[MikeNoun]

Originally Posted by Richman

Here are the 10 worst states for retirement, with No. 1 being the lowest-ranked, according to Money-Rates.com:

10. Wisconsin
9. New York
8. Washington
7. Rhode Island
6. Maryland
5. Alaska
4. Connecticut
3. Massachusetts
2. Michigan
1. Maine

Here are all 10 best states for retirement according to Money-Rates.com:

10. Kansas
9. Tennessee
8. South Dakota
7. Mississippi
6. Virginia
5. Louisiana
4. Iowa
3. Oklahoma
2. Kentucky
1. Texas

Yeah, I wasn't going to say anything, but I noticed that 9 of the 10 worst states to retire are radical Liberal states, and 9 out of the 10 best states to retire are Conservative.

Illinois must have just barely missed being in the top 10 worst. Sky high taxes, corrupt politicians (many end up in jail), highest murder rate (Chicago) in the nation, toll roads to get anywhere, and they'll tax you for breathing the air.

[Keith Vrabec]

I plan to go to my garage.....And lock the door behind me.

Even though PA is likely #11 on the first list.

[1969GTO]

I would like to try the NY summer/Florida winter thing.
Then I could drive my GTO year round. ;o)

[screamingchief]

Originally Posted by The Champ

Economic factors are important to me - but one thing they don't address here is the standard of living. Higher tax burdens often have better roads, schools, etc. Some things I'm willing to pay extra for.

Well,to be honest the roads down here are better than pretty much all the states between here & Wisconsin,I can safely say that as I've driven back and forth many times,and I can always tell once I've left the state of Texas,as the ride gets a little bumpier almost immediately upon crossing the state line,and the further north you go,the worse it gets.

That's because any state that has harsh winters and thus salts their roads are pretty much always going to have worse roads than a state like Texas has,does'nt matter how much tax money a higher taxed state dumps in that bottomless pit,they'll never catch up,mother nature sees to that.

Wisconsin is a tax hungry state,and their roads & highways pretty much all suck b@lls,BTDT,same with Illinois.

Even Arkansas has some pretty rough highways,especially that stretch between Little Rock & Memphis,that is just horrible,though that's largely due to the high volume of truck traffic on that road,that stretch of higway is always loaded with semis,LOL.

Schools (K-12),yeah they kinda suck down here,but I dont have kids,so that does'nt necesarily directly affect guys like me much,so I dont really keep track of those sorta things,but it seems like schools are pretty much screwed up everywere these days.

Originally Posted by The Champ

They also don't take into account leisure time activities or medical care - things that are important to retirees.

I cant even begin to dream of doing 1/4 of the things that are available to do down here,and I've lived here on & off since the mid eightees,and every year it seems like there are more and more things to do,so it's pretty much impossible to do everything that's available.

You can easily schedule things every week (weekend) of the year if you wanted to.

The two negatives down here in that respect are the hot summers,and the long drives,if you can get past those two things,it's an awsome place to live as far as leisure time activities are concerned.

Lets see you go golfing,fishing,or drag racing in January-February up in Wisconsin,LOL.

And medical care here is pretty good too,definitely better than it is back where I lived in Wisconsin (Racine),that city is well known as having seriously substandard medical facillities,most folks wont even use the hospital there,they go to Milwaukee (Froedert) or down into Illinois instead.

Just cause a state takes in a ton of taxes does'nt mean that money is actually making it back to the taxpayers,fact is most of ends up going to the non-taxpayers that the state ends up supporting.

They dont do nearly as much of that down here as they do up there.

As for the crime statistics,those look that way because states like Texas have more than just one major metropolitan area to factor into those numbers,Texas being a really big state has like 4-5 major metro areas to take into account,so that tends to stack up the numbers somewhat compared to less populous states with only one or two metro areas to account for.

Texas has like 25.6 million people.

Next closest state in the top 10 has like 8 million (Virginia).

So it's not all that surprising that a state with 1/3 less people would have less crime as well.

There are only like 2 states in the "worst" states that have populations between Texas and Virginia (New York & Michigan),and those two both have big metro areas that are known for having relatively high crime rates.

So I can kinda see why crime rate is at the bottom of the list of criteria.

Anyhow,a person could do a whole lot worse than retiring down here,that I'm sure of.

My folks did,they loved it.

But me,I'm like a few others mentioned,I doubt I'll ever get a chance to retire completely,closest I seem to get are some extended periods of unemployment,LOL.

FWIW

Bret P.

[PonchoV8]

Yep, Montana for me too. Gonna raise some lonely dental floss.

[Ron]

I'm suprised that California is not listed as one of the worse.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by screamingchief

Lets see you go golfing,fishing,or drag racing in January-February up in Wisconsin,LOL.

Golfing does slow down in the winter, but ice fishing and snowmobile drags get a lot more popular.

[screamingchief]

Originally Posted by Stuart

Golfing does slow down in the winter, but ice fishing and snowmobile drags get a lot more popular.

Only if your into freezing your @ss off.

