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A podcast designed to help retirees and those nearing retirement navigate finances and life planning with expert insights from financial advisor Trevor Lawson. Tune in for practical strategies and inspiring ideas to ensure your retirement years are purposeful, fulfilling, and truly your best chapter yet.
*Securities and investment advisory services offered through Osaic Wealth, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC. Osaic Wealth is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products or services referenced here are independent of Osaic Wealth. Branch phone: 919-546-0400.
Welcome to The Retirement With and On Purpose Podcast. I'm your host, Trevor Lawson, and this show is all about helping you not just reach retirement. But truly thrive in it. You've put in the work. Now let's make sure you can enjoy every moment to the fullest.
Today's episode is a continuation of last week's exercise where again, if you recall, I typed in chat GBT the what are the most frequently asked retirement related questions, and so. We covered, um, how much we're gonna need to retire or kind of gave you a framework for that. Another commonly Googled retirement lit question is, where should I retire?
You know, what are the top places for retirement? So, thankfully there's an, an abundance of articles published every year on the top retirement destinations, Kiplinger. [00:01:00] Magazine or, or website, um, does a, a frequent article on the best places to retire. And so their most recent 1st of June talked about the best places to retire in the us.
So we're gonna dive into that today. I'll link to this article in the show notes. And then as a bonus for sticking with me to the end, I'll provide, uh, three international. Locations that are, that are popular for retirees. So without further ado, well, I should also say that, um, you likely will be able to guess the top retirement destination in America.
Um, I'll give you a hint before I spoil it. It's, it's oftenly referred. It's it often times jokingly referred to as, uh, heaven's waiting room. So we'll get there. But before we do, so Katherine Pomeroy wrote this, this article and she opened noting that by 2030 the US will have more adults age 65 or older retirement age than children under 18.
[00:02:00] By 2060, about 95 million Americans will be 65 or older. So like you, many of these same people will start thinking about where to hang their hat when they retire if they haven't already done so. Some factors she recommends we consider, which I fully agree with as we think about kind of where to hang our hat for retirement.
One is high quality public healthcare. I, I think we're very lucky here in the triangle to have the healthcare we do between the UNC healthcare system, the Duke healthcare system, um, and, and WakeMed. So we're very lucky here. Affordable housing, good public transportation, lots of green space. A welcome sense of community, the ease of making new friends again.
We've talked in previous episodes about how, uh, loneliness is very problematic, uh, and becoming a growing epidemic for retirees. So having somewhere that where it's easy to make new friends can be very, very helpful. Lower [00:03:00] taxes, I know that's a big one for folks that are looking at retirement from a, a financial standpoint.
The weather, is it cold or hot, humid or dry? All those things seem to matter to retirees. So there was 10 places, uh, the top 10 places were kind of unveiled in this, this recent publication. I'll go through top 10 and then I'll expand on the top five and, and highlight some reasons why they were selected.
Coming in at number six, Pennsylvania, seven, New Hampshire. Eight Delaware, nine North Dakota, and rounding out the top 10 Wisconsin. So I'll, I'll expand on the top five and provide details as to why they were selected and to learn more about the bottom five. Feel free to link to the article in the show notes to gather more insights into how they were chosen to make the top 10.
So number one. As you're probably are already aware, Florida, so Florida was [00:04:00] ranked number one for the second year in a row according to this article. And we'll talk about that here in just a second. Uh, number two, surprise me, Minnesota. Number three, Colorado Colorado's interesting 'cause that's also a top destination for young professionals right now.
Number four, Wyoming and number five, South Dakota. So if I would've been tasked with guessing the top five places, I might've gotten two of those five. I certainly would not have guessed South Dakota and in Minnesota. But after reading this article, I'm convinced that they do make sense for retirees. So Florida, um, is considered.
A top retirement destination for many reasons. One is relatively low taxes for retirees, including no estate inheritance or income taxes. So it's big, uh, for retirees, especially those that maybe, um, have higher income or more asset saved. Those tax savings can really add up over time. [00:05:00] Besides that, Florida receives more funding per senior from the older Americans Act than all but two other states.
The article notes this money is used to fund things like homemaker assistance, transportation and nutrition programs for seniors. So Florida gets a lot of funding for seniors, which is helpful. And then finally, a few other highlights for Florida include the second most shoreline miles of any state, which probably comes to no surprise, allowing for plenty of relaxing at the beach.
