Perhaps it is due to the chilly weather this time of year in New England, but a favorite topic of many magazine articles is where to move in order to live like royalty on your retirement income.
Of course, quite a few articles promote Southern locations, but surprisingly, spots like Iowa, Maine, Michigan and Texas are also recommended; none of which are known for their soothing climates. These articles have long been a pet peeve of mine because cost of living should not be the most important factor in making a retirement decision.
If cost of living is unusually inexpensive, there’s probably a reason, and it could be something that would be very detrimental to a fulfilling lifestyle. Very low taxes, for example, are likely to mean poor or below-standard municipal services. If cost of living is so cheap, will good doctors, dentists and hospitals be available? What if you want to work part time? Would employment be available?
Are there a variety of restaurants, some local theater, interesting programs at a well-staffed senior center and library? If these are of importance to you, you might find it advantageous to move to smaller quarters in your current town or to a smaller town in your same area, than to pull up stakes and head to the unknown.
Local customs and ways of thinking also vary greatly from state to state. I could never feel comfortable in a state where everyone totes their guns to the local movies, nor would I be able to make friends in some conservative Southern towns where my sometimes brash New York ways, would be decidedly out of place.
Several websites as well as a recent article in the AARP magazine (which is usually unbiased and more accurate) extolled the good life for less and were misleading, to put it mildly. Daytona and Ormond Beach, Fla., were cited for their low property taxes and housing prices. One of the reasons housing is so inexpensive is that in the wake of the recession, housing prices in the area fell 47 percent, on average.
What if you were a retiree who lost your lifetime savings in the crash? Bangor, Maine, was another “retirement haven.” While it does offer the American Folk Festival and three days of free music in the summer, those winters and the winter heating bills (unless you are up to chopping wood) are not for the frail. As for eating out, the article mentioned a popular diner for blueberry pancakes.
Another touted city was Grand Rapids, Mich., but the woman cited in the article was living in a low-income apartment, which if you qualify and can wait for, exist in almost every area. Again, taxes are low, but Michigan winters are extremely long and severe and the entire state has been adversely affected by the failure of the Detroit auto industry.
The AARP article also mentioned Greenville, S.C., as a retiree haven, and that at least, sounded more plausible. Car insurance and property taxes were so inexpensive that a couple could now afford to join the local country club for only $150 per month and enjoy, social events, sports and the pool.
One of the last towns mentioned in the article, Pocatello, Idaho, somehow sounded familiar. Pocatello has Idaho State University’s special seniors program open to anyone who is 50-plus years of age at a cost of just $35 per semester for unlimited classes. Utilities are cheap and the base lift at the nearby Pebble Creek ski area is only 5 minutes away.
But Pocatello kept ringing a familiar bell in my brain, and I suddenly recalled an article in The New York Times about this town. When I dug it up, the headline was, “Idaho Town Struggles After Pinning Hopes on Failed Plant” and it told the sad story of how Idaho has fallen from 37th place in per capita income to 49th, kept from the bottom only by Mississippi. It also has the fifth highest crime rate in the nation.
In 2007, a Chinese polysilicon factory broke ground on 67 acres of land which the city bought, hoping to bring back the prosperity that had left with the manufacturing and railroads. The factory never was completed, and with the global collapse of silica prices, no one else wants it.
Young people are leaving the town in droves with the nearest available work at a potato factory, paying $10 an hour. And yet, the AARP article had called Pocatello a “Northwest wonderland.”
The lesson to be learned? Before making any move, do thorough research on government websites, and make several visits to the area, surrounding towns as well as the one you have selected. Thenrent for a short period before deciding to make a final move. You might find the New Haven area, or a small Connecticut town, offers the most (if not the cheapest) fulfilling retirement lifestyle.
Contact Jean Cherni, certified senior adviser for Senior Living Solutions and Pearce Plus, a helpful, full-service program for seniors contemplating a move, at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 49 Rose St., Apt. 510, Branford, 06405.
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