Research Reveals 1 out of 3 Retirees Would Live Elsewhere
A surprisingly high percentage of retirees say they’d pick a different spot in which to spend their later years. In a survey of people in their 70’s, 31% say “no” when asked “if you had to do it all over again, based on what you know now, would you choose where you are currently residing again?”.
A surprisingly high percentage of retirees say they’d pick a different spot in which to spend their later years. In a survey of people in their 70’s, researchers at Age Friendly Ventures (the parent organization of AgeFriendly.com, Mature Caregivers and RetirementJobs.com), found 31% say “no” when asked “if you had to do it all over again, based on what you know now, would you choose where you are currently residing again?”.
Friends did not make the top of the list of factors that influenced a decision of where to retire; the top 3 were family (65 percent), general livability (36 percent) and desired weather conditions (32 percent).
These sentiments are summed up by Louisville, KY resident David Heath, who was tempted to relocate internationally but chose family over fair weather and finances. “I would prefer to be in Costa Rica. The weather is warm year-round and you can be at a beach within an hour’s drive from anywhere in the country. The cost of living is low and a person can live well on $2,000 a month. In my current location, Louisville, KY, I need my retirement and a job to meet my monetary needs. The reason I stayed in the Louisville area is because my children and grandchildren are here. My family is the most important reason for retiring here.”
The financial picture plays a big role for the many who reconsidered their retirement destination, suggesting that consulting with a financial advisor should be a higher priority for older people when they're on the front end of the retirement destination decision process. A California survey respondent says he and his spouse moved to San Diego for their retirement given the beaches, mountains, weather, people, and general lifestyle. But now, he says “we are being so heavily taxed we can no longer reside here. We will be moving to a state that is senior tax friendly…Property taxes in Nevada and Arizona are less than 50% of California's for a larger home. Should have left 15 years ago.” Experts from financial services giant MassMutual agree and suggest that pre-retirees talk through the financial what-ifs with a financial advisor before they make their move to help either avoid or prepare for cost of living and other surprises down the line.
Two out of 3 retirees did not do in-depth research to determine where to live in retirement. Three out of 4 indicated that they would find a tool like AgeFriendly.com helpful in order to know in advance more about what a place is really like, from the perspective of people who are already there. They say they welcome an online community that helps Americans over 50 tap others in “the crowd” for advice about good places to live, work and get care. AgeFriendly.org executive Daniel McCullough says "we're hoping to put more of a human face on the research about where to live in your later years. What's it really like to live there? We're also giving people a place to inform community leaders about what they like and don't like about a particular place. If we do our job right, this will lead to improvements and enhanced quality of life".
Age Friendly Ventures surveyed more than 700 people age 70+ for this article.
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I am a retired senior, sold house and moved March 2019, and your report pretty accurate. I should have spent more time finding a new place to live, but just wanted to move out of that location as soon as possible. Now thinking about relocating again.
Ms. Taylor, they are robbing you if it says every 2 years it's every 2 years if you can't afford a lawyer call legal aid. And depending on the repair check with code enforcement many repairs are required as part of the code!
We had a well thought out plan for our retirement which was based on what we observed as mistakes our parents made. We wanted to be reasonably close to our children in a community with a college/university and medical care. We ended up buying in a 55+ community before we retired and visiting on weekends for a couple of years before we decided this was the life for us. Fifteen years later we still love it.
Im a senior and wanting some pt work I live in aLBANY ny i HAVE BEEN TRYING FOR OVER 8MONTHS WITH OVER 100 APPLICATIONS AND IM STILL NOT EMPLOYED-sO I WOULD RATE aLBANY ny AS DEFINATELY NOT AGE FRIENDLY
There was no where I could go but where I am. I couldn't move. I bought a nice condo, moved in and fixed it up, including putting in a washer because the rules didn't say no washers in unit like other places. They found out I had it and told me to get rid of it immediately! I told then no, the rules didn't say I couldn't have one and I'm keeping it. Then they changed the rules and said no washers in unit and I had to get rid of it. I told them no, they have to grandfather me because I had it before the rules were changed. They said they'd speak to their lawyer. Then I get this email telling me I could keep it but if I decided to sell I had to get rid of it before I put it on the market. I asked if I could get rid of it when I get a purchase and sales agreement and they thought it was ok. Then they sent me an email telling me I'd have to sign a non disclosure agreement with their lawyer saying I wouldn't tell anybody I had the washer. Why I don't know because if everybody knew I had it and wanted one, all they'd have to do is say I was say the rules now say no washers and because I had one before the rule changed I would be allowed to keep it, which is called grandfathered. I know why they wanted the non disclosure agreement, because someone else had a washer before the rules changed and they told them to get rid of it and they did and the condo association is afraid if they find out I was allowed to keep mine, they'd want to be able to get theirs back because they had it before the rules changed. I signed the agreement and they sent me a lawyer's fee for $1,000 dollars. I thought if they made changes they couldn't charge you a fee but I was afraid to take a chance and get a lawyer incase it wasn't true. Then I'd have to pay my lawyer and most likely theirs as well, so they screwed me. The board decided to hire a management company to run the place and I asked them if it was legal for them to charge me the lawyer fees in MA and they gave me the run around. We can't answer that till we see the rules of the condo association. They just wouldn't answer any questions because they kept saying they hadn't seen the rules yet. They kept skirting the answer to my question if it were legal in MA to charge you a fee because of a change they made. No one will tell me if the law says you can't charge me. I'd have to hire a lawyer and take them to court. I even wrote Senator Kennedy to see if he knew and even he didn't answer me. The rich want to steal your money any way they can and they get away with it. I suppose anywhere you'd want to live instead of where you are is the same. The rich get a tax break and the poor pay so no matter where you live anyway, they'll screw you.