It also has the second most adult volunteer activities, the fifth most theater companies, and the seventh most golf courses. So Florida, um, takes the top spot for all the reasons mentioned there. Minnesota, here's where I'm, um, was again, pleasantly surprised. So Minnesota's the land of 10,000 lakes, hot summers and brutal winters.
But according to the article, although the winters are snowing cold, the largest city in Minnesota, Minneapolis, and neighboring St. Paul offers access to outdoor activities, a vibrant cultural [00:06:00] scene, and a di diverse community for retirees. Minnesota also, um, has the 10th best elder abuse protections in the country, which guards elderly residents against physical and financial harm, and the 15th and lowest violent crime rate.
The state is also home to many highly rated hospitals and healthcare systems, including the Mayo Clinic. That's very appealing. It sounds, you know, safe from a elder abuse standpoint and violent crime standpoint, and it also has, has great healthcare. So Minnesota takes the second spot. Number three, Colorado.
Colorado. It has one of the lowest rates of social isolation for seniors and boast the 10th best geriatric hospitals in the country in 2025. Colorado is home to the fourth highest percentage of seniors who are in good health, and the third highest percentage who are physically active. So Colorado, when you think about the things that immediately come to mind, kind of hiking, being outdoors, just an active [00:07:00] lifestyle, all that rings true for retirees as well.
So for those that are looking for maybe an outdoor geared lifestyle and wanna be surrounded by other active retirees, Colorado. Seems to be a very promising destination. It also offers tax payer friendly conditions with no estate or inheritance tax. Number four, Wyoming home to Yellowstone National Park.
Wyoming has it all. Gorgeous parks, a low crime rate, affordable housing, and a slower pace of life for retirees. Interestingly, summers are hot and humid with 222 days of sunshine, which means the retirees can enjoy a lot of time outdoors and get a good amount of the essential vitamin D, so a lot of sunshine in Wyoming.
Wyoming has low violent crime rates and some of the cleanest air in the country when it comes to finances. Wyoming also ranks among the states with the lowest tax burdens for retirees, and the state doesn't have a state or inheritance tax. So for our national park [00:08:00] junkies out there, Wyoming could be a good option.
Um, and for those that are, you know, drawn towards more sunshine. Wyoming stands out. Lastly, South Dakota. So South Dakota is one of the states I have not yet been to that I, I'm interested in getting to, but according to the, this article can be an excellent choice for retirees looking for a low cost of living, abundant outdoor activities.
And friendly communities. South Dakota has a population of just over 900,000 people with over 16% of the population over the age of 65. The state also has many high quality healthcare facilities. There's no state income tax in South Dakota, which means income from retirement savings accounts such as 401k or IRA pensions.
Social security will not be subject to state income tax, so that's very appealing. Um. For retirees from a, a financial standpoint for South Dakota before I unveil. A couple international destinations that, um, [00:09:00] upon a quick Google search ranked very highly North Carolina. I'm surprised, uh, what didn't correct the top five.
I mean, especially, you know, I, I'm, I'm certainly biased, but the triangle, we've got access to a lot of green space, uh, with some wonderful parks, a greenway system here. We've got, um, a great art scene as well. Um, and then again, healthcare. I mean, healthcare is a big one for, for retirees. Inevitably, for most of us as we age, we're gonna need, you know, more frequent doctor visits.
So for us to have. Duke and UNC right here. Um, I thought it would be a little higher on the list, but I still strongly encourage those listeners out there that are thinking about a retirement destination to consider North Carolina, particularly the triangle, um, as an option. Okay, so in closing, those are the top US destinations for retirees to consider three international destinations, Panama, Portugal, [00:10:00] and Malaysia.
They were ranked very highly for retirees for affordability, high quality of life, and low healthcare cost. So for those that might be feeling a little more adventurous and want to go beyond the US borders, Panama, Portugal, and Malaysia, uh, ranked very highly for retirees. As always, thank you so much for listening.
I hope you found this very insightful, and until next time, take care and I'll look forward to being with you again soon.
Thanks for tuning in to the Retirement with an on purpose podcast. I hope you're walking away with new ideas and a fresh perspective on how to make the most of your retirement journey. And remember, retirement isn't the end. It's your time to live with purpose. Until next time, I'm Trevor Lawson. Here's to a fulfilling and thriving [00:11:00] retirement.