I've been ice fishing enough times to say f*ck that...

And there's gotta be a decent amount of snow to snowmobile,lately I've heard thru the grapevine that SE Wisc. snow has been kinda spotty most years,it'll be there for a while,and then poof it's gone,most of my friends there say you gotta go further up north to find decent snow for true snowmobile fun.

So where does that leave a fella during the cold weather months?

IME usually warming a bar stool doing 12 oz. curls,LOL-JK.

It's kinda the opposite of the hot summers down here,some folks here tend to hide inside with the AC on from say late June-July untill the cooler weather comes back around this time of year.

I do miss fall up north though.

Some years fall lasts all of about a week or two down here,LOL.

Bret P.

[400 4spd.]

Originally Posted by screamingchief

.......Even Arkansas has some pretty rough highways,especially that stretch between Little Rock & Memphis,that is just horrible,though that's largely due to the high volume of truck traffic on that road,that stretch of higway is always loaded with semis,LOL.....

Bret P.

Lots of truth there. A few years ago I drove from coast to coast and back again. By far, Arkansas had the worst roads I traveled. As a general rule, stay in the left lane and you don't get beat up so badly.

[Rob B]

Montana for me also, way up in the woods somewhere in a private, remote cabin all by myself. I'll spend my days sending care packages to all my" friends" and growing an awesome beard!

[screamingchief]

I gotta admit that the roads in Ark. have gotten a little better since B.C. was pres.,I guess he must've gotten some extra highway funding sent their way or something.

But they still not anywhere as nice as the Texas roads are,I guess that's because we had LBJ building us a load of new roads back in the sixties or something like that.

But that stretch from LR to Memphis,it's so busy that any construction on that highway just becomes a major PITA as it backs up a ton of traffic.

From Texarkana to Little Rock is getting better,but it's still not all that great.

Thumpa,thumpa,thumpa,you can hear & feel every expansion joint between the slabs.

And if it rains hard while on the highway in Arkansas,forget it,you gotta pull over,man -o- man I've never seen it rain like it rains there,that $#!t is like a biblical flood or something,wipers are useless,even on high with rainX,it's almost unbelieveable unless you've experienced it.

Anyhow I digress on Ark. for now,not trying to start a inter-state feud or something,LOL.

I just had some input because I lived in both a top ten and a bottom ten state,and thought I could add some perspective to the discussion.

Bret P.

[poncho-mike]

I've been thinking about buying a cabin in the NC mountains for when I retire. The realtor I was talking with said I should consider Tennessee. It's only 20 miles farther, but has no state income tax and fairly low property tax rates.

NC is working on becoming the Massachusetts of the South. We now have toll roads and some of the highest gasoline taxes in the nation. I'm seriously considering moving to SC or TN.

Mike

[zeebo]

sounds cool and all but im worried more about IF im going to be able to retire, and not where..lol..the way things are going, when you get too old and sick to work anymore, youll have to sell everything and live under an overpass! especially my generation (im 42)

[69goatboy]

In a van, down by the river.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Originally Posted by Brian Baker

When I retire, it's going to be in a county, in a state, with no state income tax and very few (if any) minorities. Low taxes, and low crime (or no crime) sounds just fine to me.

You be in luck with MANY choices; Alaska, North Dakota, South dakota, Montanya

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Rob B

Montana for me also, way up in the woods somewhere in a private, remote cabin all by myself. I'll spend my days sending care packages to all my" friends" and growing an awesome beard!

I'm picturing Ted Kaczynski.

[428PHIL]

Originally Posted by Brian Baker

When I retire, it's going to be in a county, in a state, with no state income tax and very few (if any) minorities. Low taxes, and low crime (or no crime) sounds just fine to me.

Brian
Would that be Delaware, at least you won't have far to drive LOL.

[lfdsteve]

Originally Posted by Brian Baker

When I retire, it's going to be in a county, in a state, with no state income tax and very few (if any) minorities. Low taxes, and low crime (or no crime) sounds just fine to me.

Problem with that theory is that it leaves the cops with no one to hassle but your kids. Our cops are.so bored they have switched to "regulators" they don't protect us, they "heard" us with every picky minuta of the law. Bunch of aholes!

Steve

[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by MikeNoun

Yeah, I wasn't going to say anything, but I noticed that 9 of the 10 worst states to retire are radical Liberal states, and 9 out of the 10 best states to retire are Conservative.

Illinois must have just barely missed being in the top 10 worst. Sky high taxes, corrupt politicians (many end up in jail), highest murder rate (Chicago) in the nation, toll roads to get anywhere, and they'll tax you for breathing the air.

Cant agree with this more. Tax, tax, tax. Property taxes are crazy, winters get the mix of everything from sub zero temps to mounds of snow (tons of crazy weather coming off Lake Mich), roads are super congested (some of the worst in the country), terrible government, and did I mentions the taxes? IL should be the worst place to retire.

Not sure where I want to live out my old days but it wont be here.

[mike nixon]

in a box residing in a hole in the ground.