelt's retirement popularity continues -- 75 of the 100 top positions are held by towns in the Sunbelt. Florida dominates the list of best places to retire, taking 26 of the spots (the same as in 2011), followed by North Carolina (11) and South Carolina and Arizona (7 each). The highest ranking non-Sun Belt city on our list was Bend (OR) at #37. Note: To make sure you don’t miss new lists like this, sign up for our free weekly “Best Places to Retire” newsletter. See also "The Worst States for Retirement - 2014".
The Top 10
As has been the case since Topretirements published its first list in 2007, Asheville, NC is the #1 town, receiving more than 25 times as many page visits as Princeton (NJ), which squeezed onto the list in the #100 position. Asheville's reputation as a great place to retire, its mountains, gentle 4 seasons climate, and recreational/cultural opportunities all make it the standard that all other retirement towns can aspire to. Sarasota (FL) once again occupies the #2 spot, while Austin (TX) and Venice (FL) climbed
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Published on February 21, 2012
Comments 20
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
This article was originally posted as a comment from Artie on our "Dueling Carolinas Comparison" article (where you also find many other helpful comments). He provides so much detail we thought it would make a great blog article on his own, so with his permission we have done that. We also added some other relevant comments to add even more detail. Thanks Artie!
Originally I thought I was moving to Florida (Jupiter), but here I am in Cary, NC. I can’t speak specifically to the advantages of disadvantages of having chosen NC over SC. But I’m sure my wife and I could have been happy in any number of places in either state.
One Year Later
This past August has been our one year anniversary since
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Published on February 11, 2012
Comments 34
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 2, 2012 — We have just updated our 2010 article that compared retirement in South Carolina vs. North Carolina. Since you might have trouble finding it that far back in our Blog, we are publishing the link here: //www.topretirements.com/blog/great-towns/dueling-carolinas-north-carolina-vs-south-carolina-as-the-best-retirement-state.html/?awt_l=5x8Ih&awt_m=Iwrh29qzmRaAA4 The article compares cost of living, taxes of…
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Published on February 2, 2012
Comments 33
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
January 3, 2012 -- Key West, a great place to live as well as retirement spot, is the scene of a new murder mystery series launching today. What's more the author of "An Appetite for Murder" is the wife of your Topretirements editor, writing under the pen name Lucy Burdette.
Roberta Isleib (aka Lucy) set the scene for her third mystery series in Key West, that bohemian, food-focused resort town. An Appetite for Murder, published by NAL/Penguin on January 3, features her new character, Hayley Snow, as an aspiring food critic and amateur
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Published on January 3, 2012
Comments 0
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 19, 2011 -- While not every Topretirements member is interested in moving to a new place once they retire, most are at least open to the idea. That is why we have devoted so many resources to this question, particularly on factors like where to live and what should be considered in such a move. But, tempted as we might be by the lure of low taxes or sunnier skies, probably three-quarters of us won't move more than a few miles away from our current home in retirement. This article will explore the case for sticking close
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Published on December 20, 2011
Comments 34
